On Computers

I just started using Google Docs to collaborate. It’s fun. I enjoy collecting web links, poems and photos in a place where loved ones can view or add to them. That way, there’s no hunting for email attachments or cycling through photo galleries looking for stuff to see or share again. After someone shares an item, you can go to Drive.Google.com and click “Shared With Me” to see it. It will always be there to view or edit unless one of you deletes it. Another way to view your stuff is with the free app “Google Backup and Sync.” It adds a Google Drive shortcut to your computer. But if you use that program, be sure to select which folders […]

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Filed under: apps, gadgets, games, Google, mobile | Comments Off on LET’S COLLABORATE

We were invited to preview the first-ever wearable tech exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. We came. We saw. We were disappointed. Self-lacing shoes got our attention right off. Nike’s version of Marty McFly’s “Back to the Future” shoes worked fine in the exhibit but aren’t playing well in the rest of the country. As the Washington Post reported recently, at least one user said his shoe lost connection to the Internet and wouldn’t lace. He couldn’t tie it manually because the shoe’s software was buggy. Pushing onward, Nike will come out with shoes that collect information about your athletic performance. In another part of the exhibit, we saw the late actress Marlene Dietrich’s 1950s tech […]

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Filed under: apps, batteries, gadgets, mobile, security | Comments Off on WEARABLE MARVELS

We got one of the new $150 “Polaroid Cube+” cameras, which are billed as cheaper than the popular “Go Pro.” We haven’t tried Go Pro, but we doubt the Cube+ is going to push it out of the way.

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Filed under: apps, cameras, gadgets, mobile | Comments Off on HERE’S TO NOT LOOKING AT YOU

Apple Watch reviews have been mixed. Some functions are unnecessary, and others take too long to learn. The $349 price isn’t too appealing either, and you have to have an iPhone to go with it.  We wondered what the alternatives were, so tried out three Android watches. You have to have an Android phone. Of the three, we liked the $179 “Motorola Moto 360” best. It’s half the price of the new “LG Watch Urbane” and $20 less than the new “Asus ZenWatch.” The round-faced Urbane  gets high marks for stylishness, though, with its metal rim and a handsome band. The rectangular ZenWatch is also attractive. But for Joy, our master tester, these two lost out to the less-expensive Moto […]

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Filed under: apps, fitness, gadgets, Google, mobile | Comments Off on THE APPLE WATCH COMPETITION

So the one-day sale Of Google’s Internet connected glasses resulted in one-day thefts. They all sold out in five hours, at $1500 apiece. The thefts took place a few minutes later. (They look like glasses but Google calls them “glass.” This may be in preparation for the return of wearing a monocle as a fashion statement.)

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Filed under: gadgets, Google, mobile, storage | Comments Off on OH THEFT, WHERE IS THEY BLING

Some of our readers have never owned a cell phone. To be talked into one, they want a super long battery life, no contract, caller ID, and a reasonable monthly cost. For all that, we think TracFones are probably the way to go.

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Filed under: mobile, phones | Comments Off on PHONES FOR THE PHONE-LESS

Tagg keeps track of your pet’s whereabouts through a GPS attachment on its collar.

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Filed under: apps, gadgets, GPS, mobile | Comments Off on TAG YOUR PET

The “Vonage Mobile” app lets us make calls locally and internationally without spending any of the minutes in our cell-phone’s T-Mobile plan. The key is the other person must also have downloaded the app, unless they’re already a Vonage customer. Since it’s free, why not? Go to VonageMobile.com and have a link sent to your phone via text message. The app works for both text and voice.

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Filed under: apps, cheap calls, mobile, phones | Comments Off on DUTCH TREAT

“QR” codes are doorways to other places. As you go through a newspaper or store, you will likely see some of these codes, square in shape and filled with dots and squiggly lines. Take a snapshot of them using your smartphone or tablet app for reading QR codes and they open to something else.

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Filed under: apps, mobile, shopping, web | Comments Off on GET SQUARE WITH QR CODES

We’ve never been smartphone fans. When we leave our office, we leave the Internet behind. We are two of those now seldom seen people whose noses aren’t glued to a tiny screen.

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Filed under: cheap calls, mobile, phones | Comments Off on OUR FIRST SMARTPHONE