Yes, it really is.
World Emoji Day.
Why today? Because the wee little calendar emoji has a date on it …. and that date happens to be July 17.
So, when “World Emoji Day” was born, they just used the day on the calendar emoji. Ha!
Oh, yes … there are lots of other emoji details to ponder. For example …. any idea what is the most commonly used emoji? The answer to that question is “tears of joy”.
You can find more emoji fun facts here.
If you bought any ebooks between April 2010 and May 2012, you may have some Amazon credit coming your way.
This credit is the result of a lawsuit which Amazon settled a while ago. But you must check soon, because this happy windfall will be expiring shortly.
You can read more about it through this link, and learn how to see if you have any credit coming your way. Good Luck!!!
Click here to learn how to check for your Amazon credits
.
Years ago, in the early days of our iPhones, the flashlight feature was introduced and I was in love. I don’t know why, but I seem to continually find myself looking in dark corners, and to have a flashlight readily available in my pocket has “saved the day” many, many times.
And now, I think we have been given another “tool” that once used would be hard to do without. It’s a magnifier!!
Ok, maybe it’s only a great discovery for ‘those of a certain age,’ but hey, we all run into small print sometimes, and how extraordinarily convenient to have a magnifier in your pocket. 🙂
To enable your magnifier, go to:
Settings > General > Accessibility > Magnifier
Turn the Magnifier “ON”
That’s it!!!
Magic!
and ………Notice that you can move the slider to adjust the size of whatever you’re trying to see.
Have fun!
(To access your magnifier, I believe you must have iOS10+ on your iPhone. If someone discovers that an earlier OS has this feature, please let me know to adjust this post)
Sometimes you need to take a picture…. quickly. You don’t have time to go through the steps of unlocking your phone and finding your way to your camera icon.
Apple gave us a shortcut a while ago, with the camera icon available from the lock screen. However, I noticed in recent iOS updates, this shortcut was gone. But that’s ok ….. because we have a new improved way to quickly get to the camera.
How to get to the camera (one step!) from your lock screen:
From your lock screen, simply swipe LEFT. From the right side to the left side.
That’s it. There’s your camera!!!
Really quick and easy, and perfect for capturing that photo that just won’t wait.
I believe the handwritten messages option actually started with iOS 10. But since I leapt from iOS 8 directly to 10.2, the lines and ‘newness’ of things are kind of blurred for me.
(If you’ve been around for a while, you know I HATE updating. However, this time it was so painless, I do believe that I may be getting a bit better about it. I know my reaction is a kind of PTSD holdover from the ‘blue screen of death’ in the 80’s. Maybe Time does indeed have healing qualities. 🙂 )
But I digress!
Here is how to send a Handwritten iMessage in iOS 10+:
1. Open your Messages app
2. Select the person you want to send the message to…..
3. Now, turn your iPhone SIDEWAYS
4. Poof!! New screen!!! You can write/draw on this screen, or select one of several pre-‘handwritten’ messages that you see lined up on the bottom of the screen. For this post, I tapped on “thank you”
5. You’ll see a ‘clear’ button and an ‘undo’ button if you want to edit your handwritten masterpiece.
6. When your message is complete, tap ‘done’ and just turn your phone back to the regular way and hit Send.
This is an iMessage thing, going from iPhone to iPhone. If you send your message to someone using an Android phone?????? … well, things can get garbled. It might show up, or it might not.
Thanks to an inquiry by KDKH, I looked a bit deeper into this option. To my, well, horror, if you have the Emergency Bypass option checked, that person’s call can get through even when your phone is on silent.
This does not seem like a good thing in many situations. There are times when you need to put your phone on silent and a call is simply unacceptable … a work meeting, a movie, a doctor visit. So it appears as though the Emergency Bypass is just that …to be used for EMERGENCIES.
Maybe you’re in a meeting, but you want that call from the doctor. You can enable Emergency Bypass for the doctor’s number, and it will get through, even with your phone on silent mode. That’s a good thing. A great thing.
BUT ….Just because you want a call from Aunt Agnes to get through at 3 in the morning (because she would NEVER call then unless there is an emergency) …. you don’t want to accept a call from her during your promotion meeting. So Emergency Bypass would not be a good choice for her.
So use the Emergency Bypass with care and thought. A great feature when used wisely.
again, thank you KDKH!!
I double checked, and selecting contacts as Favorites still lets them break through your Do Not Disturb, but they will NOT break through the silent mode. So for now, I’ll use both as needed.
I know. I know. I’m slow. I take my time to update my devices. I prefer to let “others” discover bugs and issues.
But I finally pushed the update button, and my iPhone is now sporting a fresh new operating system, 10.2.
One of the first new things I learned was: the “Emergency Bypass” option. This is a feature that has been important to me all along. It allows selected phone numbers to break through even with the Do Not Disturb option actively on.
I use Do Not Disturb daily. I have it set to come on automatically each night. (This prevents notifications and phone calls during sleeping hours)
But this is concerning because there are certainly SOME numbers that I would absolutely want to get through no matter what time of night. Close family and close friends, of course.
Previously, in earlier iOS’s, you could achieve this by classifying a contact as a ‘favorite’. But now, in iOS 10.2, the opportunity to do this is much more direct.
Here is how to set up an Emergency Bypass in iOS 10.2:
Go to your Contact and tap Edit.
Tap on your ringtone choice.
You will see the screen below. Just toggle on “Emergency Bypass”
All done!
Now you have no worries. If your loved ones need to reach you during “do not disturb” time, their calls will bypass the setting, and ring through. Problem solved!
***** Important information: Thanks to an inquiry by KDKH, I looked a bit deeper into this option. To my, well, horror, if you have the Emergency Bypass option checked, that person’s call can get through even when your phone is on silent.
This does not seem like a good thing in many situations. There are times when you need to put your phone on silent and a call is simply unacceptable … a work meeting, a movie, a doctor visit… So it appears as though the Emergency Bypass is just that …to be used for EMERGENCIES. Maybe you’re in a meeting, but you want that call from the doctor. You can enable Emergency Bypass for the doctor’s number, and it will get through, even with your phone on silent mode. That’s a good thing. A great thing.
BUT ….Just because you want a call from Aunt Agnes to get through at 3 in the morning (because she would NEVER call then unless there is an emergency) …. you don’t want to accept a call from her during your promotion meeting. So Emergency Bypass would not be a good choice for her.
So use the Emergency Bypass with care and thought. A great feature when used wisely.
again, thank you KDKH!!
I double checked, and selecting contacts as Favorites will still let those calls break through your Do Not Disturb, but they will NOT break through the silent mode. So for now, I’ll use both as needed.
Sometimes there are ideas and initiatives that are ok. Sometimes they’re good. And sometimes they’re GREAT. In my opinion, this is the latter. Simply GREAT!
You know those Amazon boxes that pile up at your house around the holidays? The ones you scratch your head to dispose of, or break down to save, or whatever?
Well, now you can put them to REALLY good use!
Once your box is empty, fill it full of things you want to donate to Goodwill. Just fill it up. Then, go the the website givebackbox.com, and print a FREE shipping label.
That’s it!
(except for the physically taking it to the post office part 🙂 )
What a super initiative. And Amazon is not the only participating retailer. There are quite a few others, as well. “Give Back Box® has also teamed up with some of the biggest retailers in the U.S., including Overstock, Amazon, Loft, REI, Levi’s, Asics, Ann Taylor, Uncommongoods, Bon-Ton, Viva Terra, Ecru, Bonobos, Scrubs & Beyond, eBags, Lou & Grey and Cherry Mad.”
I haven’t tried this yet, but I am anxious to give it a whirl, and I suspect I will become a regular user!
Because I’ve been absent from this blog for so long (all’s well, thanks for the inquiries 🙂 )… I’ve missed posting Holiday things! So I’ll correct that now, by adding a little bit of this and a little bit of that.
There are so many Christmas apps! One favorite type, going strong for the last couple of years, can be summed up as: “Catch-Santa-in-your-Living-Room-to-prove-to-your-kids-that-he-is-real.” (Thanks to Kerry for reminding me of this one)
There are several of these available, and they are kind of fun. You just take a picture of your own tree, or fireplace or some other known-to-your-kids spot. Then use the app to place Santa right there. Through the magic of filters, it looks incredibly real.
One of these apps is: Snap Santa. It’s free, and the photos look quite good, but you’ll have to work your way around the ads. Just press the ‘x’ in the game ad to close it, and away you go. You’ll be presented with one Santa when you start, but you can scroll your way through quite a few others (also for free).
***
I know that many of you enjoy Simon’s Cat as much as I do. Happily we have a new one for Christmas this year. It’s called “Little Box.” Enjoy!
***
And, since this is a tech blog, I’ll include another video featuring the “Simon’s Cat” artist, Simon Tofield. You’ll catch a glimpse of the artist’s studio and watch as he sketches and colors in a Christmas picture using his computer. A little “behind the scenes” look at Simon’s … uhhh… Tech. Yes. Simon’s Tech. 🙂
***
And for all my friends who celebrate Hanukkah, this is a great video. I guarantee your feet will be tapping! (Thanks to Trudi for sharing this)
To all my friends in the Blog-o-sphere, Best wishes for a wonderful Holiday season and a most happy and healthy New Year! See you in 2017!
sharechair 