Data Doctors Tech Tips

Most of us have been on the cruise ship we call Facebook for quite a while, which means you will have accumulated what we refer to as Facebook barnacles on your account. The barnacles are all those apps that have attached themselves to your profile whenever you checkout a new app or try that new game and end up never using it again. Even when you don't ever use these apps, you still gave them permission to connect to your account below the 'waterline'. If you've never take a look, you'll be shocked to see how many apps haveyou your permission to access your profile info. It's time for a little clean up, so take the time to review the list of apps that have your permission to access your profile. Click on the icon in the upper right corner, then on Settings to get to the 'Apps' section. Once you see the list, just start tapping on the 'X' next to all those old apps you don't use anymore... your profile info will no longer be accessible in the future for those apps. https://www.facebook.com/help/170585223002660

Just about everything you use regularly online is sped up through the use of something called the 'cache' which is what stores various elements from your previous web visits on your computer. Using this cache allows websites to load much faster because your computer doesn't have to download every image, frame, video or body of text from the site you are visiting every time. Loading these items from your computer's hard drive is much faster, but in some cases, this process can work against you. If you have ever landed on a website looking for information but you can't find it or the site just won't properly load, there is a possibility that your being presented with an incomplete cached version of the website from your computer. If you ever want to bypass the cached items on your computer, try this: hold your CTRL button down and then tap on the 'F5' key along the top of your keyboard. This universally used shortcut works for most major browsers and is shortcut keystroke that tells the computer to bypass the cache altogether and download everything from the Internet. This turns out to be a really easy way to troubleshoot website loading problems as if it works, you will know its time to clear out the cache in your browser. Instructions on clearing your cache: http://www.wikihow.com/Clear-Your-Browser's-Cache

Since Facebook has become a such a fundamental form of communication for so many of us, we tend to use it wherever we are. But, if you have ever used a friends computer to log into your Facebook account and later realized that you neglected to sign out before you left, you were kind of at your friends mercy if they decided to be a prankster. Well, if you ever forget to sign out of any computer, whether it belongs to a friend or it's a company workstation, there is a simple way to protect your account. Facebook gives you the ability to review your active profile sessions in the Security section and allows you to terminate any of them if you so desire. It provides you with a list that includes when it was accessed, what type of device was used and the general location of that connection, which will allow you to determine which session was the one you neglected to sign out of and kill it! It's also a very good way to routinely monitor your profile to make sure that no one else has acquired your password and is making use of it without your knowledge. Just to play it safe, be sure to review this section of your settings on a regular basis: https://www.facebook.com/help/211990645501187

One of the reasons we love our smartphones is that there is no end to the useful or entertaining apps available for downloading.and#160; Most of us will generally look for free apps that fill any given need before we opt to spend any money.and#160; Finding those apps as they become available means that you have to spend your time searching for them or if you listen to this tip, download an iPhone app called 'Apps Gone Free to do the work for you.and#160; Did you know that every day there lots of apps that offer their apps that usually cost money for free but only for a short period of time. They do this to generate downloads when things slow down, but when you are not aware of free deals, you miss out on the short window of opportunity.and#160; Apps Gone Free uses human editors that save you lots of time and frustration because the staff hand picks every app and they write a basic summary to help you decide if it's worth downloading.and#160; There are a handful of featured apps each day that you can review to decide whether any of them fill a need... great app discovery that allows you to save money!and#160; Apps Gone Free is for the iPhone only: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/apps-gone-free-best-daily/id470693788 A similar app is available for Android users: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.tsapps.appsalesandhl=en_US

Let's begin today's tip with some geek speak: 'VOIP' or Voice Over Internet Protocol refers to the process of generating a voice call over the Internet.and#160; Skype is a great free VOIP service as long as you both have a Skype account, but when you want to have Skype make a call to a regular land line or cell phone number, it will cost you.and#160; Anyone looking for a way to make a free call from their computer to any type of traditional phone line in the US and Canada should look at their Gmail account. Long ago, Google harnessed the power of Google Voice within Gmail so it's super easy to make a call.and#160; Once you have the required Google Hangouts plugin installed, you can click on the telephone icon in the lower left column and tap in the phone number for any phone in the US or Canada.and#160; Or with Gmail shortcuts enabled, you can simply tap the letter 'G' followed by the letter 'P' as in Phone to launch the number dialer.and#160; You can also click on any properly formatted phone number in email messages to bring up the dialer using that number!and#160; Get complete instructions here: https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-make-and-receive-phone-calls-in-gmail-1171944

If your regular business activities include building things or managing tasks for a large group, you've already found a sophisticated, and probably expensive, software program that handles project management. But for those of us that just want to get things accomplished, either personally or professionally, project management software is overkill.and#160; For the rest of us, Trello was created as a simple but powerful tool that can keep our projects organized.and#160; This easy to use platform can turn any computer, smartphone or tablet into a digital version of the cork board with index cards.and#160; It's great for to-do's, random ideas or any important project that you're trying to put together because Trello uses a simple drag and drop interface which can bring clarity to the chaos of life and best of all, it is free! Trello allows you to attach pictures or files, web links, generate checklists, use color coded labels and even add people to a card so you'll know who's responsible for what.and#160; If you've been looking for a tool to get organized, Trello could be just what you've been looking for: https://trello.com

Complex data presented in a visual form is a lot easier to digest and understood which has led to the popularity of something called an 'infographic'. Trying to present a bunch of complex info in a clear concise method using a spreadsheet isn't very effective. Infographics are now everywhere, especially on research and news sites but looking at them, you'd probably assume that it takes some heavy lifting in a graphic design sense in order to create. But there's a tool that will allow you to easily create your own infographics and it's called Easel.ly!and#160; You can start with a template or create yours from scratch by, dragging and dropping objects, adding text, uploading images and before you know it, your information comes to life in a beautiful infographic (and it's free).and#160; Infographics aren't just for all those 'hipster graphic artists' any longer! https://www.easel.ly

Looking for inspiration on a home decorating or remodeling project and looking for something more rounded then Pinterest? Why not look to a website where the pros are?and#160;and#8232;and#8232; From remodeling a room to building a brand new home, getting inspiration from others is an excellent way to get started.and#160;and#8232; Our go to online resource for these situations is Houzz.com. It has a plethora of photos from top designers that can help you with your dream home.and#8232;and#8232;House lets you browse by room, create Idea books and get in touch with local pros that can turn your dream into a reality.and#160; and#8232;and#8232;You can also ask the Houzz community for input on any questions you have on just about any project.and#8232;and#8232; All you design or remodeling professionals should look into using Houzz to show the world what you can do and engage with new prospects.and#160;and#8232;and#8232; Get your own very visual inspiration for your next project at https://Houzz.com, that's H O U Z Z.com or checkout their mobile apps which allows you to take those inspirations to the home improvement store!and#160;

Their is no shortage of travel sites online that will try to find you the best price on everything from airfares to hotels to rental cars or anything else you may need, but what about the final part of any adventure to an unfamiliar destination? Directions to any major airport are easy to come by, but what about what it will take to get you to the front door of your BnB or hotel. What are the ground transport options? Waiting to determine how you'll get to your BnB after you land in a foreign country will be more stressful or expensive then it needs to be. A website called rome2rio.com is offering to show you every leg of what it'll take to get you from your home to the actual location of where you will stay. Whether you need info on flights, train rides, bus rides, ferry rides or a taxi or even driving directions, you'll get them all with this resource so you'll actually have every leg of your trip covered. If you're going to multiple destinations, you no longer have to go to multiple websites because https://www.rome2rio.com can handle it all

We all hate it when our computer's take forever to shut down, but your temptation to smack the power button to shut it down quickly is a very bad thing to do.and#160; Computers by design, use lots of temporary files during normal daily operations and they are marked for removal when you put it into shutdown mode. There's actually an extensive process of housekeeping that is setup to run whenever you shut down, which you can witness by watching the flashing of your computer's hard drive light.and#160; When you force a shutdown and don't let it finish, it will fill your hard drive with files you don't need.and#160; Any time a computer starts getting low on free disk space, it will greatly impact performance.and#160; So anyone that is guilty of this mistake should take the time to track down those unneeded space hogging files and toss them using the Windows Disk Cleanup utility.and#160; Patience is a virtue and a huge benefit when it comes to your computer shutting down and all those Mac users hearing this should also operate with the same guidelines to keep things running smoothly.