Category Archives: Newsletter

Geeks on Tour Monthly Newsletters

May 2020 News: Blogger Basics, Blogger and PDF files, Scan photos, 10 uses for Albums in Google Photos

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  May 2020 | Issue 153  | Archives

What’s Up with Jim and Chris – the Geeks?


Denver airport for Google Product Experts Conference

April was a full month of quarantine. We didn’t leave the house except to walk around the block, and we obviously did not get haircuts! All is well with us, we get food delivered from Publix and Jim had lots of opportunity to hone his cooking skills. We did our YouTube shows on scanning photos, and on the weeks that we didn’t do a live show, we held class on Zoom
for our members only. See our April Google Photos album for some more pictures, and our blog for #stayhome daily diary.
If you need to learn how to participate in Zoom meetings, check out our course.

GeeksOnTour premium members get the course for free with a coupon code found at GeeksOnTour.com/School.
Everyone else – the course cost is $20
What Does This Button Do?
We added two new episodes to our YouTube “Button” shows in April:
  • 189. Digitizing your old photo albums and showing them on TV with Chromecast and Google Photos
  • 190. What is a blog, and how does Blogger work?
Members Only Zoom meeting / classes
We held 2 classes for our premium members using a Zoom meeting. We had a class on Scanning photo albums and a class on Blogger. See the replays here.
Tutorial Videos
We also added a few of our short show-me videos. See the complete list here.
What’s coming up – Our Calendar
Not much.
We’re still under stay home orders.
All public appearances are canceled for the foreseeable future.
Live YouTube Shows Sunday at 2pm Eastern time. Most weeks.
If we don’t do a live Button Show, we’ll do a Member Zoom at 2pm Eastern.
Live Zoom meetings for Premium Members after the live shows.
Stay safe. Wash your hands.

Ask the Geeks Q&A forum.
Ask the Geeks

 Anyone can read the forum, only members can ask questions. This is a valuable benefit of membership. Join Today! Here are some recent discussions:

  1. Album Photo Sequence
  2. Albums in Google Photos
  3. Android Screen Lock
  4. Blogs Pictures Disappear
  5. Zoom Sound
How to write that book of yours, one blog post at a time.
You know that book you have in you? The one you keep telling yourself you’re going to write someday, when you have time? It might be a travelog about your RV travels. It might be a novel based on your family’s experience. It might be your life story. Whatever the nature of your book, the way to get started is to … get started.
How to display a .pdf file in your blog or other website
Do you, or a club you belong to, create newsletters and distribute them in .pdf format? Have you ever wished you could just put the .pdf document in a blog post?
You’re in luck, it’s really quite easy if you use Google Drive to store your .pdf files.
This article gives you step by step instructions on how to do it.
How to get your old photo albums into Google Photos and display on TV
How do I get my old photo albums into Google Photos? While we #stayhome, we are pulling out our
old photos. In our recent YouTube show, Episode 189, we show you how we get them into Google Photos, make albums and then add the albums to our Google Home “ambient” mode which acts like a screensaver for the TV.
Ten ways of using albums in Google Photos
If you’re not making albums, you’re not using the capabilities of Google Photos. It’s by adding photos to albums that you can make your own groupings. Realize that Albums are NOT like folders, they do not store your photos. Photos are stored in one bucket, just called Google Photos. Any given photo can show up in one or more albums, they’re just marked to display in that album. If you delete a photo from Google Photos – it’s gone from the album. If you remove a photo from an album, it’s
still in Google Photos. To make an album:
  • Select the photos you want in the album
  • Click/tap the + in the upper right corner
  • Choose Album
  • Give the album a name and click/tap the checkmark at top left
Leave us a Review

Have you learned something from Geeks on Tour?

If so, we’d love to get a review from you. Click on this link

 If you like this newsletter, please forward it on to your friends! If you received this issue forwarded by a friend you can subscribe to get your own copy delivered to your in box – it’s free. You can also visit the archives of past newsletters. If you’ve learned something from us along the way, we’d love a Google Review from you!

April 2020 News: Zoom online meetings issue

April 2020 | Issue 152  | Archives
What’s Up with Jim and Chris – the Geeks?


Denver airport for Google Product Experts Conference

March started out normal with a short trip to Sarasota to present a Google Photos seminar to the Sarasota Technology User Group – STUG. Within 2 weeks, the world simply stopped, due to the CoronaVirus Pandemic. We cancelled our big dive trip to the Maldives and shut the house door. We
will #StayHome for the foreseeable future. See our March Google Photos album for some more pictures, and our blog for #stayhome daily diary.
We are busier than ever while we’re stuck in our house because we are in Zoom meetings, sometimes several a day. We’re using it and we’re teaching it. Not since 2010 when Facebook caught on like wildfire, have we been so involved in one product. Everyone we know is joining online meetings and Zoom is the tool of choice. We’ve made videos, written
articles, held practice Zoom meetings, and even made an online course for Zoom. We are dedicating this issue of our Newsletter to covering Zoom.
What Does This Button Do?
We added four new episodes to our YouTube “Button” shows in March:
  • 185. How to make a custom map for dive sites
  • 186. How to use Zoom for online meetings
  • 187. What does a Zoom meeting look like? A real meeting with 50 participants and lots of How-To.
  • 188. How to get your old slides into Google Photos
Tutorial Videos
We also added a few of our short show-me videos. See the complete list here.
What’s coming up – Our Calendar
Not much.
We’ve been staying at home for the past several weeks.
Our big dive trip canceled and we are using the time to work.
All public appearances are off for the foreseeable future.
Live YouTube Shows Sunday at 2pm Eastern time. Most weeks.
Live Zoom meetings for Premium Members after the live shows.
Stay safe. Wash your hands.


Ask the Geeks

Ask the Geeks Q&A forum. Anyone can read the forum, only members can ask questions. This is a valuable benefit of membership. Join Today! Here are some recent discussions:

  1. Make a Blog Post Title clickable
  2. Arranging photos in Win10
  3. Help removing duplicate photos
  4. Saving scanned photos in Picasa
  5. Amazon Photos to Google Photos
  6. Sharing your Zoom screen
Zoom – a short history

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I think it sheds light on a product to learn a little about the people behind the product. Zoom is the brainchild of the CEO Eric Yuan. He grew up and was educated in China. After graduation he wanted to move to the US so he could work in the Internet field. It took 2 years and 8 tries to get a visa, but he finally accomplished it in 1997. He went to work for WebEx which was bought by Cisco, and he became Cisco’s Corporate VP of engineering, in charge
of collaboration software. He knew a thing or two about developing online meeting software when he left Cisco to start Zoom.
He left WebEx to start Zoom in 2011
Many of his fellow engineers left with him in 2011 and they launched the Zoom Video platform in 2012. The company was successful and they went public in 2019. If you want to buy stock in Zoom, please be sure to choose the right one. Stock symbol ZOOM skyrocketed in price after Zoom Video went public in March of 2019. The problem? That’s the wrong Zoom. Zoom Video is stock symbol ZM.
He’s a good Dad
Yuan has an impressive personal story as well. I’ve read that he never misses one of his kid’s basketball games and often helps out at practices. At the office Yuan has a 99% approval rating from employees based on workplace review site Glassdoor who named Yuan its Big Company CEO of the Year in 2018.
He’s addressing the problems
Then came the Corona Virus pandemic and everyone needed online meetings. Zoom went from 10 million daily users in December to over 200 million daily users today. That kind of stress is bound to show some cracks in the system. There have been many articles about privacy and security problems experienced by Zoom, but instead of denying it or stonewalling, Zoom is closing down loopholes, adding security features, and holding webinars to address everyone’s questions.
We watched the webinar “Ask Eric Anything” where he addressed the security concerns. They’ve removed the problematic Facebook SDK software, they’ve added a security button in the online controls for meeting hosts, and they’ve put all feature updates on hold for the next 3 months to focus on privacy and
security.
That’s enough for me. I think we are very lucky, in our time of need, to have an online meeting system that works so well and is so affordable. Thank you Eric Yuan.
What is Zoom meetings?

With orders to stay at home during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, meetings are going virtual, and Zoom.us is quickly being adopted as the tool of choice for friends, families, businesses and organizations to hold online meetings. Whether you just want to get together with a few friends for happy hour, keep
your Book Club going, or manage a community meeting when no one can come to the Community Center, Zoom might be your answer.

This article answers some Frequently Asked Questions like:

  1. What is Zoom meetings?
  2. How does Zoom meetings work?
  3. How much does Zoom meetings cost?
  4. Does Zoom meetings really work?
  5. Is Zoom safe and private?
  6. What does a real Zoom meeting with 50 participants look like?
Read the Article
Practical Tips for Running Online Zoom Meetings
We’ve been involved in a few different groups that meet online using Zoom over the last several years. In the last few weeks, due to CoronaVirus quarantines, we’ve attended and hosted many more. OMG, the things we didn’t know it could do! To learn the details of everything it can do, the best place is to go to the source – the Zoom.us website Help Center. The purpose of this
article is to give some practical tips that we’ve learned along the way.
This article includes tips about:
  • Have at least one co-host
  • Audio etiquette
  • Video Etiquette
  • Scheduling
  • The Waiting room
  • Calling on people
  • Recording meetings
Read the Article
Step by Step course to learn how to use Zoom.
The reason that Zoom has skyrocketed to the top of the online meeting providers is because it’s easy and it just works. But there’s still a lot to learn. This course starts out with the very basics of how to join a Zoom meeting, then continues on to explain the different meeting controls, on computers as well as mobile devices. You will learn when you need a Zoom account and how to set one up, and how to schedule Zoom meetings and invite others.
GeeksOnTour premium members get the course for free with a coupon code found at GeeksOnTour.com/School.
Everyone else – the course cost is $20
Leave us a Review

Have you learned something from Geeks on Tour?

If so, we’d love to get a review from you. Click on this link

 If you like this newsletter, please forward it on to your friends! If you received this issue forwarded by a friend you can subscribe to get your own copy delivered to your in box – it’s free. You can also visit the archives of past newsletters. If you’ve learned something from us along the way, we’d love a Google Review from you!

Mar 2020 Newsletter: Map of Dive sites, Text on Photos, Google Photos Book

March 2020 | Issue 151  | Archives
What’s Up with Jim and Chris – the Geeks?


Denver airport for Google Product Experts Conference

February was a busy month, we’d just finished the Discovery Owners rally in Tampa, then went to Riverside RV Park in Arcadia to teach more smartphone photography and Google Photos. We were especially happy with our hands-on workshops there on editing photos and making albums. This was the 4th time we’ve been invited to teach at Riverside since 2013.
Next up was the RVillage rally in Live Oak, FL. Wow! It has really grown since last year – over 1,000 RVs there. Lots of energy and lots of fun. We taught 2 seminars: Maps and Apps for RV Trip Planning, and Google Photos: What to do with all those photos. We had 200+ attendees for each seminar. Then, we ended the month with a short dive trip to the Bahamas with our USA Dive Club. See Jim’s video here. See our February Google Photos album for lots more pictures.
March is going to be a catch up month as I am way behind on updating my Google Photos book, and I’m starting to hear about it from our readers! Yes! Keep bugging me. I have set a launch date for May 1 now and am determined to get it done. See article later.
What Does This Button Do?
We added one new episodes to our YouTube “Button” shows in February:
Tutorial Videos
We also added a few of our short tutorial videos. See the complete list here.

What’s coming up – Our Calendar

We’ve had a busy January and February.
Only one Technology Club presentation in March.
We have a big personal dive trip planned, though.
There is a Roadtrek rally after we return in April and nothing in May.

Ask the Geeks

Ask the Geeks Q&A forum. Anyone can read the forum, only members can ask questions. This is a valuable benefit of membership. Join Today! Here are some recent discussions:

  1. Bypass Windows 10 Login
  2. Adding descriptions after editing in Snapseed
  3. Help removing duplicate photos
  4. Arranging and sorting photos in Windows 10
  5. Can’t email photos out of Picasa
Jim and I are scuba divers and I’ve come up with a way of plotting dive sites on a custom map. This same technique could be used for RV boondocking sites, or backpacking campsites, or fishing sites. These are all places that need GPS coordinates in order to locate them.
Read More
It was a long time in coming, but Google Photos now can add text right to a photo. At least, the Android version of Google Photos can do that. It’s called the “Markup” tool and it’s pretty simple.

Even if you know how to add text to photos with Google Photos, you should watch this short video because I add a very important little tip!
Read More
Have you been waiting for the next edition of Mrs. Geek’s Guide to Google Photos? I had hoped to have it out before now, but it’s not. There’s still time to let me know what you hope to see in the book. You can just reply to this email, or read the article and leave a comment.
I have now set a launch date of May 1.
Meanwhile, check out my online course below.

Step by Step course to learn the right way to use Google Photos and never lose your pictures.

As long as everything is set up right, you can just sit back and relax while Google Photos does all the work to store and organize your lifetime of photos.
How do you be sure that everything is set up right? Take our course.
Read all about it at GeeksOnTour.com/School.

Leave us a Review

Have you learned something from Geeks on Tour?

If so, we’d love to get a review from you. Click on this link

 If you like this newsletter, please forward it on to your friends! If you received this issue forwarded by a friend you can subscribe to get your own copy delivered to your in box – it’s free. You can also visit the archives of past newsletters. If you’ve learned something from us along the way, we’d love a Google Review from you!

February 2020 Newsletter: RVillage Rally, Google Lens, Remote presentations with Zoom, Snapseed course

Geeks on Tour

February 2020 | Issue 150  | Archives

What’s Up with Jim and Chris – the Geeks?

Denver airport for Google Product Experts Conference

This January we actually went camping! We attended a Roadtrek group rally just for the fun of it.  See our January Google Photos album for lots more pictures. We also presented seminars at the Discovery Owner’s rally at Lazy Days in Tampa.

What Does This Button Do?

We added two new episodes to our YouTube “Button” shows this month:

What’s coming up – Our Calendar

We’ve had a busy January and February.

The only thing left this month as we send this newsletter is the big RVillage Rally up in Live Oak, FL. We have some personal dive trips planned, though.

Ask the Geeks Q&A forum.

Ask the GeeksAnyone can read the forum, only members can ask questions. This is a valuable benefit of membership. Join Today! Here are some recent discussions:

  1. Facebook Collage Pictures
  2. Get a texted picture to Google Photos
  3. Making a Thumbnail sized Photo
  4. Navigating to a Photo
  5. Clickfree Backup?

Using Google Lens to identify items in a photo

Google Lens will identify this and give you a link to buy it.

When you open any photo in Google Photos, you will see a button at the bottom meant to look like a camera lens. That is Google Lens and it is amazing. Open any photo, using Google Photos, and tap that button – it will analyze the current photo and tell you all sorts of things! Identify flowers, birds, insects. Translate and copy text, scan QR codes, identify products and give you links to buy them. And much more.

Read More

We’ll see you at the RVillage Rally

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This week, from Feb 12-16, we will be in Live Oak, Florida for the RVillage rally.

If you’ll be attending, please come visit us in the Vendor Village – we will be offering free half-hour Smartphone Help Desk sessions.

We are also presenting 2 seminars:

MAPS AND APPS FOR RV TRIP PLANNING WITH GEEKS ON TOUR
Thurs. 12:00pm – 1:00pm / Music Hall
Jim and Chris, of GeeksOnTour.com have been RVing since 2003, mostly full time. They will share their current list of the most useful apps and maps including step-by-step demos of how they plan their trips.
GOOGLE PHOTOS: WHAT TO DO WITH ALL THOSE PICTURES
Sat. 2:45pm – 3:45pm / Music Hall
You will learn how to privately store your thousands of smartphone photos, and videos, for free, with Google Photos. You can find any photo from your past just by searching: “kayaking in La Jolla” or “alligators in Okefenokee”. Taught by Chris Guld – a Platinum level Google Product Expert.

Geeks on Tour offer Live Remote Seminars using Zoom.us

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As we travel the country, we’ve presented seminars from Southern California to upstate New York, and all points in between. But, what if your California group wants us to present a seminar and we happen to be in Florida at that time? That’s when we use an online meeting software called Zoom. It allows the audience to see and hear us and we can see and hear the audience. We can display slides as well as demonstrate on our smartphones. In some ways, it can be even better than being there in person.

Read More

Step by Step course to learn photo editing with Snapseed

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You may have heard about the free app called Snapseed and how it can improve your photos. You want to learn how to do it, but you don’t know where to start. We now have a standalone course on Snapseed.

The course will take you about an hour or two and it costs $30. If you are a GeeksOnTour.com premium member, you get the courses free.

Read all about it at GeeksOnTour.com/School.

Leave us a Review

Review

Have you learned something from Geeks on Tour?

If so, we’d love to get a review from you. Click on this link

If you like this newsletter, please forward it on to your friends! If you received this issue forwarded by a friend you can subscribe to get your own copy delivered to your in box – it’s free. You can also visit the archives of past newsletters. If you’ve learned something from us along the way, we’d love a Google Review from you!

Jan 2020 Newsletter: Google Maps for Food, Google Photos updates, Decade of Geeks

Geeks on Tour

January 2020 | Issue 149  | Archives

What’s Up with Jim and Chris – the Geeks?

Denver airport for Google Product Experts Conference

Happy New Year everybody. And, Happy New Decade! The 2010s saw the smartphone transform our world – what’s next?! 5g, IoT (Internet of Things), Artificial Intelligence, and virtual reality, promise to be even more transformative. Hold on to your hats.

The photo above is at home having a rare New Year’s Eve party. Thanks to our friends who helped us make this decade changer a memorable one. No, we didn’t make them stay till midnight, we followed the countdown from Rio de Janeiro and made midnight be 9pm our time! See our December Google Photos album for lots more pictures.

Now we’re home for the holidays. We wish all the best of the season for you and your families as well.

What Does This Button Do?

We delivered two of our YouTube “Button” shows this month:

We also posted lots of new short, tutorial videos:

What’s coming up – Our Calendar

Back at it for the New Year. Everything is in Florida. We’ll be visiting the Tampa RV Show, too. It’s always entertaining and we see a lot of our friends.

Ask the Geeks

Ask the Geeks Q&A forum.

Anyone can read the forum, only members can ask questions. This is a valuable benefit of membership. Join Today! Here are some recent discussions:

  1. Fixing Not Red-eye, but White-eye
  2. Printing from Google Photos
  3. Albums
  4. Signing in to MyMaps
  5. Make iPhone Ring Longer

Try Google Maps for Restaurant Delivery

Restaurant Delivery by Google Maps

You’ve probably heard of DoorDash, or Uber Eats? Well, there’s another one called Postmates. And then there’s Google Maps, where Restaurant listings may connect with any of the delivery services.

Read the Article

Lots of Google Photos updates in 2019

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We keep up with them all! And, we’ve written them up in one place for you to read:

  • Snapseed has moved
  • Account and backup status has moved
  • Manual Face Tagging
  • Pick a frame from a Live or Motion photo
  • Google Drive no longer syncs with Google Photos
  • Get prints made straight from the app
  • Photo Frames
  • Markup and Text on photos
  • Crop Document
  • Edit movies on computer

and MORE!

Read the Article

Decade of the Geeks

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It’s hard to believe that it was only 10 years ago that we bought our first smartphones. Now we’ve taught 183 episodes on how to use them!

On the other hand, it seems SO long ago that we were teaching Picasa. That was our most popular topic EVER – with a live audience of over 700 people. That all ended when Google Photos was released in 2015 – and we jumped right on that bandwagon. Cloud-based storage is definitely the way to go!

Read More

Leave us a Review

Review

Have you learned something from Geeks on Tour?

If so, we’d love to get a review from you. Click on this link

If you like this newsletter, please forward it on to your friends! If you received this issue forwarded by a friend you can subscribe to get your own copy delivered to your in box – it’s free. You can also visit the archives of past newsletters. If you’ve learned something from us along the way, we’d love a Google Review from you!

Jan 2020 Newsletter: Google Maps for Food, Google Photos updates, Decade of Geeks

Geeks on Tour

January 2020 | Issue 149  | Archives

What’s Up with Jim and Chris – the Geeks?

Denver airport for Google Product Experts Conference

Happy New Year everybody. And, Happy New Decade! The 2010s saw the smartphone transform our world – what’s next?! 5g, IoT (Internet of Things), Artificial Intelligence, and virtual reality, promise to be even more transformative. Hold on to your hats.

The photo above is at home having a rare New Year’s Eve party. Thanks to our friends who helped us make this decade changer a memorable one. No, we didn’t make them stay till midnight, we followed the countdown from Rio de Janeiro and made midnight be 9pm our time! See our December Google Photos album for lots more pictures.

Now we’re home for the holidays. We wish all the best of the season for you and your families as well.

What Does This Button Do?

We delivered two of our YouTube “Button” shows this month:

We also posted lots of new short, tutorial videos:

What’s coming up – Our Calendar

Back at it for the New Year. Everything is in Florida. We’ll be visiting the Tampa RV Show, too. It’s always entertaining and we see a lot of our friends.

  • Jan 3  Deerfield Computer Club 10am Here’s the Seminar
  • Jan 14-16  Roadtrek Rally in High Springs, FL – Just for fun
  • Jan 28- Feb 2 Discovery Owners Rally in Seffner, FL.
  • Feb 4-7 Riverside RV Resort in Arcadia, FL
  • Feb 12-16 RVillage Rally Spirit of the Road 2020
  • Feb 26 Sun City Center Computer Club Seminar
  • Feb 27 Golden Gate Computer Society Remote Seminar on Snapseed

Ask the Geeks

Ask the Geeks Q&A forum.

Anyone can read the forum, only members can ask questions. This is a valuable benefit of membership. Join Today! Here are some recent discussions:

  1. Fixing Not Red-eye, but White-eye
  2. Printing from Google Photos
  3. Albums
  4. Signing in to MyMaps
  5. Make iPhone Ring Longer

Try Google Maps for Restaurant Delivery

Restaurant Delivery by Google Maps

You’ve probably heard of DoorDash, or Uber Eats? Well, there’s another one called Postmates. And then there’s Google Maps, where Restaurant listings may connect with any of the delivery services.

Read the Article

Lots of Google Photos updates in 2019

Image

We keep up with them all! And, we’ve written them up in one place for you to read:

  • Snapseed has moved
  • Account and backup status has moved
  • Manual Face Tagging
  • Pick a frame from a Live or Motion photo
  • Google Drive no longer syncs with Google Photos
  • Get prints made straight from the app
  • Photo Frames
  • Markup and Text on photos
  • Crop Document
  • Edit movies on computer

and MORE!

Read the Article

Decade of the Geeks

Image

It’s hard to believe that it was only 10 years ago that we bought our first smartphones. Now we’ve taught 183 episodes on how to use them!

On the other hand, it seems SO long ago that we were teaching Picasa. That was our most popular topic EVER – with a live audience of over 700 people. That all ended when Google Photos was released in 2015 – and we jumped right on that bandwagon. Cloud-based storage is definitely the way to go!

Read More

Leave us a Review

Review

Have you learned something from Geeks on Tour?

If so, we’d love to get a review from you. Click on this link

If you like this newsletter, please forward it on to your friends! If you received this issue forwarded by a friend you can subscribe to get your own copy delivered to your in box – it’s free. You can also visit the archives of past newsletters. If you’ve learned something from us along the way, we’d love a Google Review from you!

December 2019 News: Blogs and Maps, Google Calendar, New Feature in Google Photos

Geeks on Tour

December 2019 | Issue 148  | Archives

What’s Up with Jim and Chris – the Geeks?

Denver airport for Google Product Experts Conference

We started November at home, then flew to Colorado for the Google Product Experts conference in Boulder. Chris learned a lot and had great fun with her fellow Google Product Experts. Then we went on to Denver and presented a couple of Google Photos seminars at Senior Planet.

The photo above is at Denver airport – quite a sight. We were lucky to be flying back home to Florida well before the snow became a problem. See our November Google Photos album for lots more pictures.

Now we’re home for the holidays. We wish all the best of the season for you and your families as well.

What Does This Button Do?

We delivered two of our YouTube “Button” shows this month:

What’s coming up – Our Calendar

Ask the Geeks

Ask the Geeks Q&A forum.

Anyone can read the forum, only members can ask questions. This is a valuable benefit of membership. Join Today! Here are some recent discussions:

  1. Changing the Date in Google Photos
  2. Picasa in Windows 10 ​​​​​​​
  3. Apple Catalina​​​​​​​
  4. Albums
  5. Sorting Albums

They moved it! Using Google Photos and choosing to edit in Snapseed is still there.

Snapseed is my favorite way to edit photos on my phone. It’s a free app that you need to download and install on your phone. It’s available for both iOS and Android. Once it’s installed, you can use it with any photo in Google Photos.

The way to access it from Google Photos has recently changed, here’s how to get there now.

On iPhone, swipe up on the photo and you’ll see “Open in Snapseed” as an option below the photo

On Android, open the photo, tap the edit button, tap the 9-dot grid, then you’ll see Snapseed as an option.

Read More

Travel Blogs and Travel Maps go together

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My blog is where I tell our travel stories, but I need the maps for the visual reference.

The map can even act as a kind of table of contents for the blog. Each marker is clickable and contains a link to the blog post where I have the story about that place.

We can teach you how to make both blogs and maps.

Read More

Using Google Calendar to remind you before you miss appointments

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Don’t you just hate it when you see your friend and they say, “Where were you last night? We missed you at the party.” When the only reason you missed it was that you forgot!

If you have your settings right, you will get a notification one hour (or 2 hours, or 1 day – whatever you choose) before every event entered on your calendar.

This article tells you how.

Read the Article

New Feature in Google Photos: Share photos with a conversation just like sending a text.

Share photo with Conversation

Have you ever shared a picture using Google Photos and the recipient says they never got it? Did they tell you to send it in a text message instead because they like how a text message keeps a running conversation along with the pictures?

If so, you’ll love this new feature in Google Photos – it makes sharing any photo(s) from Google Photos act just like text messaging. It’s rolling out now on iOS, Android and Web!

Read More

If you like this newsletter, please forward it on to your friends! If you received this issue forwarded by a friend you can subscribe to get your own copy delivered to your in box – it’s free. You can also visit the archives of past newsletters. If you’ve learned something from us along the way, we’d love a Google Review from you!

Nov 2019 Newsletter: GPS Navigation basics, Google Maps Live View, Google Photos Memories, Smartphone Auto-Rotate

Geeks on Tour

November 2019 | Issue 147  | Archives

What’s Up with Jim and Chris – the Geeks?

Sunset on Erie

We finished our TOUR!

We started October in Chicago and presented our Google Photos seminar at 2 Chicago computer clubs.

We ended the month back home in Fort Lauderdale after a whirlwind 3 month, 5,000 mile tour. We loved every minute (well except when the RV broke down) of it. We presented 17 seminars over 12 venues. Some were RV rallies and others were computer clubs or Senior Centers.

In between gigs, we enjoyed traveling in our little Roadtrek camper van and staying at some beautiful places. We made lots of new friends and met up with many old friends – including one I hadn’t seen since high school – thanks Randy! If you hosted any of our seminars or met up with us anywhere along the way, THANK YOU!

The photo above is in Quad Cities/Moline, Illinois where we participated in a Scott Kelby World Photo Tour. See our October Google Photos album for lots more pictures.

Chris has been invited once again to Google’s Product Experts Conference, this time in Boulder, Colorado Nov 11. We’ll fly there.The recently opened Senior Planet in Denver wants us to present our Google Photos Seminar we did in NYC. We are planning programs there for a full day on Nov. 15th as we will be in Colorado for the Google event. Then back to Florida.

What Does This Button Do?

We delivered one of our YouTube shows from the road this month:

What’s coming up – Our Calendar

  • Nov 11-13 Google Product Expert Event in Boulder, CO
  • Nov 15 all day Senior Planet Presentation in Denver, CO.
  • Nov 25 7pm Valencia Reserve APCUG Presentation in Boynton Beach, FL.
  • Nov 28 Happy Thanksgiving for our US friends.
  • Nothing on the calendar for December. Happy Holidays!

Ask the Geeks Q&A forum.

Anyone can read the forum, only members can ask questions. This is a valuable benefit of membership. Join Today! Here are some recent discussions:

  1. More Picasa stuff
  2. Merge two Google Photos accounts
  3. Chromecast and Apple Albums
  4. Password Manager update
  5. Google Maps not speaking in background
Google Maps Live View

Google Maps gives us arrows on a heads up display for walking directions.

This is augmented reality. Have you ever used Google Maps for walking directions and started walking the wrong way? It’s hard to tell which way is left or right until you start moving, right? So, you walk a block before you can tell if you’re walking in the right direction.

The new “Live” view fixes all that. We’ll give you a glimpse in Episode 178 of our YouTube show, What Does This Button Do? The Beginner’s Lesson is how to navigate with Google Maps and our Quick Tip is showing you the new Live View.

Watch Episode 178

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Google Photos Memories

If you tend to forget about your old pictures and never look at them again, this feature is for you.

Just open Google Photos app on your iPhone or Android device and you’ll see round bubbles at the top of your screen representing the years of your photos. Click on one and enjoy.

Read the article

Auto Rotate setting

Auto-Rotate and your Phone

Sometimes you feel like rotating, sometimes you don’t.

This article explains how you can control it for both iPhones/iPads and Android devices

Read the Article

Navigating using Google Maps

Google Maps Navigation Basics

How to navigate using Google Maps. That was the topic of our Beginner’s lesson for episode 178 of our YouTube show “What does this button do?” It only seemed appropriate after just navigating over a 5,000 mile tour around the Eastern US.

If you watch this episode, you’ll learn step by step how to use navigation on both Android and iOS devices. You’ll also see some of the newest features in Google Maps. If you are a Google Maps newbie, or a seasoned pro, you will learn something watching this episode.

Watch the Video

If you like this newsletter, please forward it on to your friends! If you received this issue forwarded by a friend you can subscribe to get your own copy delivered to your in box – it’s free. You can also visit the archives of past newsletters. If you’ve learned something from us along the way, we’d love a Google Review from you!

October 2019 News: Print Photos, Voice navigation with Street names, Geeks on Tour: our story

Geeks on Tour

October 2019 | Issue 146  | Archives

What’s Up with Jim and Chris – the Geeks?

Sunset on Erie

We are ON TOUR!

We started September by presenting our Google Photos seminar at Senior Planet in New York City. Next came the Roadtrek RV rally in Foxborough, MA, then in traveling through Ohio to Chicago, we presented to five technology User Groups. One more to go in October then a couple of RV related rallies as we head south.

In between gigs, we enjoyed traveling in our little Roadtrek camper van and staying at some beautiful places. The photo above is sunset over Lake Erie, just a short walk from where our RV was parked at an Elks Lodge in Ashtabula, OH. See our September Google Photos album for lots more pictures.

Chris has been invited once again to Google’s Product Experts Conference, this time in Boulder, Colorado Nov 11. We’ll fly there.The recently opened Senior Planet in Denver wants us to present our Google Photos Seminar we did in NYC. We are planning programs there for a full day on Nov. 15th as we will be in Colorado for the Google event. Then back to Florida.

During September, we were able to produce 2 of our “Button Shows” from “Studio R” the back of our Roadtrek camper van!

What’s coming up – our Calendar

Ask the Geeks

Ask the Geeks Q&A forum. Anyone can read the forum, only members can ask questions. This is a valuable benefit of membership. Join Today! Here are some recent discussions:

  1. Dates on Old Photos
  2. How Do I Print an Album in Google Photos?
  3. Sharing Videos in Google Photos
  4. Apple iOS Update
  5. Storing a Document on iPhone

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Order photo prints

Order Photo Prints within Google Photos

Google announced a new feature in Google Photos this month … Printing!  Apparently lots of people still want a photo they can hold in their hand, put in a binder or add to the fridge with a magnet. You can pick up your 4X6 prints on the same day at a Walmart or CVS of your choosing.

Read full article

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Turn by turn voice navigation with street names

Sometimes Google Maps, or Waze tells us simply “in 1/4 mile turn right.” Other times I hear “in 1/4 mile, use the right 2 two lanes to turn right onto West Lake Road.”

I so prefer the more detailed instructions. It’s taken me a while, but I finally found the setting to make this happen.

Read the article

Jim and Chris - Geeks on Tour

What’s our story?

You may know that we have a pretty cool life, we spend most of our time traveling and we make our living from subscriptions to our website. Did you know we’ve been living this way since 2003? This past month we’ve given presentations to audiences who did not know us, so we had fun putting together this story with pictures to introduce ourselves.

See the rest of the story here

by the way – this presentation is an example of using a Google Photos Album to tell a story.

If you like this newsletter, please forward it on to your friends! If you received this issue forwarded by a friend you can subscribe to get your own copy delivered to your in box – it’s free. You can also visit the archives of past newsletters.

September 2019 Newsletter: Share your location, Google Keep and Geeks on YouTube