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Is Google Keep finally a viable Google Task Manager?

When Google Keep first appeared, myself and others thought it was Google’s attempt to make an Evernote type product. I had long thought Google should acquire Evernote, or barring that, create their own personal note storage system.   Google’s mission seems to be indexing all the world’s information.  That should include our own personal information, but before they can index it and let us search on it, they need to give us a place to store information. Perhaps that is still their intent, but if it is, they are getting there at a snail’s pace.  There have been few upgrades to Keep. The only really major upgrade was the addition of reminders; adding a date and time to a note and having the app alert you when appropriate. At our Google+ Keep community a poster wondered if perhaps Keep was not actually intended to replace Google Tasks.

What's New on Netflix

OK, others probably already know about this.  If you want to keep up on what is new on Netflix, this RSS Feed from Netflix is worth adding to your RSS app. Since the demise of Google Reader, Feedly has met my needs.

Family Tech: Geek Museums

Last week I went on a Geek Quest to New York City.  On the way, I thought about other Geeky places I've visited, and places to visit in this part of the country. That is the topic of this  Family Tech column .

Keep: Reading the tea leaves

I hate prediction posts.  This week there is both E3, the gaming industry trade show, and Apple's World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC). The tech press has articles for the last couple weeks, talking about what we "might" see at these shows. They do nothing but lead to disappointment; they are always too optimistic. That being said, imagine my own sense of irony as I delve into thinking about Keep, and where it might be going. This isn't a prediction, I tell myself, but more like a thought experiment. Since Keep was first announced and released back on March 20, the Keep community ( Google+ Keep Community ), has been eager to see what Google does with this humble beginning. Many of us love Evernote, and while we don't necessarily want to give up Evernote, we want to see where Keep is going. Is Keep going to expand to challenge Evernote?  What does Google have in mind for Keep? Some in the G+ community have wondered if Keep wasn't released ea

Very Cool: Evernote adds reminders

In what they have said is their #1 request (it certainly was mine!), Evernote has added reminders. You can specify a reminder date for a note, and Evernote will email you with a reminder for the note.  The reminder also pops up in the app. Right now, it works on IOS and Web, but the other clients should be getting it very soon.  I hope it is sooner than Reminders itself.  Phil Libin said in one of their podcasts that Due Dates were coming "soon".  That was at least two years ago, maybe three.  Supposing Reminders are what he meant as Due Dates, he has a rather loose definition of soon. Joking aside, this is an awesome feature addition. Also the notes with Reminders end up at the top of each Notebook, and you can arrange them by your order of importance. Read Evernote's blog post , and watch their video for more information. Cross posted on  GetProductiveFast.com  and  Ideas from Mark Stout.

Web is 20 years old today

On April 30, 1993, CERN ( European Organization for Nuclear Research), publicly revealed their new creation, the World Wide Web. Tim Berners-Lee's team had created the web to share information among computer users all over the world. This was the first web page. The Web has taken us way past academics sharing information. Look around.  Do you see many record stores?  Video tape or DVD rental stores?  Do you have to go to high school reunions to keep up with old friends?  \ The impact of the web is great.  I think there is more government transparency, although we have a ways to go. So many businesses have been disrupted :  travel agents, newspapers, retail, music, television, film,  You have to wonder, what will the next 20 years bring? [News story about CBS.com]

Programming for Google Glass

Actually, they call it creating new experiences.  There was a presentation at the recent South by Southwest on the topic.  Quite illuminating. Fifty minutes long, but worth it if you want a feel for how Glass will work, and how content is created for it.

I am Invited!

I was invited to be a Google Glass Explorer. Meaning, Google will let me buy a Google Glass before the general public. Apparently I just have to come up with $1500 and go to New York to pick them up. Hmm, how can I swing this?

Family Tech: The Tech Support Scam

I don't think anyone reading this blog would fall for this, but alert your less tech saavy family and friends that Microsoft will never call them to tell them there is a virus on their PC. There's a scam apparently that's been going around for a few years that could cost users money, control of their PC and time. The Family Tech for March 21, 2013 covers it.

Google Now to Evernote Too!

I wrote here on March 23 about my delight the first time I made a Google Now voice note "Note to self:" and how Google Now prompted me to send it to Gmail or to Google Keep. Previously the only option was to send it to Gmail.  I have a Gmail filter to send any "Note to self" emails on to my Evernote account. Now a Lifehacker.com post by Whitson Gordon alerted me that now Evernote is included in that option. Evernote did not appear on my list options before when I made a note with Google Now.  I wonder if it is not a new capability added by Evernote when they released Version 5 for Android about that time. On my Android phone I went to Settings, Applications and brought up the record for Google Search (which is really Google Now). Then I scrolled down and touched the button Clear Defaults . Then I went into Google Now and made a voice "Note to Self".  This time the option box had three choices: Email, Keep and Evernote. I went ahead

Google Keep and Google Now

I find Google Now's voice capabilities useful on my Android phone.  I recently struggled to get it working on my Samsung Galaxy S3.  If you have an S3 do check out my post on the topic . One thing I often do while driving is touch the Call button on my Bluetooth earpiece to invoke Google Now and then say "Note to self" and then say an idea I've just had, or a task I want to remember to do. Until this week, Google Now would send that as an email to myself.  From there I would make use of that note when I got home, perhaps creating an event in my Google Calendar, or a task in Google Task or whatever. If it was just a note I wanted in Evernote, a filter I had created in Gmail automatically moves all emails with the subject containing "Note to self" to Evernote. Wednesday evening I installed the Android Keep app on my phone.  I guess I didn't make any Notes to Self on Thursday, but I did on Friday while driving home from work. At the next light,

Google Keep - An Introduction

Two things I am most passionate about in computing is Evernote, and Google services. I've been a passionate user of Evernote since 2008.  I even wrote a book about it. And I've been a user of Gmail, Google Drive , Calendar, Tasks, and Voice.  Those all are in my default set of tabs that load in every time I start up, yes, Google Chrome. So it is with mixed feelings that I introduce Google Keep.  Keep is Google's new tools to store random bits of information. It was released just this past Wednesday as both a web app, and an Android app. I first wrote about it in three posts on my GetProductiveFast.com blog that supports my book.  There I wrote three posts of interest to Evernote users. The first post was a simple  announcement of Keep . Then remembering the recent closure of Google Reader, I wondered, and I found others were too, if we could trust Keep to stick around.  No point in putting all our information in it, only to see Keep disappear in a few year

Google Now on the Galaxy S III

I save this blog for my geekiest posts and haven't been doing much geeky things lately; instead concentrating on more technology for the family issues in my column. Although I have started doing a bit more geeky things in the column, with How-To support on its blog, like the recent column on consolidating a families photos from their many camera phones, to one place. However, I just worked out something geeky, and wanted to document it here for others that might search for a solution in the future. When I first bought my Galaxy S III (I'll call it the Galaxy S3 here too for searching purposes), it did not have Google Now on it.  So I started using Samsung's own S Voice. When Jelly Bean made it to the S3, Google Voice became available. However, when I click the button on my Bluetooth earpiece, it was S Voice that came up. One night I decided to sit down and solve that problem, thinking it would be relatively easy. I did find some good resources, but som

Family Tech Online

At the end of the Family Tech column in today's Prince William Today, readers were directed to this blog as the support blog for Family Tech. This is Mark's personal blog.  The Family Tech blog is at FamilyTechOnline.com . It will be changed in next week's paper.

Prince William Today available today

The initial edition of  Prince William Today  is being delivered to subscribers, and hitting some local 711s today. Family Tech is not yet online at  InsideNova.com , but I'll post when it is. You can subscribe to home delivery at  http://www.princewilliamtoday.com /