FaceApp: How Dangerous Is It?

FaceApp: Should I Delete It?

Updated: December 3, 2019

Screenshot From FaceApp.com

You may have seen the slew of "What would I look like as an old person" photos that have been shared to Social Media recently. You may also have seen warnings in the media that this app is "Bad News." Just how bad is it? Should you delete the app and reset your phone? Or is it really as harmful as much of the media is saying?

What is FaceApp?

FaceApp is a photo app available for Android and iPhone.  It basically allows one to apply filters to photos.  You can do things like swap genders, add makeup, add tattoos, and otherwise enhance all of your selfies. The latest app update added the ability to "age" or "de-age" selfies as well.

FaceApp is not a new app. It has been around since 2017. However, it recently became viral, thanks to its ability to age you in selfies, as well as share side-by-side photos to social media.

What Are the Concerns with FaceApp?

YouTube Comes Back to Fire TV

YouTube Returns to Fire TV

Today, Amazon announced the return of a dedicated YouTube App to the Fire TV.  However, they did NOT make this new app easy to find.  TechLaurels went through the steps to find this app and get it activated.  We detailed the steps on our Facebook page. The post is embedded below.

Disconnect Your Facebook Apps to Protect Your Personal Data

Facebook Apps May Treat Your Personal Information Like a Commodity

Remove Facebook App Connections to Protect Your Personal Data

We are still reeling from the fallout of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.  Cambridge Analytica purchased data from Facebook App Developers, and then they used it to try to influence us politically.  If you are interested in reading more about the hows and the whys of this breech, please see our previous post, The Facebook Kerfuffle and What it Means For You, as well as all of our previous articles on privacy and protecting your data.  Your data was compromised because you trusted the wrong apps with it.

Now you are aware of why the data miners are creating all of these apps, it is time to disconnect them so that they will no longer have access to your personal information or the contents of your Facebook Profile.  Removing apps used to be quite a tedious process, so many of us just ignored it or put it off, until our Facebook Account was cloned, a rogue app started posting on our behalf, or friends started complaining of receiving messages we never sent.  Thankfully, in response to this catastrophe, Facebook has streamlined the process of app removal, making it much easier. They have also made it easier to see just what kinds of permissions the apps request, as well as to selectively remove permissions. Today, we're going to look at how to do this.  We'll guide you through finding your connected apps, purging those you no longer use or recognize, and examining the permissions the remaining apps require.

Harmony Hub Part 3: Editing Device Settings So Things Work Properly

Editing Your Harmony Hub Devices, Scenes, and Activities For More Effective Control

Adjust the Way Harmony Controls Your Entertainment Components

This is the third part of a series on setting up and using a Harmony Hub.  Part 1 reviewed the Harmony Hub, while Part 2 focused on setting it up.  Today, we will look at adjusting your Harmony app settings so that they correctly control your devices.  As we discussed in Part 1 and Part 2, the Harmony Hub can be very quirky, and you may need to make several adjustments after initial set up.

What Can Be Adjusted?

Depending on the specific device, different functions can be adjusted within the Harmony App (Desktop or Mobile.)  You can adjust things like the way a device powers on and off, input settings, command repeats, commands, and delays. You can change a device's name. You can add commands to a device's routine, and/or fix commands that are not functioning as expected.   You can also create activities that group a set of commands together for one or more devices. These activities will later show up as scenes in your Alexa app.

Creating additional activities will also create new command prompts in Alexa, so that tasks can easily be accomplished with a single voice command.  Many of these activities are created during the initial set up, like we discussed in Part 2.  You may find that an activity you set up is not working as expected. If so, you can edit the activity and make adjustments so that it does, in fact, operate like you want.  For example, I have a dual Toshiba DVD/VHS recorder.  I set up a "watch Toshiba" activity that powers on the TV, turns the Timer off on the Toshiba, sets the input to DVD, and brings up the recording menu.  This initially did not work correctly, as it takes the Toshiba about 20 seconds to load a disc.  I needed to adjust this activity by adding a delay between turning off the timer and queuing up the recordings menu.  After adjusting the activity within the Harmony App, my activity now works as I desire.

EVERY TIME you make adjustments to devices or activities, you will need to unlink and relink your Harmony Account from within the Alexa app.  Then you will need to rerun Discovery from within Alexa.  Harmony may not update your corresponding Alexa settings if you do not unlink and relink your Harmony Account.

What Do I Adjust First?

For most of us, the TV is the heart and soul of our Entertainment Center.  Therefore, it is extremely important that your TV is configured correctly.  It is especially important that the input settings work correctly. Therefore, I always suggest you "edit" your Television Device first.  We'll walk you through adjusting your TV's device settings later in this article. You may find your other components behave better once the TV is set up correctly.

What to Do When Alexa Goes Down

How to Control Your Smart Home when Alexa Goes Down

Using Your Echo During an Alexa Outage

Today, for the first time, Alexa experienced widespread outages.  Sometimes, she'd light up, and the blue ring would keep flashing, but she would not respond to any commands.  Other times, Alexa would blink red, indicating she was not connected.  Additionally, even if she was not flashing, she failed to respond to any commands. Sometimes, she would apologize. Other times, she'd look like she was listening and responding, but she would just fade out.  Alexa was unable to respond to a simple command, such as "What time is it?" let alone operate any Smart Home Devices.

As of the time I write this, Alexa still has not come back.  And unlike in the Super Bowl commercial, there are not a stable of celebrities waiting to take her place.

So what can you do when Alexa goes down? Does it mean you are out of luck until the network issues resolve?  Thankfully, there are some ways you can still command your Smart Devices, even when your Echo is not responding.

Ask My Buddy and Alexa Can Summon Help in an Emergency

Alert Your Personal Emergency Network
Using Only Your Voice,
 with Alexa and Ask My Buddy

Turn Your Smart Speaker into an Emergency Alert Device

Alexa and other Smart Home technologies can make life a lot easier for people who live alone, people who have disabilities, and a lot of older people.   Smart Home technologies and Smart Speakers can automate a lot of tasks, and make physical tasks simpler for those with physical limitations.  Smart speakers and other assistive technologies can help a person continue to live independently, in his or her own home, for a longer time. But what these technologies cannot yet do is to call 911.  Wouldn't it be great if Smart Speakers, like the Amazon Echo or Google Home, could summon help when an individual needs it?  Well, now they can, thanks to a service called "AskMyBuddy.net."

I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up

Most of us have seen the commercials. A senior citizen is in distress, but s/he cannot get to a telephone to summon help.  However, the individual wears a pendant, and by pressing a button, s/he can summon assistance from a personal emergency alert network.  And although these devices are marketed to seniors, I know a few women and people with disabilities who live alone and wish they had this "yell for help" capability, but they do not want another monthly expense, especially when they figure they will not use it often. Many people in this category have Alexa or a similar Smart Speaker.    However, despite the fact Alexa has limited calling abilities, she cannot dial 911, no matter how many times you ask her to.  Wouldn't it be nice if Alexa could summon emergency help with a voice command?

Creating Groups with Alexa (Smart Home Series, Part 8)

Make Your Smart Devices Work Together
by Creating Alexa Groups

Control Devices Made by Different Manufacturers
with a Single Voice Command

  

This is Part 8 in a series about building an Alexa compatible Smart Home, and about learning to use the Alexa App.  Previous articles focused on setting up and using Alexa, as well as setting up a Smart Plug and a Smart Lighting System.  You can find Part 1 of this series here, as well as links to all 7 previous chapters in the Sidebar.

Today we're going to discuss something we've touched upon in previous articles: setting up Groups in Alexa. Setting up groups allows you to control various Smart Devices with a single Alexa command.

What is an Alexa Group?

 A Group is merely a collection of devices, gathered together, so you can control all at once.  We briefly touched on Groups in Part 1 of this series, in the section called "How Does the Echo Help with Your Smart Home?"  As noted then, each Smart Device comes with its own app that you typically need to use to set-up the device. Without the help of Alexa, you'd also need to use the app to control the device. This is all well and good when you have only Smart Devices from a single manufacturer, AND if you do not want to control things with your voice. But what if you have some Smart Light Bulbs, like a few Hue Lights, and other lights on Smart Outlets, like the WeMo? Do you really want to have to open a few different apps just to turn on your lights?  Setting up Alexa groups eliminates the need to do that.

A group is simply a set of devices and/or scenes, saved under a specified name. It is very similar to the concept of "rooms" used by the Hue Lighting System, except it's a thousand times more flexible. A group can consist of one or more device.  You may then activate the device or devices with a single command word.

For example, I have Hue Bulbs in both my bedroom and office. Both these rooms are on my top floor. I also have bedside lights controlled by a WeMo Smart Outlet.  I have all of these lights in a group called "Upstairs."  I can turn them all on by saying "Alexa, turn on Upstairs." Without this grouping, I'd have to say "Alexa, turn on Bedroom" to turn on the Hue Light in the bedroom, "Alexa, turn on Office," to turn on the Hue Light in the Office, and "Alexa, turn on Bedside," to turn on the bedside WeMo. Because I have all 3 lights in a group called "Upstairs," instead I can just say "Alexa, turn on Upstairs," and she turns on all 3 lights.

So Alexa allows me to place items from different rooms and  manufacturers into "groups" for easy control, as well as adding voice control capabilities to those devices.  It allows me to control sets of devices without having to open several apps. I can also add "Scenes" from the device's own app into an Alexa Group.  I can then access all those things at once, merely by commanding Alexa with the name of that group. Grouping can take a half dozen different commands, and unite them into a single word.

How Do I Set Up an Alexa Group?

You use the Alexa App to set up your Alexa Groups, of course. You can set up groups using either the ios (Apple) app, the android app, the Fire Tablet app, or the browser-based Alexa Web Portal. Before diving in, you need to make sure you have all of your apps and devices linked and prepared. So it's best to check those things first, and then you can go on and get grouping.

The Philips Hue Smart Lighting System, Part 2 (Smart Home Series, Part 7)

The Philips Hue Smart Lighting System, Part 2

Programming your Philips Smart Lights

Set your Lights to Turn On and Off Automatically,
Learn to Program Light Routines, and Explore New Hue Features

This is Part 2 of a tutorial on using the Philips Hue Smart Lighting System, and Part 7 of our series on building a Smart Home using Alexa.  Last week, we reviewed the Philips Hue System, talked about its various options, and learned how to set up the system. We learned how to use Alexa and the Amazon Echo to turn lights on and off.  This week, we will be looking at programming your Hue Lights so that they turn on and off automatically. You can read Part 1 of our Hue tutorial here, and you can read Part 1 of our Smart Home Series here. Links to other chapters can be found in the sidebar.

Automating your Philips Hue Bulbs

As we briefly discussed in Part 1, Philips Hue Bulbs can be controlled remotely, or programmed to come on automatically. Today, we're going to learn how to schedule your lights using the Hue App. Before setting up schedules, you need to have your bulbs installed and grouped into rooms.  (See Part 1 to learn how to do this.)  You will also need your mobile device, running the Hue App. (You can also do this on a Kindle Fire Tablet using the "All 4 Hue" app.) Presently, you can NOT set schedules and routines through the Web Portal; you can merely turn your lights on and off.  Most programming must be done through the Hue App.

What Types of Automation does Hue Offer?

Currently, the Hue System offers:

• Home & Away Scheduling: Also known as "Geofencing," you can set Hue to turn on certain rooms when you come home. Similarly, you can set Hue to turn off certain rooms (or all Hue devices) when you leave your house.
• Wake Up: You can set certain lights or rooms to turn on "Wake lights," as a supplement to or replacement for an alarm clock.
• Go to Sleep: You can program your lights to fade out or turn off in preparation for bed time.
• Timers: You can set a timer to have certain lights or rooms turn on or off in X number of minutes.
• Other Routines: This is where you can set traditional light timers, and "randomize" turn on/off times to make it look less like the lights are timer controlled. You can set up timers to turn lights on or off, and to dim or brighten lights in up to 4 rooms per "routine."
• Hue Labs Formulas: Hue Labs periodically introduces new "formulas" for lighting automation. These formulas can be installed to your Hue System through the app.

We will discuss each of these features, as well as how to set each up.  With the exception of Hue Labs Formulas, these functions are set up using the "Routines" tab of the app.  This is the tab accessed by tapping the "Clock" icon.

The Philips Hue Smart Lighting System, Part 1 (Smart Home Series, Part 6)

The Alexa-Compatible Philips Hue Smart Lighting System 

Automate Your Lights with Philips Hue and Alexa

This is part 6 in a series about building an Alexa Compatible Smart Home. Previous articles focused on The Alexa App itself, fun things to do with your Echo devices, and how to customize your Alexa and Echo experience. (See the sidebar for links to previous lessons. You can find Part 1 here.) Currently, we are talking about adding third-party devices to a Smart Home set up. Today, we'll be reviewing the Philips Hue System and discussing how to use it with your Alexa-enabled devices.

What is the Philips Hue?

Philips Hue is a wireless Smart lighting system.  Hue allows you to control and customize your lights in many ways.  At its most basic, you can turn your lights on and off via voice or via app.  At the more sophisticated end, you can create lighting groups, automate lighting schedules and tones, dim and brighten, as well as schedule. Hue lights eliminate the need for separate dimmers and timers. Hue bulbs can convert existing fixtures and lamps into Smart Appliances.  Hue also offers a wide variety of smart lighting products, such as lamps and strip lights, to help you light your space in many flexible ways.  They also offer installable dimmer switches and motion detectors to extend control-ability of your lighting.

Phillips Hue systems all begin with a Hue Hub. This is a small box that attaches to your router and pairs with your Hue Products.  Each hub (or bridge) can connect with at least 50 Hue products. (Phillips just released Generation 3 of the Hue Hub. Later generation hubs can handle a larger number of devices. Gen 1 hubs were capable of connecting with "up to 50" bulbs.)

The second vital part of the Hue system is the Hue App.  The app interfaces with your lights, and allows you to control and customize them in all the ways described above. The app is available for ios (Apple), Android, and Fire Tablets.  And of course, there is a Hue Alexa Skill.  Alexa works wonderfully with all parts of the Hue System. Alexa gives you voice control for your lights when you are home, and the Hue App gives you remote control when you are not at home.  Through the app, you can set up all types of lighting "scenes" and "routines."  It is also IFTTT compatible, for aficionados of that app.

And of course, the third part of the Hue System are the lighting products themselves.  Philips offers a full range of Hue-enabled Lighting Devices, from single bulbs, to lighting fixtures.  Their multi-color bulbs and lighting strips are two of their more popular products.  They offer flood light bulbs in both colored and plain white.  So you can buy lamps and fixtures with Hue compatibility built right in, or you can add bulbs to the lamps and fixtures you already own. All Hue lighting products are LED, for maximum energy efficiency and long life. Philips Hue Bulbs can reduce power costs in many ways.

The Alexa App, In-Depth, Part 3 (Smart Home Series, Part 4)

The Alexa App, In-Depth, Part 3:
Extending Alexa with Skills

Adding Additional Alexa Skills, and
Fun Things to Do with Alexa

This is Part 3 of an in-depth look at Amazon's Alexa app and the Echo Family of Alexa-enabled devices. Part 1 introduced the Alexa app, talked about setting it up, accessing menus, using Alexa as a media and audiobook player, as well as pairing devices to the app. Part 2 looked at all the submenus in the settings section, as well as about lists, alarms, and reminders. It covered personalizing your devices, setting up news briefs, setting your location, changing your wake word, and changing other Alexa defaults. Part 2 discussed pairing accounts to Alexa, as well as customizing news and sports briefings, pairing a calendar, changing your music streaming defaults, and voice purchasing with Alexa.  Part 2 covered customizing almost every Alexa setting that can be customized. Today, we're going to get to the fun stuff.  Alexa can do a lot that's fun, inane, or just silly. Some of these things are available natively, while others require enabling skills.

What is an "Alexa Skill?

When you get a new Smartphone, it comes with certain abilities, like voice dialing, messaging, and a camera. It may not come with things like Facebook or a photo editor, but you can easily go to the App Store to add these capabilities. Likewise, a new PC comes with little more than a web browser pre-installed.  You usually download or install additional software.  Your Echo device comes with a lot of functionality built-in, but you can extend it through adding new skills.

An Alexa skill is like a phone app or a software program. It is a little program that will add new features to an Alexa compatible device.  Presently, all Alexa skills are voice-driven.  (That may change as Amazon develops Alexa devices with screens or cameras, like the Look and the Show.) And rather than "installing" a skill, you merely have to "enable" it.

The Alexa App, In-Depth, Part 2 (Smart Home Series, Part 3)

The Alexa App, In Depth, Part 2:
Personalizing, Refining, and Customizing Alexa;
News Briefings, Lists, Timers, and Alarms

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This is the second part of a series on using the Alexa app, and the third article in our series on Smart Home Devices.  Part 1 introduced the Alexa app, talked about setting it up, accessing menus, and using Alexa as a media player and audiobook reader, as well as about pairing devices to the app. Today, we continue our in-depth look at Alexa and how to use it, discussing the settings menu, lists, alarms, and reminders. We'll go through the Settings Menu, item by item, so you can customize your device, as well as your Sports and News Briefings.  We will also learn how to change Alexa's defaults. Part 3 will look at calling and messaging, adding additional Alexa skills, and fun things to do with Alexa. Then we will move on to smart home devices, and using them with your Echo device. We are breaking this down as there is A LOT to learn. However, once you finish going through this series, you will be an Alexa Master.  And you'll enjoy having a Voice Controlled Personal Assistant even more.

If you haven't already read Part 1, we suggest you do so before reading this week's post.  And if you want to be notified when new articles are published, please subscribe to this blog and/or follow us on Twitter (@techlaurels.)  You can use the appropriate widgets in the sidebar to do either.

The Settings Menu

You can find "Settings" near the bottom of Alexa's menu. The Settings menu is, of course, where you can adjust the settings of the Alexa app, as well as of your paired Amazon Devices.  The first part of the menu lists the devices, (Echos, Dots, Dash Wands, Fire TVs, etc.,) while the lower half, titled "Accounts,"  adjusts various Alexa functions. At the bottom is a "General" section with your Alexa history, as well as app information. There is also an entry here to add a new Alexa device.  The settings section is where you customize and personalize Alexa and your connected devices.

Part 1 discussed how to set up a new device, so we will not repeat that here.  Instead, we'll talk about adjusting settings on devices already paired to the app, as well as using the Settings section to personalize the way Alexa responds.

Of course, the Devices section lets you set-up and change each Alexa compatible device. The Accounts section helps you personalize the way Alexa responds to various requests. The most important parts of each section are detailed below.

The Alexa App, In-Depth, Part 1 (Smart Home Series, Part 2)

The Alexa App, In Depth, Part 1: 

Getting the Alexa App,
Adding your Echo, and

Using Alexa as a Media Player
    

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The Alexa App is the Companion to the Echo Family of Devices;
Use the Alexa App to Set Up and Customize your Echo Device.

Part one of this series introduced Alexa and the Amazon Family of Echo Devices.  This week, we're starting our in-depth look at the Alexa app. This app is the companion to the Echo and other Alexa-enabled devices.  You set up your Echo and other Smart Home Devices using the Alexa App.

There is a lot to Alexa and the app itself, too much really to cover in one post. Thus, we're going to start with how to get the app, and what the app is compatible with. Then we'll go on to show you how to pair an Echo device with the app.  Finally, we'll talk about using Alexa as a media player. Part 2 of this article, (which will be Part 3 of the series) will continue our review of all the things you can do with Alexa.  After that, we'll review various Smart Home Devices and how to integrate them with Alexa.

An Alexa Powered Smart Home (Smart Home Series, Part 1)

My Smart Home, Part I:
Powered by Alexa & The Amazon Echo

Alexa is Amazon's Voice Controlled Personal Assistant

Alexa is Compatible with a Plethora of Devices

  

After last week's article reviewing The Dash Wand, I received an email request asking me to talk a little more about Alexa and my own Smart Home.  So today, a new series begins, focusing on the Smart Home. We'll take a look at my own Smart Devices, and how they have changed my life for the better.

This series will begin with an introduction to Smart Devices, as well as an Introduction to Alexa, Amazon's software-based Personal Assistant. Alexa acts as the hub for my own Smart Home devices, and she adds the voice control component to them. Later articles will go into more depth about how to use Alexa, how to integrate various devices into your smart home, and how to use Alexa to tie it all together and make it simple to operate. (In fact, I would not have expanded my own stable of smart devices had I not fallen in love with the Echo's ease of use.)

If you'd like to be notified when new articles in the series are published,we recommend you subscribe via e-mail, using the box in the sidebar of this  blog, or follow us on Twitter.  (Facebook can be flaky at showing followers our posts.) Future posts in this series will include items such as Smart Outlets, Smart Thermostats, and Smart Light-bulbs.  Today's post will concentrate on Alexa, Alexa-enabled devices, and the Amazon Echo.

What is a Smart Home?

Many of us remember the voice-directed computers featured in classic science fiction. 2001: A Space Odyssey had Hal, and on Star Trek, Spock often called to the computer for help. And while neither Knight Rider's KITT nor the Jetson's Rosie have materialized yet, we have made great strides in artificial intelligence over the last couple of decades. In 2017, having a voice controlled home is no longer in the realm of science fiction, nor limited to the wealthy.

Simply put, a Smart Home is a home equipped with lighting, heating, and other devices that can be controlled remotely, usually by means of a computer or a mobile phone. A smart device is merely a single component of a Smart Home. Smart devices usually depend on a live internet connection to function.  Most can be controlled via wi-fi, even if you are not inside your house.

Today, you can buy devices with smart technology built in.  You can also buy accessories to bring smart technology to older devices.  You can find Smart Devices in all categories, from lighting to entertainment to security to appliances. Most devices come with some sort of app to use as a controller. Some devices also use hubs for communication. (We will be covering various smart devices and their capabilities in future articles in this series.  Again, if you have an interest in this area, you may want to subscribe to this blog, and/or follow us on Twitter, so you don't miss a single article.)

Many manufacturers are making smart devices. Some of the more common names in Smart Home Technology are Wink, Nest, Belkin We-Mo, TP-Link, Phillips Hue and Ecobee. Samsung is probably the leader in Smart Appliances, including refrigerators and washers, and is getting into the hub and lighting areas as well.

Most smart devices do not have built in voice control. To control the device, you must open an app on a phone, tablet, or computer.  That is where Alexa, and her Echo Family of devices come in.  Alexa is an easy and economical way to bring hands-free control to your Smart Devices.  Alexa brings voice control to your Smart Home and frees you from the apps.

What is Alexa, and What Can She Do?

Alexa is the name of Amazon's software-based Personal Assistant.  Alexa is not a smart device per se, but rather, can interface with a plethora of smart devices, including those made by other manufacturers.  In addition, Alexa powers Amazon's own array of smart home devices, which in turn, extend voice control to compatible Smart Home devices.

Reader View in Firefox

Reader View: A Firefox Feature for a Cleaner Web Page

Reader View Strips Out Everything But the Content
It Also Can Read the Content Aloud to You

In the early days of the World Wide Web, browsers did not support a lot of fancy stuff.  Animated GIFs and Blinking Text were about the most sophisticated design elements available. But as the web matured and browser technology advanced, the average web browser was able to support a whole slew of features. Not only did we start seeing multi-columned web pages, we started seeing pop-ups, ads, and a lot of clutter.  This is fine on a lot of web sites, but sometimes we just want to read the main content, without a lot of distracting elements.  Sometimes, we yearn for the early days of the web, when information was presented cleanly, and in a decent sized font.  Reader view is here to help a user achieve that look.

What is Reader View?

Reader view, also referred to as Reader Mode, is a feature that strips away all extraneous content, leaving you with just the "guts" of the page.  It strips away things like menus, buttons, ads and background images, leaving you with just the main content. It also changes the page's text size, contrast and layout for better readability.

To demonstrate, I zoomed our last post to 50% in both "regular" and "reader" modes. Then I took screenshots.

Here it is in "regular" mode:

A Review of Quibblo, a Quiz Creating Tool, and A Quiz: How Facebook Savvy Are You?

This is the second in a series of articles discussing the privacy implications of Internet Quizzes.  The first, The Dangers of Internet Quizzes, is available at https://techlaurels.blogspot.com/2017/05/the-dangers-of-internet-quizzes.html

Quibblo: A Review

WWW.Quibblo.com

NOTE: Our quiz  (see the bottom of this page) is hosted over on Quibblo.  Quibblo is supposed to be a free source for creating quizzes that can easily be shared on Social Media.  If you are following the "journey" of this blog, I originally headed over to Quibblo to investigate its use as a resource.  Supposedly, you can embed the finished quizzes on your blogs or Social Media Pages, and several sources touted it as a good resource for bloggers. My research does not necessarily concur.

Quibblo is supposed to generate content that is easy to share and easy to embed, either on your own web site or on one of the major blogging platforms.  And quizzes can be good traffic generators for Social Media. Before you start, Quibblo promises your creation efforts will be rewarded with a widget in the sidebar to help you share, embed, or promote your content. But alas, the promised code-generating widget is absent in all three browsers!  I have contacted Quibblo to see how to get the embed code.  I will update this post when I hear back.  In the meanwhile,  the quiz is linked from the bottom of this post.  That, of course is NOT the ideal situation. Generated content should be as easy to embed as the giveaway widget featured on our giveaway post.  It is not.

This post was going to be a fun quiz about Facebook Savviness.  But it evolved as I was developing the quiz and writing the post.  The quiz is no longer the highlight of this article.  Rather, the post transformed into a warning about these quiz generators, and a review of Quibblo specifically.  I am kind of sorry my research lead me to consider Quibblo as a good option.

BEST Source for Free, Open-Source Software (FOSS)

Get Free Alternatives to Expensive, Commercial Software

I am a great proponent of Free Open-Source Software (FOSS).  These days, a home user should be able to completely equip his/her home PC without shelling out a lot of money for software.  There are free equivalents to almost EVERY popular program, including MS Word and MS Office.  If you follow this blog, I'll be reviewing the various alternatives in upcoming articles, including what I use on my own PC.  But first, I want to introduce you to the site I use to download most of my own software: Ninite.com.

RoboForm: Absolutely the Best Password Manager

My FAVORITE Browser Utility!
Stores Log-ins and Fills Forms Quickly and Easily

Never Lose a Username or Password Again

  

RoboForm Review:

Password Managers:

It seems as if people have issues with lost passwords on a daily basis. I cannot believe there are people out there who still are not using password managers. There are many password managers from which to choose, some free and some paid, and some are most definitely better than others.

What is a Password Manager?  Simply put, it is an application that stores a database of your username and passwords.The better ones also include form-filling capabilities, so you can enter your information into a log-in form with a single click.  Most will also generate strong passwords for you. They are basically electronic safes for your digital personal information.  They are handy-dandy little things, especially in light of all the usernames and passwords a typical person needs to remember these days.  And having to reset passwords can be a real PITA, especially when you are short on time.  That is why if you're not using a Password Manager, I suggest you choose one and start using it immediately.

But don't pick just ANY Password Manager.  This IS your Personal Information, after all.  You don't want to trust the WRONG software with such valuable data.  You need to ensure the one YOU pick is secure and not easily hacked.

Customize Your Android Phone

Google Introduces a Free Tool to Help You Make a Cool Home Screen

Make your Smartphone Look Prettier

Tired of the same old boring phone appearance?  Haven't gotten around to customizing your phone's look, or just not sure where to start?  Google has launched a new, browser based tool to help you change up your Android's look.