Archive for the ‘Geek Girl’ Category

10 Things to Know about Getting Started on a Mac

Posted 10 Aug 2009 — by Ellie
Category Geek Girl

macbookMacs are easy to use, even for native PC users who are learning how to use a Mac for work or want to switch to a Mac from a PC.

Some people feel that Macs are more intuitive than PCs when it comes to function, but I simply feel that Macs are easy to learn if you are willing to be patient and ask questions. These are my 10 tips on how to get started on a Mac. If you have a tip, leave it in the comments!

14 Free Mac OS X Apps That Make Life Easier

Posted 03 Aug 2009 — by Ellie
Category Geek Girl

caffeineCaffeine prevents your display from dimming or sleeping – perfect for watching TV shows online or Netflix movies! It can be toggled on or off by simply clicking on the coffee cup in the menu bar.

AppCleaner removes all traces of programs when you uninstall them. No more worries about left over files or settings. Everything gets cleaned away when you use AppCleaner.

montage_phone_desktop_browserI can’t praise Evernote enough – it captures all types of documents – text, handwritten notes, business cards and more – and saves them across the web and a desktop client, so I can access my notes anywhere!

How to Format an E-Book

Posted 27 Jul 2009 — by Ellie
Category Geek Girl

You’ve written a great e-book and now you want to publish it so that others can enjoy and learn from your research. There are several ways to accomplish self-publishing, including using paid e-book creator software, but I know it is just as simple to create a .pdf document for free.

First, you want to make sure your e-book is formatted into an easy to read and navigate document. Microsoft Word 2007 offers document element inserts, which include:

  • A well designed cover to grab the reader’s attention and market your e-book
  • betterbloggercover

Use Gmail’s Permalinks to Share Searches

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Posted 20 Jul 2009 — by Ellie
Category Geek Girl

Geek GirlYou can now share searches with a friend or bookmark them with the new version of Gmail.

  • For example, you can tell a friend “Check out the previous mail I sent you at https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2#search/geek+girl.”
  • Or, you can bookmark a label, such as https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2#label/Follow+Up for viewing later.

10 Steps to Improving your Blog

Posted 20 Jul 2009 — by Ellie
Category Geek Girl

Do you have a blog but no one comments on your posts? Or are you seeing no increases in the number of your RSS subscribers?

There are a myriad of ways to solve each of these problems without spending a lot of money. However, you will want to invest some time to improve your existing blog and meet your blogging goals – whether it is more readers, increased search engine traffic or making more money through ad sales or promoting your business.

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Leave Messages and Connect with Phonevite

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Posted 22 Jun 2009 — by Ellie
Category Geek Girl

As some of you guys know, I’m a member of several fraternal organizations. It is difficult to call hundreds of people when information needs to be passed along quickly AND accurately. So, I searched for a way to send messages and connect with my fellow club members, family and friends. There are literally dozens of reasons to use a mass messaging system – send meeting reminders, notify family of resturant location for dinner, send words of encouragement, announce an engagement – and many, many more.

Have you updated your software lately?

Posted 14 Jun 2009 — by Ellie
Category Geek Girl

One of the most dreaded chores for most computer users is finding and installing updates for your software and operating system. There are programs out there to make this process easier, and many programs have built-in update checkers.

One of the top programs for updating your software is FileHippo, which works on PCs only. However, VersionTracker works on PCs, Macs iPhone and PalmOS.

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Creative Commons License photo credit: slworking2

No matter which program you use, it is important to look at the settings for your software first and see if it has the capability to check on its own for updates. You might have to manually check for an update or set the program to check for updates periodically, but at least you’ll be prepared to update your software quickly!

How to Get Control of your Digital World

Posted 26 May 2009 — by Ellie
Category Featured, Geek Girl

Pile of GadgetsIt is easy to get bogged down with gadgets in our digital world. Most of us have a cell phone, an iPod or MP3 player, a digital camera and a laptop which we carry with us on a regular basis.

As evidenced by my “go bag” and HarriMac‘s, there’s plenty of analog stuff we geeks carry with ourselves on a daily basis, too!

But, today, I want to help you get control of your digital world. It won’t hurt, I promise, and you’ll be feeling a lot better physically and mentally once you get rid of some things by combining them, upgrading or downgrading!

Find your new home easily with PadMapper

Posted 18 May 2009 — by Ellie
Category Geek Girl

I am in the middle of moving to a new apartment. I used Craigslist to find my new home, but I wanted to know what other apartments were near my desired address.

PadMapper came so handy in my apartment search. I put in the address of a subway station I thought was desirable, and let PadMapper generate a map with all of the listings available on Craigslist!

Now, I can click on the red markers and look at information about specific listings and link back to the original ad on Cragislist.