GeekSugar

Website of the Day: Stored Apps

GeekSugar — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:01:46 PST

Do you ever head on over to the iTunes store to peruse the iPhone apps and you get lost and overwhelmed in the sea of apps? Unless I know exactly what I'm looking for and can enter it in the search box, browsing the app store is usually a headache just waiting to happen.

Good news. There's a site called Stored Apps that better organizes the thousands of apps from the iTunes Store by offering a searchable and filterable database. Search by things like price, categories, most popular, and more. The site even offers direct links to every app's iTunes Store page. Badabingbadaboom.

To learn how to post your favorite websites to our Website of the Day group,

read more.
I know that this long list looks scary, but trust me, once you get the hang of it, it'll be a snap the second time around.

First of all, join the Website of the Day group.
Click the pink "Share" menu on the top left side of the page.
Choose "Blog" and “Regular Post.”
Give your story a “Title.”
Fill in the “Body” with a link to your favorite website and the reasons why you love it.
Click “Next."
Choose the audience for your story to “Website of the Day” in the drop-down menu
Add keyword(s) (for example mine for this photo was "Website of the Day").
Change channel to “Technology and Gadgets.”
Fill in tag field with relevant tags.
Click “I’m done” to submit content.

So join the Website of the Day group and share information about all your favorite sites! Yours just might end up on the geeksugar homepage!

Amazon App Store: 5 Apps to Download Now

Kristy Korcz — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 11:51:08 PDT

Amazon officially opened its App Store for business, and besides the ability to download awesome Android apps to your smartphones right from your Amazon account or your mobile device thanks to the Amazon Appstore app, you can also get a paid app for free every day via the featured app spotlight on the App Store front page. What a steal!

A nice and easy-to-use alternative to the Android Market, here are five apps I found that are worthy of a download today.

Daily Tech: Amazon Launches App Store, Apple Sues

GeekSugar — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 10:30:19 PDT

Amazon launches app store for Android apps, Apple sues Amazon for trademark infringement - Huffington Post
The best earbuds for uncommonly sized ears - Unplggd
Tech-savvy theft victim tracks his stolen computer, publicly embarrasses thief - Switched
10 characters whose genders were swapped in production - The MarySue

Gas Prices Are Up! What You Can Do to Save

Emily Co — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:20:33 PST

Unrest in the Middle East and the closing of American refineries have gas prices going up, up, and away for US consumers. Analysts are predicting that the prices may continue to rise.

But don't worry, there are a number of methods to save on refueling your car. Here are some tips:

Spend to Save: Look for deals around you that will help you save on your gas. For example, you can choose to frequent wholesale stores like Costco, which will give you a little bit of cash back on Costco gas. If you're a real gas guzzler, check out this full list of gas rebate cards on CreditCards.com.
Don't Top It Off: Topping off your gas may result in a higher gas bill, because you might be paying for gas that goes back into the station's tanks after your gas tank is full, says the Environmental Protection Agency. You can also ruin your car's vapor recovery system if there is no room for the gas to expand in your tank.
Smooth Trip: Starting and stopping excessively can shorten the life of your engine, transmission, brakes, and tires. Go easy on your braking and accelerating. Remember to also turn off your engine if you know you'll be waiting for a long while. Staying put without moving means you're getting 0 miles per gallon.

For more gas-saving tips, read on.

11 Things You Need to Throw Away

Emily Co — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 03:05:07 PST

The first step to taking care of yourself and de-stressing is to make sure that your environment is in order. Seeing your house full of clutter can affect your mood negatively and make your personal space seem like a place you want to escape from, rather than something to look forward to coming home to. Organize a "throwing out" day every month to make sure that you don't have clutter building up. Here are some things you should consider purging from your home:

Old magazines. Get rid of old magazines you have lying around because chances are, you aren't going to read them again. Find places where you can donate your magazines to such as child care centers, doctor's offices, nail salons, nursing homes, and libraries. If there's an article that really speaks to you, scan a digital image of it and keep it in your computer. Or keep a folder of magazine clippings if you like saving magazine articles.
Receipts, bills, and documents. Throw away receipts for items that you aren't planning on returning, and ones that you won't need to use come tax time. If you're wary of throwing away receipts, you can make a digital copy of them with a basic scanner, a pricey specialized receipt scanner ($174), or a smartphone app ($2). See here for a full list of documents you should keep forever or temporarily.
Clothes. Use the two-year-rule for clothes - get rid of apparel that you haven't worn in two years. Sell them to a thrift store (find a thrift store at thethriftshopper.com) or donate them to the needy.
Books. Go through your bookshelf and gather together books you haven't touched in months and ones that you aren't planning on rereading. Be realistic and make sure you're ruthless. If you haven't touched it in a year, you're most likely not going to read it again. Sell the books on Amazon, Craigslist, or eBay. You can even trade them for something else on swap.com. You can always donate them as well!
Medicine and vitamins. Take a look at your medicine closet and clear out drugs that have expired, medicine that has sat on your shelf for too long, or ones that you no longer use. First, check to see what the proper disposal methods are for the medication, and if you can't find any, check to see if your community has a drug take-back program. If there isn't a program near you, then the FDA advises mixing medicine with "used coffee grounds or kitty litter" in a container or sealable bag before throwing it away to make the drugs less appealing.

For more things to throw away, read on.

Should Apple Rethink Its App Store Guidelines?

Leta Shy — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 02:00:23 PDT

Amazon may staunchly stand by its policy of not censoring its Kindle offerings (never mind that one incident), but Apple, however, behaves differently. Developers must go through a review process to get their apps approved; Apple bans certain things that it deems low-quality or inappropriate - like apps that lack usefulness, creativity, or effort, or ones that are too racy.

But do you think Apple should extend its guidelines to keep other types of apps out as well, such as discriminatory or potentially dangerous ones? Just this week, outraged users successfully fought to ban an app from Christian group Exodus International that said it could cure homosexuality, and senators are demanding that apps that tell you where DUI checkpoints are located should be taken down.

Read what I think about these controversial apps after the break.

18 Ways to Save (at Least) $1 a Day

SavvySugar — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 05:00:28 PST

It's true: the little things add up. As anyone who ever had a piggy bank knows, small everyday actions can help you save big. Hoping to create a financial cushion for yourself this season? Follow these 15 easy tricks to help you save at least a dollar a day:

Hold the milk. In your coffee, that is. If you regularly stop at the coffee shop on your way to work, order it black to avoid any extra costs.
Go generic. At the grocery store, pick the generic variety of different foods to save big on pantry staples.
Keep the change. Sure, sometimes it's annoying to have change littering your purse or jangling in your pocket, but you'd be surprised by how quickly those nickels add up.
Swap soda for water. If you can't give it up altogether, vow to sip water instead of soda during at least one meal each day.
Trade CDs with a friend. Hoping to add the latest Rihanna song to your workout playlist? Reach out to a friend and burn CDs for each other to gather new music for free.
Fuel up for less. Unless it's required for your specific car model, nix the premium gas habit and use gasbuddy.com to find the cheapest gas in the area.
Find free WiFi. Work in cafés or libraries with free WiFi. Not sure which spots offer Internet? Use the Free Wi-Fi app to scope out local places with wireless access.
Practice your sewing skills. Skip a trip to the tailor and learn to do the simple adjustments yourself, like shortening a hem or taking in a blouse.

Keep reading for more tips to save $1 a day.

The Wide World of Wings: Spicy-Sweet Korean

Sara Yoo — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 05:34:20 PST

We last took you to Mexico for a bright and tangy take on one of America's favorite game-day foods, but our next culinary adventure sends us across the Pacific to South Korea for some sweet and spicy finger-licking. If you've been lucky enough to dine at the KyoChon or BonChon chicken restaurants, then you know that Koreans love fried chicken. One of the most popular varieties is yangnyeom dak, a crisp, twice-fried wing or thigh tossed in a fiery sauce that reminds me of the classic buffalo wing with an Asian twist.

Just as buffalo wings marry a zesty tang with mouth-numbing heat, Korean wings combine the acidity of rice vinegar with the peppery punch of fermented red-pepper paste and red-pepper powder (found at many Asian grocery stores). Mix in sweet honey and fragrant sesame oil, and you have a crowd-pleasing and conversation-starting app that will make your game-day get-together a hit.

For this unique take on an American classic, just read on.

Apple Supplements iBooks 2 and iBooks Author With the iTunes U App

Kristy Korcz — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 07:59:59 PST

Over 700,000 people have taken in a free class or lecture on iTunes U, and Apple wants to make things easier for teachers to create an interactive online environment with their iPad. Educators can compile all the information needed for a class right inside the iTunes U app - syllabus, assignments, office hours, and teacher notes, and they can even stream from a full classroom. Over 100 courses have already been created from a number of prestigious colleges across the country, including Yale, Duke, Stanford, MIT, and more.

But now iTunes U isn't just for college levels. Apple is opening up iTunes U to K-12 levels as well, allowing teachers to create full courses and students to study, stream, and view assignments, teacher notes, and course details from their iPads.

The iTunes U app is available today for free in the App Store.

Create Your Own Interactive Books With Apple's New iBooks Author App

Kristy Korcz — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 07:28:01 PST

Want to write and build your own interactive book? Apple just made it a lot easier with the iBooks Author app for your Mac. iBooks Author feels like a mashup of Pages and Keynote, allowing you to choose templates, interactive elements, and drop-down controls for configuring the details and layout of each interactive page. Made with educators in mind, iBooks Author makes it super easy for teachers to create interactive elements for study materials, including galleries, videos, review notes, diagrams, 3D models, and HTML. Interactive elements are added to the page by dragging and dropping images and even Word documents into various templates. Then, you can publish your interactive books to the iBookstore for students or readers to download straight to their iPads.

Of course, while this app was built for education, I can see how iBooks Author can take novels and biographies to the next level as well. We'll get some hands-on time and bring you our first impressions soon!

The iBooks Author app will be available for download today for free from the Mac App store.