Use Launchpad for OS X to Organize your Apps

Mac's Launchpad allows you to organize and manage your installed applications just as you would on an iOS device. It also enables you to see apps that are currently downloading from the Mac App Store, and you can remove apps if you would like to do so.

How to Use Launchpad

Opening the Launchpad on OS X can be done using its icon on your Dock. If you cannot find it there, you can also launch it from the Applications folder. You may also have a keyboard option that you can use to open Launchpad, depending on which Mac or keyboard you have. For example, if you have a Macbook Pro, you can open up Launchpad by pressing [F4] on your keyboard.

Once Launchpad opens, you'll see a screen similar to an iPad's that will show you all of the apps that are currently installed on your machine. For those who are using a Trackpad to navigate Launchpad and swipe through various screens, just swipe to the left or right using your two fingers. In case you are using a mouse, click and drag left or right in order to change screens.

How to Rearrange Icons

The Springboard/Launchpad's basic concept is that an icon can be rearranged once they're jiggling. In order for you to make an app icon wiggle, simply hold down on one of them until they start wiggling. Then you can start dragging and rearranging the app icons according to your preferred locations. You can rearrange them on the same screen in different order or place them on a different one.

How to Create Folders in Launchpad

Creating a new folder in Launchpad can be done by clicking and holding any of the app icons, and once they start wiggling, drag and drop any icon on top of another. This will cause a new folder to be created. The name of the folder will be automatically set to the category of the two apps that you have grouped together. If you want to rename the folder, just click on it to open the folder, and then click on the title so that you can type in the new name.

Take note that creating folders in Launchpad will not affect the directory structure of your apps in the Applications folder -- so there's no need to worry about that. OS X also allows emojis in file names, so you can include emoji icons in your Launchpad folder names. Doing this enables you to quickly identify folders with the help of these emojis.

How to Delete Apps

Apple provided an option to delete apps from within OS X; however this method has two disadvantages. One, the uninstaller won't work for non-App Store apps, and second, it won't delete application preferences from your system.

With Launchpad, you can delete an application by simply clicking and holding an app icon until it starts to wiggle. Then, click on the X icon in the upper-left corner of the icon you wish to delete. OS X will ask for your confirmation if you wish to proceed with the action, and then just respond by clicking on Delete to permanently remove the application from your Mac.

A Tech Expert Guide to Maintaining and Organizing Your Gadgets

We all know that gadgets now rule the Internet today because of mobility. While it’s still nice to own a personal computer at home or at the office, it’s not a great idea to lug around a large PC, with monitors and all. But whether you’re a techie geek with all the latest gadgets to improve your work or a non-techie who happens to know at least the basics of using gadgets, the common denominator for everyone using gadgets is being able to maintain them and keeping them organized.

Maintaining and keeping your gadgets in mint condition is not hard work and the benefit here is getting them to work as long as possible and in tip-top shape.

General maintenance for smartphones and tablets

Protect the LCD screen with a screen protector, whether it’s the film type stuck on the LCD’s glass or liquid that is wiped onto the surface. Keeping your gadget’s glass scratch-free is the first step to maintaining its life. It is unfortunate that the better the technology, the bigger the screen, which is now the vulnerable Achilles’ heel of any mobile gadget. Protect the gadget with a protective folio casing. A jelly case is handy against the impact of bumping around in your bag, while most folio casings protect the device from any impact and keep its LCD from being scratched.

General maintenance for laptops

Wipe and brush your laptop weekly. Wipe the laptop’s lid, bottom area, and its LCD. Brush the keyboard with a laptop brush. Nothing is uglier than a dirty and unkempt laptop. As a practice, never use flash drives and memory cards other than those you use with your camera, phone and other devices. This prevents viruses being passed on to your laptop. If you really need to copy from other devices directly to your laptop, make sure your antivirus and malware programs are all updated and running.

Take care of the batteries

Your devices run on their batteries. It is very important that you use the battery carefully so that they have a longer life. It is recommended that you refrain from draining out the entire power before charging. Charge up when the battery signals that it is low on power. It’s very practical to invest in a mobile phone emergency battery and a spare battery pack for tablets if your work requires you to be on the move most of the time.

Don’t leave gadgets in the car

Heat is bad for all kinds of tech devices. A closed car becomes hot even on a cloudy day. The oven-like environment will play havoc on any gadget that is left in a car. In connection with this, since direct sunlight can damage devices, always use your gadgets indoors or at least in the shade when outdoors. Don’t use your smartphone or tablet when walking under the sun.

Keep your gadget cords organized

All gadgets have cords to charge them no matter how advanced gadgets have become. No one has yet to invent a cordless mobile device because cords go well with the wall sockets. Owning just 3 or 4 gadgets can leave a clutter of cords on any surface. If you need all your gadgets on a work table, use a box with dividers to keep all the cords separated from each other. It’s better if the box has holes at the back for each cord if you need to charge a gadget. If you don’t want to use a box, you can use plastic bread bag tags for each cord and slip them over the cord near the plug.

Smart Recycling Ideas for Your Android Devices

With several generations of gadgets have gone by over the the past few years, there's no doubt some of you have an old gadget that no longer gets attention and is just picking up dust on your drawer. But despite of this, you're still hanging on to it. Sure, it may have a sentimental value attached to it but the problem is, you're not quite sure on what to use it for.

So, here are some bright recycling ideas that you can do with your old Android device. Check out the list below and you may get an idea or two that you will truly find useful and enjoyable at the same time.

Kitchen Assistant

With a combination of Google Tasks and a cheap stand, a spare or old Android phone or tablet can become your ideal kitchen assistant. How? You can create a shopping list on Google Tasks, synchronize it with your other devices, and then take it with you shopping. Then in the kitchen, get rid of the hassle of having your cookbook stand on a balance or ruining the pages with ingredients. You can now cook food to perfection by using your device's built-in timer, so nothing gets burnt or overcooked.

You can check out apps like Food Network in the Kitchen and BigOven for starters. And since it's touchscreen, it's easy to keep clean, too.

Remote Webcam

Turn your Android device into a handy IP-based webcam with the help of a neat free app called IP Webcam from Google play. The app lets you connect the device from another Android device or any network computer using a browser or via Skype. It supports audio and a host of smart features such as streaming to VLC.

So if you're looking for a cheap Wi-Fi IP camera and happened to have an old Android phone or tablet, this will do the trick.

Video Camera

Though there's a slim chance that you would consider using an old Android device as a spare camera, but that doesn't mean that it can't be used as a decent video camera. The moving image, being lower resolution, is a lot more forgiving when it comes to poor quality sensors and lenses, while even aging devices can provide 720p HD encoding.

So, provided that you load it with a suitable SD card, you now have a device that can capture hours of video.

Wireless keyboard or mouse

If in case your keyboard or mouse suddenly stops working, you can use your old Android device as an input device with the help of RemoteDroid. Neither input will be as accommodating as its desktop counterpart, but it will do until you can order or purchase a new replacement for your defective computer accessory.

Digital photo frame

Do you know that your old Android device has better screen quality than most digital photo frames that you can see in the market today? Another benefit of using your old Android tablet as a digital photo frame is that you can connect it to your Cloud account so that it will have access to more photos. You can check out and download the Dayframe app to transform your device into a cool digital photo frame.

E-reader

You can always use your current device as an e-reader, however, it can take too much of its battery especially if you're an avid reader. Using your old Android device as a permanent e-reader will wipe off your battery worries on your current device. Depending on your reader app preference and whether you sidelook books, you may not even need a Wi-Fi connection for your device.

For e-reader apps, you may consider checking out apps like Google Play Books, Amazon Kindle app, and Aldiko.

Desk Clock and Weather Station

We all know that an Android device can offer more than just an ordinary desk clock. You can personalize its background and make it animated, show multiple clocks, and inbox status. If you want to transform your old Android device into an awesome desk clock and weather station, check out Dock Clock Plus to make it happen.

Apple Music vs. Spotify: A Quick Face Off

Spotify is no doubt the king of streaming music these days. This claim is supported by a reported user base of 20 million subscribers -- plus an additional 55 million listeners of its free, ad-based service. Now, that Apple Music has just recently entered the scene, the only question that comes to mind is that will the reigning champion in streaming music will still be able to hold its title.

When it was first unveiled by Apple during the 2015 WWDC, Apple Music seems to appear as the biggest threat for Spotify in the current streaming marketplace. Why? Because Apple Music has all the characteristics of a powerhouse music streaming client -- with a 24-hour, live radio broadcast, personally curated playlists, and access to the entire iTunes music catalog. So, to give us a closer look as to what the two music streaming giants can and cannot do, below is a quick run-through of their similarities and differences.

Founded	Jan. 2014 as Beats Music;acquired by Apple in May 2014 for $3B; relaunched June 2015.	October 2008, Stolkholm
Cost	Free radio (Beats 1 and other stations) or $9.99 per month	Free ad-supported streaming and radio or $9.99 per month ($4.99 for students)
Family plan	$14.99 per month for six family members (shared via iCloud Family Sharing)	$4.98 (50 percent off) for each additional family member account
Trial with full functionality	3 months free	3 months for $0.99
Requires new mobile app	Nope—it's in the Music app when you update to iOS 8.4	Yes
How many countries	100 at launch	58 + many territories
iTunes integration	Full integration of iTunes songs and playlists, including songs on iTunes Match ($24.99 per year) and songs in iCloud	Use third-party tools to convert iTunes playlists to Spotify; desktop Spotify can pull in local files
Number of users	TBD; Beats Music only had 111,000	75 million+ users, 20 million+ subscribers
Number of music tracks	30 million+	30 million+
Internet radio playlist curation	Humans (plus live Beats 1 Internet radio)	Algorithms
Number of skips for free	TBD, but limited	Five per hour
Sound Quality (free)	256Kbps	96Kbps
Sound Quality (Premium)	256Kbps	160Kbps or 320Kbps
Platforms	Mac, iOS, Windows at launch: Apple TV and Android to come	Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone, Roku, TiVo, Samsung Smart TVs, Linux, PlayStation, the Web, and more
Podcasts	No (Apple has a separate app for that)	Yes
Videos	Music videos, clips uploaded by artists	Yes

5 Tools Everyone in the Computer Industry Should Be Using

Just to clarify a point, “computer industry” is actually a generic term since there are many sub-categories under this. Some may be working in the computer web design or web development industry. Some may be in the internet marketing industry, and this in itself can have different sub-categories (SEO, social media, e-mail, etc.). Others may be in the hardware or software category usually called technical support.

Because of this, we selected the most common tools that virtually anyone working in the computer industry, no matter what category, can more or less use either directly for their work or in relation to it. We chose not to include the really common and default tools that virtually everyone may already have like browsers, browser-based online tools, and anti-virus tools.

Hootsuite/Tweetdeck

Managing multiple Twitter accounts is next to impossible even for the most hardworking social media marketer. Third party solutions like Hootsuite/Tweetdeck can solve this, especially when companies have two or more Twitter accounts (usually opened by different departments) and in each account are numerous clients and followers, all potential customers. These tools allow marketers to organize all their Twitter accounts in a single interface and monitor all those accounts using just a single screen.

waveapps.com

This tool provides free invoicing as well as invoicing on the go for mobile apps. It also offers an accounting software program that is cloud based and allows you to manage whatever is incoming or outgoing.

iFixIt.com Repair Kits, Tools, and Videos

Actually a staple of the hardware repair business for many years now, they offer any type of repair content, repair videos, and manuals that you can all download whether using a PC, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. They even have data for the problematic or unfamiliar repairs. It can even store How-To documents you downloaded and marked as favorites. It even comes with an iPad app that also works well on Apple Mac computers.

Clonezilla

This tool can be used straightforward to clone a computer’s hard drive before doing any type of work that is a standard operation for PC repairs. It can save anyone untold hours in the event of a computer catastrophe.

A pair of awesome noise cancelling headphones

You might be thinking, “Headphones are tools?” But if you’re someone who wants to really focus, is a true millennial, or was born in the 1980’s, then you might even be thanking the makers of noise cancelling headphones. Bose is usually the best choice for many, though the Dr. Beat brand is making a popular headway. Many people are actually used to listening to music while working 8 hours a day, and it helps them really focus. It helps concentrate on work since some people do get bothered by co-workers talking over the phone or playing with their pen. Some even use headphones to block off the sound of clicking keyboards.

Why Cloud Can Be the Best Choice for Your Business's Backup Plan

What is Cloud Computing?

Instead of local computers in an office or business doing all the work, with each computer running separate licensed applications and software, this network of computers can be handled by the cloud instead. Hardware and software demands for the user decreases all the computers can be run from the cloud computing system’s interface software, which can be as simple as a web browser, and the cloud’s network takes care of the rest.

The best example for cloud computing is the use of an e-mail account with a web-based e-mail service like Yahoo! Mail or G-mail. Instead of running an e-mail program on your computer, you log in to a web e-mail account remotely. The software and storage for your account doesn’t exist on your computer because you access it on the service's computer cloud.

And speaking of storage, another useful aspect of cloud computing is as a storage backup for all your important data and files.

Cloud Storage Services

Storing your data backups at an off-site location is the best way to ensure that a copy of your most critical business data will remain sheltered from any cataclysmic event that may befall your business. And what better way to achieve geographical separation than by storing your data at various centers located across the globe?

Choosing a goodcloud storage provider that has a good track record for reliability will help ensure that your data is available when you need it. Some cloud services use innovative storage techniques to yield lower storage and operational costs. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with such efforts, you should always scramble data with robust encryption prior to entrusting it to an external organization for safekeeping.

Disaster planning storage backup: it might never happen, but you’ll never know.

It’s the same concept with having a first aid kit -- It’s better to have it there but not need it, rather than needing it, but it’s not there.

Assess the threats

Consider what could seriously damage your computers externally, for instance, a fire on your premises, natural disasters like earthquakes or hurricanes, or even a hacker attack.

Determine the likelihood of each threat

Some are definitely more probable than others. You can seek expert advice for each disaster to assess risk levels.

Assess what maximum potential damage may occur

For instance, would the threat take your main customer database offline? Or would the impact be relatively minor? Your disaster planning should prioritize threats with the highest likelihood of happening and the potential to cause most damage.

Have other backup systems in place aside from cloud storage

You might also consider adding other backup systems such as DVD’s or external hard disks. Also consider other minor disaster preparedness like having uninterruptible power supply (UPS) to keep your server running and avoid damage to desktops.

Once you’ve put a business disaster recovery plan together, test it. See how your communications work in practice, and how long it takes you to get back to working again.

Make Your Android Phone a Full-Fledged Desktop with Andromium OS

For the average people, spending thousands of dollars on a high-end smartphone and computer is not an option. You could probably consider a smartphone that costs around $900 or more, but spending more than that amount just so you can also get a top-of-the-line computer is too much.

Enter Andromium OS -- a new project that aims to solve that exact problem for the average tech users. With the proper and compatible software, an external HD display, and a dock that allows external TV or monitor attachments, you can use your Android phone to serve as an external computer. Its portability and ease of use enables you to use it wherever you go. Want to know more about it? Read on and find out how.

Requirements

Together with the dock and monitor, make sure that your smartphone has Snapdragon 800 or better processor, at least 2 GB RAM, and runs on KitKat 4.4.2 and above. For the monitor, it needs to be at least 1080p, and you need to have a mouse and keyboard (USB or Bluetooth is fine). As for software, you need to download and install the Andromium OS app, which can be downloaded from the Google Play Store. Be reminded that you may experience some bugs since it is still in beta version.

Andromium OS Features

Andromium OS is designed to mimic a regular computer OS, inspired from Windows 7 and OS X. There's nothing fancy about about this OS, but it performs functions like overlapping windows, multitasking, and mouse and keyboard navigation.

The Andromium OS features a menu bar, start menu, and a taskbar that looks similar to Windows 7. Aside from those mentioned, other basic functions include word processing, web browsing, and file management. You can also play light games such as Super Smash Brothers. The OS also allows you to access word processing software such as Google Docs and Microsoft Word online. The app also lets you stream videos and watch movies effortlessly.

You can still use your smartphone -- receive calls without physically picking it up, notifications, and messages even if you're running the app. Andromium OS also offers a few apps such as media players, a browser, and an office suite.

Supported Devices

At the moment, Andromium OS officially supports the following devices:

·         Samsung Galaxy S3, S4, S5

·         Samsung Galaxy Note 2/3/4

·         Samsung Galaxy Edge

As for the following units, testings have been done although there have been no detailed testing so you may use it with caution:

·         HTC One M7/8/One E8

·         LG G2/G3

·         Oppo One Plus One

·         Motorola Droid Turbo

·         Sony Z2/Z3

Why Use Andromium OS?

Instead of spending thousands of dollars on a desktop computer, you can solve your dilemma by using your smartphone to double as one. If your purpose of getting a desktop computer is for using simple programs such as word processing, viewing movies or videos, and storing files only, then the Andromium OS is the perfect solution for you.

And since it's still in its beta stage, we may have to wait and see what will become of Andromium and how it will fare to the consumers. But there's no harm in trying it out for yourself and find out how it will benefit you.