The Techie Geek Mom

How To Get Your Parents and Grandparents to Read Your Blog

2012-01-22T15:40:00.001-07:00

I love that my parents, in-laws, and grandparents read my personal blog. And they comment sometimes too!

This is how I get them to read my blog:

Go to Settings in your Blogger account.
Go to Mobile and Email.
Then go to the ‘Email posts to"’ section.
Add their email addresses to that section. I have a few friends and other relatives’ email addresses in this section too. Only 10 email addresses are allowed in this section. If you need to add more, you need to use a Google Group to do this.
Voila. They read your blog every time you post. It’s that easy!

Obviously ask them first, if they want to be receiving these emails

When you have a book, you always have a friend!

2011-12-02T13:53:00.001-07:00

My grandfather said, "Read as many good books as you possibly can. When you have a book, you always have a friend." And I’m always happier when I have a friend!

I love that as long as I have my phone, I have a book!

Here are the different ways I read on my phone:

Kindle for Android. I’m a semi-frugal person, so I love to read free books, and there are plenty out there, like this: http://forthemommas.com/free-stuff/free-kindle-book-o-little-town
OverDrive. eBooks and Audio books from my local library.
Aldiko. You can load all sorts of books on this app. And ePub files can be read on here.
Deseret Book. A huge array of LDS and other great books!
Google Reader. All the blogs I follow.
Evernote. When I’m online and run across an article, by using Google News, StumbleUpon, etc., I send it to Evernote, so I can read it when I’m not at my computer.

I wasn’t a reader growing up, but now I love it! Sometimes I have to resist the urge to check Google+, Facebook, Email, etc., but I try to always make myself read first.

Places where I read:

In bed. So much easier than holding a book and having a book light.
In the lazy boy, while nursing my baby.
In the car.
And everywhere in between!

How To Upload a Picture to Facebook WITHOUT a Smartphone

2011-12-02T12:58:00.001-07:00

I LOVE pictures! Some may get tired of me posting pictures on Facebook, but I love when others post pictures!

Steps to setup your phone on Facebook

Go to Account Settings –> Mobile and register your phone.
Go to https://www.facebook.com/mobile/
Under ‘Upload via Email’ find the email address that ends in @m.facebook.com and add a Facebook contact to your phone using that email address.
Send a picture message to that email address (You don’t need a smartphone to send a picture message to an email address).
Viola, you’ve posted a picture!

I expect to see more pictures now!

Recover Deleted Files From A Camera, Flash Drive, Etc.

2011-09-04T17:52:00.001-07:00

As stated in the article below, “Have you ever accidentally deleted a photo on your camera, computer, USB drive, or anywhere else? What you might not know is that you can usually restore those pictures—even from your camera’s memory stick.” Really? Amazing!

Follow these steps outlined in the article. It’s a miracle!

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/15120/get-back-that-photo-picture-or-file-you-deleted-accidentally/

Best Voicemail Setup Ever

2011-09-04T17:25:00.001-07:00

I used to use T-mobile’s voicemail, and it worked fine. But since I LOVE new technology, I decided to try using Google Voice as my main voicemail. Think I’ll ever go back to normal voicemail?! NEVER!

When I used to get a voicemail, I would listen to it, and most likely forget about it afterwards. Now I get the voicemail as an email, transcribed and all! And I can listen to it on my PC too. It helps me to have the voicemail in my email Inbox, so I remember to call them back!

It’s hard to describe all the amazing features it holds. Please go check it out yourself! It’s SUPER easy to make the switch.

I love you Google Voice!

I LOVE the new Gmail theme!

2011-08-27T15:09:00.001-07:00

My eyes love the new Gmail Preview theme. Isn’t it so appealing?

I have two to-do lists. One is my Gmail inbox. The other I keep in Evernote. Any email I have in my inbox, means I need to do something with it still. Since I look at my inbox many times a day, including on my Android phone, I love the new Preview theme!

To change your theme, go to: https://mail.google.com/mail/#settings/themes, and choose Preview or Preview (Dense).

Enjoy your new theme! And if you’re not using Gmail, I recommend making the switch!

My Mom’s Email

2011-07-06T17:30:00.001-07:00

Anytime I see my mom’s email Inbox, it makes my stomach churn. Since I originally created her email account, I still have the password. I just logged in and look how many emails are in her Inbox. 719. WOW.

I just a read a post on manilla.com and thought of my mom!

I agree with the first three items of the post, but not the fourth. This is what the post said:

1. Use Folders. Putting emails in separate folders is just like using filing folders for your paperwork. It organizes all of your emails into smaller and more distinct categories. Once you read an email, place it into a folder or delete it directly to avoid a backlog in your inbox.

2. Check And Check Again. Don’t go days without checking your email. When you have 200 new messages in your inbox, it’s hard to quickly discern what’s important and what’s not. Check at least once a day. If you can tell from a subject line that an email is unimportant, go ahead and delete it. Don’t let it sit in your inbox unread.

3. Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind. Your inbox should be a place only for emails that have not been processed. Keep emails that require a response in your inbox. Otherwise, file it away in a folder. You can reference it at a later time if necessary, but it won’t be staring you in the face every time you log in.

4. Filter The Good From the Bad. Use filters to organize and avoid spam. For example, create a filter so that all emails from colleagues are automatically dropped in your “Work” folder. Get spam out of your inbox by identifying the bad email addresses and directing those messages straight to the trash bin. I think all emails should go to your Inbox and then you manually move it to where you want it. That way, nothing is missed.

Patriarchal Blessing on Your Smartphone

2011-06-08T15:36:00.001-07:00

For all those LDS people out there, have you ever thought about putting your Patriarchal Blessing on your smartphone? I hadn’t until I read this article: http://mormonlifehacker.com/2011/06/put-your-patriarchal-blessing-on-your-mobile-device.html.

Since I’m an Evernote user, I’ll go with that method!

Send Virtual Flowers for V-day!

2011-02-12T22:27:00.001-07:00

I’ve told my hubby to NEVER waste money and buy me flowers, but if he sent me virtual ones, I would approve

http://www.flowers2mail.com/

Securing Your Facebook

2011-02-08T08:46:00.001-07:00

Follow these simple instructions to secure your Facebook account: http://lifehacker.com/#!5748697/how-to-keep-your-facebook-secure-by-enabling-https

Not that I felt unsecure using Facebook before, but now I feel more secure using https. Thanks LifeHacker for the help!

The Tool We Use To Budget Our Money

2011-01-28T22:33:00.001-07:00

http://www.clearcheckbook.com/

I can’t thank this site enough for helping us make it so easy to budget money. I don’t use all of the features offered, because we just don’t need them. They have an awesome budgeting tool, but we don’t really use it. For instance, I could set a “Food” budget, and when I buy things, I would allocate it to that budget. Read below on why I personally don’t use that. I think it would be great for some people!

Basically, we use it as a checkbook (so it’s not linked to our bank accounts like Mint.com and other tools do).

Twice a month I do the bills (which I love doing. I’m kind of OCD about it lol). I keep track of what bills need to be paid and when, using this site. So easy!

After I’ve paid the bills, and allocated the “extra” money, I leave us $150 for that 2 weeks. That is used for food and fun. Makes it pretty easy to stick to a good budget!

As things clear through the bank, I just “jive” them on this site. That way it shows how much money I have left to spend, and how much is in the bank. For instance, our bank could say we have $653, but ClearCheckBook says we have $129 to spend. Before I used this site, I would forget that a bill was going to be deducted from my account, and I would think I had more money than I did. This is ALL solved though this site!

I love their Android app!

When my hubby spends money, he knows he has to log into the site and enter it in. Works so easy for both of us!

I love the iGoogle widget that is on my homepage, so I always see how much money we have every time I open my browser.

This site has made our life so peaceful about money.

Here are some videos of how to use this web tool: http://www.youtube.com/user/ClearCheckbook

Printing Only What You Want

2011-01-13T10:42:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I want to print a webpage, but I don’t want to print all the extra junk that’s on the page. An easy way I do this is by using PrintWhatYouLike.com.

It’s just a nice way to save a bit of ink!

Enjoy!

Fine Tune Your Google Search

2011-01-01T15:26:00.001-07:00

Do you love Google as much as I do? Maybe not, but I bet you still love it. If not, I’m confused.

I use Google to search for everything. If I have a question, do I call someone? Nope, I just ask Google. Some of you would be be appalled at that, but it’s the way I work.

Sometimes I can’t find exactly what I’m looking for without using Google Operands. I love the OR and AND features. And the “-“ feature as well. It omits something from my search.

I also use this when searching on Craigslist. I use the “-“ a lot. For example, I’m looking for a baby swing to buy. I would type under the baby section “swing –swingset”. I don’t want the swingsets to show up in my search. Love that feature!

Enjoying searching even more now!

Leave a Voicemail Without “Calling” Someone

2010-11-27T17:35:00.001-07:00

Do you ever need to call {not text} someone, and don’t feel like talking to that person, at that time? If so, use Slydial.

I’ll admit, I’ve used it a handful of times.

It works with or without a smartphone. It’s a pretty amazing technology!

If you want to try it, leave me a voicemail using it! 602-570-4039.

Send & Archive, Simultaneously, In Gmail

2010-11-21T10:44:00.001-07:00

Instead of having to click “Send” and then later clicking “Archive”, just turn on “Send & Archive” from the Labs tab under Settings.

This feature makes it much easier to keep your Inbox clean!

Thanks to the Gmail Blog for this article.

Tracking Your Cycle!

2010-11-10T13:45:00.001-07:00

For those of you that do not know, I’m pregnant!

With my current son and this pregnancy, I used http://www.mymonthlycycles.com/ both times to know when I could get pregnant. Worked great for me, so hopefully it will for you too! Now, I realize that fertility issues play a role as well.

My Monthly Cycles has a period calendar. You click on the date when you start your period, and then click on each day after that, when you’re still on it.

They also have an ovulation calendar that shows you when you should try and get pregnant!

It’s simple to use and makes it easy to track things!

Don’t forget to lay in bed and raise your butt for at least 20 minutes after you make love, when trying to pregnant!

ANNOYING noreply-comment@blogger.com

2010-11-10T13:37:00.001-07:00

I have friends that will comment on my blog that have not “enabled” their profile, so when I go to reply to their comment, I can’t. Sad.

Please follow these steps that Lil Luna has shared, so when I click reply to your comment, it doesn’t reply to noreply-comment@blogger.com. Wouldn’t it be fun if that were your email address? All the fun emails you’d get to read!

Send A Free Fax

2010-11-04T10:05:00.001-07:00

I’ve had to use this site a handful of times: http://faxzero.com/. It is fabulous for just the occasional fax you need to send.

For the free version, your document can only have a maximum of 3 pages. And you can only send 2 faxes per day.

Enjoying faxing!

How My Family Stays Connected

2010-10-29T09:40:00.001-07:00

Google Calendar!

My husband has a Google Calendar and so do I. Then we “share” them out to each other. His calendar is green, mine is purple, and my son’s is orange.

My son (16-months-old) doesn’t have his own calendar yet. Google Calendar lets you add other calendars under your own. I have my son’s, a menu, my pregnancy, and a family birthday calendars under my own account.

It’s so easy to setup and so easy to use! If my husband adds something to his calendar, I easily see it. He doesn’t even need to say that he is working later one night, because he knows that goes on the calendar

I have an Android phone (which is a Google phone), so all my calendars are on there. So easy to stay on top of things! When I’m at my OB, and I’m making the next appt, I just easily put it on my phone, and I’m done!

You don’t have to have an Android to use this on your phone though. I know Blackberrys and other phones can do it as well!

As you can see below, we aren’t super busy, but busy enough for me I don’t put things on the calendar like naps, work, etc.

I highly recommend that everyone have some sort of system like this. If you need help, just let me know!

Inspired Opinions

2010-10-24T20:10:00.001-07:00

This month my husband participated in a research study on sleep.

A few months ago I participated in a study about a financial website.

We each made $100. It’s fun, easy, and interesting.

This is the company that we did the studies for: https://www.inspiredopinions.com/.

Here are some other companies we are signed up for and have done studies for as well:

http://www.delve.com/

http://focusmarketresearch.com/

Enjoy giving your opinion and making money!

Did He/She Read My Email?

2010-10-24T19:45:00.001-07:00

Have you ever sent an email, but you never knew if he/she read it? In most cases you don’t need to use this, but the site whoreadme.com could be useful at times.

I’ll share a personal experience where I wanted to use this. Towards the ending of a previous bad relationship, I used this service to see if the guy read a few of my emails I sent to him. I won’t go into any detail, but I was thankful for this service

That is a bad experience, but I’m sure there could be many useful reasons to use it. What would be one or two that you can think of?

Batch Rotate Photos

2010-10-21T13:38:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I’ll see a friend post pictures, and for a bunch of them, I’ll have to turn my head to see them. Not so fun.

To quickly rotate a batch of photos, use Actions.

Here is a video that explains how to do it:

If My Computer Crashed, Would I Cry?

2010-10-17T20:42:00.001-07:00

NOPE! And I know some of you wouldn’t either, but my fear is that more of you would than wouldn’t.

I posted this back in August about easily backing up your data regularly. Out of the 10 people that read this blog, my guess is that one of you followed it. Or am I wrong? I hope so.

If I lost my pictures, code from work, music, documents, etc., yes I would CRY, but I love having the peace of mind that everything is being backed up all the time.

I’ve multiple friends bring their PC or laptop over, hoping to fix it and save their data. Sometimes I’ve been able to fix it, but sometimes there is just no way to fix it. Or a reformat needs to be done.

There are many backup tools:

SyncToy {The one I talked about in a previous post.}
Syncplicity {I used this one in the past. It’s my favorite, but I decided to stop paying for it. Although data is priceless.}
And so many more…

Please choose one and put your mind at ease. And, yes, even Mac users need to back up their data. I’ve had many of my Mac friends have issues too, even though they claim nothing will ever happen to them. HAHA.

So, friends, PLEASE BACKUP YOUR DATA. And don’t do it manually either. It’s too complicated and you’ll forget.

“Call” Someone

2010-09-27T14:02:00.001-07:00

I think AbbyMe is a very cool technology. Sometimes I wouldn’t mind making a phone call like this, but it goes beyond being too impersonal for me. I already think I’m too impersonal enough.

I have tested AbbyMe and it really works. The only way I can see using this technology is using the ‘future date’ feature, where I could set a phone call for a future date. But then again, I would just set a reminder on my phone to call that person.

Can any of you think of a reason to use AbbyMe?

Snipping Tool

2010-09-14T08:11:00.001-07:00

I love the little snipping tool that comes with Windows 7 and Windows Vista. This video pretty much explains it all.

Every screenshot I put in my blog, I use the snipping tool. Things I want to show family or friends real quick, I use the snipping tool. It’s easy to use, which makes it even nicer!

Enjoying snipping!