Phil Bradley's weblog

Tech Review Pro

Need expert ideas and opinions on stuff like the Internet, apps, gadgets, infographics and the like? Obviously you'll read my weblog, but even I can't cover everything, so take a look at TechReviewPro. They say of themselves "Techreviewpro.com is excited to announce the 2016 Tech Expert Pro-Views! Since the turn of the year our team have been reaching out to the best technology experts across the world to gain their valuable insights. The reviews intend to be an every growing source of information that can one day end up being a time capsule. Some of the greatest tech enthusiasts, journalists and IT professors all came together to share their opinion on what the future might hold!"

I had a look through the site and it's really quite interesting. Click on a category to see all of the different reviews and settle down with a cup of coffee. It's a really nice and informative site - loads of adverts to get past of course, but that's a minor issue. It's certainly somewhere to keep in mind if you need to keep up to date on what's happening in the world of tech.

Testing your grammar

The people from the Stands4 network (which has produced sites such as Abbreviations.com and References.net) has produced a new site to add to the ever growing stable, and it's Grammar.com. As you'd expect, it's a site all about grammar - you can cut and paste your own content to have it checked for spelling errors or grammar suggestions. You can choose your language - I was impressed that there are six versions of English - American, British, South African, Australian, New Zealand and Canadian, as well as a rich variety of others. There are several other sections to the site - a collection of frequently misspelled words, common grammatical mistakes, parts of speech, vocabulary building, punctuation and few fun sections as well.

It's a very useful site if you're bashing out a blog post and you just want to check that everything is as it should be, if you have a concern over 'affect or effect' for example, or you're a parent who wants to point their child to an excellent reference tool.

As with all of the other Stands4 sites it does an excellent job and would be a real addition to any quick reference collection.

7 quick time saving tips

If you're still typing out an entire base URL, simply type the name into the address bar (philb for example) and then press Control and Enter. This will pop the www. and .com in for you.

Looking for music to listen to? Go to Google and type Type -inurl:(htm|html|php) intitle:”index of” +”last modified” +”parent directory” +description +size +(wma|mp3) “name of band or artist” (Do of course check that you're legally entitled to listen to it, obviously.)

Do a reverse image search in Chrome by holding down the S key and doing a right mouse click over the image that interests you.

Control-shift-T will reopen the last closed tab in your browser.

If you're in Chrome and want to highlight the URL, Control-L will highlight it for you.

Want to get to the Windows Task Manager a bit more quickly than the Control-Alt-Del approach? Control-Shift-Escape brings it right up for you.

Looking for something on a webpage and can't find it? Control-F to bring up a dialogue box which allows you to search.

What are your favourites? Add them in the comments!

Storing photographs - the alternatives

A few years ago, if you wanted to store your photographs online and perhaps share them with friends, there really was only one game in town, and that was Flickr. It's the service that I grew up with, and even paid them money every year for the right to dump my photographs online. It was however rather more than a photo storage service, since it allowed people to network, share photographs, have discussions and so on - and indeed it still does exactly that, although now it's entirely free. It's still widely used by public library services to share photographs online, and the ability to quickly find images that you can use under a CC licence is still exceptional. It's still my 'go to' place to find images that I need to use.

There are however plenty of other services, such as the Apple iCloud Photo library. If you're an Apple user, then this is probably the service for you - you can back up the photographs that you've taken from your phone or tablet and make them instantly available. 

Amazon Prime users can have unlimited space to upload their photographs, although if you're not a Prime user and want the service you can have it for a small annual fee.

Then we have Google photographs, which is the newest of the services. It's the one that I've particularly taken to, and have uploaded a fair number of my photographs already. You can keep them private or you can share them as you see fit, or perhaps create a folder of images that can be shared and keep everything else to yourself. Google photos is an astonishing service because it automatically indexes your photographs and makes them available for you in different collections. For example, I've got collections called 'beach' 'castle' 'dog' and so on. I can also search for things - 'mushroom' for example pulls up the single photograph in my collection that has them. It's not a perfect service, but it's very impressive indeed. Not only that, but Google photos also has an 'assistant' and this will automatically create collages, little movies, photos with special effects and so on. It's a perfect way to get some really interesting images with no work on your part at all. 

I don't think there's a perfect service though - Flickr is great if you want to network with other people, iCloud is a winner if you're already an Apple user, Amazon ditto if you have Prime, and most people have a Google account. If pushed, I'd go for Google photos though, simply because of the search element, which is astonishing. 

Update on blocking nuisance calls

I recently blogged about using a technical solution to stop nuisance calls - the BT 8500 phone. In case you didn't read that post, it's a phone system that you can program with your favourite VIP numbers, you can block certain calls (like overseas calls) and anyone who isn't on the list has to announce themselves before being put through.

It's been an amazing success. The phone only rings at once if someone is calling from one of the numbers that I've specified, otherwise it stays silent. If it's an unknown number, or number witheld the caller announces themselves, and then the phone rings - I pick it up and listen to the person, and decide if I want to talk to them, block them, add them to my list or send them to voicemail. In the time that I've been using the system I haven't had ONE nuisance sales call, there have been no 'We're calling from Microsoft technical support' - absolutely nothing! Yet when I look at the list of calls that haven't rung or come through to me, there's several every day - almost certainly sales/cold calls. 

If you're plagued by these things, I'd really suggest in investing in the phones - they're not the cheapest on the market (a set of 3 I think costs about £90) but they're worth it.

Related articles

Blocking nuisance calls with technology

Blocking nuisance calls with technology

I don't often write about hardware, let alone non-internet related hardware, but since I've found a really good gadget that has already made a big difference to me, I thought I'd share it. I've been getting a lot of those annoying phonecalls - 'we're not selling anything', 'we just want you to take part in a survey' or 'did you know about the government scheme?', to say nothing of the 'We're Windows technical support' rubbish. The Telephone Preference Service is about as much use as a wet Wednesday on a weekend so I looked around to see if I could find something that was a bit more helpful, and there is. It's a phone produced by BT called the 8500 which blocks up to 100% of nuisance calls.

The way that it works is that you put in a list of your VIP numbers - those friends and colleagues who ring you on a regular basis, or who you are happy to get a phone call from. You can have up to 200 listed if you're really popular. They just come straight through, and your phone rings, just as normal. However, what you can then do is to also bar numbers - such as international calls, and these always get blocked. (With the exception of your VIP list I think). You don't even hear the phone ring; the caller just gets a message saying that they have been blocked. You could also do the same thing for witheld numbers, or from a particular region and so on. For everyone else, you set up a message to say 'Before you get put through, you need to be announced' and the caller has to say who they are. The phone then rings, and you get to hear the name. You can then let them through always or just once, or you can block their number or send them to voicemail.

I have to say that it's a really nice service, and I'm delighted with it so far. You can get 1-4 handsets and they all update from the main phone. I'm sure that there are other devices out there that do a similar job, but this is the solution that I found, and I love it.

(Disclaimer: as with all of my other posts, this is not an advert, nor have I been paid to blog about it, and I'm just a happy customer of the product.)

MultiPLX

RSS Reader Reimagined I got asked to take a look at a new RSS reader today, called MultiPLX. This is what they say about themselves: "

MultiPLX is a visual RSS Reader and works as a full web service, designed from ground-up to be as scalable and fast as Google Reader. "Although there are many variants that are trying to imitate Google Reader at the moment, most of them are desktop clients or mobile apps that depend on Google Reader engine. MultiPLX is a full web based service with a back-end that can scale-up to serve millions of users, and billions of feed posts each day with a speed that is unmatched even in desktop clients." said Emre Kosmaz founder of MultiPLX. "The speed and scalability of Google Reader is not something you can deliver overnight and we have been working on this project to be par with Google Reader for the last 8 months" he added. MultiPLX already supports seamless migration from Google Reader with capability to import OPML files through Google Takeout.

I've taken a look - it took me a few moments to sort out my Google OPML file, but once that was sorted I was up and running. This is what the screen looks like:

I have to say that personally, I'm not a fan. I found the boxes rather too large - with RSS feeds I tend to expect something more compact, with lines of headlines, rather than boxes. For me this looked more like a Zite or Flipboard concept, and I'm just not sure how well that works on a desktop or laptop. I talked about my concerns with the founder, who was a very nice chap, and who responded virtually instantaneously, which is always a good sign. He's looking to introduce more functionality of the type that I've mentioned in the near future, so I think that MultiPLX is worth keeping an eye on. When they add new functionality I shall revisit it and let you have more details. In the meantime, if you want to try it out yourself you can do so - you need the promo code when you go to sign up, which is FRIENDS so give it a whirl.

Should you close your Instagram account?

There has been much consternation recently over the fact that Instagram has changed their terms and conditions to mean that they can do pretty much what they like with your photographs. If you're not sure what Instagram is, they say this on their website: "It’s a fast, beautiful and fun way to share your photos with friends and family.Snap a picture, choose a filter to transform its look and feel, then post to Instagram. Share to Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr too – it's as easy as pie. It's photo sharing, reinvented. Oh yeah, did we mention it’s free?"

That last point is an important one. It's *free*. We're currently a long way from the point where lots of stuff didn't cost anything to use - we all have to pay, in one way or another. Remember - if you can't see the commodity, you are the commodity. Now, what Instagram has actually done is clarify their existing terms and conditions a little bit. The ones that people signed up to read:

"By displaying or publishing ("posting") any Content on or through the Instagram Services, you hereby grant to Instagram a non-exclusive, fully paid and royalty-free, worldwide, limited license to use, modify, delete from, add to, publicly perform, publicly display, reproduce and translate such Content, including without limitation distributing part or all of the Site in any media formats through any media channels, except Content not shared publicly ("private") will not be distributed outside the Instagram Services."

So basically they could do pretty much whatever they wanted to anyway. The real change is the fact that they can now use your images to create adverts, thus sharing your images - which you pretty much want shared anyway - with a wider group of people. So yes, they may actually be profiting in some way from your photographs by sharing them with a wider audience. You are getting access to a useful, free service. What they're actually doing is aligning themselves with their new owner, Facebook. Facebook has a condition, which relates to Sponsored Stories, that says the same thing. If you're already a Facebook user, you've already agreed to Facebook being able use your stuff this way.

Instagram has clarified the situation though (and I'd agree that initially they were a bit dense in not having realised what a fire storm they'd create) by saying that they're not going to be selling your photographs. There's a nice article in the Telegraph that goes into detail on this issue. What I find more interesting is the whole spat with Twitter, in that Instagram has stopped allowing images to be shared via the microblogging site. That flags up a whole lot of issues between Twitter and Facebook that we need to watch.

If it was me, and I had an Instagram account, I wouldn't be closing it, if for no other reason than it's incredibly unlikely any photograph of mine would be used in a different way. And if it was - then I'd regard it as pretty fair payment to use an excellent service free of charge. However, if you still don't like the idea, try these alternatives:

Camera Awesome "Camera Awesome takes your photos to the next level by shooting faassst and taking sharper, better-exposed shots. Make your memories come alive with stunning professional effects. 0-Tap sharing on the sites you love."

EyeEm "Take beautiful photos with 14 real-time filters and share them in your social networks."

Flickr which is my preferred choice and always has been.

Hipster "Using Hipster you are able to create and send beautiful photographic postcards. Your postcards will be composed of a photo, text, location, and more, which will provide a window into what you are currently experiencing."

Path "Path is the personal social network that is the best way to share life and stay connected with family and friends. By focusing on beautiful design and experience, Path is 5-star rated and loved by millions of people."

Pixlr-o-matic "This fun and simple darkroom app makes it easy to add an effect, overlay and border to get that retro, grunge, clean or stylish look, all in just three simple steps. And with more options than any other photo app, you will never be out of new styles."

Snapseed "Anyone can enhance, transform, and share their photos with ease using incredibly advanced features from the leader in digital photography software. Built-in Google+ capabilities make it even more powerful to share your images with your friends and family."

Streamzoo "There's a filter and border combination for your every mood, and with so many other awesome editing options, Streamzoo is the only photo app you need in your toolbox. And once you're done, share your photo in one shot with your friends and family on both Streamzoo and your favorite social networks."

Tadaa "Tried a ton of photo apps both free and paid and this trumps all! Better than Instagram, download it, you won't regret it."

Share what you know | Learnist

Just discovered a new educational web based corrolation tool called 'Learnist'. It's still in beta at the moment, with limited abilities to create your own stuff, but you can join and poke around the site - although you have to log on via Facebook, which is irritating to say the least.

The idea behind Learnist is to create learning boards by dragging in content from different places, such as websites or YouTube videos, write a brief description on what people are seeing and allow them to comment, ask questions and so on. It looks reasonably straightfoward and easy to do, and would be a great educational tool to get a class to create their own boards of content .

I wasn't able to create my own boards, but as I say, that's being rolled out. I found the concept very similar to Meograph which I've recently blogged about. It's certainly a step on from tools such as Squidoo, Museumbox and LiveBinders, and will appeal to trainers, educators, teacher librarians and children. The main issue that I see with it is this integration with Facebook, which is irritating and unnecessary; particularly if you want to use it with children in a school - it'll be near impossible.

Slideshark for PowerPoint presentations on the iPad

I've mentioned Slideshark before - it's a great resource if you want to share PowerPoint presentations to your iPad. I've been using it for a while now, and I think it's particularly useful. Simply create your .ppt as usual and then upload a copy of it to their servers. Then open Slideshark on your iPad, sync with your account and it will download the presentation directly onto your iPad. You can then edit the presentation to move/drop slides although you can't yet edit the presentation itself. I also like the fact that you can present one thing to your audience, while displaying an entirely different dashboard of information on your iPad - such as time taken, time per slide and so on. Also, by simply holding your finger on a slide the audience will see the red dot, allowing you to emphasis what you're showing them, without fussing with laser pointers.

There's a commercial version, which gives you more space to store your presentations, but you can simply use the generous space provided for free and delete presentations you no longer need. If you have an iPad, and you think you might want to use it for presentations, give Slideshark a try. I have a personal recommendation URL which means that if you apply using it they will give us both an extra 25MB for free. And, in the interests of complete transparency, if you sign up quickly enough, you may (stress may) win us both $20 vouchers for Amazon.

So, give it a go, and take a look. http://www.slideshark.com/r?r=532382