On Computers

A new start-up has drawn $4 million from investors to fuel an online tutoring service called InstaEdu.com. So far they claim to have 3000 tutors on hand. It costs $24 an hour to get tutored, and the tutors get to keep $20 of that, an unusually generous split. Tutors can work as little as 20 minutes a month. You have to be 18 and have some tutoring experience to apply. Students choose the tutors they wish by reading online profiles. We noticed that some are graduates from prestigious colleges. (Kind of a sign of the times.)

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Filed under: career, education | Comments Off on TOOT-TOOT TUTORS

Here’s a gadget for sailors, kite surfers, paragliders, and anyone who wants or needs to monitor the wind. The “Vaavud is a spinning wind meter that connects to the iPhone, iPad, iPod or Samsung Galaxy S2 or S3. It’s $45 from BiteMyApple.

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ArtRage 4 is the latest version of a program hardly any writers cover anymore Too bad, because it’s a good one. It’s been around for several years, so why talk about it now? Well, the new version is really cheap. It’s $5 for the iPad, $2 for the iPhone, and $50 for a Windows computer.

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Filed under: art, graphics | Comments Off on RAGING ART

“Dupeless 3” is the new version of a small program for getting rid of duplicate files. It’s $8 from PC Magazine’s Utility Library or free for members who pay $20 for a year’s worth of programs. We paid.

Dupeless 3 removes the duplicates and you have some control over the situation. You can search by file name, content, or both. You can limit the types of files, such as photos or documents. Restricting the search is a good idea, otherwise the program shows you too many files that are part of the operating system.

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Filed under: backup, photos, storage | Comments Off on FINDING DUPLICATE FILES

The web site Visual.ly/100-Years-Change compares 1913 to 2013 in fashion, sports, tech, population, and every day life. Average annual income was $800 then; now it’s $26,000. Population was 97 million, versus 312 million currently. Two percent had a bachelor’s degree back then, now t’s 28 percent. (Practically every cashier at our local supermarket has a bachelor’s degree.) A big problem with the numbers for prices and incomes is that they are not adjusted for inflation. Another site, MeasuringWorth.com, deals with this problem and tries to establish a comparison using inflation, though some comparisons can’t be adjusted that way because of changes in manufacturing and transportation. One approach is looking at purchasing power measured against the consumer price index. Using that […]

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Filed under: business, education, Internuts | Comments Off on NOW AND THEN

“YAKiT” is a free app for  iPhone/iPad/iPod for adding speech to photos. The photoscan come from your Facebook album, your photo gallery, or photos you take at that moment. We took Joy’s face, added moving lips and used Bob’s voice to record a funny message. Changing the pitch made it come out high and squeaky. We also made a talking lamb. If you don’t have an iOS gadget,  JibJab.com is similar. Add your own face to animated greeting cards with funny messages.

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Filed under: apps, games, kids | Comments Off on TALKING PICTURES

YouTube has a lot of great music and a free app called “MP3 Jam” that makes it all available by category. We clicked “classical” and “Andrea Bocelli” to hear him sing “Con te Partiro.” Choose a selection and click the “play” arrow. Click “download album” to buy it.

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Filed under: music, YouTube | Comments Off on MUSIC APP

We’re leery of those thin screen protectors, because the ones we’ve tried always seem to leave bubbles. A new one from Seidio is made of tempered glass. Result: No bubbles. The Seidio “Screen Protector” comes in sizes for the Galaxy S3, S4 and iPhone for $40. Seidio also sells the “Ledger,” a phone case with a front and back cover to prevent people from peering at your work. It opens like a book and has a slot for business cards. The phone goes into sleep mode to save on battery life when the cover is closed. More info at Seidio.com.

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Filed under: gadgets, phones | Comments Off on PROTECTING YOUR CELL PHONE

Amazon.com/art is Amazon’s new fine-art site. Want Norman Rockwell’s “Packagefrom Home” for $4.85 million?They’ve got it. Other big ticket paintings include those from Andy Warhol and Salvador Dali. It’s an Amazon partnership with America’s fine art We immediately turned to the “under $200” category and found 143 pages of listings. The nice thing is they show you therelative size of the piece by always including a photo of the framed picture next to the same chair and table.

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Google Voice lets you send free text messages to anyone without using a cellular connection. They use Wi-Fi instead of cellular.

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Filed under: apps, Google | Comments Off on FREE TEXT MESSAGES