GeekSugar

Daily Tech: Let Me Google That For You Is Search in Slow-Mo

GeekSugar — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:55:09 PST

The next time someone asks you a question that is "Googleable" a new funny site called Let Me Google That For You lets you do a Google Search and then copy the search link so you can send it to that friend. When the person clicks on the link, it will direct them to the actual search results page. Funny and harmless. - Lifehacker
Snoop Dogg recently appeared on The Martha Stewart Show (yes, random), and he told Martha about his texting habits and his love for his BlackBerry. - Switched
The reviews for the BlackBerry Storm are in, and so far it's not living up to all of the hype. - Gizmodo
Designer Mac Funamizu has created two glass phone concepts that offer multiple uses, but are certainly fingerprint prone. - Yanko Design
Last Day! It's giveaway time! Be sure to log in for your chances to win a Nintendo DS Lite and fitness games! - geeksugar

Handy Everyday Gmail Tips and Tricks

GeekSugar — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 08:01:03 PST

If you've moved to Gmail recently (congratulations!), it's possible that you could get overwhelmed with all of the options, settings, and possibilities at your fingertips. We've got a ton of tips to share, but let's start with a few basic and handy tips that you could use every day. Check them out below!

Make voice calls - You can easily make voice calls in Gmail on the cheap. In the "Chat" section, just click the "Call Phone" button and enter the digits. You'll then be able to make free calls to landlines the US and Canada, and for super cheap you can call cell phones and landlines worldwide.
Search with options - If you haven't discovered the "Show Search Options" link to the right of the Gmail search bar, you're in for a treat. Clicking it reveals a host of helpful options, including the ability to search by sender, date, attachment, subject, and more. It's extremely helpful if you are less than diligent about labeling and filing emails in your inbox.
Use rich text signatures - Tired of those boring text-only signatures or canned responses coming from your Gmail account? Take note: Gmail supports rich text signatures! Add links, colors, images, or formatting to your Gmail account signature, or any other account you've set up to send from Gmail. It's super easy to set up - just head to your settings page, scroll down to the Signature section, and design away!
Use keyboard shortcuts - First, enable keyboard shortcuts in your Settings menu. Then, use these fast and easy keyboard shortcuts to navigate!

See the rest of the list after the break.

Lose Weight and Get Fit With Your Phone

Health — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 04:14:36 PST

We are pumped to share one of our favorite stories from Health.com here on our site.

A sleeker, stronger body could be just a tweet or a Facebook post away
By Jamie Beckman

One of the best tools for peeling off pounds is already in your bag: It's your smartphone or iPad. In fact, all that texting, tweeting, and posting - the average woman spends more than 80 minutes a day on her phone, according to a recent report from the mobile apps analytics firm Flurry - can tip the scales in your favor.

And one in three of us are already using social sites like Facebook to get slender, reports research from the University of Arizona. So go ahead and steal these suggestions from women who took their shape-up viral.

Tweet Your Way Thin
Nancy Tessier, 50, lost 28 pounds by posting all her meals and snacks to Tweet What You Eat (@twye), an online food journal that lets others eyeball your noshes. "Sometimes it was a lot easier to decide not to eat something than to have to tweet it for the world to see," she says.

Posting your weight-loss numbers can help, too. The University of Arizona research suggests that women who reveal shape-up victories on a weekly basis trim down faster than those who update less frequently. If you're feeling shy, think up a Twitter handle and upload a cartoon character as your avatar so you can share the skinny without feeling self-conscious.

Health.com: Diet Tricks the Pros Tell Their Friends

Gain a Following
Get some virtual support pronto by following Twitter hash tags like #fitblog. Carla Shorts, 27, started chiming in on #fitblog's weekly live chats - and dropped from a size 12 to a size 6 in just a year. "When my weight loss reached a plateau, having women point out that my 30-minute elliptical routine wasn't going to cut it anymore was key," she says. "I started running and began to lose again."

You can also start your own hashtag, like Sherry Pagoto, 38, from Massachusetts, did with #plankaday, a challenge to spend at least a minute in plank pose each day.

Find more ways your phone can help you lose weight after the break.

10 Ways We Could Use Some Tough Love

Lizzie Fuhr — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 10:00:31 PST

Steve Ward is a handsome, strong-willed dude from Philly, who is definitely not your average matchmaker. On his VH1 show Tough Love Miami, Steve takes a no-nonsense approach when it comes to helping women find true love. He sets up a "dating boot camp," designed to break down the women's barriers about love. Steve sets the girls up on dates to see where they need real help and find them the man they've been looking for. Steve's brand of tough love may seem a little brutal, but each week that I'm glued to the screen, I find that the girls are experiencing real progress. Here are 10 solid pieces of tough love from the man behind Tough Love Miami, Steve Ward.

"When it comes to letting a guy know you're interested, it's not just what you say, but how you say it. Or show it." Body language and nonverbal communication are just as important as what comes out of your mouth. It's important to be conscious of the vibe you're putting out from the way you carry yourself.
"There's flirting. And then there's moving way too fast." There's no reason to come out guns blazing if you have any sort of attraction for a man. Take things slow. Try your best to have an objective eye. Let things happen naturally, and don't lead someone on just for the hell of it.
"For many women, texting is a habit that can not only get out of control, it can turn a man off in no time." Steve dedicates a whole episode of Tough Love Miami to "Dating in the Digital Age." Steve hands all the girls cellphones and tells them they can communicate with their dates before they meet the following day. The experiment only proves that these women rely way too much on texting. Steve says if a man doesn't respond to a text, it's not an excuse to text him a million times before he responds. Have some self control!
"Let me make my point: men hate this sh*t, OK? When you're communicating with a man over a text message, or email, or other any type of ecommunication, use words and grammar." Steve says drop the acronyms like LOL and LMAO. Lay off the exclamation points and stop with all the emoticons. Men are just not into it.
"It's OK to have preferences, but even your preferences have to be realistic." Every single lady has got her list of deal breakers. Steve urges the women in boot camp to recognize that no one is perfect and to let go of these random preconceived notions about what her ideal match looks like. Love comes where you least expect it, but you've got to be open to the possibilities for that to happen.

Keep reading for more reasons we could benefit from Steve Ward's tough love.

13 Signs You’re Too Busy

LearnVest — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 00:15:38 PDT

We're thrilled to present this smart LearnVest story here on Savvy!

There’s busy.

Then there’s too busy.

Busy is running from one appointment to the next. Too busy is running over someone on your way to the next appointment (physically, vehicularly, whatever). Busy is leaving your cell phone behind at the grocery store. Too busy is leaving your kid behind at the grocery store.

And then there’s the biggest of all ironies-we want to cut back, but frankly, we just don’t have the time to figure out how to do it.

Sound familiar? Well, we’re here to do an intervention-a time intervention. Today, we’ll help you figure out if your life is starting to burst at the seams when it comes to your time. If it is, you need a wake-up call to reset priorities, because there is no shakier foundation for healthy, balanced living (and healthy, balanced money management) than not having the space and breathing room that time provides in our lives.

If you’ve crossed over the line into too busy, you’ll need to reset your foundation: Maybe it means taking a day off from work to reassess your life priorities. Maybe it means evaluating what your time is worth and outsourcing chores like housekeeping or laundry. Maybe it means taking a break from social engagements for a little while to focus on building the right foundation.

Here are 13 signs that you might need a time overhaul in your life-and easy tips on how to get started, today.

You Spend a Good Amount of Time Worrying About Your Time

If your time is preoccupied with, well, your time, you might be: endlessly cycling through your to-do list in your head, spending a lot of time arranging and rearranging your schedule, or wishing throughout the day that you had more time.

If you've worried about your schedule or wished you had more time more than three times a day, you need a break from time itself as a stressor in your life.

Try this: Take a mental break. Remove one thing from your schedule for today that is the least important-it might be putting off doing the laundry or postponing a work call. Spend that time instead totally luxuriating in something in the present moment (like eating a macaron or listening to your favorite song) and not thinking about your schedule, or future plans, at all.

Read on for more.

Reader Asks: Is There an App For Sticking to Budgets?

Savvy Community — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 05:00:39 PDT

Sometimes money and career questions can feel so sensitive and personal that it makes sense to stay anonymous when asking them. This is why the Savvy Confessions community group is the perfect place to vent because all postings are kept anonymous.

In the latest Savvy Confessions, a reader asks for if anyone has suggestions for apps that help you stick to budgets.

Let me start out by saying - I'm a really, really bad organizer when it comes to my finances. I have no structure right now, and as a result, I am having major issues with my budget! However, I know making a spreadsheet on Excel or Google Doc isn't for me. Is there any other way, a more . . . interesting way to remember or keep track of my finances? There has to be an app for this or something?! Help!

Share your own career- and finance-related questions anonymously in the Savvy Confessions group for a chance to be featured on SavvySugar and be advised by fellow Savvy readers.

How To Plan a Wedding Shower With Online Tools

GeekSugar — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 06:57:00 PDT

Planning parties has become infinitely easier with the advent of the Internet, and if you're already familiar with the tools at your disposal, then planning your wedding shower or engagement party will be that much simpler.

Whether you're the one getting married or a friend of the bride and groom throwing the event, trust me - online planning is where it's at. Check out some of these online tools that will help you design an awesome fête.

Online party planning site PunchBowl can help you plan your party, with ideas and advice for every step of the way.
Since the wedding shower is not quite the big, formal event a wedding is, email invitations are perfectly acceptable (not to mention eco and ultra-convenient). One of my favorites, of course, is eVite. They have a few pages of wedding-themed invitations that would be great for a shower, and you can always design your own.

See the rest of my tips after the break.

The Pros and Cons of Google+

Kristy Korcz — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 08:07:53 PDT

Google revealed Google+ to the world last week, and the new social network quickly became the talk of the Internet. Though most agree that it's not yet a Facebook killer, there are some interesting and noteworthy features included within its white walls. We've been getting to know the pros and cons of Google+ more intimately over the long holiday weekend, so check out our rundown below and don't forget to add your thoughts in the comments!

Pros

Sleek design - Google+ is super easy to navigate thanks to a simple design. Sure, it kinda resembles Facebook with its main news stream and sidebars of information, and it would be cool to customize what you see with Google+ themes, but as is, it's very easy on the eyes.
Drag and drop in Circles - Adding friends and contacts into different Circles is incredibly easy thanks to the drag and drop nature of the feature, and we love how easy it is to share updates and news with just one group of Circles, or all of them.
Huddle - Group texting goes Google with the mobile Huddle feature that lets you message with a Circle of friends, or just a few. If you're not mobile with Google+, you can still use GroupMe and get the same feel.
Integration with +1 - There's finally a reason to +1 things since it not only acts as a bookmarking feature, but allows friends and Circles to see things you like from around the web (under the Buzz tab).
Sparks - Sparks isn't a RSS feed, but it does grab news stories, blog posts, and articles from around the Internet on subjects you're interested in. As I use my Google Reader mainly for work reasons, now I can use Sparks to catch up on my interests during my downtime.
Auto uploads for photos and videos - All of your photos and videos captured on the Google + mobile app are automatically uploaded and stored in your account. Good news is you can customize your settings to choose when and who to share them with at a later time. Auto uploading sounds scary, but Google has made it easy to customize the mobile settings.
The quick share box - When you're inside Google+ or other Google properties (like Picasa, Reader, Gmail, and Documents), you can quickly share info or a link with your Circles by clicking on the "Share. . ." box on the upper-right hand corner of your browser.
No game requests! - A simple joy of using Google+ is the absence of Farmville requests showing up in my inbox and news stream. I'll take that for as long as I can get it.

Check out the list of Google+ cons after the jump.

Author Allison Winn Scotch on The One That I Want, First Love, and What-Ifs

Tara Sharp — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 10:10:19 PDT

In The One That I Want (paperback out today), 32-year-old Tilly Farmer is an optimistic school guidance counselor convinced all she needs to be happy is her perfect high-school-sweetheart-turned-husband and the future baby she's trying to have with him. But after a childhood friend cryptically gives her "the gift of clarity" she begins to see visions from her future, and they aren't according to the plan she's mapped out for herself. In this story about family struggles, being stuck in the past, and second chances, Tilly must decide if the life she so carefully put together is really the one that she wants. I spoke with the novel's author, Allison Winn Scotch, about first loves, what-ifs, and what she would tell her 17-year-old self.

TrèsSugar: Did you draw inspiration for the book's protagonist, Tilly, from your own life? Do you share personality traits and characteristics with her?

Allison Winn Scotch: I related a lot to the characters in [my second book] Time of My Life, and I wanted to push myself. With Tilly she was really this foreign person to me in every sense. I didn't understand her; I didn't understand her choices. And I wanted to become a better writer through stepping outside my comfort zone. It forced me to dig deep. It took so many drafts until I finally understood her, and I feel like I'm a better writer for it.

TS: How did you finally understand her? And in what ways do you think your readers will relate to her?

AWS: In the earlier versions of Tilly I really, really wasn't getting her. Then about halfway through the book she starts to get really angry. And in the initial draft she wasn't angry. When I finally made her angry that's what I could tap into. I understood being really pissed off at waking up and discovering that a lot of the life that you wanted is not coming to fruition. And I think a lot of people of our age or our generation can get that. You've worked hard or you've maybe even compromised yourself or given up certain expectations, and then you wake up and you're like, "How did I get here? I made small compromises, but I never thought that my life would be this." And I understood that anger, not because my life isn't wonderful, but because I understand that disappointment. And once I did that, that's when she and I connected.

TS: In both Time of My Life and The One That I Want there's a time travel theme that forces the heroine to look back and question if she's made the right life choices along the way. Are there things in your own life that you would change if you could? Find out her answer when you keep reading.

4 Things You Shouldn't Tweet

Kristy Korcz — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 06:15:49 PDT

I check Twitter several times a day (you could call me an addict), and I see a multitude of tweets that should have gone, well, untweeted. If you're an avid user of the microblogging site, you probably already know what is and isn't appropriate to tweet, but just in case you need a refresher, here're four things you should think twice about posting to your stream.

That you're looking for a new job . . . while still employed. - If you're tired of your current position, it's best to take the safe route in finding a new job to call home. Update your LinkedIn account, start sending out résumés, and for Pete's sake, don't start tweeting about how tired/bored/annoyed you are with your job and co-workers. Recruiters may spend a few minutes looking over your résumé, but you can bet they spend a ton of time Googling you and your online activity.
That you're single . . . before actually breaking up. - What's the worst way to break up with someone? A Post-it note or text message may be brutal, but finding out that your significant other is newly "single" on Facebook or Twitter is pretty unforgivable.

See the rest, and add your own suggestions in the comments (or our Facebook page) after the break.