GeekSugar

Website of the Day: 1 Million Love Messages

GeekSugar — Tue, 22 May 2007 14:00:50 -0700

Want to surprise a loved one with a special message? Or maybe you want to tell a friend how much they mean to you. Spread the love on a website called 1 million love messages, where you can send your love message using text, picture or video format. To be a part of this project, which is intended to spread peace and love, go to the site and type in your name, age, location, the recipient's name, age, location, your special love message and hit send. The website will display your love message and many others from all around the world!

To learn how to post your favorite sites to the Website of the Day group, just 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 "Create and Share!" on the left hand side
Choose "Blog"
Give your photo a Title
Leave the category as "general"
Change the channel to "technology and gadgets"
Add keyword(s) (for example mine for this photo was "Website of the Day")
Click on the "Add Image" link below the "body" box
A popup window will happen - click on "Browse" to find your image on your computer
Once you have the image chosen, click "Submit"
The popup will show you your image, choose size: "normal" - if you want, you can give it a title (which will show up as a caption)
Click "Insert" and the popup will go away
Your "body" box will now have some text in it. Leave it as is. If you want to add some text before the picture telling me why you love the website, do it before the code that has appeared.
Click Submit

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

Tech Dating 101: Do You Save Messages From Your Date?

GeekSugar — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:02:00 -0800

One of the benefits of of digital technology is that every email, text, and voicemail is easily saved, stored, and relived. It's helpful when you're dating someone - I think it's both fun and cute to reread old messages. (Though I suppose this can get dicey when trying to cut your ex out of your digital life, but that's a topic for another day). When it's good - it's great!

I hadn't thought too much about it until a recently engaged friend unearthed a years-long log of emails and text messages, starting with the first email her now-fiance sent the morning after they met. My other friends and I teased her at first, but then realized that reading through her saved emails was almost like reading a book of the history of their relationship. Plus, it's fun to look back one month, six months, or even a year into the past to see what was going on, even if they're mundane messages about what movie to catch or what to make for dinner that night.

To find out why I think it's helpful to save old messages, just read more.

Besides its historical significance, saving messages from someone you're dating is also helpful when you're starting a new relationship. Who hasn't sat with their girlfriends and gadgets and analyzed a string of text messages from a new guy or potential date? (See also my advice on decoding postdate texts and instant messages).

Do you save these bits of communication when you're starting a new relationship? What about when you're in an established one? And do you ever go back to reread them? I've started doing it, and I must admit, looking back on emails or text messages from a few months before is both nostalgic and sweet.

Do you have a Love 2.0 questioned you want answered? Join the Tech Dating 101 because we understand that love and dating are stressful and the Internet and social networking sites can just make things worse. You never know, your question could be featured on GeekSugar! Here's a detailed guide to posting questions or posts to groups if you are new to the PopSugar Community.

Tech Dating 101: Help! He's E-Stalking Me

GeekSugar — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:45:53 -0700

Electronic communication can both help and hurt a relationship. On one hand, it encourages constant communication and may make you feel closer to one another. On the other - this constant communication may make you feel suffocated.

This happened recently to one of my friends. She started seeing a new guy, and intentionally only gave him her phone number - no email address, no Twitter handle, no AIM screen name. She wasn't trying to hide anything, she was just trying make sure things progressed slowly. After a few weeks and a very brief exchange over Gmail - bam! - there he was in her list of Gchat contacts. She didn't think about it until the next day at work when, with the familiar "ding" that accompanies a new message, a "hi!" from her guy.

"I am not ready to Gchat!" she complained to me (via, of course, Gchat). I told her to ignore the Gchat window long enough that her name would display as idle, and then to either log out or turn on the "invisible" option - a quick fix for the moment, but by no means a permanent solution.

She's not the only friend of mine this has happened to. After including her instant messenger name (that she uses for work) on her Facebook profile, one friend was attacked with a flurry of instant messages from someone she was casually dating. So, how do you prevent a new date from e-stalking? That's what I'll cover on this edition of Tech Dating 101. To read the advice I gave to her, read more.

As silly as it may sound, I think it's better to set boundaries early, especially if one or both of you has a job that requires you to be available via phone, IM, email all day. So set rules, boundaries, whatever you have to do. Just because you're available to your boss and co-workers all day doesn't mean you have to make yourself available to everyone else in your life. If you prefer he doesn't chat you up via Gchat or AIM throughout the day, tell him that. Just explain your decision, and make it clear you're not hiding anything - you prefer to talk at certain hours of the day (like when you're off the clock), or you'd rather limit your communication to phone calls and text messages, with the occasional email. (If he's really not getting the message, you could always try adding this link to my advice on how not to virtually stalk someone as your status message, though I recommend that only as a last resort.)

Initially, my friend set her status to "invisible" so he couldn't find her online, which worked fine until she messaged him one afternoon and he responded with, "You're online?" She was totally busted - which is why I'd advise someone in a similar situation to address it, not ignore it.

Do you have a Love 2.0 questioned you want answered? Join the Tech Dating 101 because we understand that ove and dating are stressful and the Internet and social networking sites can just make things worse. You never know, your question could be featured on GeekSugar! Here's a detailed guide to posting questions or posts to groups if you are new to the PopSugar Community.

Website of the Day: From a Birdie

GeekSugar — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:30:17 -0700

You know the drill: you get a Facebook reminder that it's your friend's birthday, so you end up writing her an email, or you post a brief note to her Facebook wall. Rather than follow everyone else's lead by posting an impersonal b-day message on Facebook, why not create a collective album of online letters that you and your friends can send to the birthday girl on her special day? A cool new site called From a Birdie, which I found on makeuseof, is similar to the site GroupCard because it allows an entire group of people to collaborate on a personalized card or letter. But what makes this site even better is the fact that you can add photos to your messages, there aren't any size restrictions on the messages or size of photos, and the group album gets its own password-protected website. From a Birdie will email your friend on the day you choose to let them know they have a little surprise waiting for them!

Have an interesting website you want to share? To learn how to post your favorite websites to our Website of the Day group, read more.

First of all, join the Website of the Day group.
Click "New Post" under the website of the day tab at the top of the page.
Give your story a "Title."
Fill in the "Body" with a link to your favorite website and the reasons why you love it.
Type "Technology and Gadgets" in the Categories box
Add keyword(s) in the tag field with relevant tags (for example mine for this story was "Website of the Day").
Choose whether you want the post to be private or public.
Click "Create Post" to submit content.

Connect With More People With Loopt Mix

GeekSugar — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:05:00 -0700

I like using Loopt because it connects me to my other Loopt buddies in a snap. Plus, it shows me their reviews and favorites so I know what bar to hit up on my next girls' night out, or where to go for the best cup of coffee in the city. I loved the Loopt update from a few months ago, which made the easy to use app even slicker, but now with their next venture, it will be even easier to meet new people and expand your social circle.

Called Loopt Mix, this app focuses on connecting with the people around you. It gives you more ways to mix and mingle with features like in-app chatting, profile browsing, free messaging, and status updates so you get to know new faces and meet up with cool peeps that share your interests. The app is free, so next time you're worried about why your boyfriend won't do Loopt, dump the dud and find a new partner in crime with the help of Loopt Mix.

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Tech Dating 101: Is It OK to Just Give Him My Twitter Name?

GeekSugar — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:40:08 -0700

Have you heard a story like this? A good friend of mine met a great guy in a crowded bar, and barely had the chance to talk to him before the people she came with wanted to leave. As they parted ways and he hurriedly asked her, "Can I call you sometime?" she (now famously) shouted across the bar, "Direct message me on Twitter!"

While I'm happy to report that after several direct messages and dates, they're still together, her situation raises an interesting point: when you meet someone new, is it OK to give them only your Twitter name instead of phone number? Or, for that matter, is it OK to give them only your email address, Facebook name, or anything besides your phone number? While some might find it impersonal, what if that's your preferred method of communication? That's what I'll tackle in this week's edition of Tech Dating 101. To find out what I suggest doing, read more.

One of the benefits of online profiles and networking sites is that you can control how you're perceived by others. If Twitter (or Facebook, or even email) is your preferred method of communication, it's fine to give that info before your number. Plus, there's always the chance that he's going to find you on Facebook anyhow, so offering up your Twitter username or inviting him to find you on Facebook is a good way to take control of the situation! Just be sure and keep a healthy mix of communication; otherwise you may find he acts differently online than in person.

One note of caution, ask yourself why you're hesitant to give out your number. If the answer is "I'm not a phone person" that's fine, but do you really want a Twitter or Facebook message instead if you don't want a call. Asking him to find or contact you online is fine, but make sure it's not because you're hiding behind your profile.

Do you have a Love 2.0 questioned you want answered? Join the Tech Dating 101 because we understand that love and dating are stressful, and the Internet and social networking sites can just make things worse. You never know, your question could be featured on GeekSugar! Here's a detailed guide to posting questions or posts to groups if you are new to the PopSugar Community.

New Gmail Lab: Got the Wrong Bob? And Four Other Sanity-Saving Labs

GeekSugar — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 07:33:07 -0700

Google recently released Got the Wrong Bob?, a new Gmail labs feature that suggests alternate recipients when sending an email to a group. It's not foolproof and only works when you're sending a message to multiple recipients, but it'll keep you from firing off a rant about your boyfriend to all of your best friends, and accidentally including, say, his mother. Sure, I'd love to have the time to triple-check each and every email, but it's not a realistic option. This lab, and the four that follow, are definite sanity-saving greatest hits.

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Website of the Day: Escape My Date

GeekSugar — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:33:04 -0700

This is brilliant! For all of those times you get stuck in a painfully boring situation, a bad date, or end up at a really annoying dinner party, you can use a cool new site called Escape My Date to help you get out of a sticky (or lame) situation. Discovered on makeuseof, Escape My Date is great because it uses Twitter to reach out to one of your friends and rescue you from your bad date.

All you have to do is sign up with your Twitter info, create a profile, and select the friends that you would want to phone you during a situation you want to escape from. Say you find yourself on a bad date, you just direct message @EscapeMyDate and they will send the message to your chosen friends. If your friends don't call you within five minutes, Escape My Date will make an automated call to you - so no matter what, you'll have an out!

And if you know beforehand that the date may be on the boring side, you can always schedule a call to yourself using Wakerupper!

Have an interesting website you want to share? To learn how to post your favorite websites to our Website of the Day group, read more.

First of all, join the Website of the Day group.
Click "New Post" under the website of the day tab at the top of the page.
Give your story a "Title."
Fill in the "Body" with a link to your favorite website and the reasons why you love it.
Type "Technology and Gadgets" in the Categories box
Add keyword(s) in the tag field with relevant tags (for example mine for this story was "Website of the Day").
Choose whether you want the post to be private or public.
Click "Create Post" 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!

iPhone Tip: How to Quickly Scroll to the Top of Any Screen

GeekSugar — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:03:36 -0700

I love learning simple tips and tricks for my iPhone - even if they're things I feel I should have known! File this tip under "Things I wish I knew months ago."

Whether you're reading a ton of emails, in the middle of a very long text conversation or just deeply involved browsing apps, sometimes you find yourself at the bottom of a page having to scroll up, up, up to the top. It's annoying and time consuming. Turns out, Apple anticipated how frustrating this would be, and built in a simple feature to quickly reach the top of any application, message log, or browser window - just tap your iPhone's status bar (either on the clock, signal strength, or battery icon).

There's no special app needed - it works on any iPhone. I'm a little embarrassed I didn't know about it until now, but if you're anything like me, this quick hint will free up valuable minutes of your day.

Daily Tech: The Giorgio Armani Phone Is Back. . . and Better Than Ever

GeekSugar — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:10:22 -0700