Data Doctors Tech Tips

Anyone that's a writer, leads a team, teaches, trains others or has to create any type of outline will want to checkout today's tip on a simple but powerful tool.and#160; Workflowy is one of the more useful sites that we've found for those that need help keeping things organized.and#160; It's an easy to use web app that leverages easy to create 'nested lists', that can start out as a basic outline and end up being a fully fleshed out lesson plan, training guide or user's manual. Those that teach can use it to develop a syllabus that can be easily shared as a lesson plan for their students.and#160; The tool allows you to search, tag and filter lists as well as quickly move or duplicate sections, export and print the resulting outlines.and#160; Sound interesting? Check it out for yourself at https://workflowy.com to see if this helps you stay organized!

Everyone that is now an expert programmer started at the exact same point... .the beginning which meant that they knew nothing!and#160; Anyone that's ever thought about learning a little bit about how web and software programs are created, just to be a little bit smarter about today's world, will love today's tip.and#160; Codeacademy.com http://www.codecademy.com is an incredible Do-It-Yourself, learn at your own speed tool that can teach anyone the basics of coding.and#160; The website walks you through simple, step-by-step lessons to start writing simple code that anyone can follow.and#160; If you or someone you know has had the curiosity to learn but didn't know where to start, have them checkout CodeAcademy.com.and#160; Want to see if your kid is the next Zuckerberg? Get them started at CodeAcademy.com and you may just bring out their inner geek on put them on the path to a digital future.

Anyone that doesn't know the difference between a derivative and a triple tax free municipal bond shouldn't feel bad because you are not alone.and#160; The technical terms in the investing world, much less the investments themselves can get pretty overwhelming for average non-financial people, so finding help is a must.and#160; One web resource that's full of information on investing, digesting the markets, understanding active trading or just about anything to do with investing is at investopedia.comand#160; The website offers tutorials, explanations of investment terms along with a dictionary that includes related terms.and#160; It even offers a simulator that will allow you to test out the things you're learning using virtual money.and#160; So now when you hear 'gap risk' or 'reciprocal currency arrangement' on a financial news segment, you'll know where you can go to understand what they're talking about! http://www.investopedia.com

Google Maps is everyone's go-to resource for directions or finding a nearby store or restaurant, but what about when you want to share a map that needs more vital details for your needs?and#160; When you need to create that next map for a backyard BBQ party or a get together in a remote place, wouldn't it be great to be able to scribble your own notes on the map? Well, that's what an awesome tool atand#160;http://ScribbleMaps.comand#160;allows anyone to do! It allows you to add text, special markers, custom images and other overlays to any Google map.and#160; If you have ever needed to create a customized map like you may have seen from news organizations, give ScribbleMaps.comand#160;a try. Do you need to explain to attendees where to park for your next party?and#160; Want to retrace the path of an epic hike and add various pictures you took along the way? This is the perfect tool for either! At ScribbleMaps.com you can easily loads their tools into any browser and start scribbling!and#160;

Even though we all have our calendars and to-do lists and reminders to help us stay efficient, what about when you want to remind someone else of something they need to remember?and#160; You can certainly use shared calendars or a whole host of other complicated tools when it's someone close or you for those more random situations, use Alertful.com to make it simple.and#160; Getting that timely reminder message is one of the easiest ways to ensure you won't forget tasks and events; Alertful.com makes it really easy to schedule those e-mail reminders.and#160; Whether it's a one time reminder, once every day, every week, every month or even yearly, the website lets you set it and forget it!and#160; Everything from birthdays to common 'to-dos' to appointments and renewals or shopping lists, meetings or just about any type of reminder you can need can be scheduled for you or your forgetful friends and associates.and#160; Anyone that needs a little extra nudge remembering things can use the free and simple toand#160;http://Alertful.comand#160;to git er done!and#160;

Today's tip is for anyone that has lots of friends or family that ask them for help on topics that they could have used Google to get the answer for themselves. If you're the go to answerer of questions for everyone around you, congrats, you're awesome!and#160; But how often do you get those annoying questions that make you ask yourself "why can't they just go to Google for this question?" Without making them feel bad, wouldn't it be awesome if you could drop the hint that in the future, they should just use Google to try to answer their questions?and#160; A website called https://LetMeGoogleThatForYou.com or https://lmgtfy.com is a great way to do just that! It will create a link that starts an animation that will literally show them step by step, how they could go to Google and type in the question to get their question answered!and#160; It is a pretty humorous way to still provide them their answer, but also show them how they to find many answers themselves in the future, if they'll simply try using Google it first!and#160; http://LetMeGoogleThatForYou.comand#160;... bookmark it today!

If you still don't have a star gazing app on your smartphone, we have a couple of free suggestions for you.and#160; These apps are helpful in identifying constellations as well as planets and in some cases, use augmented reality to assist you in seeing why a constellation is named what it is.and#160; iPhone smartphone users should checkout 'Star Chart' which includes the augmented reality views and is free for the basic options. If you really want to dive in, you can purchase upgrades to extend your learning.and#160; Android smartphone users can checkout 'Sky Map' which is free and works using the same process of holding the phone up to the sky to identify or track down anything you see in the night sky.and#160; These apps are a great way to get kids interested in the amazing light show that goes on just about every night but so many of us take for granted. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.stardroidandhl=en_US https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/star-chart/id345542655?mt=8and#160;

We recently had a question asked on our Facebook page to see if there was a way to put timestamps on photos taken by the user's iPhone.and#160; At first glance, we thought this was a silly request, but upon further review, there are some cool reasons for this old school method of including a visible time stamp, including organizing and verifying for a third party.and#160; Your smartphone images all contain date and time info in what's called the 'metadata', so an app that reads this hidden info can easily add the requested timestamp to any picture.and#160; iPhone users can checkout a free app called 'TimeStamp-It' while Android users can checkout a free app called Camera Timestamp.and#160; Both apps will allow you add various font-based time stamps and add it to any of the four corners so you can avoid looking like you are stuck in the last century.and#160; https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/timestamp-it-photo-stamper/id327756085?mt=8 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ascendapps.timestampcamera.trial

One of the many inspirations of traveling is to discover new things and experiences of the area that you're visiting through various activities.and#160; But how many times have you gone on a trip to an awesome location and said afterwards "I wish I'd known about this place before I got there"?and#160; You can obviously spend a ton of time manually searching through Google search results for info on what you can do before you go or you can use today's tech tip as a shortcut by using the and#160; http://getyourguide.comand#160;website. Whether you're interested in guided tours, sightseeing tours, a local cooking class or a sunset cruise, you can do all of the above by putting in your upcoming destination and the dates you will be there and let the GetYourGuide resource do all the work for you.and#160; You will get lists of the available activities, what they'll cost, ratings and reviews all on one screen, which allows you to quickly educate yourself for more extensive research on Google.and#160; The tool lets you sort by price and even language when you are headed abroad, so look into expanding your next adventure via https://GetYourGuide.com

Virtually every type of mobile tech we have includes the ability to capture high-quality videos, but the editing of those huge video files afterwards can get a bit complicated.and#160; For the majority of users, investing in expensive, complicated video editing software doesn't make much sense, so that's where a cool and free option is the subject of today's tech tip. A web-tool calledand#160;https://wevideo.comand#160;is a pretty powerful, but easy-to-use video editing system that allows you to start in a beginner mode and move up to an intermediate or expert mode that canmmakes full use of timelines.and#160; Even if you have never ever edited any video before, you can simply trim unwanted sections, add a title, a little background music and even special effects in just a few minutes.and#160; There are even apps for most popular mobile devices, which allows you to edit video while on the go.and#160; The beginner's tools are free to try, so you can easily test out your skills (and patience) with no risk of an expensive program!and#160; https://www.wevideo.com/signup?p=freeandtier=personalandinstanceName=WeVideo