Tag Archives: geeknews

March 2021 News: Club presentations, YouTube chapters, Bitcoin, Data Privacy

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  March 2021 | Issue 163  | Archives
What’s Up in February with Jim and Chris – the Geeks?


Getting vaccinated in February

We got shot!
Shot with our 2 Pfizer Covid-19 vaccinations that is. It took some perseverance to get the appointments, then several hours in a long line of cars to get to the vaccination site at Hard Rock Stadium, but we’re done! We feel like we have a new lease on life.
That was the extent of our excitement this month. We were home all month. We did a couple “Button” Shows on YouTube (see below) and some members-only meetings on Zoom. Our articles are a bit different this month, opinion pieces about Cryptocurrency, Blockchain, and Data Privacy. We still have one ‘how-to’ article about chapters on YouTube videos.
Club Presentations
We presented several seminars over zoom for computer clubs – and you can benefit by visiting GeeksOnTour.com/clubs – you will see what topics we presented for which clubs AND you’ll be able to access all the class materials we used. It’s quite a resource – check it out!
What Does This Button Do? (YouTube shows)
Feb 21 #207 Data Privacy with Phil May
On our Learn Google Photos YouTube channel we offer a monthly live “Ask Chris Anything” on the 3d Monday at 3pm Eastern.
New Tutorial Videos
What’s coming up – Our Calendar March/April 2021
We’re Presenting LIVE – online and in person!
Lots of stuff on our calendar this month!
  • March 7, 2pm ET – Episode 208 of What Does This Button Do?
  • March 7, 3pm ET – Backstage Pass for Members Only Zoom meeting
  • March 10-13, FMCA International Convention in Perry, GA. We’ll be presenting 4 live seminars and signing books.
  • March 15, 3pm ET – Google Photos Live Q&A streaming to Facebook and YouTube. Chris will demo and take questions.
  • March 21, 2pm ET – Episode 209 of What Does This Button Do?
  • March 21, 3pm ET – Backstage Pass for Members Only Zoom meeting
  • March 26, 3pm ET – GOT Member Orientation Zoom Meeting for all Premium Members
  • April 4, 2pm ET – Episode 210 of What Does This Button Do?
  • April 4, 3pm ET – Backstage Pass for Members Only Zoom meeting
  • April 18, 2pm ET – Episode 211 of What Does This Button Do?
  • April 18, 3pm ET – Backstage Pass for Members Only Zoom meeting
  • April 19, 3pm ET – Google Photos Live Q&A streaming to Facebook and YouTube. Chris will demo and take questions.
  • April 30, 3pm ET – GOT Member Orientation Zoom Meeting for all Premium Members
Live YouTube Shows Sundays at 2pm Eastern time “The Button Show”
March 7th and 21st
April 4th and 18th
Stay safe. Wash your hands. Wear a mask.

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. Voice Memos Download iOS
  2. Tethering Data Usage is High
  3. Add Photos to an Album Google Photos
  4. Identifying People in Group Photos

YouTube Chapters

This article will show you how to use YouTube chapters to jump to just the parts of a video you want to watch.
If you are a YouTube creator, you’ll learn how easy it is to create these chapters.

Geeks on Tour Accepts Bitcoin

What actually IS Bitcoin, you ask? Well, that’s what we want to know as well. We’ve been studying, learning, and experimenting. We think that Bitcoin, or some cryptocurrency, is here to stay. We think that the technology behind cryptocurrency – the Blockchain – will change our world every bit as much as the Internet and smartphones have done.
Read More

Who owns your personal data? Hint: it’s not you.

On 2/21 we did our YouTube show #207 on Data Privacy with a guest, Phil May who is a data privacy professional. I’ve thought of little else ever
since!

If you use a smartphone, or any online services, you are probably aware that some of your personal data is being collected. But when all the data about you is out there and gets aggregated, it amounts to a loss of privacy.

Read More

Leave us a Review

Have you learned something from Geeks on Tour?

If so, we’d love to get a review from you. Click the link below and you should see a right sidebar with all Geeks on Tour stuff, scroll down a bit and you should see Reviews and Write a Review.

 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 2021 News: LastPass, Phone to TV with HDMI, Learning from our friends, 2021 Survey results

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  February 2021 | Issue 162  | Archives
What’s Up with Jim and Chris – the Geeks?


Florida RV Supershow

We got out of the house!
The Florida RV SuperShow asked us to present seminars in January. They requested, and we agreed, several months ago. We thought for sure the pandemic would be under control by January. As Covid started spiking, we expected them to cancel the show but they didn’t. We thought long and hard. We were only obligated for one hour each day, we could spend the rest of our time in our RV. We would wear masks at all times except when we were actually speaking. The show limited attendance at the
seminars and spaced the seating accordingly. We decided it would be safe enough, and we were feeling cooped up enough, that we went. It was FUN! How we’ve missed live audiences.
Other than Tampa, we were home. We did a couple “Button” Shows on YouTube (see below) and some members-only meetings on Zoom. We started a new tradition this month of holding a member orientation meeting over zoom. We will continue to do this on the last Friday of every month at 3pm Eastern time. We give a short tour of everything on our website, then open it up to questions. It was fun.

What’s coming up – Our Calendar Feb/Mar 2021

We’re Presenting LIVE – online and in person!
Lots of stuff on our calendar this month!
  • February 4, 9pm ET – Wisconsin All Computer Users Club Presentation
  • February 7, 2pm ET – Episode 206 of What Does This Button Do?
  • February 7, 3pm ET – Backstage Pass for Members Only Zoom meeting
  • February 15, 3pm ET – Google Photos Live Q&A streaming to Facebook and YouTube. Chris will demo and take questions.
  • February 15, 8pm ET – Tucson Computer Society presentation via Zoom
  • February 21, 2pm ET – Episode 207 of What Does This Button Do?
  • February 21, 3pm ET – Backstage Pass for Members Only Zoom meeting
  • February 26, 3pm ET – Member orientation via Zoom
  • February 27, 3pm ET – Google Photos Workshop 1 $49. Must pre-register.
  • March 7, 2pm ET – Episode 208 of What Does This Button Do?
  • March 7, 3pm ET – Backstage Pass for Members Only Zoom meeting
  • March 15, 3pm ET – Google Photos Live Q&A streaming to Facebook and YouTube. Chris will demo and take questions.
  • March 10-13, FMCA International Convention in Perry, GA. We’ll be presenting 4 live seminars and signing books.
  • March 21, 2pm ET – Episode 209 of What Does This Button Do?
  • March 21, 3pm ET – Backstage Pass for Members Only Zoom meeting
Live YouTube Shows Sundays at 2pm Eastern time “The Button Show”
February 7th and 21st
March 7th and 21st
Stay safe. Wash your hands. Wear a mask.

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. LastPass Shared Passwords
  2. How to Enlarge a Document from an Email
  3. Alarm Sound for Smartphone
  4. Picasa Not Recognizing all HEIC files
  5. Identifying People in Group Photos

Managing your passwords: Getting started with LastPass on computer and mobile

In last week’s episode of our “What Does This Button Do?” show, we covered LastPass. See Episode 205: Password Managers – how to use LastPass. Please watch that show to learn more details about LastPass. This article will tell you how to get started on computers and mobile devices.
Read More

How to use your phone to watch movies on your TV – and stay under your data limits.

Many of us have data plans on our phones that have Unlimited on-device data. What that means is that, as long as you are viewing online media on your phone, you can view as many hours as you want. But, if you turn on the hotspot feature for your other devices to share that data, there are definite limits and associated charges.
Let’s say you want to watch a Netflix movie. Just pull it up on your phone and watch right? Oh, but it looks SO much better to watch and listen on your TV’s big screen. And, for more than one person to watch, the TV is necessary. If you use your Smart TV’s Netflix, it will need to connect to Wi-Fi and that will cost you. Or, if you cast your phone’s screen to the TV using something like Chromecast, that is still using WiFi. The answer is to connect your phone directly to the TV. This
article will tell you how.
Read the article

2021 Learning Survey Results

We may be old dogs, but we learn new tricks every day. And we’re going to keep learning in the year to come.
Last month we sent out a survey. This month we have the top ten topics identified. Read the article to see what they are and leave us a comment about your learning priorities.
Read the article

Learn more with help from our friends

We figure that we’ve been stingy long enough!
In this article we tell you about how we learn more about technology with a little help from our friends … and so can you.
These are people we have met over the years who share our passion for learning (and teaching) technology. We’ll start this month by telling you about 2 of them.

Leave us a Review

Have you learned something from Geeks on Tour?

If so, we’d love to get a review from you. Click the link below and you should see a right sidebar with all Geeks on Tour stuff, scroll down a bit and you should see Reviews and Write a Review.

 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!

January 2021 News: Use Google Photos for free, Make your own maps, Year of Zoom, 2021 Survey

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  January 2021 | Issue 161  | Archives
What’s Up with Jim and Chris – the Geeks?

Camping for 2 days! Happy New Year

2020 – the year that Zoomed right by

The world stopped for a pandemic this year. We stayed home. The photo above is from last weekend when we couldn’t stand it anymore and made camping reservations at a wonderful county park, just 4 miles from our house!
With no travels to mark the passage of time, the year went quickly. Luckily we had the Zoom meeting software to hold our Google Photos workshops, Club meetings and other workshops were also delivered over Zoom. So many people have gotten comfortable with Zoom that we are starting a new, monthly “Member Orientation” to welcome people to Geeks on Tour and answer questions about our website.
We even used Zoom for various social events, birthdays, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and a memorial service. In looking forward to 2021, we count our blessings that we are healthy, financially stable, and able to continue our work and passion for teaching technology – by using technology!
See our tutorial videos on using Zoom at this playlist page. Learn Zoom

What Does This Button Do?
Note – we took December off from our live YouTube shows. See you again on January 10.

New Tutorial Videos

What’s coming up – Our Calendar Jan/Feb 2021

We’re Presenting LIVE – online and in person!
Lots of stuff on our calendar this month!
  • January 5, 7pm: Presentation for Sterling Heights Computer Club “How do I make my own custom Google Map” will be live on our YouTube Channel
  • January 10, 2pm ET – Episode 204 of What Does This Button Do?
  • January 10, 3pm ET – Backstage Pass for Members Only Zoom meeting
  • January 13-17 Florida RV Supershow Live Seminars 10am Daily
  • January 18 at 3pm ET – Google Photos Live Q&A streaming to Facebook and YouTube. Chris will demo and take questions.
  • January 20, 11am-1 ET – Google Photos Workshop 1 $49. Must pre-register.
  • January 24, 2pm ET – Episode 205 of What Does This Button Do?
  • January 24, 3pm ET – Backstage Pass for Members Only Zoom meeting
  • January 29, 3pm ET – Member orientation via Zoom
  • January 30, 3-5pm ET – Google Photos Workshop 2 $49. Must pre-register.
  • February 4, 9pm ET – Wisconsin All Computer Users Club Presentation
  • February 7, 2pm ET – Episode 206 of What Does This Button Do?
  • February 7, 3pm ET – Backstage Pass for Members Only Zoom meeting
  • February 10, 11am ET – Google Photos Workshop 2 $49. Must pre-register.
  • February 15, 3pm ET – Google Photos Live Q&A streaming to Facebook and YouTube. Chris will demo and take questions.
  • February 15, 8pm ET – Tucson Computer Society presentation via Zoom
  • February 21, 2pm ET – Episode 207 of What Does This Button Do?
  • February 21, 3pm ET – Backstage Pass for Members Only Zoom meeting
  • February 26, 3pm ET – Member orientation via Zoom
  • February 27, 3pm ET – Google Photos Workshop 1 $49. Must pre-register.
Live YouTube Shows Sundays at 2pm Eastern time “The Button Show”
January 10th and 24th
February 7th and 21st
Stay safe. Wash your hands. Wear a mask.

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. Adding Text to a Photo in Google Photos
  2. Collecting Photos from a Computer
  3. Accessing Google Photos when Composing an email
  4. People and Pets are missing
Google Photos Workshops
Did you notice the Google Photos workshops in our calendar above? These are 2-hour classes delivered over Zoom with no more than 8 people.
  • Workshop 1 = Getting the most from Google Photos using your smartphones
  • Workshop 2 = Gathering photos that were not taken with a phone. Computers, USB drives, other cameras, prints and slides.
The classes are taught by Chris Guld, a Google Product Expert for Google Photos. These 2-hour Workshops include a printed handout and several hands-on exercises. See more detail at GeeksOnTour.com/Workshops
You can still use Google Photos for Free
There has been a lot of outcry over the Google announcement that Free Unlimited storage for all your photos and videos will be ending on June 1, 2021.
Three things to know:
  1. All photos and videos uploaded in “High Quality” before June 1 are stored for free and will be grandfathered in beyond June 1. (So upload everything NOW)
  2. Even after June 1, Google will still offer unlimited storage for all photos and videos – there just may be a fee.
  3. Even after June 1, Google will still offer Free storage for all photos and videos – it just has a limit of 15GB.
In other words, even after the change, Google will still provide unlimited storage and they will still provide free storage. They just will not provide unlimited free storage. If you upload everything you have now, then starting June 1 you keep your new uploads under 15GB, it’s still FREE!
Read More
2021 Learning Survey
We may be old dogs, but we learn new tricks every day. And we’re going to keep learning in the year to come.
How about you?! Learning keeps you young y’know. We have a long list of topics, and we want to know what most interests you.
Just click this link and then choose your level of interest for each topic. There is also a space where you can write in any other topics that we don’t mention.

Take the survey

Make a map for your 2021 travel plans

Make your own maps

Most people have not heard of Google My Maps. It is different from Google Maps. My Maps is just that – it is for your maps. The base map comes from Google Maps, but you mark the places you want to go. You can also add lines, routes, comments, links, and photos to your places. You can get to
My Maps by going to MyMaps.Google.com. Make sure you are signed in to your Google Account, then you can begin to Create a Map. You can also get to My Maps from Google Maps – click the 3-line menu at top left, select Your Places, then you’ll see a tab for “Maps” at the left.

Read More

Leave us a Review

Have you learned something from Geeks on Tour?

If so, we’d love to get a review from you. Click the link below and you should see a right sidebar with all Geeks on Tour stuff, scroll down a bit and you should see Reviews and Write a Review.

 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!

November 2020 News: Old phone as webcam, Getting rid of passwords, Google Photos and Snapseed


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  November 2020 | Issue 159  | Archives
What’s Up with Jim and Chris – the Geeks?


Zoom meetings

We actually got out on the road for a couple of small trips in Florida during October. The photo above was just snapped out the window as we drove through the Northern Florida countryside. The original photo isn’t so pretty. I used Snapseed to enhance it
and create the picture you see here. See the article in this newsletter on Google Photos and Snapseed.
Have you checked out our new YouTube channel specifically for Google Photos? You’ll find it at YouTube.com/LearnGooglePhotos. Go watch a few tutorial videos and be sure to subscribe because next week we will start our monthly Live Q&A for Google Photos.
Did you know that Chris has been writing a technology newsletter since 1983?!? She’s been feeling a little nostalgic lately and pulled out her archives of old issues. See the article and read her newsletter from Spring of 1989 all about WordPerfect, Lotus 1-2-3 and Corporate Computer Training.
Would you like to get rid of passwords? Hang in there, because that is the direction things are going. Learn how to use “Sign in with Google” now and be prepared for passwords to become a thing of the past. See the video below.
What’s coming up – Our Calendar Nov/Dec 2020
November Workshops for Google Photos
We have scheduled Google Photos workshops for Nov 10 and 21, and Dec 2. If you purchased our Book Launch Special with the 2 hour Google Photos workshop, please click here to register for the date you would like to attend.
If you didn’t sign up during the special, but you want to register for a workshop at the regular price of $49, click here.

We’re Presenting LIVE – online!

November 7, 2-3pm ET Google Photos APCUG exclusive Computer User Group presentation for member clubs.
November 10, 7-9pm ET Google Photos Workshop $. Must pre-register.
November 16 at 3pm ET  Google Photos Live Q&A streaming to Facebook and YouTube. Chris will demo and take questions.
November 21, 2-4pm ET Google Photos Workshop $. Must pre-register.
December 2, 10am – noon ET Google Photos Workshop $. Must pre-register.
Live YouTube Shows Sundays at 2pm Eastern time “The Button Show” about every other week. Check our Home Page at GeeksOnTour.com where we post a yellow note about our plans for the upcoming Sunday.
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. Watch your email for announcements of scheduled shows, or check the message on our home page.
Stay safe. Wash your hands. Wear a mask.


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. External Drives
  2. How to delete a Group Album
  3. One-Drive wants Money for Storage
  4. Editing Photos in Albums
  5. Force Photos Upload

Need a new webcam? Use an old phone.

When you get a new phone, do you keep the old one? I want you to know that the old phone is still a great camera. Add a stand, and a little software app and you get yourself a high quality webcam.

I use my old iPhone and this $20 phone holder stand as a “Document Camera” for recording demonstration videos.

This same setup can be used as a camera for video conferences like Zoom. This article will show you how.

Read More

Sign in with Google

This video is about using Sign in with Google. The time is coming when you don’t need to set up accounts with their own password. Start learning to “Sign in with Google” now. See Episode 202 for more info on passwords.Sign in with Google

Make your photos beautiful with Snapseed

Snapseed is a free app from Google for either Android or iOS mobile devices. It is almost PhotoShop-like in how much it can improve your photos, but it’s a lot easier. Just a tap here, and a swipe there, and you’ll have a photo that people say “Wow” when they see it.

The great thing is, you can get to it right from Google Photos. First you need to install the app. It’s a free app from Google, get it in your iOS App store or your Google Play Store. All my photos are in Google Photos, so I can just open any one of them, then choose to edit in Snapseed. The process is slightly different in Android
and iOS.

  • Android: tap the Edit button, Choose “More” at the right end of the list, choose Snapseed
  • iOS: swipe up on photo, Choose Open in Snapseed. If you don’t see that option, you need to force quit your Google Photos app and restart it. See video in this article.
Read the Article

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!

October 2020 News: Google Photos Workshops, Self-Publishing, Blog2Print


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  October 2020 | Issue 158  | Archives
What’s Up with Jim and Chris – the Geeks?


Zoom meetings

Her book is done, Chris relaxes. Jim took this photo with his Pixel 4XL. It does such a nice job in portrait mode. Notice the blurred background. Then Google Photos automatically copies the photo from Jim’s library to Chris’ library because of our shared library settings to save photos of each other.

What’s coming up – Our Calendar Oct/Nov 2020

October Workshops for Google Photos
We have scheduled Google Photos workshops for Oct 4, 5, 14, 17, and 24. If you purchased our Book Launch Special with the 2 hour Google Photos workshop, please click here to register for the date you would like to attend.
If you didn’t sign up during the special, but you want to register for a workshop at the regular price of $49, click here.
We’re Presenting LIVE!
October 16-18 Roadtrek Rally in N. Florida. Seminars on Google Photos and Blogger. Attendance is closed.
Live YouTube Shows Sunday at 2pm Eastern time about every other week. Check our Home Page at GeeksOnTour.com where we post a yellow note about our plans for the upcoming Sunday.
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. Watch your email for announcements of scheduled shows, or check the message on our home page.
Stay safe. Wash your hands. Wear a mask.

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:

This video is about updating your apps. Specifically your Google Photos app, but all apps work the same way when it comes to getting the latest update on your phone.

Is yur Google Photos app up to date? 652


Video

How to self-publish your book

I have now self-published my fourth book, Learn Google Photos. I am no expert on self-publishing but I do know how easy it is and I wanted to tell you about it. We use Kindle Direct Publishing for both the printed paperback as well as the Kindle eBook. There is no charge for the publishing process and all you have to do is provide a Word document or .pdf file of your book.

Our friend, Nick Russell has self-published 42 books, all listed on Amazon.com. Read the article to learn more, then watch the YouTube show to get step-by-step instructions as well as an interview with Nick about how he makes his living with his self-published books.

Read More

This video is about how to print a hard-bound book from blog posts you’ve made in a blog. I use Blogger, but this works with WordPress as well. I love having my personal memories in a beautiful coffee table book – it’s easy!

How to Make a Blog Book Tutorial Video 602


Video

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!

August 2020 News: Google Photos 2020, Chromebooks, Using our Website

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  August 2020 | Issue 156  | Archives
What’s Up with Jim and Chris – the Geeks?

Zoom meetings

July was yet another full month of self-isolation, but we got away on the first day of mini-season for catching lobster. Here’s our album all about Kayak Diving.
Just because we’re stuck at home doesn’t mean we’re not teaching. We presented two remote seminars over Zoom
  1. Dayton Microcomputer Ass’n, Ohio: What is a Chromebook and how do you use it to edit photos
  2. Golden Gate Computer Society, California: Using Google Photos.
What Does This Button Do?
We added two new episodes to our YouTube “Button” shows in July.
Tutorial Videos – for members
We also added several new short show-me videos for Google Photos. See the complete list here.
Members Only Zoom meeting with David Lieb from Google
We had a very special members-only meeting with the head of the Google Photos development team at Google. David Lieb was a joy and answered all our questions. See the replay video here.

What’s coming up – Our Calendar

Sunday, August 9 2pm ET What Does This Button Do?
Social Media tips for clubs and groups: Guest – Martin Brossman
              August 9 3pm ET Backstage Pass Zoom for Premium Members
Sunday, August 23 2pm ET What Does This Button Do?

              August 23 3pm ET Backstage Pass Zoom for Premium Members
Wednesday, September 2 Sarasota Computer Club remote seminar
We’re still isolating at home in Fort Lauderdale.
All personal public appearances are cancelled 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. Watch your email for announcements of scheduled shows.
Stay safe. Wash your hands. Wear a mask.

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. How to tell when your question is answered
  2. Upload a profile picture 
  3. Using a hotspot for printing?
  4. Recover storage at Google
  5. Move Facebook pictures to Google

Learn Google Photos 2020

First came the book “Mrs. Geek’s Guide to Google Photos”, then came “Mrs. Geek’s Guide to Google Photos – Second Edition” Now, we are announcing “Learn Google Photos 2020” The book will be available for purchase by September 1.
Here is a list of the chapters:
  • Introduction
  • Chapter 1: Your Google Account
  • Chapter 2: Getting started on mobile devices
  • Chapter 3: Collecting the rest of your life’s photos and videos
  • Chapter 4: Getting Around in Google Photos
  • Chapter 5: Exploring your photo library
  • Chapter 6: Keeping your memories safe
  • Chapter 7: Editing to improve your photos
  • Chapter 8: Organizing with Albums and Favorites
  • Chapter 9: Sharing
  • Chapter 10: Surrounding yourself with your photos and creations
  • Chapter 11: Troubleshooting and getting help
  • Chapter 12: Apple Photos and iCloud vs Google Photos
Read More

Using Chromebooks for photo editing

I have now bought my third Chromebook,  ASUS Chromebook Flip C302. It cost $600. It’s fast. It boots up in a split second. The battery lasts all day. All I have to do is log in with my Google account and I have all my stuff. My Google Photos, Google Drive files, Gmail, and anything I can access from a web browser is all there. My
Chromebook is my “couch computer” – I especially like it for all my entertainment channels. I find shows to watch on Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO etc. and use Chromecast to watch them on the living room TV.
Because the Chromebook can run Android apps as well as browser-based apps, it is perfect for editing photos with Google Photos and Snapseed.
Read More

How to use our website to learn smartphones

The GeeksOnTour.com website is like a large library. We have archives full of 45 minute YouTube Shows, 5 minute tutorial videos, and 13 years worth of newsletters and articles.
This article is all about how to find what you need.
Let’s say you want to learn more about your smartphone. First of all, Chris has compiled a checklist of the things that are important to know about your phone. She calls it the Smartphone Skills Checklist – it’s a 2 page handout. The first page of the handout explains how the website is organized; what parts of it are free for all, and what parts are for members only. The checklist is
the 2d page. For most every skill she has listed one of our YouTube shows (s) or Tutorial videos (v) or articles (search for it). That will help you learn that skill.
Read More

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!

July 2020 News: Google Photos Redesigned, Mobile Internet Update, Shaky video


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  July 2020 | Issue 155  | Archives
What’s Up with Jim and Chris – the Geeks?


Zoom meetings

June was another full month of quarantine, but we got away for a couple of days during the last week. Our dive club arranged for a day trip to the keys to paddle kayaks around in the mangroves. We jumped at the chance to get away and took our camper van a couple days earlier. Ahhhhh – such beautiful sunsets. We continued our Zoom meetings and added paid
workshops on Google photos. We got some great feedback, so we plan to make these online workshops a regular part of our schedule.  See our June Google Photos album for some more pictures, and our blog for the rest of the story.
What Does This Button Do?
We added two new episodes to our YouTube “Button” shows in May.
Members Only Zoom meeting / classes
We did not have any separate meetings or classes for our members in June, but we did hold after show “Backstage Pass” meetings after both of the button shows.
Tutorial Videos – for members
We also added several new short show-me videos for Google Photos. See the complete list here.
What’s coming up – Our Calendar
               July 5 3pm ET Backstage Pass Zoom for Premium Members
Monday, July 6 12pm ET Chris will be a guest on “Tech for Seniors” with Ron Brown and Hewie Poplock. Here topic is Sharing with Google Photos
Monday, July 27 10:15pm ET! Golden Gate Computer Society remote meeting. Google Photos presentation.
We’re still under stay home orders.
All personal public appearances are cancelled for the foreseeable future.
Announcing!! Google Photos Workflow: a hands-on workshop with Chris Guld, a Google Photos product expert. Chris will show you how best to work with Google Photos. You’ll even have exercises to do on your own device with Google Photos.
  • What: a 2 hr workshop held over Zoom with maximum 6 attendees
  • When: 1) Friday, July 17 at 1pm Eastern to 3pm
  • Cost: $49 per person
  • How to sign up: Click Here
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. Watch your email for announcements of scheduled 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. Sending pictures from Google Photos by email
  2. Samsung phone won’t save edits
  3. EXIF Tags
  4. Blogs-Updated Google Photos
  5. Posting from Google Photos to Youtube

Lots of Changes for Google Photos

Google Photos turns 5 years old and gets a facelift. The next time you open the app, you may feel a bit lost because the 3-line menu is gone, as are the Albums tab and the For You tab. Don’t worry, everything is still there, it’s just all been rearranged.
This article includes images of the old app, the new app, and where all the commands have been moved. If you want to learn more about how Google Photos has changed this week, We will be live on YouTube this Sunday at 2 p.m, Eastern explaining the redesign of Google Photos.

Staying Connected on the Road – anything new?

Yes, and no. 5G is coming but it’s not here yet. Starlink is covering the globe with Internet from Satellites but don’t plan on using it for at least a year. The cellular carriers have some great unlimited data plans that have been discontinued, but Visible is still a good option.
If you want to know what the best data plan is today, and you want to be able to take advantage of improvements tomorrow, you want to listen to Chris Dunphy and Cherie VeArd of MobileInternetInfo.com. They were our guests on Episode 193 of our YouTube show. You can watch the YouTube video here, and notice that we’ve marked the chapters so you can quickly jump to where they discuss the
different topics: Starlink, Unlimited Data Plans, Streaming options, 5G, and more.
Read More

Google Photos can stabilize videos

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All you have to do is open the video, tap the edit button and then the stabilize icon (it looks like a skewed rectangle within a square) and Google Photos does all the rest. You must be using Google Photos on an Android device to have this feature.

Read More

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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!

June 2020 News: Google Photos Workshop, How your phone can run your TV, Oura Ring

Image  June 2020 | Issue 154  | Archives

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


Zoom meetings

May was another full month of quarantine. Our new normal is full of social activity, it’s just all online. The screenshot above is one of our Geeks on Tour members-only meetings.  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 May Google Photos album for some more pictures, and our blog for #stayhome daily diary.
What Does This Button Do?
We added one new episode to our YouTube “Button” shows in May.
Members Only Zoom meeting / classes
We held 2 classes for our premium members using a Zoom meeting. See all 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 cancelled for the foreseeable future.
Announcing!! Google Photos Workflow: a hands-on workshop with Chris Guld, a Google Photos product expert. Chris will show you how best to work with Google Photos. You’ll even have exercises to do on your own device with Google Photos.
  • What: a 2 hr workshop held over Zoom with maximum 12 attendees
  • When: 1) Wednesday June 10 2pm Eastern to 4pm
  •    OR    2) Tuesday June 23 7pm Eastern to 9pm
  • Cost: $30 per person
  • How to sign up: just reply to this email and we’ll send you the link
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. Watch your email for announcements of scheduled 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. Which SD Card is Best?
  2. Photo Count-Photo Stick-Backups
  3. Moving from Picasa to Google Photos
  4. Facebook Audience selection
  5. Duplicate Photos
Your Phone can make your TV look Smart
Does anyone watch network TV any more? The evening news is about it for me, and then the commercials drive me crazy. When I want entertainment I get it from streaming services like Netflix, HBO Go or Amazon Prime. Sometimes I even get my news from streaming services like YouTube, CBS, or PBS. But, how to accomplish this? I don’t have a smart TV, but I do have a Chromecast on the TV which means I can bring up a show on my computer or phone and “cast” it to the TV as
long as the TV input is set to the correct HDMI port. I’ve discovered that my phone is the best way to provide programming to the TV.
Oura Ring
If you like smart watches, get ready for a smart ring! This Oura ring is something different. It’s a lot smarter than the watches I had even though it doesn’t tell time. It’s jam-packed with sensors. There are two infra-red LED emitters and an IR detector that samples your heart rate 250 times per second. There are 3 temperature sensors, an accelerometer, a gyroscopic sensor, memory, and a battery, all in a
ring that fits on your finger!
How Google Photos can Scan a QR Code
All iPhones and many Android phones can now scan these codes with just the camera that came built in with the phone. Simply open the camera app and focus on the code, you will see a link pop up that will lead you to where the code goes.
But, what if you see a QR code that you want to keep and scan later? That’s where Google Photos comes in.
Show your Google Photos like a screensaver on the TV and other Photo Frames


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We no longer turn our TVs off except for overnight. The rest of the time, if we’re not watching a show, they are displaying our chosen Google Photos albums. We just love that our house is filled with our travel photos, especially in this time of the CoronaVirus when we’re stuck at home.

What you need

You don’t need a fancy TV, any TV with an HDMI port will do.
Read More
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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!

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!