Data Doctors Tech Tips

Connecting people with similar needs is one of the greatest aspects that the Internet offers. When it comes to those that travel, connecting those that have an unneeded hotel reservation with those that need one is being done by a website called Roomer. It's like those services that connect people around sporting or festival tickets. They take all the complexity of trying to offload unused hotel reservation nights by selling them to other that want them. When I took the site for a test run, the best results were clearly in larger cities. For instance, I found a hotel room in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City for $76 a night that normally costs $170 a night as long as you're able to stay the 6 nights of the original reservation.and#160; If was able to track down a hotel room in an expensive part of Manhattan that was less than $100 a night as long as you used the entire reservation. The best deals will also be available for those that are flexible on their dates. Should you ever get stuck with a non-refundable reservation or if you want to find a smoking deal from someone that's stuck with a reservation, check out:and#160;https://www.roomertravel.com

Most of use are involved with various groups that can range from community charities to sports teams for our kids that require that we contribute money to the organization. If the groups you're involved in still ask you to reach for your checkbook, write a check, get an envelope and stamp and mail it off, there's a platform you should make them aware of... it's called 'Cheddar Up' and it could save everyone lots of time and hassle. In just a few minutes, any organization can setup a digital fund collecting account that's easy for anyone to use. The best part is that it doesn't cost the organization anything to use the service. It allows you to provide a single point for collecting money that also tracks everything for the organizers and gently reminds members automatically when a deadline is approaching.and#160; It's also something to consider for gathering funds for large family functions, such as a wedding or funeral. Get the details on how everything works at: https://www.cheddarup.com

Whenever you need to send a large file to someone via email, you end up with a complex set of choices to make in order to get the file sent and received. For those Dropbox fans out there that also use Gmail, there's really simple solution to this common problem. An awesome Chrome browser add-on called 'Dropbox for Gmail' makes this complex problem super simple to deal with even if your recipient doesn't use Dropbox themselves. It completely eliminates the need to upload the file to your email account or deal with the size limitations on both ends, because it simply creates a link to the file that you already have stored on Dropbox. You'll never have to send one file at a time or jam everything into a Zip file in order to get your files received. If you have a large number files, you can share a link to an entire folder in your Dropbox account and the tool makes adding files that you receive via Gmail easy to upload to Dropbox as well. Get it here: http://bit.ly/2XiM325

Using one or more social media platforms has become standard operating procedure for virtually every business out there, but many smaller businesses are still struggling with just how to best leverage these powerful tools. It starts by getting some of the basic precepts down which will lead to building your organizations strategy. Anyone struggling with basics can actually just take a course to get started. Not the kind of course that requires you to go to a classroom for hours on end, but one that gets delivered to you and only takes a few minutes per lesson to learn something new. This option is available from the social media posting company known as Buffer which offers a free daily course that only requires you to spend a few minutes every day reading. It's not going to make you an expert next week, but it will help you get started on the building blocks necessary to be successful. If you've been avoiding social media for your business, see if this approach gives you what you need to feel confident in moving forward: https://buffer.com/email-courses/social-media-101

If you're like most Internet users, you know that you should be using long unique passwords for each of your online accounts in order to stay safe from breaches. Most people don't follow through on the essential security step because they continue to use passwords they can easily remember. It's nearly impossible to be safe without using some type of password manager, so if you still haven't found one that works for you, checkout the offerings at https://www.roboform.com. It started life as a form filling utility, but now also offers full password management functionality. Roboform also has mobile option and their basic service is free to use! There are some interesting features including their batch login option that will auto open browser tabs and log into your primary sites just by tapping one button. The value of any password management program is that you can create lots of unique complex passwords for each online service you use, but you'll only have to remember one master password.

Major tragedies that happen around the world shouldn't be the only time we collectively think about donating to help others. If that resonates with you, checkout an app from Google called "One Today". The app shines a spotlight on a different charitable organization each and every day, along with an overview of their work and an easy way to make a small donation. You can also use the app to get your friends to join in using the match donation or pay it forward option designed to help a group raise funds. If you really get into the kindness of daily giving, you can make your donations in a lump sum which can result in a tax receipt when you give more then $250. Why not help others on a regular basis, which will help you feel good about helping others every day?and#160; This app is encouraging a lot of people to give a little bit on a regular basis, which can add up to a large impact:and#8232;and#160;https://onetoday.google.com

Gaining access to sensitive information is a crime that was popular way before the computer and technology age. Thieves go where the honey is and in this case the honey is your personal data. One simple rule to keep in mind is that whenever a company that you do business with has been breached, whatever you have been using as a password for that site can never be used again. Cyberthieves have been amassing enormous databases that collect all the passwords and associated email addresses or usernames for years, hoping that you'll continue to use these compromised passwords on other accounts. This makes targeting specific people a lot easier, because they can simply cross reference their stolen password database with your email address to start wreaking havoc. Fortunately, there are several online resources you can use to know whether your various email addresses, usernames and even passwords have been added to these underworld databases. When you see that an account has been compromised, make sure to immediately change the password and never use the old one again! https://haveibeenpwned.com https://ghostproject.fr For more information on how to use these sites, go here: https://www.datadoctors.com/help/kenscolumns/22233-Have-I-Been-Compromised

Youtube has become the single most popular video streaming site on the Internet, which is great as long as you have a connection. For those times that you know you won't be connected, but would like to watch a video, did you know you can use tools to download them beforehand?and#160; The one I like to use is atand#160;https://dirpy.comand#160;because it's fast and simple to use. Simply grab the link on YouTube for the video you want and give it to Dirpy to start the process. You can choose either video with audio or just the audio for a live concert video for instance. For downloading complete videos, you can choose highest quality or lower quality to save space. Once Dirpy is done, you have a file that can be played on your computer or transfer it to one of your mobile devices for listening anywhere, anytime. Think of how great this tool is for parents with kids going on a long trip with no Internet connection!

In my never ending quest to find new ways of getting our tech to work for us, I bring up one of our favorite integration tools: IFTTT It stands for If This Then That and it allows you to integrate lots of your various internet services using recipes for actions. Want a reminder on your phone when you star a message in Gmail? There's a recipe for that! Want a text automatically sent to your wife when you leave work? There's a recipe for that too! The site works with hundreds of online service with lots of recipes that have already been put together by other members of the service. Feel like contributing to the community? Create you own unique recipes and post them up for others to enjoy. With apps for all major mobile devices, you can even create recipes on the fly. If this is the first you have heard of https://ifttt.com, do yourself a favor and jump in with both feet!

How many times a day do you find yourself using Google to look for information? It's pretty constant for most of us, but there's one type of search that you'll want to be especially suspicious of the results: tech support. Scammers have created lots of elaborate companies online that may even include Google's advertising network to pose as legitimate tech support companies. It can become especially confusing when you search for a specific big name company's tech support resources to tell who's legit and who's a scammer. One huge red flag to watch for is a toll free number that pops up in the description before you even click on the link. Avoid calling those numbers until you've verified that it's the actual big name company's website. The bad guys are constantly gaming the system, so just because it shows up in a Google search result does not make it legit. If you want to go to the legitimate support page for any tech company, simply type their website address followed by /support. ex: Microsoft.com/support For more of our tips on avoiding these scams, go here: https://www.datadoctors.com/help/columns/22031-Beware-the-Latest-Tech-Support-in-Search-Scams