Bye bye spam

I am helping the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie switch to Google Apps, primarily for better a email system. The current email server, a RedHat Enterprise 3 box is getting antiquated and the SpamAssassin software isn’t stemming much of the spam flow, based on the number of not-so-happy emails and calls we receive from parishes [...]

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Church averages 10,000 downloads in just a few months

Another article about how churches are adopting online communications: blogs, podcasts, chat rooms.
You never know what forms of online communication might work, but the key is to get out there, try and experiment. Given the cost of these tools are so low now, and so many people are on the web, churches can’t afford to [...]

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Got Firefox 2.0 yet?

I just installed the latest Firefox browser, having heard that it is a lot faster than the older 1.5. I had pretty much abandoned 1.5 on my Mac because it ate up all my memory and chugged so much I saw the busy spinning wheel more often than not.
With 2.0, I have to say: wow. [...]

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What are you doing to preserve your data?

Churches and other non-profits have important, critical data that should be backed up on a scheduled basis, stored at a reliable source off-site. I suspect, tho that most churches backup process is like this:

Backups happen sporadically
Not all important files are backed up
Backup files are stored on the same computer as the original, or on a [...]

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Grab your credit card for the big show

On Friday of last week, I got Fr. Tony’s podcast up on iTunes. The process is fairly straightforward. There is a large icon on the main podcast page in iTunes for adding your own podcast. You then have to type in the url of the podcast feed. The url is then grabbed and all the [...]

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Faith nourished

Just came across a Catholic Register article on how Catholics are using the internet in creative ways. Of note is how the Internet breaks down barriers and enables dioceses and parishes to utilize programs offered in other diocese, including marriage prep and RCIA.
I remember how valuable going to an Engaged Encounter weekend was for Rowena [...]

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SooToday classifieds the way it should be

SooToday is a very popular online community site where I live. They have a classifieds section that gets lots of traffic. I once posted looking for a cheap pre-paid cell phone, and got 8 emails within a day or so.
Trying to find deals on SooToday is an effort in aggravation. Think Myspace design (or lack [...]

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Breaking new ground

Fr. Tony Man-son-hing is one of the people pushing the boundaries of DeoWeb and online communication in the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie. He was very active while working as the Chancellor, publishing content on a steady basis. This includes a weekly “In the Loop” news item for priests sent out via the message centre [...]

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Let Google manage your email + other goodies

Google is now packaging together 4 of their services in a connected bundle for organizations:

Gmail for email
Gtalk for instant messaging
Google Calendar for managing schedules and events
Google Page creator for web pages

My first thoughts after reading this is that churches and dioceses can benefit well just by switching to Gmail, and ignoring the rest for now. [...]

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