Tag Archives: #ButtonShow

Copy and Paste through the Years!

imageThis month we’re celebrating our 100th Newsletter by going back to our very first issues and revisiting the articles.

In the second issue of our newsletter, back in August of 2007, a main article was about Cut, Copy, Paste. That article was talking about computers:

  1. Cut – select the text or object you want to remove and use Ctrl-X (or right-click and select ‘Cut’)
  2. Copy – select the text you want to duplicate and use Ctrl-C (or right-click and select ‘Copy’)
  3. Paste – position your cursor where you want the cut or copied text to appear and use Ctrl-V (or right-click and select ‘Paste’)

Copy and Paste with Smartphones

Now people want to know how to copy and paste with their smartphones! There is no way to hold down a ctrl (or cmd) key, and you can’t right-click, so what do you do? The key is to long-press. If you touch the screen somewhere on the text you want to copy and keep holding down, you will see some type of markers pop up. Those markers can be dragged into place so that they highlight from beginning to end of the text you want to copy. Now take a look around, either directly above the selected text (iOS) or at the top of the screen (Android) you should see options to Cut or Copy. Tap on Copy. Then move to whatever the location where you want to paste and, once again, Long-Press at the spot where you want to paste. An option for Paste should pop up.

We also have tutorial videos that go into a bit more detail and show you exactly how to do this.

 

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Test Your Smartphone Smarts #3

Here is the third in our series of Review Questions from our “What Does This Button Do?” show.  These can’t be graded, but if you want to see the discussion of our answers to these questions, you can click the link provided. The link will take you to the time in the specific episode where we start the discussion of review questions. Since we have produced 68 episodes so far, this “Test Your Smartphone Smarts” will be an ongoing series of posts here.

Click here to watch our answers
Episode #9: Camera Basics Show Notes

  • How do you get an iPhone/iPad to take a video?
  • How do you turn on or off the setting for geotagging your photos?
 32:50:00
Episode #10: Google Calendar Show Notes

  • How do you use Google Calendar on an iPhone or iPad when there is no App available?
  • True or False: Using Google calendar 2 or more people can add and edit events to the same calendar
 35:37
Episode #11: Siri and Google Now Show Notes

  • How do you start Siri on iPhone/iPad?
  • How do you start Google Now on an Android device?
 23:59
Episode #12: If phone is lost or stolen Show Notes

  • Where do you find the Apple setting to turn on “Find my iPhone”
  • If your iPad or iPhone is missing, what website do you use to find it?
  • Where do you find the Android setting to turn on the locator service?
 30:33

If you click the time link, you will be viewing the YouTube video for that episode. The link takes you directly to the end of the show where we discuss the review questions. You can always drag the video playhead to the beginning to watch more of that episode. And, if you are a premium member of Geeks On Tour, you have access to the show notes for each episode. You will find all show notes on the Weekly Show page. So, how did you do on the questions? Leave any comments below! See previous “Smartphone Smarts”

 

To enjoy full access to the Geeks On Tour Library of “How To” Videos and the Weekly Show Notes sign-up for a membership today!

Transferring Pictures from Smartphone to Computer

Note: Pictures from Smartphone to Computer will be the beginner’s lesson topic for our Episode 34 “What Does This Button Do?” Internet show.

You have a smartphone (or tablet) and you love taking pictures with it. You’ve racked up several hundred, maybe even thousands of snapshots and it may even be indicating that it is full! What now? How do you get them onto a computer so you can delete them from the phone?

There are two general techniques: 1) Wired, and 2) Wireless.

1. Wired

imageVia USB Cable: You know that power cable that comes with your phone or tablet? That is also a USB cable, just pull off the two-prong electrical plug that goes into the wall and it will reveal a USB plug. Attach the USB end into an open USB port on your computer and the other end to your mobile device. What happens next varies depending on your particular phone/tablet and the settings on your computer. Check the screen of your mobile device for a message like, “Trust this computer?” or “USB Connected, Tap for Options.” Then notice any pop up messages on your computer for further instructions.

There are dozens of options depending on your particular setup so, if you don’t understand the messages you see, you should get more detailed instructions for your exact devices. For example, you may Google for “transferring pictures from Motorola Droid Razr Maxx to Windows 8 via USB.” Once your mobile device is successfully connected to the computer, it should be seen just like any other camera or drive. You can then use your normal import pictures procedures (e.g. Picasa) or use Windows File manager or Mac Finder to copy pictures.

Message on Samsung phone when plugged into computer USB Message on Windows computer when Android is Plugged in Message on Windows Computer when iPad is plugged in
image image image

 

imageVia SD Card: If your phone is storing your pictures on a microSD card, you can take that card out of the phone and plug it into the computer in order to transfer pictures. Before removing the card, you should either turn the device off, or UNmount the SD card. To unmount: Settings->Storage->Unmount SD Card. Then press the card till it springs out a little and you can grab it and remove it. You will probably need an adapter in order to insert this microSD card into the regular SD card slot in your computer.  Once it is inserted, it should show up like any other camera card on your computer.

imageVia Dual USB Drive: We’ve just discovered this nifty little device. It’s a normal USB ‘Flash’ Drive like any other that you can plug into the USB port on your computer and use like an external hard drive. The special difference is that, in addition to the normal USB connector, it also has a microUSB connector that can plug into the power port (micro USB) of your Android phone or tablet. Here’s a link to the Sandisk Dual USB Drive on Amazon.

This only works on Android phones because they have the micro-USB connector (where you plug the power in), and it doesn’t even work on all Android. But it does work on my Samsung Galaxy S5 and Jim’s Samsung Note 3. We also got it to work on a friend’s Motorola Droid after downloading an App for File Management.

When you plug it in, it first gets recognized as a USB storage device, then it opens the My Files app on your Samsung phone. Now it’s just like looking at a drive with a computer and you can cut, copy, or paste in either direction: from the phone to the USB Drive, or from the USB drive to the phone.

2. Wireless

Via Dropbox: This is the way we do it. Once you’ve set it up, there’s no more thinking involved. I take a picture with either my Samsung phone, or my iPad mini and, as long as I have an Internet connection, it will be on my computer in minutes! Here’s a past article that explains how to do that: Using Dropbox to get Pictures from your Smartphone.

Via iCloud Photos: If you have all Apple devices, iCloud Photos performs the same function as Dropbox. It collects the pictures taken by each mobile device and adds them to the Photo Stream. The Photo Stream can then appear on any Mac or Windows computer. It does not work with any Android devices. Here is the Apple Support page on iCloud Photo Stream.

Note: Pictures from Smartphone to Computer will be the beginner’s lesson topic for our Episode 34 “What Does This Button Do?” Internet show.

Related Member Tutorial Videos:

Remember to watch Episode 34 of What Does This Button Do? We will demonstrate the above techniques on our live show Sunday April 5. See GeeksOnTour.com/WeeklyShow for the links to watch.

Why is my phone using so much Data?

We’ve been hearing that question a lot lately. If you have a smartphone, like an iPhone or an Android phone, you’re paying a cellular company for data usage. You use data whenever you’re on the Internet. So, reading emails, watching Youtube videos, using streaming radio apps, and uploading photos to Facebook, are all examples of using up data. We did one of our weekly “What Does This Button Do?” shows just on Data Usage. Click here to watch this 40 minute show. Be aware, if you watch it on a device that is using your Cellular Data connection for the Internet, this will use about 1/3 of a GigaByte of data. If you are a Geeks on Tour member, you also have access to Show Notes that you can read to learn everything that was covered.

There is a fun tool on the Verizon website for figuring out how much data you need. Find it at Verizonwireless.com/DataCalculator. We show how to use it as part of the show. We have found the main culprits to be:

  1. Using 4G instead of 3G. This is something that you can’t control. If you were accustomed to a 3G phone, and you upgrade to a 4G – or, if you happen to be in a really high-speed 4G area, then you’re using data a lot faster and you simply use more. Like drinking water from a firehose, there’s no way to use just a little. For example, if you click on a Youtube video – even by mistake – your phone may have downloaded the whole thing before you can click the button to stop it. If you’re getting close to your limit and you just want it to stop – you can turn off cellular data altogether. iPhone: Settings->Cellular Data->turn off  Android: Settings->Data Usage->UNcheck Mobile Data. Then, you can still use the services if you connect to a Wi-Fi hotspot.
  2. Photo Uploads: There are many apps today that will automatically upload all the pictures you take with your phone to a cloud storage service. You may have more than one of these turned on and not even know it! Dropbox is the one that we use, and we love it! But, at 1-2 MB per picture, it uses a lot of data. Another such service is Google+. Let’s say you just installed the Google+ app and you blindly clicked ‘OK’ for everything it asked. One of those things was “Do you want us to upload all your pictures?” The default is No, but it is oh-so-easy to click yes and turn that on. And, the default size is full size. So, if you have 1,000 pictures on your phone you’re going to use 1 GigaByte right there. AND, there are other such apps as well. Facebook has a setting to upload all your pictures, as does OneDrive, and iCloud, and Verizon Cloud. I suspect that the other provides also have some kind of cloud backup service. Imagine if all of those got turned on! 1 GB of pictures being uploaded 5 or 6 times is some serious data usage.
  3. Tethering or “Hotspotting”  We use our phones to share their Internet connection with our computers and tablets. A computer can use up a lot of data, a lot more than the tiny screen of a phone.
  4. Music: If you listen to some Internet radio service, you may leave that on for hours at a time. That uses some serious data
  5. Updates: When you phone gets a System Update, or you update your Apps, that uses a lot of data. Try to be connected to Wi-Fi before doing that. What Does This Button Do? Episode 14 covered Updates.
  6. Video calls: if you use Skype, Facetime, or Google Hangouts for video chatting with people, that’s using a lot of data
  7. Youtube or other videos on 4G: For high quality video, you may be using 1 GB/hr.

One thing that does NOT take much data is navigating. If you’re using Google Maps to give you voice directed, turn by turn navigation as you travel, don’t worry about that data usage. It’s negligible, about 5-10 MB/hr. Realize that the information about your location is coming from satellite GPS services – no data usage there. The data service is necessary for the maps, and the maps don’t really change much as you drive, especially if you’re in map view as opposed to satellite view.

You can see which apps are using the most data by going into the settings on your phone. iPhone: Settings->Cellular Data->scroll down till you see the list of apps  Android: Settings->Data Usage->scroll down to see the Apps.

What about you? Have you identified any particular culprits that use up more data than you want?

#21 Notifications. What Does This Button Do?

 

For the best viewing, be sure to click the FullScreen button image in the lower right corner.

 

There are show notes below which document what was covered in the show and include timeline links, so you can watch just the part of the video that you want. If you are not a Geeks on Tour member, you can watch Episode 21 video on YouTube, but you won’t get the show notes. Become a member here. This episode covers:

  1. Quick Tips: Swype Capitalization, Search Google+ Photos
  2. Introduction to Notifications on your smartphone and tablets
  3. App of the week: Smart Remote – for your TV

 

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