All posts tagged technology

How Do You Use Your iPhone?

Screen shot 2013-05-24 at 2.22.49 PM
On the left you see a picture that I found on the internet (with no credit, sorry). It shows the iPhone battery used as a chart to depict the way this person is using his/her phone.

This made me think …. How do I use my iPhone? How is my time divided?

If I made a pie chart for my phone usage, the biggest hunk of time would be for listening to Podcasts and Music. I listen every day, usually for an hour or two while I am getting ready for the day or perhaps doing some chores around the house.

The next two biggest slices of pie represent Texting and Maps. I use a maps app often (I just love how that little blue dot shows me where I am), and Texting is something I use quite frequently. I enjoy “reaching out to touch someone” as much as I happily enjoy receiving an incoming text. It’s nice to know that someone is thinking of me and wants to share a moment. :)

While I generally don’t play games on my phone, I do play Words With Friends (a lot), so I guess my guilty pleasure game slice might be a bit larger than the sliver I originally thought it would be. (If any reader would like to play Words with Friends with me, just message me through my contact page with your Words with Friends ID.)

I often use the phone to check on the weather, breaking news stories, and maybe peek at the stock market. I might look up the hours of a store, or a yelp review for a restaurant, so I guess I’ll count all this as internet surfing, taking up a small (but vital!) portion of my phone time.

Reading on my iPhone is not something I do regularly, but I always have a book ready-to-go in my Kindle App, so that if I’m caught waiting somewhere I have my book to read (and this has come in very handy … many, many times).

The Camera on the iPhone is quite good and I use it often. I especially enjoy having the ability to share something immediately with a photo and a text message. I’m always delighted to receive a photo/message from someone as they are doing something that they enjoy. What a thrill to receive a photo from a traveling friend as she stands in front of the Grand Canyon, but it can also be as simple as sharing a picture of a delicious dessert. Texting a photo makes us feel closer and that is priceless.

Reminders and Lists and Notes and the Calendar. These don’t take up a lot of time, but I use them often (depend on them!) and they keep me organized and functional.

And finally, the Phone. The actually talking-into-it phone part of the iPhone. While it’s certainly handy to have a phone function on the iPhone :lol: , I don’t actually spend much time using it.

So here’s my very informal breakdown:

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If you have a moment, I’d love to know how you use your phone. Mostly for ….. what?? Do you use it for talking to actual people :lol: ? Playing games? Listening to music? Watching videos? Organizing? Twittering? Facebooking? Inquiring minds…

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10 Comments
by sharechair on May 24, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in iPhone, My Thoughts About Things
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Posted by sharechair on May 24, 2013

http://sharechair.wordpress.com/2013/05/24/how-do-you-use-your-iphone/

How to Split your iPad Keyboard (and find Hidden Keys)

As part of my month-long anniversary series, some posts will include information covered previously. Hopefully this way new readers get to see things they missed and older readers might be reminded of things they have forgotten. (This “forgetting” thing happens to me, too!)

Screen shot 2013-05-21 at 9.07.10 PM

Balancing the iPad while you type can be difficult. Holding it with one hand as you type with the other feels a bit unbalanced and the thought of dropping it is just too costly to even consider.

If you split the keyboard, you can hold the iPad securely, and, yes, type with your thumbs. This might not be your choice for all-the-time, and many people don’t like it at all, but for those who do, you may also be interested in some HIDDEN keys once the keyboard has been split.

Before we find those secret, invisible keys, let’s split your keyboard.

Here is how to split your iPad keyboard:

Bring up an email, or notepad or something else where the keyboard appears.

Look for the key with the picture of the keyboard on it that is next to the 123 button on the lower right side. If you tap on that button, the keyboard disappears. But we don’t want to make the keyboard disappear, we want to split it.

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Screen shot 2013-05-21 at 8.46.11 PMTo split the keyboard, touch and HOLD that button (that looks like a keyboard). You’ll see a little menu appear that gives you two options: undock and split.

Tap on “split” to split your keyboard. As soon as you tap on “split”, you will see the keyboard separate, and rise up into the lower middle area of the iPad screen. It will also get a bit smaller to fit your thumbs.

Now you can hold the iPad securely with two hands while you type. :cool:

The hidden keys are in the blank areas on either side of the keyboard. Just stretch your thumb out a little further beyond the ”t” and you can type a “y”. Tap the blank area next to the “v” and you’ll get a “b”.

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This also works if you split the numbers keyboard. Tap the empty space next to the “5” and get a “6” and so on.

Touch and hold the button again to merge the keyboard and re-dock at the bottom of your screen.

Even though I personally don’t use this feature, I just enjoy doing it occasionally to find those secret, hidden, invisible keys. (Yes, I’m that geeky :) )

Screen shot 2013-03-06 at 7.27.02 PM

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by sharechair on May 21, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Tech Tips, iPad, Beginners, Keyboard Shortcut, iPad tips, How to's
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Posted by sharechair on May 21, 2013

http://sharechair.wordpress.com/2013/05/21/how-to-split-your-ipad-keyboard-and-find-hidden-keys/

Today’s Tech and the Oklahoma Tornado

photo credit: msnbc

photo credit: msnbc

There are no words to describe the horror of yesterday’s tornado in Oklahoma.

We watched it live from around the country. I can’t imagine what that was like for people who were at work in Oklahoma City, watching the television coverage of the storm as it raked through their own neighborhoods, a few miles away. And if they had kids in those schools? I have no words.

I subscribe to a Twitter feed from the National Weather Service, and the alerts were coming in by the second with precise locations targeted to take shelter or get away. Tornado warnings were issued 25-40 minutes before the tornado struck.

photo credit: CNN

photo credit: CNN

Today’s tech can warn us and let us watch, but after the storm has passed, can it help?

Yes, it can.

The American Red Cross is helping loved ones find each other through the website Safe and Well.

You can donate to the Red Cross online, or by texting REDCROSS to 90999 to give $10 to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief, or you can donate by phone by calling 1-800-RED CROSS.

A list of shelters can be found, here.

The Salvation Army has also set up a donation form online.

photo credit: CNN

photo credit: CNN

When a tornado of this magnitude rips through neighborhoods like this, personal belongings can end up miles and miles away.

A Facebook page has been started to reunite people with their belongings so that hopefully some photos and other items can find their way back into the possession of owners. This Facebook page was actually started after an earlier tornado, but has been expanded to include the disaster in Moore. (As I write this post, I just saw an interview on television with an Oklahoma senator who lives 80 miles away from the tornado area and he was holding up a photograph that had floated down into his yard. A perfect example of how helpful this Facebook page can be.)

Pets are also being reunited with their owners through the online effort.

photo credit: CNN

photo credit: CNN

The photos of the devastation show an area that looks like a bomb has leveled it. Coverage is continuous this morning on most news stations in the USA, and a comprehensive collections of photos are here and here.

So tech is helping warn and cope. But it can’t prevent. Maybe someday we’ll be able to flip a switch and dissipate a storm. Now that would be a technological advancement to cheer about.

Screen shot 2013-03-06 at 7.27.02 PM

16 Comments
by sharechair on May 21, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in News
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Posted by sharechair on May 21, 2013

http://sharechair.wordpress.com/2013/05/21/todays-tech-and-the-oklahoma-tornado/

Are PenPals Obsolete?

Screen shot 2013-05-19 at 12.13.20 PMThe world has gotten MUCH smaller as technology has allowed us to reach out and instantly “touch” each other across continents.

Blogging is an excellent example of this small world phenomenon. Comments arrive from all over the globe, and blogging-friendships arise.

However, this age of instant around-the-world communication is relatively new. Younger folks of today don’t really give it a second thought, while I still look at each comment that comes in from anywhere beyond my own locale as a small huge wonder.

When I was 14, the World’s Fair was held in Flushing, New York. Admission was $2. It was an easy bus ride for me, and I was able to visit the Fair several times.

Much of that Fair was carted off by Disney and pieces still exist at the Disneyland Parks. (In Florida the Carousel of Progress always brings back memories of 1964 …even though, of course, it has been greatly updated, now.)

But beyond those technological wonders was an unassuming little building that was working miracles…. the Parker Pen Pavilion.

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At the Parker Pen Pavilion, you could get matched with a pen-pal from anywhere in the world. This was extraordinary. To “meet” another teen from another country. Oh, my.

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The thrill of getting to know someone from so far away! Of course, language was a large barrier. There was no google-translate in those days, so this limited the options. My match was with a young girl in India, who, to my delight, was able to correspond with me in English. We would write on this thinner-than-thin blue paper that folded up into it’s own envelope and would be sent by “air mail” (how exotic!). We wrote regularly for years, but sadly this stopped when she married.

I did a bit of google searching and I am not alone in my fond memories of experiencing the treasure of an international pen-pal through the magic of the Parker Pen Pavilion at the World’s Fair. Thousands of people were matched with penpals, and some friendships have survived all these years.

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Today we can reach someone around the world in seconds, share entire libraries of photos, and have live (free) face-to-face conversations across our magical devices. That thin blue paper is a distant antique memory.

So, answering my own question, I guess the answer would be yes, PenPals are obsolete.

But this (today) is better, I think. The more we share, the more we know how much we are all alike… and it doesn’t matter where we live.

And that’s a good thing to know. :)

Screen shot 2013-03-06 at 7.27.02 PM

27 Comments
by sharechair on May 19, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in My Thoughts About Things
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Posted by sharechair on May 19, 2013

http://sharechair.wordpress.com/2013/05/19/are-penpals-obsolete/

A Keyboard Shortcut for Punctuation on your iPad and iPhone

As part of my month-long anniversary series, some posts will include information covered previously. Hopefully this way new readers get to see things they missed and older readers might be reminded of things they have forgotten. (This “forgetting” thing happens to me, too!)

Photo Skitch Document-16

When you type on your iPad or iPhone, and you need to insert punctuation, you have to TAP the 123 button, then TAP the selected punctuation, and then TAP the ABC button so that the keyboard will return to the alphabet.

That’s 3 taps for each time you need to punctuate. Whew. That’s a lot of tapping.

Here is how to accomplish inserting your punctuation with just ONE tap:

When you get to the moment that you need punctuation, place your finger on the 123 button and HOLD. Now, SLIDE your finger to the punctuation you need, and then RELEASE. Tap – Slide – Release

Poof!

Your punctuation appears in your text, and your keyboard returns to the alphabet so that you can continue typing.

Give it a try: Touch the 123 ….. keep your finger on the screen ….. slide to the punctuation you want…. and release. Cool, huh? :cool:

Screen shot 2013-03-06 at 7.27.02 PM

17 Comments
by sharechair on May 15, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Beginners, How to's, iPad, iPad tips, iPhone, iPhone tips, Keyboard Shortcut
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Posted by sharechair on May 15, 2013

http://sharechair.wordpress.com/2013/05/15/a-keyboard-shortcut-for-punctuation-on-your-ipad-and-iphone/

A Shot Heard Round the World: The First 3D Printed Gun

Screen shot 2013-05-14 at 7.17.20 PM3D printers are an amazing step forward in technology. I still find it hard to wrap my head around the possibility of printing out my own shoes or a wrench or well, almost anything. The possibilities of a 3D printer leave my jaw wide open and gaping. (How about replacement body parts? A new kidney? They’re working on it.)

however …..

Do we really want to be able to make guns at home on a 3D printer?

The first 3D home-printed gun has been fired, and so that horse is out of the barn. Now anyone with a computer and a 3D printer can make a gun. Many guns. Many undetectable plastic guns.

Again… a 3D printer is amazing. The possibilities for its future are astounding.

But this?

The First 3D-Printed Gun Has Been Fired

Meet The ‘Liberator’: Test-Firing The World’s First Fully 3D-Printed Gun

25 Comments
by sharechair on May 14, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by sharechair on May 14, 2013

http://sharechair.wordpress.com/2013/05/14/a-shot-heard-round-the-world-the-first-3d-printed-gun/

How to Set Bookmarks on your iPhone

Yesterday’s blog post covered how to set bookmarks on your iPad. I was going to include the iPhone in that post, but the bookmarking process is just different enough to deserve its own post.

How to set up bookmarks on the iPhone:

Go to your favorite website in Safari. For this example, I chose Goodreads.

Tap the action-arrow at the bottom of the screen.

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Several choices will pop up. Select Bookmark.

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This new screen (below) will pop up. It gives you the opportunity to re-name the bookmark. Once you do (or don’t do) this, just tap ‘save’.

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When you want to SEE the websites that you have bookmarked, just open Safari and tap on the BOOK symbol on the bottom of the page.

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You will see all of your bookmarked websites (and a few that Apple has already bookmarked for you). Tap on any of them, and you are taken to the linked website.

Screen shot 2013-03-06 at 7.27.02 PM

5 Comments
by sharechair on May 14, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Beginners, How to's, iPhone, iPhone tips, Organization, Tech Tips
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Posted by sharechair on May 14, 2013

http://sharechair.wordpress.com/2013/05/14/how-to-set-bookmarks-on-your-iphone/

Have an Implanted Defibrillator? Beware the iPad Smart Cover

Screen shot 2013-05-11 at 9.10.16 AM

If you or someone you know has an implanted heart defibrillator they should be warned that the magnets in the iPad Smart Cover are strong enough to deactivate the defibrillator.

This news came out as the result of a 14 year old student’s science project, and it has received a lot of attention from the medical community. So much so that this 14 year old has been invited to speak to 8000 doctors at a Heart Rhythm Society meeting.

Apparently, if you are curled up all comfy with your iPad, start to doze off and lay the iPad face down on your chest, the magnets in the cover can actually cause the defibrillator to malfunction or even shut off.

Wow. You can read more about this issue here, here, here and here.

I’m sure we’ll hear more about this. But in the meantime, if you know someone with a defibrillator, it would be a good idea to let them know about this concern. It is safe to use an iPad, holding it at the typical ‘using distance’. The caution: don’t fall asleep with it laying on your chest!

16 Comments
by sharechair on May 11, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in iPad, News
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Posted by sharechair on May 11, 2013

http://sharechair.wordpress.com/2013/05/11/have-an-implanted-defibrillator-beware-the-ipad-smart-cover/

3 Gestures to Use on your iPad (and save your home button)

As part of my month-long anniversary series, some posts will include information covered previously. Hopefully this way new readers get to see things they missed and older readers might be reminded of things they have forgotten. (This “forgetting” thing happens to me, too!)

tumblr_ldl5vjLN5s1qdd7bwo1_500If you know anyone who has used an iPad (or an iPhone) for an extended period of time, you might have heard complaints that the home button can get sticky or less responsive. Using gestures in place of the home button can make the iPad an even better experience. The gestures are easy and intuitive.

First make sure that your iPad has its gesturing ability turned ON. Go to your Settings > General > Multitasking Gestures. Make sure this is switched to “on”.

Photo Skitch Document-7

Screen shot 2013-03-06 at 7.27.02 PM

Here is how to close an app on your iPad without using the home button:

Screen shot 2013-05-09 at 7.28.28 PMOpen an app.

Spread your fingers wide and gently place them all on the screen.

Now, pull your fingers together, dragging them across the screen.

Poof! Your app is closed, with no home-button-usage. :)

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Screen shot 2013-05-09 at 7.40.18 PMHere is another gesture for your handful of fingers. This works with four or five fingers, and on the iPad only, not the iPhone (the iPhone’s screen is too small for so many fingers.)

The purpose of this gesture is to move from an open app to another open app without having to tap your way through the “close > navigate to the next app > open” sequence. This is awesomely helpful if you are working with two or three open apps and want to go back and forth between the them.

Here is how you can move between apps:

Let’s practice with two apps that came with your iPad (but it will work with any two apps).

Tap to open the Clock app. Now close it.

Tap to open the Photos app. Now close it.

Go back and open the Clock app again. Now place four or five fingers on the screen and swipe to the left.

Here comes the open app, Photos, from the right. (If you swipe to the left again, you’ll see the last app you had open before you tried this trick).

Now swipe back in the other direction, and you have returned to Clock. Spend a moment flipping back and forth. You can see how easy it is to move between your open apps. Try again with two apps of your choice.

This may not be a gesture you’ll need often, but when the day comes that you need to work with two or more apps, this gesture will be golden.

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Screen shot 2013-05-09 at 7.33.10 PMAnd last but not least … the “Swipe UP”.
Simply place four fingers on your iPad screen and push UP. This exposes the task bar and makes visible all of the running apps. (More on “running apps”, soon).

Screen shot 2013-03-06 at 7.27.02 PM

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by sharechair on May 9, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Apps, Beginners, Gestures, How to's, iPad, iPad tips, Tech Tips
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Posted by sharechair on May 9, 2013

http://sharechair.wordpress.com/2013/05/09/3-gestures-to-use-on-your-ipad-and-save-your-home-button/

Lovin’ the Google Doodle

Doesn’t everyone enjoy the Google doodle?

The very first Google doodle appeared long before the company was even incorporated, back in 1998. The founders were just fooling around, and came up with this doodle … just a stick figure behind one of the ‘o’s’ …. to represent to others that the founders were “out of the office.”

The very first google doodle.

The very first Google doodle.

At first the Google doodles celebrated only familiar holidays. Over the years they have broadened their scope and they now doodle all kinds of anniversaries, birthdays and other milestones. To date, Google has made over 1000 doodles that have appeared on homepages all over the world.

Mother's Day in Ireland March 10, 2013

Mother’s Day in Ireland March 10, 2013

One of the most popular doodles celebrated the 30th anniversary of Pac Man in 2010. It was an interactive doodle. By clicking on “insert coin” the game would begin and you could play the arcade classic on the Google logo.

You can see ALL the Google doodles (searchable and sortable by year and/or by country), by browsing through the Google Museum.

There is also a Google Doodle Store so that you can sport your favorite Doodle on a t-shirt, a mug or many other products.

To learn more about Google Doodles and the doodlers who create them, click here and here. If you have an idea for a Google doodle, you are welcome to submit a proposal to proposals@google.com (they get hundreds a DAY, however, so it better be good!)

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11 Comments
by sharechair on May 8, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by sharechair on May 8, 2013

http://sharechair.wordpress.com/2013/05/08/lovin-the-google-doodle/

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