Ideas from Mark Stout

H ave I ever mentioned, I am the founder of the Google Keep Community over on Google+ ?  It has over 4000 users. If you have questions or needs regarding Keep, that is an excellent place to begin. Google Keep Community on Google+

Google, Microsoft, and Apple. Did you know there is a fourth big player in this field? A new Family Tech column.

Apple had a few gifts for users.  The latest Family Tech column .

I've written about LastPass before as a good repository for your passwords. LastPass is urging users change their master passwords  after a recent intrusion. Doesn't sound like this is the end-of-the-world for LastPass users, but I have changed my master password, and suggest everyone follow LastPass' advice.

Windows 10 is coming.  And here's a few things you'll want to know. Family Tech

Did you know Facebook has an "other" inbox? If someone is not a friend, and they send you a message, it ends up there. A couple years ago, I found a message there that was over a year old. I suggest you check your "other" inbox today.

Jared Eno s' wonderful colorized edition of Wilber Wright at Kitty Hawk in the 1903 Glider just three days before the first powered flight.  The colorization is amazing. Wilbur Wright clings to his damaged flying machine after an unsuccessful trial on December 14, 1903 (note how white his knuckles are from gripping the machine). Taken in the Kill Devil Hills, Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Photo licensed by Jared Enos under Creative Commons /

A friend mentioned earlier today that she wished her phone could hold a charge during one of her longer days.  It might be 14 hours from when she leaves the house in the morning, until she gets home.  It would be nice if her phone could last as long. I told her about portable chargers, and showed her my 15,000 mah Anker.  She made a note of it.   When I got home, it occurred to me that she probably spelled it Anchor in her notes.  I found myself about to write a long email to to clarify, and add some extra points.   Instead, I thought I'd make this blog post. A portable charger is a device about the size of your phone, although it can be larger and heavier, that is in itself a separate battery.  Being that it is nothing but a battery, they can recharge your phone several times over. You have seen these a the checkout of your pharmacy.  The ones there are small tubular ones that look much like a lipstick.  Those are about 2200 mah. ...

How To Geek has a great post today warning about free Antivirus apps .

A new Family Tech column is up. Google gave out many gifts at their recent Google IO Developers Conference.

The  Wall Street Journal is reporting  that Microsoft has purchased  6Wunderkinder GmbH , maker of Wunderlist.  Many, myself included, think Wunderlist is the best task manager / ToDo List manager out there. Wunderlist works with Sunrise, Microsoft's Calendar Program I spoke of in  my recent column about Microsoft . Microsoft is inching its way into my Google dominated personal ecosystem. cross posted with FamilyTechOnline .com and GetProductiveFast.com

One of my first Evernote posts here was my list of things you could do with Evernote  from way back in October of 2009. Most every blogger that uses Evernote has published their own list.  My post cited several from that time period. Today I was asked how I managed to accrue over 20,000 notes in just over six years, a rate of 285 notes a month. I started to give a brief list, and then it occurred to me, I can sum up what should go into Evernote like this : The short version:  If you encounter something you might remotely want to see again, it goes into Evernote. Of my 20,000 notes, if I ever pull back up one half of one percent of them, that is 100 items I needed and was able find, and find easily. I n practice, that percentage is higher, but probably not more than 2 or 3%.  Evernote:  suggestion, put a read count field into each note, and provide analytics please. The longer version:  If it comes into your life, and there is the smallest c...