In the past I’ve covered (and loved) coupon tools such as Honey and Rakuten. I’ve been hearing advertisements for CapitalOneShopping.com, so this week I gave it a try. A Chrome Plugin Capital One Shopping is a Chrome Plugin that monitors your online shopping to help you find coupons and locate the best prices. I put it to the test on …
Four Ways to Improve an Image
We snap thousands of images a year on our phones, but few of them go anywhere. And the ones that do could use some upgrades to make them more interesting. Here are five tech tools to change your boring image. One: Take out the background You take an Instagram-worthy family portrait in front of a pile of dirty dishes. Time …
A Virtual Trip to the Library
As a kid I spent hours and hours exploring the stacks of libraries, getting lost in the shelves and dragging my fingers along the spines. That’s why Open Library’s explore feature delights me so. They’ve arranged scanned-in books on virtual shelves that you can browse and lose yourself in. Check out my 98-second overview, then spend your afternoon in the …
Gratitude Apps
To help people during this insane year, this fall I developed a session called Tech Tools for Serious Self Care. I’m not one for touchy-feely apps, so I focused on techniques with solid science behind them. When I researched the reasons to practice gratitude, it was enough to convince me that I needed to take my own advice. This article …
Around.co: A Different Kind of Video Conference
Every once in a while I find a new tool that makes my toes tingle. That’s what happened when I saw Around.co, a videoconferencing tool that looks and behaves differently from our old favorite, Zoom. What I love about Around.co: Instead of Brady Bunch squares, participants are in circles, floating over your other windows. Around includes face tracking to keep …
Stop Background Noise with Krisp
Have you ever been on a videoconference living in fear that you’ll get that Amazon delivery and the dog will go nuts when the doorbell rings? The solution is here! Krisp is a PC download and a Chrome plugin that uses artificial intelligence to filter out background noises. I tried it out with everything from pounding on my desk while …
All about Infographics
Because many of us are no longer in the same room with our colleagues, we’re all seeking new ways to communicate information that doesn’t require the umpteenth PowerPoint this month or a 3-hour Zoom. Lately I’ve been getting a bunch of inquiries about how to make infographics, so I’m releasing the Book Study the Nerdy Best Friends Book Club did …
Just say no
One of the ways to reduce stress is to stop doing everything. But it’s so hard to say no. I used to have an app called Big Box of NO, but it died. So I made some of my own. These NOs are brought to you by my new artificial intelligence voiceover engine, Speechelo. I paid $47 for the ability …
Zoom on Zoom Session
Last week I hosted a session on Zoom. The topic? Zoom. I covered the features of Zoom that will help you look, sound and interact better on this ubiquitous videoconferencing platform. Here’s the recording: But wait, there’s more! This week I also discovered a cool tool called Videoticle that lets you convert a YouTube video into an article that you …
Copy/Paste from one device to another
I bought a PC recently because it has features my Mac doesn’t (gasp!). One of the functions I am CONSTANTLY missing on the PC is my Mac’s Handoff feature. It’s where I can copy something on my Mac then immediately paste it into my iPhone or iPad, and vice versa. Turns out I use this functionality all. the. time. It …
Very Cool Video Editors
The longer the pandemic lasts, the more video I produce — and the more cool video tools I find to share. This week I discovered Descript and Type Studio, two tools that let you edit video and audio by editing the text transcription. So instead of trying to clip out your “umms” and “uhhhs” in a standard video editor, you …
Tools for the Job Search
These days people are searching for jobs for lots of reasons. Perhaps they are one of the victims of layoffs or furloughs or cutbacks. Or maybe they love the work-from-home life, but their employer is bringing people back to the office. Whatever the reason you might be looking around, we have tech help to make things easier. I’m pretty much …
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