Techie Mum on Radio 2GB

I was on the radio this morning – Sydney radio station 2GB.  If you’ve just found Techie Mum from my interview with Andrew Moore – welcome.  Techie Mum is where you’ll find tips, information and product reviews on the types of tech gadgets that families use, new apps and software for Mums, Dads and kids, and recommendations and advice on how to get the most out of all your family’s devices. 

If you’d like more information about what I spoke about in the interview, I’ve added the links below to my articles on these topics:

  

My three favourite apps

Wunderlist - read about it here and here

Pocket

Stocard

More about my favourite apps can be found here

When it comes to cyber safety I defer to the absolute expert in the field – Leonie Smith, also known as The Cyber Safety Lady.  

Instagram

Is instagram safe for children?   

Read Leonie's article here 

Cyberbullying

What to do

How parents can prevent it

Minecraft

Leonie has also written a very popular article about Minecraft

Public Wi-Fi

What are Wi-Fi Hot Spots

Protect yourself when using Public Wi-Fi

You can also find Techie Mum on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest.  Take a look on my Home page for the links to take you straight to these sites.

I hope you enjoy reading my posts, and I hope you will feel free to comment and ask questions if there’s something techie you need help with.

If you'd like to listen to the interview it's available on the 2GB website here

My Favourite Apps

In my review of the Samsung Galaxy S5 (here, if you missed it) I mention some of the apps I use to manage me, my family and my business.  I've received a few questions about these apps and so I thought it was a good time to tell you about my favourites.  I have all these apps on all my devices – my iPad, and two Android phones – and almost all of them either downloaded to my laptop, or accessible online from my laptop.

Pocket

This has been the biggest time saver I have ever used. I use Pocket to store everything that I want to read later - email newsletters, web articles - anything.  Pocket gets rid of all the extraneous stuff and keeps only the text and pictures from the web article, making it really easy to read.  I can read them offline and add tags so I can search for the articles I need. Those that I want to keep I can send to Evernote.  Pocket is on all my devices so that no matter where I am when I find something I want to keep I can add it to pocket, and I’ve always got something to read.

http://getpocket.com

Evernote

Evernote is an amazing organising tool.  Similarly to Pocket, it can store articles and web clips and you can tag them to categorise them, but Evernote can do a lot more.  You can add notes via audio (record your voice), webcam, screenshots, and handwritten notes, and even email directly to Evernote; and each note can be formatted – with checklists, tables etc.  Create a filing system and folders within Evernote to organise your notes, and tags allow for cross-referencing across different categories.  Evernote also has a family of products to help you do even more with Evernote.  I use Skitch to add notes and marks to photos and screen shots (also great for PDFs).  I also have Penultimate on my iPad which I use with a stylus when I want to take notes by hand.  The pages of writing are automatically saved to Evernote.  Lots of other apps also work with Evernote – I’ve got the Chrome extension to easily add any web clipping to Evernote; the Outlook add-in to quickly send an email to Evernote; JotNot on my iPad which turns it into a scanner with the scanned document sent straight to Evernote. 

www.evernote.com

Wunderlist

This is my list manager - all my to do lists; what needs to be done in my business; in my home, in my life - everything. Items in each list can be given a deadline, and each item can have its own sub-lists. I can quickly refer to what needs to be done on a particular day and even print off the list for the day if I need it. 

www.wunderlist.com

Bitly

Bitly is one of many sites where you can shorten URLs.  But, by creating an account on Bitly, I’m able to use it for much more.  The URL of each of my blog posts is copied to Bitly where, not only is the URL shortened, I can view statistics for each URL, including how many clicks it has received. I also add notes to each entry with the date each time I share or tweet a particular post (great for reusing older posts).  On my laptop and the iPhone app on my iPad (there's no dedicated iPad app)

http://bitly.com

Trello

Trello is where I manage my projects. Each project has a board and within that board I can break down the project into different stages. Within each stage I add the tasks to be completed. Each task can be dragged into a different spot - so important when you suddenly realise you've missed a step. Trello is on my laptop, iPad and Samsung phone so I can work on a project at any time.

http://trello.com

Chimpadeedoo

I use Mail Chimp to create and manage Techie Mum newsletters.  You can sign up to receive the newsletter from the blog or from my Facebook Page.  But there’s often situations where someone would like to sign up for my newsletter but there’s not computer available, or not the time. Chimpadeedoo is a simple app on my iPad and phones that presents a single screen where anyone can signup for my newsletter, regardless of whether there’s internet access.  It’s linked to my Mail Chimp account so that once my iPad or phones are able to connect to the internet the registrations are automatically added to my mailing list.  Chimpadeedoo is perfect for an exhibition where you could have an iPad on the table for anyone to signup to a newsletter or mailing list (as long as you had a lock on the iPad to prevent someone running off with it) – the app can be set to not go to sleep so it’s always visible.

Dropbox

Dropbox is my favourite for cloud storage.  Any files that I regularly need when I’m away from my computer are stored in Dropbox, and with Dropbox on my iPad and both phones I can access those files anywhere.  On my computer Dropbox appears as just another folder so it’s easy to drag a file to it when needed.  I have it set up so any photos I take on my phones or my iPad are automatically saved to Dropbox.  That means all my photos are accessible on every device and it sure makes it easy to transfer them into my photo filing system on my computer.  As I took screenshots on my iPad and phone for this post they were instantly available on my laptop to add as I was writing.

www.dropbox.com

Infinote

I use the Infinite app on my iPad when I’m planning a new training session.  It’s like a board with lots of different post-it notes.  I create a note for each topic I want to include in the training and then I can move them around on the board/screen to get the order right.

What apps are your favourites?  I would love to know what apps you use, so please leave me a comment below and let me know what you use and how

App Review: Stocard

It’s not often that I can say that an app has changed my life!  Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I love this app!  A few weeks ago I discovered Stocard – an app that lets you get rid of all your reward and membership cards out of your wallet or handbag and onto your phone. 

I had a lot of cards, which I used to keep either in my wallet or in a business card flip wallet in my handbag.  Every time I wanted to find a card I used to have to try to find it amongst all the others, and half the time I’d give up and not bother, which meant I was missing out of loyalty points. 

Now my wallet and handbag have lost a lot of weight and I can find the card I want instantly!

It took about 10 minutes to load all my loyalty and membership cards onto my phone – it’s a very easy process

• Select the retailer from the list shown.  If you have a card that isn’t shown, select Other Card, and type in the name.
• Scan the barcode on the back of your card using Stocard’s built-in scanner.  If it doesn’t scan (I only had one that wouldn’t) just press your back button and type in the number.
• You’re done!

When you’re in a store you just open the Stocard app on your phone, tap the card you want and hand your phone to the assistant to scan.  If it won’t scan they can type in the number.  Usually the only reason they won’t scan is due to the age of the shop’s scanner.  I’ve been using Stocard for a few weeks now and I’ve only had one shop that had to type it in – that was my FlyBuys card at a smaller Coles supermarket.  I had no trouble using my Woolworths Everyday Rewards card at Caltex; FlyBuys at Kmart; Ikea Family Card; Fusion Card buying my sons’ school shoes at Mathers, and a few more. 

Stocard is available for free for both iOS and Android.  If you’re downloading for iOS you need to select the Stocard app to suit your region.  Stocard on Android is optimised for Australia, UK and Canada, and once loaded you select your region.   Both have over 200 preset cards for Australia with more being added all the time.

iTunes:  https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/stocard-loyalty-card-aus/id444578884?mt=8

Google Play:  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.stocard.stocard

Download your copy of the Review sheet here

Apple's App of the Year 2013 - Wunderlist

My favourite to do list organiser - Wunderlist - has just been awarded Apple's App of the Year for 2013!

If one of your resolutions for 2014 is to get organised you need to get Wunderlist.  I have it syncing across my PC, iPad and two Android phones.  I have lists for what needs doing around the home, a list for Techie Mum, lists for Family, School and more.  Each list can have sublists within it too - for example, my Shopping list has sublists for the shops that I don't visit every week (Bunnings, Ikea etc), so when I do get there I know exactly what I have to get.  I can add notes and checklists to the individual items on a list; and deadlines and reminders, which means I can then sort them with one click on Today or Week. 

I've written about Wunderlist before and all it's cool features - you can read that here 

If you haven't tried Wunderlist you really are missing something great https://www.wunderlist.com/en/

MORNING - My new favourite app

This is my new favourite app!  I started using it a few weeks ago, and I wouldn’t know what to do without it now.

Morning is an iPad app aimed at getting you organised by showing you everything you need to start the day in the one place - your appointments for the day; your to dos; the weather, so you know what to wear; how long it's going to take you to get to work; the latest news headlines, and more.

For an app with just a single screen it sure does a lot.  Morning has six customisable panels and you choose what will appear in each panel from eight options. 

If you choose Events for one of your panels, Morning will link into your calendar/s (you choose which calendars) and display your appointments for the day, and birthdays too if you have them appearing on your calendar. 

If you choose Reminders for a panel, Morning links to Tasks and Reminders and displays those for you.  You can tick off your tasks as you go and it syncs back to your Tasks and Reminders on your iPad.  You can also choose to only show the current day’s reminders if you prefer.

Your other panel options are:

Time/Date – choose normal or 24 hour time, show the year, and seconds too

Weather – just select Auto Location and you’ll see the weather forecast for your local area

News – you choose the source/s (newspaper website or online news site) – as long as the site has a news feed you can select it.  You’ll see an updating feed of current news stories with a link to the site if you want to read more.

Countdown – I've used it for counting down to a big job, but currently it’s counting down to Christmas

Stocks – keep track of your investments

Commute – map your normal route to work and you’ll be notified of any traffic hold ups and how long it will take you

You're not stuck with the arrangement of tiles; you can't actually move them around, but you can change what each one displays.  If you'd like to change a tile, just tap the tile to display the settings buttons, change the type of tile then add the settings for that tile.

You also have a choice of five colour schemes – blue, green, hot pink, orange and purple. 

Morning is available through the App Store for $2.99.  Let me know which panels you use if you use Morning or if you decide to give it a try.

Techie organising with everyday items

It amazes me how inventive some people can be when they need to fix something or solve a problem.  Take a look at these brilliant ideas using everyday objects to solve techie problems.

Use a pen spring to protect charger cables

Over time, charger cables start to fray or detach with continuous usage, especially at the connector’s end. One way to keep that from happening is to use the spring from a pen. Coil it around your cable and slide it up to the point of your connector. That part will stay firm and your cables will last longer.  (I wish I’d know that one before my mouse cable snapped off from its connector!)

Use bread tags as cord holders

The next time you buy bread, don’t throw away the tab. Use it to label your cables.

Empty toilet paper rolls as cord holders

Packing a coiled up cord into a roll can not only keep it from unravelling, but also help you label it by writing what it’s for on the roll with a marker pen.  

  

They don’t  have to look like toilet rolls – cover them with leftover gift wrap or fabric.

More cable organisation – this time with Washi tape

Pump up the volume by placing your iPhone / iPod in a bowl 

the concave shape amplifies the music

Keep cords from getting tangled in your bag by keeping them in an eyeglasses case

You’ll find all these ideas and more on my Techie Organising board on Pinterest.

Look what I got in the mail - Personal Planner

Whilst so much of my life is assisted by technology, one area where I've gone the other way is with my diary.  I do have my appointments in Outlook syncing to my phone and iPad, but I've always loved being able to open a diary and see exactly what’s happening and what needs to be done. 

In my attempt to create some balance between my crazy blogging and working life and my personal life, I decided that I would try keeping track of work in a separate diary, so that I wasn't always reminded of it every time I opened my personal organiser.

I've always been a Filofax/organiser-type person, and I still love them, but I needed to find something different – something that would exactly suit my working life.  My search ended when I discovered Personal Planner.

Look what I received in the mail yesterday!  My gorgeous new planner.

What I absolutely love about this planner is that I designed it to fit my life.  I chose a large size that I could leave open on my desk to keep track of what’s on – although there are three other sizes to choose from.

I could then add my own cover picture – or choose one of their great designs; and what wording I wanted on the front.  It was a toss-up whether to go with Techie Mum or my business name – as I am going to use this planner for both.  Techie Mum won this time.

When it came to choosing what went inside, I love that I was able to customise it to suit me.  I like seeing my day broken into hours, but I could have just had a blank writing space for each day.  

There are four spots at the bottom of each double page where you choose what goes there.  I added a To Do list, an Idea of the week box, a notes area, and, my favourite – Training.  The training box is actually meant for workouts, but I'm going to use it to list the computer training I have on each week.  

There are lots more options, and you can even have all your family’s birthdays and special events added to your planner, so you don’t have to write them in.

Even though it’s August, I didn't want to wait until next year to start my new ‘organised’ work life – Personal Planner even lets you choose the month you start at. 

Once you've ordered online it takes about three weeks for your planner to arrive.  My planner cost $45 including postage, and I think it was well worth it.  Pop over to Personal Planner and take a look.

Disclaimer:  I paid for my planner myself; I've decided to review it here for you because I just love this product!

Make your Google calendar even more useful

Do you use Google calendar/the calendar attached to Gmail?  The best thing about it is that it is available to you, and up to date, wherever you are, on any device – any computer, any smartphone or tablet – Android, iOS, or Windows, either via a built-in calendar app or browser. 

As well as the appointments and events that you add to your calendar, you can have Google add other information to make your calendar even more useful.

Google has a collection of other calendars that you can add to your calendar.  Here’s how to access them:

1. Hit the ‘S’ on your keyboard, which takes you straight to Settings 
2. Click on the Calendars tab
3. Then ‘Browse interesting calendars’
4. Take a look at the three different categories of calendars – Holidays – Sport – More

Holidays is where you’ll find the National holidays of 39 different countries - very handy if you do business regularly with another country, or have family overseas).

In the Sports category you select the sport you want, then choose the fixture you want on your calendar.

More is where you’ll find Phases of the Moon, Day of the Year, Star dates, the Hebrew calendar, and week numbers. 

If you have included your friends’ and family’s birthdays when you added them to your Gmail contacts you can choose to have their birthdays added to your calendar too.  You’ll find it under the More tab - just select Contacts’ Birthdays

You can preview and subscribe to various calendars.  There are quite a few to choose from and you can choose as many as you like, although don’t forget they will take up room on your calendar. 

Once you've subscribed to all the calendars you want, go back to your calendar and you can choose what colour you would like for each.  A different colour for your contact’s birthdays, another for holidays, and a different one for a particular sporting fixture.

When you subscribe to any of these calendars they are added to your Google Calendar and they will appear on all your synced calendars on all your devices.

Free Stuff Friday - Pocket

Pocket is celebrating its first anniversary today.  If you haven’t discovered Pocket yet you are really missing something wonderful. 

Pocket is a web site and a free app for your iPad, iPhone, Mac, and Android phone or tablet that allows you to save articles or pages that you find on the web.  Rather than just bookmarking or adding a site to your favourites list in your browser, you add the entire article to Pocket.  Then, when you have time you can read it later.  It also syncs across all your devices, so you can catch up on reading your articles whenever or wherever you are.

I have the Pocket extension for Google Chrome installed on my computer (get it at the Chrome web store) and the bookmarklet for Chrome on my iPad, so that if I find an article I want to keep I just click the button on the Chrome toolbar and it is added to Pocket.  You can also get the bookmarklet for Safari and Firefox.  Alternatively, you can just copy a URL and when you then go to Pocket you click on a link at the bottom of the page to save that clipping.

I read Pocket on my iPad and for most pages it’s not the same format as on the webpage – Pocket changes it to a much easier to read format, no ads, no extra stuff – just like reading a magazine article.  Once read I can delete it, or, if I want to keep it for future reference I can send it to Evernote.  If there’s an article I think one of my friends would like I can email it to them, or share it on Facebook or Twitter, right from a link on the article in Pocket.  There’s also a link to go back to the original article – especially useful if you want to read more on that site.

Since I started using Pocket I've found it so much easier to keep up with all the digital information I'm bombarded with each day.  Whenever I find an article I want to read, on Facebook, an email newsletter, the web, I just add it to Pocket and then I can forget about it until I have the time to really read it.

Click here to go to the Pocket page where you’ll find links to get Pocket for all your devices.  The page that this link takes you to will change depending on which browser you open it in – it changes to display the correct bookmarklet or app for that browser – how clever is that!

Free Stuff Friday: Clutter Rescue app

Would you like access to expert organising advice whenever you need it, right on your phone or tablet?  Today I have a brilliant new app for you.  The Clutter Rescue app is an extension of the service provided by Helen of Clutter Rescue, an expert member of the Australian Association of Professional Organisers. 

This app is my equivalent to a child’s favourite game app – I just love anything to do with organising.  But I've never seen an app that gives you so much…..

• Ground rules to get you started on organising
• Organising Challenges to work through at your own pace that tackle specific clutter problems, like your car, handbag, tax, kitchen pantry, etc.
• Quick organising tips
• Clutter Rescue TV episodes with practical advice on how to organise specific areas of your home, schedule and children’s chores and routines;
• Organising Podcasts to keep you motivated
• Articles and blog posts on all aspects of organising your home.

I've been using this app for a few days, and I just love that I can choose the spot in my home that I want to tackle today and this one app provides all the information I need to get it all sorted; and not just tips for me to read – there’s videos, podcasts, blog posts and challenges.

In this video, Helen introduces and guides you through the app.

The Clutter Rescue app is available for iOS and Android and it’s free.

If you’re an organising junkie you should also take a look at more of Clutter Rescue

Site:  http://clutterescue.com.au

Blog: http://clutterrescue.com.au/organising-blog/

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/ClutterRescue

Pinterest:  http://pinterest.com/ClutterRescue/

Wunderlist 2

I've mentioned a few times on this blog how I just love Wunderlist.  It is my Number 1 organising tool, where all my lists are created and managed, syncing automatically between my computer, Android phone and iPad so I have them with me at all times.

If you have never tried Wunderlist there’s an even better reason to do so now – Wunderlist 2 was released yesterday.  It is still as easy to use as ever, but it has some really cool features that I just love – you can now have sublists, and you can create recurring tasks, add reminders and notes, as well as share your lists with others.  There’s even a new Google Chrome extension that allows you to add the URL of a website you want to visit again as an item on your Wunderlist list of choice.

If you are already using Wunderlist your update should be coming sometime today.  If you aren't using it take a look at this video, and then give it a try.  

Get back to work!

I saw a comment on Facebook during the week - One of the biggest productivity killers is to sit down at the computer without a plan.

That is so true, if I sit down in front of Pinterest, only for a few minutes of course, somehow an hour can disappear! 

But I've found a solution.  There’s a Google Chrome extension that limits how long you spend on particular sites – Productivity Owl.  After you've been on a site for a set amount of time Productivity Owl kicks you off and closes the tab.  It definitely makes you read faster and find what you want quickly.


You can customise Productivity Owl to suit your own bad habits – how long you spend on sites before the owl closes the tab, which ones to block completely, which sites have no time limit and even schedule free time during the week when you are allowed onto normally blocked or limited sites without any time limits.

You need to really be motivated to be productive and stop procrastinating to use this add-on.  The annoying owl will fly across your page closing your tabs, and if you try to stop the owl closing a page he will screech at you.  However, you do have the ability to save a page to read later.

Are you brave enough to give it a go?  Here’s the link…  go on you can do it….  Productivity Owl