Data Doctors Tech Tips

If you're like me, it's abundantly clear that your mental quickness isn't what it used to be, which is a bit on the frustrating side at times. If you've figured out a plan for physical fitness, you may want to extend that effort to mental fitness as well. An app we've talked about before called Elevate could be of interest for anyone that's in the same camp as me.and#160; Using games that are rooted in scientific research, the app is an enjoyable way to work on your aging brain. There are a variety of focuses that you can select to work on, which is customized to create your daily tests and then tracked to show progress as it happens. A limited version of the app is free (make sure to click the 'X' in the upper left-hand corner after you sign up for an account) with subscriptions you can opt for if you want the full program. Playing games can help sharpen mental skills, but games based on brain science are a better use of your time. Learn more at: https://www.elevateapp.com

If you own an iPhone, you've probably marveled at all of the amazing things it can do beyond simply communicating with others, but there's one thing that it doesn't have that would make it even more useful... .a tripod. The myriad functions that the iPhone can perform means that you end up using it in your hands for just about every activity. A simple accessory that may make using your iPhone even more enjoyable is the tripod from Kenu called the 'Stance'. The tiny add-on, which can easily fit in your pocket, laptop bag or purse, can totally improve how you use your smartphone. Tired of holding your phone to watch long form videos? Want more opportunities to use the camera timer? Kenu may just have what you didn't know you needed.and#160; This tripod isn't limited to portrait mode because it's designed to allow you total flexibility, so if it sounds interesting, pop on over to: http://bit.ly/2AJXoz7

It's not often that you don't turn to the Internet to gather information on just about anything you plan on buying. Another great benefit is the ability to research competitive products for an item you are interested in purchasing.and#160; Often times you won't be aware of what competitive products exist, which is the point of today's tip. Google searches that include a product followed by 'vs' as in versus can quickly provide you with comparisons of the most popular items in just about any category. If you were in the market for a new car and wanted to compare a Honda Civic with all of its competitors, simply type "Honda Civic vs" to get the scoop. If find this approach extremely useful when I'm looking for apps and don't want to download the first one that comes up in a search. This type of search will quite often bring up review websites that are filled with information about a lot of the items that are similar to the one you know about. Not everything you're shopping for will benefit from this tip, but more times than not, I've found it to be very useful.

Today's tip is for anyone that uses Google's productivity software, especially their spreadsheetand#160;tool called Sheets. There's a free browser plug-in that will add a cool option to Chrome that's a great help should you ever need to convert any spreadsheet to a document. Anyone that's ever had to incorporate a portion of a spreadsheet into a word processing document knows about potential formatting issues. With the 'Save As Doc' plug-in, you can convert an entire worksheet or any portion that you choose to become a document file. I found it really helpful for converting the results from a Google Survey that I setup into a more usable report for a meeting. If you typically copy and paste to try to get spreadsheet info into a document, you'll love this tool. It's a pretty simple tool to use and it just sits idly by in Chrome until you need it. Get it here:and#160;http://goo.gl/H0ed2B

It's pretty obvious that social networking has become a major communication method not only for us personally, but professionally as well. Every working person that's interested in creating new opportunities or meeting like minded professionals should have an updated LinkedIn profile. If you haven't done much with LinkedIn, it's important that you don't treat it like a personal social network. It's not so much about the people you already know and more about making new contacts that could help you many ways professionally. When it comes to accepting connections, refusing the connection just because you don't know them would be like refusing to accept a business card from someone you don't know in real life. You shouldn't accept any connection request without first spending a minute reviewing the person's profile and background. I don't accept connections from profiles that don't have a picture, have very few connections, haven't filled out their profile or if they're from foreign countries with no connection to what I do.and#160; You can kick someone from your network just as quickly as you accept them, so don't be afraid to accept connections once you've vetted them. When they try to force a sales pitch on you or abuse the connection in any way, use these steps to get rid of them: http://bit.ly/2nmk4T7

If you're in business, help with school events or just tend to be an organizer of any sort, you've likely been in the situation where you need some simple design work done. Hiring someone to do it isn't generally feasible, so when you have to rely on your own skills to create the piece, there's an online resource that you should have bookmarked called Canva:and#160;https://Canva.com.and#160; Because it's web-based, there's nothing to install, download and very little to learn in order to be successful. They provide a bevy of templates that you can use as a starting point to quickly and easily build professional looking business cards, posters, flyers and most importantly these days, the proper size graphics for all your social media profiles. What's great about the templates is that you generally need only to add text once you choose the one that represents the theme you're trying to relay. If you have your own images to add, you can or you can purchase inexpensive options from their catalog to really spice up your design. It's one of those websites that you may not need on a regular basis, but when you do, having https://www.canva.com at your disposal is a game changer!

Anyone that has to use reading glasses to be able to make use of their smartphone has probably found one without the other on many an occasion. Lots of us simply buy a pile of reading specs and leave them in our most common daily deer trails. If you're constantly searching around for glasses when you want to read something on your smartphone, why not have a pair of glasses attached to your smartphone? A company called Thin Optics has created a potential solution for people that have this problem - it's a smartphone case that has a slot for their thin reading specs. Because they don't actually include the typical arms for reading glasses, they are thin enough to slip into the case. You can get an entire case with the compartment or add the compartment to just about any existing case you have. At $20 to $40, this inexpensive option may be just the solution that some of you have been looking for. Learn more at:and#160;http://bit.ly/2nTED9j

How important has text messaging become for you? What would you do if a bad thing happened to your smartphone, like it gets lost or stolen?and#160; There's a decent chance that you'll end up with either an unusable or lost phone at some point, so you should act accordingly. Before you find yourself in this situation, search your carrier's website for an online text messaging tool, get it setup and learn how to use it. You'll need the username and password associated with your phone number in order to use it, so that's why I'd recommend you doing this before a crisis. If you do find yourself in a crisis and need to send an urgent text from a computer, there's a website called Text 'em (http://textem.net) that might be helpful. One issue that may prevent you from using the sight is that you'll have to know which carrier that your intended recipient is using. Learning how to send text messages when your phone isn't available is something that is bound to payoff, so it's a skill that I highly recommend that everyone learns.

Google's Chromebooks have been around for quite a while and have become very popular in elementary schools, but it may actually be a great alternative for a lot of you. These inexpensive laptop alternatives are designed for those that spend their lives on the web. They use Google's mobile operating system known as Chrome and a bunch of their productivity tools that can be used even without an Internet connection. It's not for those that have to run specific Windows or Mac programs or for those that want to edit videos, but for that average web surfer, they could work just fine. and#8232;For those with less of a need or as an additional computing device in your family for your younger users, these devices are shielded from the growing malware threat focused on Mac and Windows users. To get a better understanding of what Chromebooks can offer, visit: https://www.google.com/chromebook

If you're like me, you use your phone in the car to listen to music, podcasts and provide driving directions on a regular basis. In order to stay safe, it's important to have your phone in your normal line of sight instead of in a cup holder or other low places that requires you to look down to see it. There are lots of devices that use suction cups, sticky glues or even magnets to present your phone in a safe place, but did you know that your air vents can be used as well? A company called Kenu has a series of holders called the 'AirFrame' that simply clips to one of the blades of any of your air vents to hold your phone up high. The various holders can generally hold any phone of any size including the extra space taken by a case. Keep in mind that if your air vents or blowing out heated air, that can cause issues for your smartphone, so avoid doing that. They offer lots of different options that you check out at: https://www.kenu.com/collections/vent-mounts