Monthly Issue # 77 March 31, 2014 www.geeksontour.com
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March in Florida

Do you blame us?! While winter is still raging in the rest of the country, we hang out in Florida and even get to indulge in our favorite pasttime – Kayak Diving. It’s lobster season too so we go out on the reefs off of Fort Lauderdale beach and caught our dinner! Here’s a video on Youtube of Jim G. and Jimmy L. catching lobster and showing how it’s done!

In addition to Fort Lauderdale, we also spent some time in northern Florida at Ginnie Springs and Orlando on our way coming and going to the FMCA rally in Perry, Georgia. See all our March photos on our Web Album, or read our personal travel blog for March.

By the way, our pictures, Blogs, Web Albums, maps, and videos are all examples of what we teach. If you’re a traveler, we teach you how to plan, preserve, and share your travels. It makes the experience that much more enjoyable to get creative on the computer and share your travels with friends and family.

New Tutorial Videos in March include Google Maps and Smartphone topics. Check ’em out at Recent Videos.

April 2 7pm: Sarasota PC Users Group – Cloud Computing
April 6: SLOBytes Computer Club – a remote presentation on Cloud Computing
April 9 1pm: Cascades User Group in Port St. Lucie – Cloud Computing
May 2-6: FMCA International Area Rally in Lebanon, TN
May 10-11: Escapade pre-rally workshops on Windows 8, iPhones/iPads, Android
May 12-17: Escapade in Goshen, IN
May 28-June 8: appearances in the Quad Cities – Moline, IL / Davenport IA

For more details, see our website Calendar.

Q&A Forum

Some Geeks on Tour members tell us that the Q&A forum is worth the entire cost of membership! Here are some of the topics that have been discussed this month. Anyone can read the forum, only members ca ask questions.

RVillage.com

It’s called RVillage. It’s for RVers, but we pronounce it like Our Village, a social network just for RVers. Now, before you immediately say, “I don’t need another social network” check out the special features RVillage.com offers. Each one who joins RVillage can easily ‘check in’ whenever you pull into a new RV park, and when you do, you get an icon on the map so friends can easily see where you are. You can also join all sorts of special groups within RVillage. …

Google+ will Auto Backup all the Pictures from your Computer

I’ve been using Google+ Auto Backup for the pictures on my computer for a couple of months now. Once you understand it, and use it appropriately, it is wonderful. You never have to worry about losing a picture ever again! They’re all in the ‘Cloud.’

However, there are some very important things to understand:

If you let it back up your full size pictures, you will probably need to pay for more storage. If, however, you change the default size to 2048 pixels, you get unlimited Free storage from Google
If you have a limited, metered, Internet connection this will be using it up. You may incur substantial charges, and probably won’t want to use Auto Backup at all.
It’s not really a “Backup” in the traditional sense of the word.

The full article will explain more …

Must Have App: Allstays Camp and RV

We’ve run into so many people who already have Allstays Camp and RV, that we won’t spend much time telling you all the details. Suffice it to say, if you travel the USA or Canada, and you camp or RV, this is a Must Have App! It has a price tag of $9.99 – and it is well worth it!

You can visit theAllstays website and search all the campground listings for free, but if you want to be able to look at your iPhone, iPad, or Android phone or tablet and find the best place to park, where you are, the Allstays Camp and RV app is the way to go.

Update on Jim’s Note 3

I chose the Note3 for its screen size and cool features. It is so big, it rivals my Nexus 7 tablet. I find the Nexus 7 being relegated to the bedroom. Some people refer to this form factor as a “phablet,” or phone-tablet. The feature list for this device is extensive, almost mind-boggling, and I am enjoying learning all about it.

So, how do we learn about technology? I start with a web search. I read the manual. The manual for this device is 184 pages in pdf format. I copied it to a folder on OneDrive so it is accessible on all my devices for reading anytime, anywhere. There are tons of learning resources on the web, too. Some good, others not

Learning Picasa the Easy Way

Some people want a book. They like to read instructions, take notes and make highlights. They need to be able to skim information they already know, and be able to go back and quickly refer to instructions. Other people don’t want to read. It’s tedious and not clear enough. They want to sit back and watch a video that shows exactly how something is done.

Our Picasa Beginner’s Guide book has both. It is a 66 page printed book with written instructions and screen shots. Read thru the printed material, and when you need more, you will see a reference to an online video that you can watch to see exactly how the procedure is done.

RV Travel Newsletter by Chuck Woodbury

Current Issue

That’s all for now. We hope you learned something. Your next issue will be next month. Any questions, please visit our forum. 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,

Happy Computing!

The Geeks on Tour website is an online learning library for Travelers who want to learn to use their computers and mobile devices for managing digital photos, making blogs, using maps and other online resources. Anyone can watch our free videos, read articles on our Computer Tips for Travelers Blog, sign up for our free monthly newsletter, or Picasa weekly tips. A small fee makes you a ‘member‘ and you can then view any of our 230+ video tutorials on these subjects in our Learning LIbrary.

Sincerely,

Geeks on Tour

jimandchris@geeksontour.com

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Last month we told you about getting a new smartphone and keeping our unlimited data plan intact. So far, so good. That is still working great.

We chose the Android platform when we moved to smartphones a few years back. Actually Android was chosen for us. The iPhone was not available on Verizon when I needed a new phone, and I was not going to sacrifice better coverage for a more popular phone. I’m glad that’s the way it worked out. The iPhone is a great smartphone, but it has limitations. We didn’t seriously consider a Windows phone or a Blackberry.

So, how do we learn about technology? I start with a web search. I read the manual. The manual for this device is 184 pages in pdf format. I copied it to a folder on OneDrive so it is accessible on all my devices for reading anytime, anywhere. There are tons of learning resources on the web, too. Some good, others not so much. Separating the wheat from the chaff and translating from geek-speak is what we do for our members. One of our readers told us of some Youtube videos that go into quite a bit of depth on features of the Note II and Note III.

There is absolutely no way we can know everything about our own devices, let alone be experts on the thousands of variations of the assorted Android versions on dozens of manufacturers’ myriad hardware platforms. But we can get most of the basics and we will continue to learn for you. It would be a boring world indeed if everyone liked exactly the same things. We think we have a good idea of what most people want and need when it comes to technology. We cover the basics of Android and iOS devices on our Smartphone & Tablet Tutorial Videos page.

The Note3 is optimized for taking notes. It has a removable pen/stylus built in and apps to take advantage of handwriting recognition. This S-Pen is proving to be a real asset and a fun way to sketch out new ideas.

It has a great camera and apps, modes, and settings to enhance your creativity. There are also new ways to share your photos and videos. For example, one camera mode uses both the front and rear cameras to give you a picture in picture effect!

Future articles and tutorial videos will showcase some of these amazing features and capabilities as I learn more. Stay tuned.

GeeksOnTour.COM

Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks with Technology

Tag Archives: Galaxy Note3

Jim’s New Samsung Note3 Smartphone

March 31, 2014