Anyone under the age of 12 has likely grown up staring at some sort of screen for most of their lives, which is why they're so addicted to them. If you're a parent or grandparent that struggles to get the young ones to get some fresh air, there's an app for that! It's called 'Mission Adventures' and it uses their fondness of a screen to get them outside enjoying the wonders of nature. It gamifies exercise like hiking through the use of tasks and a structured plot they can follow. It's based on a route that you want to take them on, which can be a trail, the surroundings of a park or a walk through downtown. When it's set up, the app will lead them through a variation of adventures through their screen that uses items in the physical world that they will interact with. Consider it an alternative form of 'geo-caching' that you get to control and design for both iOS and Android devices: https://lightarcstudios.github.io/mission-adventure

Weather-related apps are abundant and if all you're looking for is a basic forecast, any of them will do. But sometimes you need more detail especially when you are planning on doing something outdoors. This is when I turn to the Weather Underground app. The incredible amount of information that you can gather via the app is simply amazing. One of the coolest features of the app is that it can provide hyper-local information from weather stations that belong to others using the app. Public weather stations are great, but adding the extra layer of private info which shows up in red gives you much better info for a specific area. Elevation changes can make a big difference in temperature, which is why private reports can be so valuable. The app also provides the moon phases and air quality information to boot. For weather data nuts, this is about as good as it gets!

To be a successful student, staying organized is one of the major keys. A disorganized student won't be able to locate their notes and study material, which can lead to poor outcomes. For those with a student struggling to stay organized, there's help available online via ExamTime:and#160;https://www.goconqr.com/en-US/examtime Their suite of online tools includes MindMaps,and#160;Flashcards,and#160;Quizzes,and#160;Slidesand#160;andand#160;Notesand#160;to help students stay organized. This free resource is also a great hub for study groups that want to keep everyone in the group on a parallel path. This eliminates the random notes that could be who knows where that a student needs to advance. It's not just for students as teachers and business users can benefit from their platform, so if you're looking for better organization of any type, give it try!and#8232;

There was a time when a fax machine was a critical part of communicating with others, especially in business. As archaic as it may seem, there are still some situations when you might be required to send something to an actual fax machine. With all the tools that make it easy to send documents as scanned files from both your computer and smartphone, it seems silly that sending a fax is still a thing, but it is. The next time you have a situation that requires you to send something to a fax machine, remember the Fax Zero websiteand#160;https://faxzero.com This service is absolutely free as long as you don't need to send more than three pages at a time. If you need to send a larger document, it's only $1.99 for up to 25 pages. Once you scan the documents that you need to send, just upload them to the Fax Zero website, add a cover message and off they go to the other side of ancient technology!and#8232; This is one of those resources that's rarely needed, but when you need it, it's a life saver. Bookmark worthy, don't you think?

Our screen-obsessed kids learn in a much different way than we did and the Internet has become one of the best places for them to enjoy learning things like math, history and science. An amazing website known as the Khan Academyand#160;is completely free and absolutely the way our kids like to learn new things because it's video-based. It's a great tool for students, parents and educators looking for an alternative way to learn and teach generally dull and boring subjects. They get started with the video lessons which will lead them to many of the other learning resources such as challenges and assessment tools. Every student learns things differently and at their own pace which is what makes this self-paced website so perfect for today's kids. If you're a parent or teacher and haven't seen this site yet, make it a point to visit today!: https://www.khanacademy.org

Any time there's a clear night sky, the stars shine much brighter and we see lots of constellations that we don't always see. If you're interested in learning more about what you're looking at in the night sky, download one of the many stargazing apps on your smartphone. These apps use the location of your phone along with the accelerometer in your phone to provide real-time info as you move your phone around. If you're using an iPhone, take a look at the Star Chart app for an immersive augmented reality experience. Its basic features are free with in-app purchase options for extended features. An app called Sky Map is an excellent free option for Android smartphones that provides the same type of usage as the iPhone app. Whether you're trying to get a child interested in the night sky or it's your curiosity that needs to be helped, jump into the fun with one of these apps: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.stardroidandhl=en_US https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/star-chart/id345542655

Malicious apps are one of the biggest threats to your smartphone, which is why it's always safest to get your apps directly from Apple and Google and avoid bypassing the security built into your smartphone.and#8232;and#8232;'Jailbreaking' or 'rooting' is something that techies like to do, which allows them to remove the protection and install apps from anywhere which puts them at a higher risk. That was the case until the latest scams that have found a way to sneak malicious apps onto a phone even if it hasn't been modified by the user. It starts with a social media post, text message or email bestowing the magnificence of a new app with a link for you to give it a try for free.and#8232; The link actually launches a process to attempt to exploit your smartphone with your permission. It's always best to take a pass on an app unless you have specifically gone looking for it.and#8232; Your friend's compromised accounts can also send you these malicious links, so even when it seems to be from a trusted friend, be very wary. One way to tighten the security on any smartphone is to have a virtual set of eyes overseeing all of the typical activities that can lead to an exploit through apps such as Lookout! https://www.lookout.com

One of the common ploys used by hackers is to set up legitimate-looking websites that are actually rigged to check for open security holes when victims land on their site. A long-standing bit of security advice is to avoid any websites that you know nothing about, but with so many good new websites being added to the Internet every day, this isn't very practical advice. Fortunately, there are free tools online that can provide you with an analysis for any website before you decide to land on it like the one from Trend Micro: https://global.sitesafety.trendmicro.com Trend has been compiling a massive database of websites based on their reputation and via their analyzation tools to help you navigate new websites. It's a simple tool to use because all you have to do is type or paste in the web address for any site you want their report on whether they've detected anything malicious on it. The report can quickly summarize what the content will be along with a rating as to its safety. This is another one of those bookmark-worthy links to have in your browser!and#8232;https://global.sitesafety.trendmicro.com

As the Internet became a more media-rich environment, the speed at which a page would load also became much slower. A technique known as caching was incorporated to improve the web experience by retaining previously loaded elements onto the local hard drive. By eliminating the need to download every item to display a web page, things got much more enjoyable. There are times when this awesome process can work against you and prevent a page from loading properly. To prevent this, there is a keyboard shortcut that tells your computer to ignore the cache and download everything from the Internet on a page that you've previously visited. Windows users can press the CTRL and F5 keys together to tell the browser to reload everything from scratch. Command-Shift-R is the keyboard combination that Mac users use to do the same thing. If this bypass process allows you to load a page that previously wouldn't load, it would be advisable to clear your browser's cache - Instructions posted at: https://bit.ly/3uvZq0f

If your entire family is working and going to school from home, you may need some additional computers to accommodate your entire crew. A cheap alternative to expensive laptops known as a Chromebook is available from a variety of companies. Instead of running on Windows or macOS, Chromebooks use Google's Chrome OS and a handful of programs that can work with or without an Internet connection. Most schools have gone to a complete system that lives in the cloud, which means all you need is some way to get online, which is exactly what the Chromebook is made for. This solution is more likely to be useful for students because you can't install traditional business applications into a Chromebook. and#8232;Another great reason that it's kid-friendly is that malware and viruses that target Windows and Mac users are completely harmless to Chromebooks. If you want to see the latest units available in this class of computer, visit: and#160;https://www.google.com/chromebook