Data Doctors Tech Tips

Whether you like what Edward Snowden did or not, everyone can agree that he knows a bit about cyber-security. With this in mind, when Snowden tweets about a messaging system that he personally uses because of its security, you can count on it being about as secure as communication can be. The Signal app from Open Whisper Systems is the one that was mentioned in the tweet and it's available for both iPhone and Android smartphones. The app provides secure messaging for text or voice communications and best of all, it does not require you to get an account in order to use it. Because it uses your current number and personal address book, it requires no separate sign-ins, usernames, passwords, or PINs. It makes use of very sophisticated encryption technology, but it's still really easy to setup so you can start using it as your primary messaging app. It also automatically determines if your recipient has the same app, so it doesn't encrypt messages sent to people that aren't using the app. If your business could benefit from secure messaging, check it all out at http://WhisperSystems.org .

If you're into shopping, the Internet has made it so much more convenient when you want to buy things you know you want, but when you aren't sure what to buy, how much time do you spend researching your options? That's where a startup called Operator, which is the creation of a co-founder of Uber wants to help online shoppers. They offer human help from the Internet via smartphone apps if you're shopping for anything from romantic getaways to concert tickets or even if you're just looking for a new mattress. They're goal is to become that trusted friend you tap whenever you want info on something you're interested in buying. Think of it as a personal concierge service waiting inside your smartphone, or at least that's what they're trying to become. Since it's a startup, how quickly someone responds may vary for now, but depending on what you need help with and when, this interesting approach could come in handy. If you want to give it a test drive for yourself, you can get the app at https://www.operator.com

If you love live music and understand the life of the working musician, you know how grateful they are for tips from those that came to listen. Jamming money into their tip jar is what most of us do, but some times you may not be able to show your appreciation...like when you don't have any cash with you. Since we're typically using cash less often these days, many in the service and hospitality industry are suffering as a result. That's where an app that makes it really easy for those in the service industry to get the tips they deserve comes in. It's the Bravo app and it makes electronically tipping your guides, musicians, parking valets or anyone in the service industry when cash isn't an option a snap. I routinely suggest to musicians that they should make a sign promoting the Bravo app next to their tip jar, so those that are listening can download the app and electronically tip them throughout the performance. Whether you're using it to tip or to get tipped, I say Bravo to the awesome Bravo app! https://trybravo.com

It's not hard to take for granted the amazing technology in our smartphones these days, but they're more powerful than what NASA used to get us to the moon in the 60's. They include amazingly sophisticated camera technology so we can all take incredible images without the need to be a professional photographer, right? Not so much... Features like auto-focus, auto-white balance, auto-exposure and auto-color correction can't help you with your pictures if you don't understand composition. The very helpful rule of thirds seems to be a challenge for many emerging photographers and thankfully, there's an app for that. The Camera 51 app concentrates its efforts on helping novice photographers with the all important composition. It uses the sophistication of your smartphone to analyze scenes you're getting ready to capture to provide you with an on-screen guide to suggest where you should point the camera. If you're looking to dramatically improve your pictures through better composition, check out the free Camera51 app for iPhone or Android smartphones.

Today's tip focuses on the ongoing issue that we all deal with on a regular basis...grocery shopping. If you're like most families, you use paper lists, text messages, emails or even a chalkboard on the refrigerator and keeping track of what's on-hand adds to the fun. The bigger your family unit is, the more complicated the problem becomes, as requests for items to be added to the list comes from everyone, on any day and through any of the potential channels. If you're looking to reduce the hassles of keeping everything on track, checkout the Capitan app. Think of it as a grocery list on steroids that learns what you're family regularly buys as well as organize the list to come closer to how things are displayed in the grocery store. You can even use location services on your phone so the app can remind you of the list when you walk into your grocery store as well as alert your family that you just walked into the store should hey need any last minute items. Checkout this cool app at http://www.getcapitan.com

Professional football is a national obsession this time of year, with fantasy football leagues that range from one week to the entire season becoming just as popular. Fantasy football, for many fans, creates a reason to watch meaningless games, which makes it very popular with both the fans and the league. If you're looking to add yet another dimension to being part of each game, a real-time prediction app called ringit! Pro is something to check out. It's a play-by-play fantasy app that allows you to predict the next play while watching your live games. You accumulate points for making the right picks, while competing with others throughout the game. It's fast-paced interactions that allow you to act like your the coach during the game and compare your skills with your fellow fans. iPhone users can download ring it! from the App Store, while Android users have to download it directly from their website: https://www.ringitgames.com

The task of transferring files between a mobile device and a computer is becoming more common these days. Whether you've got a large HD video you shot on your smartphone and you want to edit it on your PC or a large number of PDFs that you want to review on an airplane that doesn't offer wifi, there's a cool solution for that. Infinit is group of free apps for just about any mobile device or computer and it makes transferring files between them all super simple. If you're one of the millions that now regularly uses multiple operating system platforms, Infinit will be infinitely faster to use than other sharing tools such as iCloud, Dropbox or Google Drive because it eliminates the upload/download process. Infinit uses peer-to-peer connections, so files can be transferred directly between your devices. Because I use an Android handset and a Macbook laptop, Infinit allows me to quickly share my files and folders between them with no file size restrictions like all the others impose on users. It's also a great sharing tool groups, so give it a go at https://infinit.io

E-mail these days tend to be inefficient and often a dangerous way to communicate, but it is still the method of choice for most businesses. If your business is not getting a timely response to the messages you're sending, it could be due to your choices in when you send them according to a recent study. An e-mail marketing company called Yesware analyzed over half a million email messages and discovered that the open and reply rates for email are actually higher on the weekends. Why? Maybe because your message doesn't have to compete with as many other messages on the weekends. The study also showed that messages sent early in the morning (between 6am and 7am) and in the evening (closer to 8pm) got responses at a higher rate. If you want to test these times for yourself, learn how to schedule your important email messages as most e-mail programs have an option or an add-in that can send your messages when you want them to be seen. For more details on the Yesware study, I've posted the link at DataDoctors.com/radio http://www.yesware.com/blog/best-time-to-send-email

If you're just beginning your exploration of the wonderful but confusing world of wine like millions of others, there's a different kind of wine club that you may want to take a look at. Think of it as a Netflix for wine when you visit http://TastingRoom.com. The key to their approach is helping you to figure out your preferred wine profile by using a 6 bottle tasting kit that gets sent to at your initial sign up for the service. When you get the kit, you simply go to their online guided tasting challenge which helps them learn what flavors and varietals your palate prefers . Based on this process, you'll start to get sent wine to you or you can customize the shipment if you know what you really want to drink. If you don't like something that's sent to you, each bottle is guaranteed so you can get it replaced or credited towards future bottles. The key to refining your choices is to continue to update ratings you give each bottle you get sent, so your wine discovery will tend to be more spot on as you go. Learn all about it at https://www.tastingroom.com

If you are a photography buff, you'll probably already know that Adobe's Lightroom image editing software is amongst the best available. Well anyone that wants to take their smartphone photography to the next level should checkout the super powerful mobile app version of Lightroom. It has many more refined controls, which will blow away the basic filters that your built-in camera app offers as well as most other third-party apps available. It offers more than 40 presets that are fine tuned to let you enhance your images with just a tap of a button. It's a powerful tool that even a novice can make use of. The advanced manual adjustments will allow you to achieve edits that would never be possible with standard editing apps. You can also copy any of your favorite edits across multiple photos at the same time. The free Lightroom app works on the iPhone, iPad and Android devices and give anyone looking to step up their smartphone photo game a huge boost.