Tips, Tech and Apps

A few tech tricks or programs that I have found while searching the interent.  Here we go:

1. Facebook’s Ugly URLs

With websites incorporating social media into pretty much every website on the internet, ugly URLs have not been a big problem, but once in awhile there is a link that we want to share on Facebook directly.  This link gets posted but not always deleted after the preview pops up, this leaves a very long and ugly URL on your status.  Here is how to delete it.

1. Copy link you want to use.
2. Post the link into Facebook status box.
3. Wait for the preview to show up (picture  plus description)
4. Delete the link that you originally posted.  The preview box will stay and you will not have the ugly URL in your status.

2. PassHack

I am a big fan of Apple and I love my iPhone but the stock apps that you can not remove from your iPhone are quite bothersome to me (The newstand app is the worst).  I used to remove theses apps by jailbreaking my iPhone, but with no updates insight for a untethered jailbreak for IOS 6, I am left with a lot of unused apps, crowding my screen.  Not to worry, the solution to this  does not include jailbreaking your phone.  The easiest way to do it is to download Passhack and follow the instructions in the app to uninstall and delete the apps that you don’t use.  If you accidentally mess up and delete the wrong app all you have to do is just restart your phone and all the apps reappear.

3. Instapaper offline reading

I have talked about Instapaper in the past but I never really talked about its most important feature, offline reading.  Owning an iPad that is WiFi only I like to use apps when I am not connected to WiFi.  Instapaper does just that by allowing you to pre download stories and then read them no matter if you are on a plane, bus or waiting in the doctor office.

4. Google Drive

Many of us have started to use the Google Docs in our day-to-day life, if you have not checked it out it is like Microsoft Word, that runs off cloud.  Google docs is great for collaborating with people on a project or making sure that you always have access to your documents.  Google Drive is cloud storage that Google gives you to host these files and other files that you would like to access on the go or from any computer.  There is a free app that you can download for most mobile devices that will allow you to edit and view your files on the go.  All of my blog posts are typed and saved on my Google Drive account.

5. Letterpress

My favorite new IOS app is Letterpress and it should be yours too.  This app does not take a bunch of your time but it will give you a much needed break from your stressful life.  This game is a lot like scrabble.  It is a head-to-head game where you fight to make words out of a pre selected letters.

6. DocScanner

As a little bit of a minimalist I try to get rid of the clutter in my life and try to hold on to less stuff that I don’t need and for me this involves digitizing my life.  I have a lot of papers that I might need later, but I do not want the paper cluttering my desk and folders, so I use Docscanner to scan in and keep all of the papers I need.

Do you have some tips, tech, or apps that you would like to share?  Please post them in the comments and you may be featured on my next article.

Erik Hoffman

Erik Hoffman is a web designer and computer consultant. He has run a computer consulting company for the past four years where he enhanced businesses by designing and developing user-friendly websites that have helped companies reach targeted revenues.

erik-hoffman.com/