Techish

Ten tech-ish tips you’ll wish you knew about yesterday!

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Are you sure you know everything your phone, computer, and apps can do? I’ll be you don’t. Because they all change so fast that no single human can keep up. Here are ten useful tech tips that will do everything from search Google better to turn your phone into a scanner. 1.      Find your stimulus check online Is there a second economic stimulus payment? Should you have gotten it? Has it gone awry? When will I get it? The answers to these questions – and many more -- are a click away. Just go to irs.gov/coronavirus/get-my-payment. You can read up on what the government is doing and how it’s going or just get right to the point and click that big, “Get My Payment” button. Then click ... Read more

Pandemic Taxes

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What a year! Everything was terrible. Things will be so much better in 2021 (we hope)! But first? Taxes! Oh, yay. (Sigh.) Taxes are never fun. But this year — in addition to the usual dread — there is a lot to think about that none of us has had to consider before. But don’t put it off. There might be money in this endeavor for you. Even if you collected unemployment, there are opportunities here.  “Over 40 million people were unemployed and received expanded unemployment benefits under the CARES Act,” explains Lisa Greene-Lewis, TurboTax CPA and tax expert. Even though you may not have had taxes withheld and are not entitled to a refund, you still have to file. “And you may be eligible ... Read more

Ten Tips to Keep You Sane and Productive While Working from Home

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I have been working from home since my daughter was born. This week, she turned 22. So I’ve had plenty of time to explore all the delights and dangers of working where I live. If you, like 42 percent of U.S. workers right now, are working from home, you have probably already experienced the productivity boost that comes with eliminating your commute, in-office interruptions and meetings. But you are about to — if you haven’t already — run into the anxiety, irritability, and complete failure to get anything done that comes next in this adventure. The reason for the upcoming mood plummet, according the WHO, is that working from home has eliminated every built-in trigger that helped you gear ... Read more

Smart Fitness at CES

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With many gyms closed or limited during the pandemic, many of us turned to at-home workouts, either on our own or with the help of online classes from Alomoves, Peloton Fitness (with or without fancy equipment), The Daily Burn or through apps like Seven. In fact, at-home fitness has become such a trend while we are all on lockdown, fitness equipment sales — everything from resistance bands to kettlebells to bikes — increased by 500 percent and led to massive shortages. It’s no wonder that CES was full of fitness innovations. And if this year’s virtual CES is any indicator, getting fitness out of gyms and into our homes and daily lives is the wave of the future. Online Health Clubs With ... Read more

The CES tech you have to see to believe (trust me, it’s a must-look)!

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CES is full of serious solutions to real-world problems. Probably. I didn’t look for those. I haunted the virtual aisles of the Consumer Electronics Show looking for weird. And why not? It’s been a strange year. As a culture, our taste for strange has grown exponentially since the last CES. And you know what? I found it.  Amid the folding laptops, bending phone screens, driverless cars, flying cars, and drones that will -- sooner than anyone expected -- deliver our packages right to our doors, I found the products that made me say, “Seriously?” And then, “Okay, I want that.” From a bandaid that will make men first shave, down there, and then be better in bed to a pair of glasses that ... Read more

HOW TO: Help senior friends and family set up their new tech

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All that tech you wrapped and put under the tree seemed like such a terrific idea when you were shopping. A Roku! A new phone! A sweet new laptop! You killed the gift-giving. But now that the presents are opened and everyone is playing with their toys, you are starting to feel like the new guy on the tech support helpline. Answering the first question from Papa was fun. Helping Nana get her new tablet set up was rewarding. But the millionth question? You are seriously considering charging by the minute. Maybe the gift you forgot was an unlimited subscription to online tech support for everyone born before 1993? Because you know what? That’s a thing. Teaching people to use technology when ... Read more

These Subscription Services Make Awesome Gifts!

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Arming up with a tote, comfy shoes, and going shopping was once a fun way to discover a new brand of soap, fall in love with a fashion trend, and stop somewhere for tea while connecting with friends. Those were more innocent times. As we head into the year 2021, that sort of activity is, in all likelihood, a historical artifact. The year of the pandemic has changed, according to a recent study, our habits around many aspects of life. And we are unlikely to return to our old ways. We shop online, discover online, and do our self-care online. The joy of discovery we once found at the mall has moved to subscription boxes, an industry that’s currently estimated to be worth $15 billion as ... Read more

HOW TO: Use Your Phone to Stop the Spread of COVID-19

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At a recent doctor’s appointment, the check-in nurse asked me if I had been exposed to anyone who had tested positive for Covid-19. I said no. But it felt like a lie. How could I know the answer to that with any certainty? What if the person who sat too close to me at the vet last week was sick? What if I inadvertently stood next to someone in the grocery store who had been exposed? And what about all those people who run past me when I take my morning walk? Many of them are breathing hard and not wearing masks. I don’t know that they aren’t spewing virus droplets all over me. It turns out I could know. It’s easy to know. All I have to do is download an app or turn on the ... Read more

Mood-boosting gadgets to help you survive until 2021

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It has been a long, long year. The doom scrolling, the isolation, the election madness, and the fear have been brutal. But the end of 2020 is in sight. Maybe next year won’t be such an apocalypse? Maybe 2021 will be all kittens, hope scrolling, and sunshine? We can only hope. What we can do is try every possible mood booster available to order online. And, while you’re at it, load the holiday gift basket with gear that will help your friends and family go into 2021 in a good mood? I rounded up some fun, functional, mood boosters you can order on Amazon. Nothing here will break the bank. But it will improve the mood. Prices on these gadgets are subject to change, this is what they were at ... Read more

HOW TO: Zoom-free ways to connect with family even when you’re far apart

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A year ago most of us had never heard of Zoom, and no one would have been able to coerce any of us into a video gym class or Sunday dinner over Zoom. But here we are. “Brady Bunch boxes” has become a term we toss casually into conversation, and everyone has a preferred brand of webcam. By next year, Zoom Fatigue will make into the Merck Manual as a real health condition. Zoom pushback has already started. Another Zoom call after a day of school or work on Zoom? No one has it in them anymore. It’s great to see everyone. But sitting in front of a screen to chat is often boring, hard to pay attention to, and exhausting. There are other ways to connect with the people you love. Because you ... Read more

HOW TO: Save money on your cell phone service

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By Christina X Wood Apple is pelting us right now with a marketing assault designed to create an irresistible urge to buy a new iPhone. Samsung, too, has just released some wildly tempting new phones and a marketing frenzy designed to whip Android fans into a buying impulse. And it’s working. Even though this is happening at a time when most of us are eyeing at our monthly budget for places to cut, one in three people in a recent survey planned to buy a new iPhone anyway. Sure, I get it. Your cell phone is your lifeline. That rectangle is always in your hand or within reach. It’s your most valuable possession. You don’t want an underpowered one. Most of us think it’s worth going into ... Read more

HOW TO: Sanitize your germ-riddled Smartphone

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Every time I walk in the house, I set my phone down and wash my hands for two minutes. Then I pick my phone up, pocket it, or respond to a text and go about my life at home. Sound familiar? Now think like an epidemiologist. Where’s the flaw in that system? Hand washing is the best way to prevent the spread of disease, according to the CDC. But that phone has become like a third hand. It goes everywhere with me. I probably touched it a thousand times while I was out. So, failing to wash my phone is an enormous flaw in an otherwise solid infection-prevention scheme. It’s so big a flaw, in fact, that it might be undermining much of my effort. But how do you wash a phone? You can’t ... Read more

7 ways to keep bored kids from turning into screen zombies

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How’s your pandemic going? If you are anything like the 2,000 parents of school-aged children recently surveyed by Fat Brain Toys, your kids have announced, “I’m bored” an average of six times a day, had five temper tantrums a day, and created six "career-best" messes in the past few months. The result, for many households, is that the kids have turned into “screen zombies.” Because what else are you supposed to do? This hardly seems like the best the time to limit screen time. Also, it’s gotten hard to know anymore how much screen time is too much. School, reading, research, entertainment, and socializing all comes in via screen. This doesn’t change the reality that too much screen time, ... Read more

Disaster Tech for Smoke, Hurricanes, and LIFE in 2020

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Fires in California. Unsurvivable hurricane storm surge in Louisiana. Flooding. Tornadoes. The worst hurricane – and worst hurricane season – the U.S. has ever seen. Oh, and there’s also a pandemic in full swing. If you don’t have an emergency plan to help you survive a disaster, you need to look to that STAT. The emergencies are coming faster than the news can hype them. Is this an apocalypse? Global warming? Retribution from the gods? Whatever reasoning you subscribe to, it’s time to gear up. The right gear can make the difference between having water and not, getting rescued and being stranded, knowing what’s coming and being caught unawares. And once the disaster is upon you, it’s ... Read more

HOW TO: Set Up a Safe, Ergonomic School-from-Home Workstation

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In the 1980s and 1990s entire industries went digital when computers hit the scene. People stopped using typewriters, light boards, and pencils and started sitting at computers. It was amazing. And, we all soon learned, it had a dark side: Huge numbers of people – me included – developed crippling injuries from what all now know were computer-related repetitive strain. It took years of lawsuits, permanent injury, research, and suffering before we learned that these injuries, tragedies really, could have been easily prevented. This year, an entire generation of children are making the shift from going to school – full of varied kinetic motion – to remote learning at home – rife with the ... Read more

HOW TO: Keep your pets safe this summer – tools to deal with fireworks, heatstroke, and more

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It was one of my darkest days. My beloved Malamute, Nik, was old. She had no patience for the outing on my agenda, preferring the shade of her favorite tree. So, I left her in the yard with plenty of water, snacks, and toys. It was early summer and the day was cool. By the time I got home, though, she was unresponsive. Heatstroke. I rushed her to the vet, where she spent several hours on an IV and languishing in an ice bath. She recovered. But I could have lost her. And the emergency bill was huge. “Dogs are not people,” says Paul Brazzell, veterinary consultant, and JustAnswer pet expert. “They function very differently. Heatstroke is at the top of my list of summer pet hazards.” But his ... Read more