Geeks On Tour have a selection of tips about smartphones and technology, with an emphasis on Google Lens for “googling” the world around you. Join us live on Sunday at 2pm ET. Chapters

• 0:59​ Quick Tip – Image recognition
• 7:37​ Scanning a QR Code
• 14:46​ Quick Create a QR code for a web page
• 18:10​ Stop the Ringing!
• 20:08​ Home Screen Widgets
• 26:50​ Google Lens
• 40:12​ Examples
• 46:51​ Archive
• 47:40​ Identify locations
• 55:55​ Handwriting recognition
• 58:25​ Reading in Chinese
• 59:24​ Review Questions

Show notes available for anyone for 2 weeks, then for members only.

Download .PDF file of show notes.

0:59​ Quick Tip – Image recognition

If you see an item that you are interested in, just snap a photo! When you view the photo, using Google Photos, you can tap the lens button and Google will tell you all about the item, even give you links where you can buy it.

7:37​ Scanning a QR Code

Most phones these days can scan a QR code without any special app. Try just pointing your phone’s camera at this QR code. You should see something pop up that you can tap and it will take you to our Newsletter signup form.

If yours didn’t work just using the camera, you may need to change a setting.

14:46​ Quick Create a QR code for a web page

With the latest update to Chrome, as well as Edge and Safari, it is single-click easy to create a QR code for any web page.

18:10​ Stop the Ringing!

When you get a phone call at an inappropriate time and you want it to stop ringing, even without looking to see who it is and whether you should take it, just squeeze it! Assuming you have volume buttons and the power button on the side edges of your phone, you’re bound to press one. Pressing any of those 3 buttons will stop the ringing without ending the call.

20:08​ Home Screen Widgets

This tip is for Android only. Although iPhones do have widgets, they don’t have this one. To add an icon to your home screen that will call or text a certain person, install a contact widget.

• Long press on any blank space on a home screen and tap the Widgets button that appears
• Scroll thru all the possible widgets and choose Contacts
• Choose the Contact (not dial or text) by long-pressing on it to add to home screen
• You will be prompted for what person to use for this widget.

26:50​ Google Lens

The Google Lens app lets you “google” things in the real world. Like a magic magnifying glass that will identify anything you look at.

How you access the Google Lens feature is different on Android and iOS. On Android, you need to install the standalone Google Lens app. On iOS it’s available on the Google Search . Once you have the Google Lens button you can point it at anything and get more info.

• Point it at a plant to identify it and get more information on how to plant and care for it
• Point it at a product like a game console and it will tell you what it is and where you can buy it
• Point it at someones shoes if you like them and want to get some for yourselves
• Point it at a menu item at a restaurant to get more details, including photos and recipes
• Point it at a menu in a different language and Google Lens will translate it for you. You may need to choose the Translate option from the menu at the bottom: [Translate | Text |Search |Homework |Shopping | Places | Dining]
• Take a photo of business cards
  – you can view it using Google Photos, tap the Lens button and tap the phone number to make a phone call
  -Note: Google Photos can search text in a photo, if you take photos of business cards, you can search for company names or people names and it will find the business card

40:12​ Questions

46:51​ Archive

When you see the prompt to “clear the clutter” all it’s doing is

47:40​ Identify locations, birds, flowers, business cards

• A photo of a popular landmark – use Google Lens to learn the name of the landmark
• Photos of birds – identify the type of bird
• Photos of shells
• Underwater photo to identify the type of turtle
• Photos of trees – identify them
• Pictures of QR codes will scan the QR code
• A photo of printed text – you can copy that text and paste it elsewhere. It will be fully editable.

55:55​ Handwriting recognition

Lens can even understand handwriting. You can copy the handwriting and paste the editable text.

58:25​ Reading in Chinese – select the words in a foreign language and tap “Listen”

59:24​ Review Questions

• 2:50​ Quick Tip: Download and Upload photos with Google Photos
• 5:16​ Hello and 3D printing eyeballs for Mr Froggy
• 8:17​ What happens with Google Photos on June 1?
• 11:27​ Upload everything using Backup and Sync
• 31:02​ Uploading from CDs
• 37:16​ How to Recover Storage (retroactively compress old files to High Quality)
• 45:36​ Review Questions

Show notes below for members only

Everyone can view any episode for free. Just click on the play button above.

Scroll down to see the show notes, these will be available for Members Only.

Members get access to the extensive show-notes Chris writes up after each show. Read them online and follow links directly to the parts you’re interested in. We recommend you print them out and keep them in a notebook. It’s a great way to learn.

Not a member? Join here. This episode covers:

• 0:00​ Begin
• 1:23​ First Tip: Apple Watch and heart monitoring
• 7:19​ Hello and Introduction
• 9:17​ Intro Ron Brown and www.Techforsenior.com
• 12:20​ Ron’s video about wearable tech
• 28:00​ Discussion of AliveCor and KardiaMobile
• 29:46​ Audience Q&A and discussion
• 49:09​ Review Questions

Show notes below – free to all for 2 weeks, then for members only

Everyone can view any episode for free. Just click on the play button above.

Scroll down to see the show notes, these will be available for Members Only.

Members get access to the extensive show-notes Chris writes up after each show. Read them online and follow links directly to the parts you’re interested in. We recommend you print them out and keep them in a notebook. It’s a great way to learn.

Not a member? Join here. This episode covers:

• 0:00​ Start
• 1:46​ First tip: How to know if your phone’s photos have been uploaded to the Google Photos cloud
• 8:23​ Geeks say hello
• 11:13​ Terminology/Concepts: Cloud, Upload, Download, gallery app, camera roll, cloud storage, sync
• 16:25​ What are the photo management functions offered by Samsung Gallery vs Apple Photos & iCloud, vs Google Photos
• 19:14​ Demo on Samsung – Samsung Gallery vs Google Photos
• 25:34​ Demo of deleting photos from device, or from cloud and device
• 31:01​ Use Google photos as your primary app on Samsung instead of Gallery
• 32:12​ Make a collage in Gallery and see it in Google Photos
• 34:40​ iPhone demo, editing photos, backup to google cloud and Apple iCloud, albums
• 43:50​ Deleting photos with Apple Photos or Google Photos
• 49:10​ Google Photos cloud vs Apple iCloud – use Google Photos and not Apple photos
• 51:49​ Exception – You can use Apple photos to add text to a photo.
• 54:51​ Review questions

Everyone can view any episode for free. Just click on the play button above.

Scroll down to see the show notes, these will be available for Members Only.

Members get access to the extensive show-notes Chris writes up after each show. Read them online and follow links directly to the parts you’re interested in. We recommend you print them out and keep them in a notebook. It’s a great way to learn.

Not a member? Join here. This episode covers:

• 2:28​ Quick Tip – Make your Facebook Friends List Private
• 7:30​ Jim talks about his Mac Mini M1
• 9:50​ Introducing Phil May, Data Protection Executive at Hastings Direct
• 13:19​ Phil talks about Data Privacy certifications in UK vs USA
• 16:00​ Phil explains the principles of the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation in the EU)
• 24:24​ Defining Privacy vs Security and discussion of why you should care
• 42:06​ Discussion of Privacy Notices and Terms of Service
• 46:43​ Q&A discussion of unintended consequences of sharing your data
• 1:00:30​ Review Questions

Show notes below

Everyone can view any episode for free. Just click on the play button above.

Scroll down to see the show notes, these will be available for Members Only.

Members get access to the extensive show-notes Chris writes up after each show. Read them online and follow links directly to the parts you’re interested in. We recommend you print them out and keep them in a notebook. It’s a great way to learn.

Not a member? Join here. This episode covers:

• Google Chrome uses Google Password Manager
• How to get started with LastPass
• Guest teacher: Jolyn Bowler teaches LastPass

Download show notes .pdf (you’ll see a dropbox login, but you can just close it – no Dropbox account is needed)

0:00 Start and first tip: You may be using a Password manager and not even know it. A brief overview of the Google Password manager. We had technical difficulties at this point.

1:07 Video playback has echo so we cut most of it out – see the source video here: https://youtu.be/AueSD9ceQzc Video 676

If you use Chrome and your username and passwords get filled in for you automatically, you’re probably using the built in Google Password manager.

Where are the passwords stored? Go to Passwords.Google.com – that is your password manager. You can see the list of all your accounts. You can click on any account and, after reverifying your master password (Google account password) you can see the actual password.

How did the passwords get there? It happens as you go to your various websites and fill in your current username and password. Google pops up and offers to save that for you. If you say yes, then the next time you visit the site your username and password are autofilled.

3:00 Hello

4:27 Intro to Password managers

7:04 7 benefits of a Password Manager

1. Remember Only One Password: called your Master password. Then the password manager remembers all the rest.
2. Generate Random Passwords: when you sign up for a new account, it can create a secure password for you. You don’t need to come up with on every time.
3. Easily Change Your Passwords: with all your accounts and corresponding passwords in one place, it makes it relatively easy to change them.
4. Group sites/passwords into folders: You can create folders for your various accounts/passwords. You can even share these folders with family members.
5. Share Passwords Securely: let’s say you need help with your accounting system – you can share your account and password with a helper so they can log in as you but without actually seeing the password. Then you can revoke access at any time.
6. Store More Than Just Passwords – passports, pin numbers, etc: you can create secure notes where you can write down anything that you need to be secret – like social security numbers, debit card pin numbers, passports, etc.
7. Use the Same Password Manager across Multiple Devices: LastPass works on Mac, Windows, Android and iOS.

9:10 Getting started with LastPass

Go to LastPass.com and click the button to “Get LastPass Free” (there are premium options as well, but you can start out with Free) Once you have an account you will be prompted to install the browser extension. This means that LastPass will be working in the background all the time you are using your browser (Chrome, Edge, Safari, FireFox.) Once that’s done, just visit your sites and log in, LastPass will remember it for you next time. If you want to use it on mobile devices, install the LastPass app.

14:12 Intro our Guest teacher Jolyn Bowler

Jolyn Bowler is a technology teacher at Hilton Head Island Computer Club. We’ve known her for many years and know that she has been both using and teaching LastPass for many of those years. (you’ll experience a little skip at the beginning because we cut out the first minute where she had no sound 🙁

LastPass is cross-platform: Mac, Windows, iOS, Android and several web browser extensions – Chrome, Safari, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla FireFox. It synchronizes across all platforms. Just like you need your keys if you expect to drive your car anywhere, you need your passwords if you want to get anywhere on your computer. Somehow, you need to manage all those passwords. Once you have LastPass installed, you will see something like this on the web.

Click on the + to add a new item and notice how many different types of items that can be stored in LastPass. Passwords are just one of nearly 20 different types of entries you can securely store in LastPass.

Notice on the menu, you have options to view each different type of entry. The first one is Passwords. Jolyn shows us how she makes extensive use of the WiFi Passwords type of entry.

Security Dashboard – this is where LastPass analyzes your existing passwords and makes suggestions about ones that should be changed because they are weak, or old, or you’ve used them more than once.

Multifactor Authentication: this is where you can set up stronger security for your LastPass account. In addition to your master password, you can set it to require a second authentication like texting a code to your phone. This means, even if the bad guys get your password, they won’t be able to get into your account unless they also have your phone.

Sharing: LastPass allows you to share a password with any other LastPass user. You can allow them to use the password with or without the ability to actually see it. To share folders, you must have the Family plan account type for $4/mo. This includes 6 individual licenses, plus the sharing capability.

Advanced Options: Import – if you have a spreadsheet (for example) where you have been storing accounts and passwords, you can import them to LastPass. You can also export from LastPass if you want to switch to another service.

Generate Secure Password: If you are ever in need of a good, secure password – it’s just a click away. From the LastPass main menu, click Advanced then generate secure password. It’s also available from the icon for the browser extension. This tool lets you set your criteria – # of characters, whether or not you need special characters, and whether to avoid ambiguous characters – for example ls and 1s. This is a very useful tool.

Using and editing passwords: When you see an account and password in LastPass, you can “Launch” to go to the site and automatically log in for you. If you need to change anything about the account and password, you click the wrench tool to open the form and make any changes you want.

Secure Notes: To add a secure note, click the + in the lower right and select Secure Notes. You can enter anything in here. You can also add attachments. So, for example you can make a secure note for your important property documents, then upload the .pdf documents of the actual deeds.

Offline: If you install the Windows (or Mac) app for LastPass, you will have offline access to all your items.

45:41 Review questions

Everyone can view any episode for free. Just click on the play button above.

Scroll down to see the show notes, these will be available for Members Only.

Members get access to the extensive show-notes Chris writes up after each show. Read them online and follow links directly to the parts you’re interested in. We recommend you print them out and keep them in a notebook. It’s a great way to learn.

Not a member? Join here. This episode covers:

Passwords are the bane of our existence. Security requires more than a good password. You need 2FA, Two Factor Authentication. Geeks On Tour will help you with your password conundrum, including the eventual goal of getting rid of passwords altogether.