Data Doctors Tech Tips

A keyboard is the most common interface for most of your digital devices, but in the very near future, you could be primarily using your voice as an interface. Even though companies like Apple and Google are leading the charge in the smartphone arena, there's a lesser known company that seems to have them both beat. A company known for it's music recognition app called Sound Hound is now being lauded for it's voice recognition app called Hound. To see the future of voice recognition, checkout their demo video that seems to have a better understanding of complex voice commands. In the video, you'll see multiple examples of questions that would confuse most humans, much less a smartphone voice app. Since it's a demo video, it's easy to question the validity of anything that works this fast with such complicated questions, but it's an actual app you can test yourself. The free Hound app is available for both major platforms at: https://www.soundhound.com/hound The impressive demo video is at: https://youtu.be/M1ONXea0mXgand#160;

By now, everyone should know how dangerous it is to send sensitive information via an email message that isn't encrypted as anyone that comes in contact with the transmission can see everything in plain sight.and#8232;and#8232; Email also makes it impossible to control what happens that a message once it's sent.and#8232;and#8232; For those situations where you want a lot more control over what happens to a specific message after you send it, checkout the Gmail extension called Dmail. and#8232;The free add-on provides you with the ability to have the message automatically self-destruct and always sends the message in an encrypted form.and#8232;and#8232; Messages sent with the extension can be terminated in an hour, day, week or never, which then gives you manual control over when the message gets destroyed.and#8232;and#8232; This isn't intended for daily use, just for messages that contain sensitive info that you want to better control.and#8232;and#8232; If you install it, the default setting is on, so make sure you turn it off when you don't actually need it.and#8232;and#8232; Download it at: http://bit.ly/2EfoiRL

No one likes to think about something we will all eventually have to deal with: passing away. If you take a minute to think about how important it will be for your heirs to have access to your various online accounts, making it easy for them to do so, should you pass, is a pretty generous thing to do. The amount of time, effort and frustration that those you leave behind may have to go through if they are completely locked out of your accounts can be overwhelming, all while they grieve. Keep in mind that the myriad security settings that you put in place to keep the bad guys out will also keep your loved ones out in their time of need. Even if you store your passwords somewhere safe that your family will know about, don't forget that your passwords will often change over time, so there's on password that's the most important: your primary email account.and#160; Why is this? Think about where all your password reset messages typically go when you click on a 'forgot my password' link on any account. If nothing else, having this single account password will allow whoever is left to manage your estate to easily gain access to any and all of your accounts. No matter your age, this uncomfortable issue is something that we should all take care of for the benefit of those we leave behind.

Data is much of what drives most business decisions and anyone that works with data all day long knows the power of spreadsheets. Complex data sets can present problems in making sense of what you're looking at, which is why graphical representations of the data is so helpful. Most spreadsheet programs have an adequate number of tools for creating graphs or charts, but if you're a data nerd that wants more, there's a free tool called RawGraphs that's worth checking out. Unlike the limited options in your spreadsheet program, RawGraphs offers numerous options for really complex data sets by simply pasting the data from your spreadsheet into their web tool. The various charts present data categories that you choose to drag into the interface. There are lots of options for creating a visual chart that will help others make sense of your data set. This incredibly powerful and free tool will build your chart on the fly as you drag data to it and once you're done, you can download the chart in a number of different file formats. https://rawgraphs.io

The number of amazing features that just about every smartphone offers these days are awesome, but one downside of using a lot of these features is diminished battery life. For those of you that spend a lot of time on the road, you know how strategic you need to be when trying to keep your devices charged. When you only have a short amount of time to charge, it can be maximized by turning off the device while charging. If you can't turn off your phone, turn off as many of the radios as you can - Bluetooth, cellular and Wi-Fi to maximize the charge. Another tip to remember is that most hotel TV's have a USB port that can be used to provide a bit of a charge, as long as the TV is turned on. It's not going to charge as quickly as your phone's charger, but it can come in handy when you're under duress. As the warmer weather approaches, be mindful of heat or direct sunlight exposure to your electronics as heat is one of your batteries biggest threats. Charging your devices while they're overheated is also something to avoid...let it get back to room temperature for the best results.

Our smartphones have as much personal information stored on them as our computers, but because they are portable, they pose a much greater security threat. If someone with ill intent gets their hands on your phone, they can wreak lots of havoc including locking your out of your own accounts, so if you don't have a passcode lock setup yet, do it right away. If you plan on getting rid of a smartphone, there are a number things you should be doing to it before it leaves your possession. Your first step is to reset to phone to the factory default, which will wipe out all of your sensitive personal data, info and files. A lot of smartphones have an optional memory expansion slot, so if you used it, make sure to remove it or format the card if you're selling it before you part with your device. If you're switching cell providers, make sure you dispose of your old SIM card before getting rid of the phone as well. If you're staying with the same provider, move the SIM card to your new phone. The factory reset of the entire phone should be easy to find somewhere in the device settings menus. For more tips, checkout our column at:and#160;http://bit.ly/2WJovE0

Battery life issues are among to most common complaints for those that use a laptop as their primary computer. Because all batteries have a specific number of charge cycles, the more you charge it, that faster the battery life begins to lessen. Whenever you know that you are going to be using your portable computer plugged in like a desktop computer for an extended period of days or weeks, one way to help improve the life of the battery is to remove it. It's not to limit the charge cycles, it's to reduce the exposure to heat that is one of your batteries biggest killers. Both the battery and the processor inside your computer generate a fair amount of heat that you can avoid generating when you won't need it to be portable. A word of warning: don't unplug or plug in your battery while the device is running. Be sure to shut off your laptop and be sure it hasn't gone to sleep. The best way to run without the internal battery is to plug the power into a battery backup for safety sake.

It's pretty rare not to see a streaming video device in most homes these days. The list of companies that offer an option that can be added to your TV is pretty long, but not all smartphones interact with all streaming devices. If your an all Apple household with iPhones, iPads and Apple TVs, you can easily push your pictures an videos up to your TV. Likewise, if you're an Android fanatic with a Chromecast plugged into your TV, you can push thing up as well, but more and more of us have a combination, especially when it comes to friends and family.and#160; An app called 'Allcast' was created to unify all smartphones with just about any streaming box or smart TV to make it easy to watch what's on your smartphone on any connected television. The best part is that they allow you to try it before you buy it, because they offer a fully functional free version that allows you to watch up to 5 minutes of content through it. If you like how it works, you can buy the Pro version which has no limitations and is fully functional. Want to take the app for a spin? Just search for Allcast in your associated app store or visit http://www.allcast.io

Today's search giants like Google and Microsoft provide a great service for finding things online, but in order to make use of these powerful search engines, we have to give up some of our privacy. Sometimes the tracking of everything we search for can help provide a better experience, but with so much focus on privacy lapses, many of you are looking for a better way to search. Well a website that claims it's "the most private search engine" is at https://Startpage.com Bing and Google track virtually every aspect of where you came from, your location info and which results you clicked on in order to better target you with ads that might be relevant. What makes Startpage unique is that it offers the power of Google with none of the granular tracking. It's actually a way to stay invisible to Google, but still use their power search tool. Bookmark this site for any private searches you want to perform in the future: https://Startpage.com

Unless you stop to think about how you communicate every day,and#160;you probably didn't realize just how many ways you are doing it. It starts with social media messaging platforms including Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram to stand alone apps like Snapchat, WhatsApp to video apps like Skype. You have to think about who you want to communicate with, then which communication channel you want to connect with them on, then go to that specific app in order to start a conversation. If you want a way to streamline this growing complexity, I've got a great suggestion for you. The 'Drupe' app takes all your contacts and all your communication apps and puts them on a single screen! The app allows you to drag any contact over to any of the communication apps without having to jump back and forth. Drupe isn't limited to working with communication apps alone, as financial apps, reminders and calendars are just a few other ways to leverage their approach. The days of a single way to communicate with all your contacts is long gone, which is why Drupe may be just the app that makes things easier for all of us!: https://getdrupe.com