Techish

BACK TO SCHOOL: Helpful Tech-Life Hacks for Busy Families

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It’s been more than twenty years since I’ve gone to school, and yet every August without fail, I have classic back-to-school anxiety dreams: There’s a big test and I forgot to study. I can’t remember my locker combination. I’m in gym class — naked. Sound familiar? Turns out back to school season can be just as stressful for parents as it is for some students. A slew of recent surveys show parents are increasingly anxious about back to school shopping costs, getting kids ready and out the door on time, screen-time, busy schedules, homework, and bedtime, among many other nagging concerns. While new technology might be to blame for some of the stress — like kids playing Fortnite when ... Read more

HOW TO: Take smartphone photos that pop!

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People will take more than 1.3 trillion digital photos this year — according to industry analyst site InfoTrends — and we’ll take nearly all of them on our smartphones… where they’ll likely live until we run out of room on our phones. But using a smartphone as your default camera comes with a whole host of specific problems. Here's how to fix some of the most common smartphone photography missteps. 1. Out of focus The fix: Tap the screen where you want it to focus That’s right. Tap a face or landmark and wait until it becomes really crisp and sharply into focus. This works the same whether you’re on an iPhone or Android. Even if you think your phone's auto-focus feature is doing the ... Read more

Here are some of the best deals for Amazon Prime Day 2018 so far

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Don't you just LOVE when you get better deals than anyone else? Here's the latest scoop, and we'll keep updating this list as we're able to confirm these ahead of the big day - which starts July 16th! For more on the do's and don'ts of one of the biggest deal-scoring days of the year - read this next! Amazon Echo  Amazon's Alexa-enabled smart speakers and hubs are some of the company's most popular gadgets, and they're going to get big price cuts for Prime Day. Here are the low prices you can look forward to: Echo - $69.99 (normally $99.99) Echo Dot - $24.99 (normally $49.99) Echo Plus - $109.99 (normally $149.99) Echo Show - $129.99 (normally $229.99) These are some of ... Read more

How to dramatically increase the chances of finding your smartphone again if you ever lose it

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We may not like to admit it, but our smartphones are our one-stop communication hub for our entire lives. Having your phone die on you in the middle of the day is a scary thing, but straight up losing it is practically a tragedy. With summer day trips and all the awesome outdoor activities that come along with warm weather, your chances of misplacing your phone rise in a big way, but there's something you can do to up the chances of recovering it if you find yourself phone-less. Keeping your phone locked and secured with a passcode, fingerprint, or facial recognition help deter thieves, but it also makes it much harder for someone to return your phone to you if you ever lose it. How will ... Read more

These easy DIY iPhone battery tricks will keep you powered up so much longer!

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Battery drain issues never seem to go away. You get a new smartphone, it seems awesome for a little while, and then before you know it you’re back to barely making it through the day before it sputters to a stop. It’s an issue I’ve had with my last three iPhones, and I’ve gone to Apple for help many times. I did the typical troubleshooting — updated my phone, tweaked location settings and notifications, didn’t expose it to extreme ambient temperatures, and made sure my Wi-Fi was connected whenever possible — but none of the typical tricks fixed it. I was still dead in the water by two in the afternoon. IS “BATTERYGATE” TO BLAME? The drama surrounding Apple’s iPhone battery woes can ... Read more

YES! There is a way to stop those annoying robocalls!

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My smartphone rings. It’s a number I don’t recognize. I ignore it and the caller leaves a message, “You will be taken under custody by the local cops,” says a robotic sounding female voice. “There are four serious allegations pressed on your name at this moment...” They leave a phone number to call back — or else. I know right away that it’s a scam, likely one of a half dozen calls I’ll get today. And it’s not even noon yet. This kind of frustrating little scenario played out more than three billion times in the month of March alone, according to the YouMail Robocall Index, at a cost of more than $9.5 billion annually to people who fall victim to phone scams. A new Harris Poll for ... Read more

HOW TO: Spring Clean Your Social Media Like a Pro

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A dirty, unkempt, constantly cluttered house takes a toll on your health — according to dozens of scientific studies and experts. And just like piles of junk don’t do your physical or mental health any favors, neither does a messy social media life. “Most of us are both addicted to social media and fatigued by it at the same time,” says Amy Jo Martin, a best-selling author named the third most powerful woman on Twitter. “It's important to reset our habits and patterns around social media.” Considering that most of us will spend more than five years of our lives scanning social media, it’s as important a place as any these days to do some serious Spring cleaning. Here’s how to deep clean, ... Read more

Here’s every privacy related update Facebook’s made so far – in one place: 

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Here's a look at all of Facebook's recent privacy changes and updates, in one place, with working links. We will continue to update this list and Facebook rolls out more changes. Updated their terms of service to be easier to understand https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2018/04/terms-and-data-policy/ Turned off data access for unused apps https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2018/03/cracking-down-on-platform-abuse/ Restricted Facebook login data for apps https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2018/03/cracking-down-on-platform-abuse/ Made data settings and tools easier to find (privacy shortcuts) ... Read more

5 Handy hacks for your favorite websites — Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and more!

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Browsing your favorite sites on the web is super easy thanks to bookmarks and shortcuts, but sometimes the "normal" way of using a site just isn't the best way. There are all kinds of cool little tricks you can do with URLs to get certain websites to act just the way you want, and some of them are so freaking easy that you might just kick yourself for not using them sooner. View full-sized Instagram images I adore Instagram both on my phone and on the web, but it's very strict about how it lets you see photos. There's no button or quick link to see the original version of a photo — the biggest, sharpest version — but a quick bit of URL magic saves the day. Here's how to do it: Go ... Read more

HOW TO: Find out right now if your data was shared with Cambridge Analytica

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Want to see if your Facebook data was shared with Cambridge Analytica? Find out via a dedicated link. Facebook posted a new link to its Help Center today to let all 2.2 million people who use the social site know whether they've been breached. Here's what it says when I open the page: You might also get a notification that looks like the image on the left or right below: NOW WHAT? No matter what -- be sure to go through all the 3rd party apps you've signed into using Facebook. On a desktop: Click the question mark in the upper right corner and go down to Privacy Checkup From there, scroll down to Apps to review everything connected to your account. Edit who sees ... Read more

Spring Clean Your Social Apps: Instagram Insta-Shine!

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The biggest “hack” for I’ve found for this feed so far is a life-changing Chrome browser extension that lets me post to Instagram from my laptop. It’s called Desktop for Instagram. Once you add it to Chrome, it shows up as a little icon in the toolbar. From here, or on your mobile device, you can go to town cleaning everything up. Instagram is all about presentation — from gorgeous photos to carefully curated stories — it’s like the grand entrance to your social media world. That means it needs an extra dose of sparkle, shine, and polish! Start with your profile. From a mobile phone or that desktop extension. Click on that little person icon at the bottom of your mobile ... Read more

HOW TO: File your taxes faster, get last minute-help and track your refunds

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The April 17 tax deadline is looming. As the mad dash to file draws nears, there is some new technology to help make this potentially stressful task incredibly simple — yes, even for those filing last minute. Here's a look at some options: Free filing If you made less than $66,000 in 2017 and have a simple return, the government makes it easy to file online, for free. The Internal Revenue Service's "Free File" preparation and filing software guides you through the process. You can sign your return electronically and track the progress of your refund, all for no cost. According to the IRS, 70% of all taxpayers — about 100 million people — are eligible to file using the Free File ... Read more

Amazon (and Alexa) know a whole lot about you. Here’s how to download and delete that info.

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 It's not just Facebook and Google that have loads of our personal data. There's also Amazon. The company isn’t only the most popular Internet retailer in the country but it also dishes up content (via Amazon Prime Video, Audible and the Kindle library); runs a successful cloud platform for businesses (Amazon Web Services); sells devices like tablets, Kindle e-readers, set-top boxes and streaming sticks; and lets you access a personal assistant via Alexa-powered speakers and screens. It took the Cambridge Analytica scandal – the unauthorized access of Facebook user data from as many as 87 million accounts — to shine a bright spotlight on how much personal data we’re (over)sharing, and ... Read more

Spring Clean Your Social Apps: Taming Twitter

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Twitter is a whole other beast. I really can’t quite get over the fact Twitter doesn’t have an edit button. Still, it’s my favorite chosen place to follow the musings of some of the brightest people in the world and it remains the best place to follow for breaking news. But there’s a whole lot of other junk in there too now. “When you go into a house that has tons of clutter, how does that make you feel,” asks Dr. Eva Selhub, physician, author, speaker, and executive coach. She suggests blocking Twitter clutter at the source, “Clean up who is coming on your posts, the information that’s coming through to you. Is it lifting you up or bringing you down?” Twitter’s built-in “Mute” feature is ... Read more

These awesome apps will help you save tons of money on Spring Break

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I have a major case of cabin fever this year — and I live in Northern California. I really can't imagine what folks in snowy states are going through right about now. (Well, I can imagine it, because I grew up in Alaska...) As spring fever takes its hold, dreams of sandy beaches, sunny skies, and sweet umbrella drinks are now fueling my favorite procrastination activity: Spring Break planning! But money's tight this year, so here are the five apps I'm taking on my trip to have a blast and still save a ton of cash. Hopper Hopper's an airfare forecasting app that predicts when to book your flight for the best available price. After you select your dates and destination, Hopper's ... Read more