Monday 30 June 2014

Where's that degree sign?

Tutorials and tips for iPad and iPhone

Here's a choice from the wide range of sites offering help for iPad and iPhone users. These articles and tutorials range from those suitable for beginners to more advanced tips for users who may have missed one of dozens of hidden features built into iOS and its apps.

It is now four years since I first owned an iPad, but even as recently as three weeks ago I had not found the degree sign hiding above the zero on the keyboard. I hope you will have fun learning something new from one of the sites listed below.

  1. iOS guides Dozens of tutorials for iPhones and iPads very clearly presented.
  2. iPad basics A series of free tutorials for beginners.
  3. Navigating around your iPad Covers a range of gestures, swipes and button presses as well as detailing how to search your iPad.
  4. 8 tips and tricks for browsing with Safari All of Safari's useful features, this article includes clear screenshots.
  5. Every iOS trick you will need Lots of iOS tips and features often missed by beginners and seasoned users too.
  6. Tips poster Visual tips for highlighting text, saving images and other common functions.
  7. 101 iPad tips and tricks Divided into easy sections for you to learn a variety of functions to make better use of your iPad.

Wednesday 25 June 2014

Smartphones 101

The computer in your pocket

Have you just acquired your new phone or had it for a while but not sure what it can do? Here's a presentation used at Cooroy Library on Wednesday morning 25th June. I hope it reminds you of many functions possible with a phone and that you venture fearlessly into some new uses for your phone.



User guides

Here are some Android user guides. iPhone users need to download iBooks from the App store then search within iBooks for the free iPhone user guide.
If you have not found  manual or user guide for your phone, try this search.
manual OR user guide "name of your phone"
More tips and tricks are on the last slide. Remember YouTube is a great site for finding tutorials for all sorts of things including how to use your phone. 

Wednesday 18 June 2014

Knot Sew Crafty

Toolbox for crafty folks

Where do you find inspiration for your hobbies? Perhaps Pinterest holds you in its sway or do you gravitate to YouTube videos? Great content is available in Flipboard and some clever Snapguides may provide just the instructions you need.

Once one finds some sites that continually supply good content, Feedly is an excellent tool to gather that content together for your reading pleasure. The gems you find and want to retain can then be stored in Evernote for future use. This is just a quick summary of sites visited to support hobbies and pastimes.

Here is a presentation made for patrons of Noosa Library Service on where to go looking for ideas and tutorials to support a range of popular hobbies. What sites are your favourites for hobbies?

Tuesday 17 June 2014

Adding contacts to your mobile devices

Contacts

1. Open Contacts
2. Click plus button to add a new contact
3. Tap in the first box - this will bring up the keyboard.
4. Note the order of entering names on your screen. You can choose later whether to have the names displayed by First name or Surname but for this to work the names must be entered in the correct field.

On your phone you may choose to have a different ring tone for individuals so that you can know who is calling without needing to look at the screen.



Saturday 14 June 2014

Choice at Chelsea

24 May 2014

The delight of visiting the Chelsea Flower Show  is that there is so much one can choose to focus upon.

The pavilion filled with gorgeous flower themed displays was certainly the choice for me. Outside were hundreds of stalls with every garden gizmo and tool one could imagine. These ranged from upmarket gardening clothes to the latest in watering and composting systems.

The display gardens attracted large crowds and for this short person, it was quite difficult to catch a full view. The sculptures of many kinds were most impressive. The wire horses, the driftwood bear catching a fish and the children reading in a garden all deserve a mention.

This was certainly a once in a lifetime expedition worth the planning. We purchased tickets the day they became available, structured our travel to be in London on the right weekend and we were lucky enough that the rain held off until early afternoon. A surprise and delight was the World War I commemorative concert with a jolly good sing-a-long at lunch time. Many of these songs were ones my mother continually hummed and sang through my childhood. Fond memories.

Below are some favourite photos from the day. If they please you, more can be seen in this Flickr album

One of the amazing driftwood sculptures

The gardener

Flowering Azalea bonsai

Colourful cactus


Tuesday 3 June 2014

Do you have a manual for that?


A new tech toy

So now you are the proud owner of a new tablet or phone. It looks like it should be easy enough to use and all your friends are coping with their devices but what happens when you are home alone and have no one to ask what to do next? You search the box it came in and only find minimal instructions; how to plug it in, switch it on, basic operations but little else. Help!

Time for a manual. Online manuals can be found for most devices and it is recommended that this is one of the first things you find and download to your device.

iOS - iPads, mini iPads, iPhones

Make sure you have iBooks installed on your device. Choose App Store icon on your device, search for iBooks and tap to download the free app.


Tap to open iBooks.
Select Store. In the search field type iPad guide
Select the suitable guide for your device, tap free to download it. Now it will open in your iBooks app and is ready for you to use at anytime. You do not need to be connected to the internet to read and use it once it is installed on your device. iPad mini users, just install the iPad User guide you do not need a separate guide.

Reading your guide

Android  - Samsung, HTC, Bauhn, Acer, many other brands

Search the web - Use brand name, model. Free guides and manuals


Search Google Play -Books on your device -usually need to pay for these, but can restrict search to Free.


Windows devices

Search the web for a manual by brand name and model.
Search the Windows app store for a User manual. If all else fails here is Getting started with Windows phone.











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