Posts

Geotag Photos with Apps To start, you need a way to create a GPS track: a time-stamped series of GPS coordinates taken at a certain interval (usually distance or time). The most common format for tracks is GPX. Both iOS and Android GPS-equipped devices can create and export GPX tracks with downloadable apps. Trails (iOS, $2.99) and Speedview or My Tracks (Android, free) offer such capabilities. Choices abound for similar apps, so find one that appeals to you in both price and options....

As much as the groovyPost team loves Windows 10, we realize that tens of thousands of our readers are still running Windows 7. It’s honestly not a surprise. Windows 7 is a rock-solid operating system with security updates provided by Microsoft until Jan 2020. That being said, Microsoft released Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 more than five years ago. Since then, users performing a Windows 7 install or reinstall are faced the chore of downloading more than a GB of updates....

In the Windows 10 Creators Update, themes have a new section of their own within the Personalization category. To find and install a theme, click Start > Settings > Personalization > Themes. Click the link; get more themes in the Store. When you find a theme in the Microsoft Store, click on it to review details about its contents. You can see a preview of the type of wallpapers included, the size of the download, and supported devices....

The concept behind PDF/A is simple, but the instructions various vendors provide are awfully convoluted. Here’s the easy way to do it. For my example, I’m using Adobe Pro 9.3, but this works on Adobe Standard 7 and up. The higher the version, the better. First, open the PDF you want to convert to PDF/A. On the surface, an ordinary PDF and a PDF/A will look the same. The differences are under the hood....

Cache Google Maps Android While you have a data or WiFi connection, launch Google Maps on your Android device and bring up the area you want to save. Tap the menu key and select Make Available Offline. Now you can pinch and zoom to select the area of the map you need and tap Done. The size of the map area that will be downloaded will display on the bottom of the screen....

Until authenticator apps came into the picture, enabling 2FA meant that you had to enter your phone number into every app and website, which would then generate and send you a code to input. Using an authenticator app can make this process less painful: once set up, all you have to do is enter the token it generates. There are a few of these apps out there, like LastPass and Google Authenticator, and Authy is another option offering easy setup and use....

Using passwords can prevent other people from opening or modifying your Microsoft Office documents, presentations, workbooks and databases. Although much of this functionality was available in the Microsoft Office 2003 Suite, Microsoft decided to change things around a bit with their new menu system. Follow these simple steps for DOC, XLS, and PPT files. Click the Microsoft Office Button, and then click Save As. Click Tools, and then click General Options....

Recall only works if: You are using an Exchange account.The recipient is using an Exchange account.The recipient has not yet read the message. Note that even if the recipient hasn’t read the message, they will still receive a notification in Outlook saying that you deleted an email from their inbox. To get started, open the Sent Items folder in Outlook and then double click on the email that you want to recall....

Recently, I had an issue with Outlook not launching at all; it just remained stuck on the splash screen. Disabling add-ons did not help either. So, I turned to the next best option which is to repair Office. Microsoft refined the repair options with the Office 365 release (Now referred to as Microsoft 365). Based on Click-to-Run technology that makes it easy to access repair files over the internet, no need to install media....

First go to Settings. Then go to About. Now scroll down to reset your phone. This process is not reversible, so only do it if you’ve backed up everything you needed from the phone. You won’t be able to recover anything. If you’re sure this is what you want, tap Reset your Phone. You will be asked to confirm the reset. If you’re sure, tap Yes. Windows Phone 8 really wants to make sure this is what you wan to do....

Windows 8.1 has the same feature; however, I like how Microsoft improved it with Windows 10. Previously they separated the feature into Windows Refresh vs. Windows Reset. With Windows 10, it’s just Window Reset with a guided menu to walk you through the steps. Reset this PC in Windows 10 To get started, go to Settings > Update & Security > Recovery. Then click the Get started button under the Reset this PC section....

If you’ve ever tried to mess with files in the Windows or Program Files folders of Windows 7, you’ve probably noticed that Windows likes to throw up permissions errors. This is mostly because these areas are considered protected operating system directories, and editing them can cause problems. But, if you know what you are doing -these permission blocks are just a huge annoyance. One of the ways around this problem is to set up a “Run as administrator” option to the context menu for troublesome file types....

Step 1 Click the Start Menu Orb and Type in the name of the program that you would like to open. Note: If there are multiple program results for your program you can use the Up and Down keys to highlight the desired one. Step 2 To open the program as an administrator, Press and Hold Shift + Ctrl and then Enter simultaneously. Done! The program should now be open with elevated permissions, aka Administrator mode....

Search with Windows 10 Start One of the easiest ways to find a setting or anything else for that matter is to use the Start menu. Simply hit the Windows key and start typing in your query. For example, you can type in “control panel” to bring up the classic legacy Control Panel if that’s how you are used to finding things. Or, type “Printer” to get ahold of printer and scanner settings....

It has been redesigned (including three different colors), has more power under the hood, and its app has been redesigned to support new features. Plus, like the first version, is still extremely affordable at $35. Below is a shot of the first Chromecast compared to the new one. It’s much bigger, and at first glance you’d think it would be even more difficult to connect, especially if you have a lot of other cables in the back of your TV or AV receiver....

Step 1 – Get a Dropbox if you don’t have one Take a look at this article where I talk about what Dropbox is, and How-To get started. The registration is super simple so you can also just click this link to get rolling with an account. Step 2 – Uploading Files Once you get the Dropbox folder on your computer, go ahead and copy the files you want to share into the Public folder in your Dropbox folder....

We’ve shown you how to stop Facebook apps from posting on your behalf. And you can turn off Instagram that way, or directly from the app itself. Stop Posting Instagram Likes to Facebook in iOS On iOS launch Instagram and open your profile. The tap Options (gear icon) and go to Share Settings > Facebook > Share Likes to Timeline. Flip the switch to turn it off. For Android If you use Instagram on your Android device, go to Settings > Linked Accounts > Facebook > Share Likes to Timeline....

How Your TV Spies On You The feature is called Automatic Content Recognition (ACR). It is used to spy on your viewing habits, regardless of what you’re watching. It attempts to identify what you watch via cable, over-the-air, streaming services, as well as DVDs and Blu-rays. In addition to determining what you’re watching, it is used to target ads and other marketing purposes. As an example, Vizio was fined $2.2 million for not properly disclosing how it shares tracking information on 11 million of its TV sets....

How to Disable and Turn Off Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) In Windows 7 Click the Start Orb (Menu) and then Click Control Panel. In the control panel, Click Uninstall a program. On the left side of the Programs and Features screen, Click Turn Windows features on or off. Now you should be at the Windows Features list. Click to Uncheck Internet Explorer 8. You’ll be asked to confirm, Click Yes. To continue, click OK....

How Does Low Power Mode Work? When Low Power Mode is turned on, features like Mail Fetch, Hey Siri, background app refresh, motion effects, and animated wallpapers are disabled. If you recharge the iPhone battery to 70 percent, low power mode will automatically disable itself. Also, if you keep the device face down you won’t receive any notifications. How to Enable Low Power Mode To turn it on, go to Settings > Battery and toggle on the Low Power Mode switch....