September 2016

It’s time to free up some space with Google Photos

Posted on September 27, 2016June 25, 2025 by ARRC Technology

We’ve all been there before… in the moment, experiencing life to its fullest, about to snap a photo, and then… there’s this.

And out of all the selfies in the world, this was the selfie. The one selfie that would have topped all selfies ever – past, present, and future. But, alas, your phone has eaten its very last photo. And it won’t be consuming anymore until you widen its belt a little… but, unfortunately, by the time you do that, your moment will be gone. Sucks for you.

Thankfully, though, there’s a solution to your little storage problem. And unlike most solutions out there, it’s a simple one. One that actually works. And one that’s completely, entirely, and utterly free.

(Gasp)

Introducing the new and improved Google Photos.

This app is like the Holy Grail of photo apps. Free storage. Automatic organization. Instant uploads. Easy searching. And simplified space-savings. Enough said, right?

Once you download Google Photos, all you have to do is get familiar with your settings. Photos will automatically upload into the app, and you can access your photos from any connected device. From here, you will have the option to edit, delete, or organize recent images. If you do delete a photo and decide you want it back, that’s an option, too. You can recover deleted photos within a 60-day period. You just have to tap the Restore icon.

On top of that, Google Photos can also help you save space. In the settings tab of the app, tap on Manage Device Storage and the app will help you get rid of duplicates and delete photos that are already safely backed up to the cloud.

But that’s not all Google Photos is good for. This app makes it super easy to search for photos. So forget what it was like to search through thousands of photos to find that one picture of that one person from that one time.

On the search bar within the app, you can search for a word – like dog – and find all the photos with a dog in it. Or you can tap on one of the faces that appear directly below the search bar. These faces automatically populate (no need for tagging) and accumulate all the photos that you have of your mom, best friend, or that one person you keep running into at the bar. You can also search by type of media (photo, video, animation, etc.), location, or date.

Tapping, zooming, and pinching allow you to easily navigate through this app. Tap to open a photo, zoom to look at it in closer detail, pinch to un-zoom, and pinch again to close the photo. Pinch to narrow down your photos by the day, pinch again to see your photos by the month, and pinch again to see all 12 months of the year.

Google Photos is free to download and free to use, and it’s available on both Apple and Android devices.

5 office-friendly, body-healthy snacks to keep at your desk.

Posted on September 23, 2016June 25, 2025 by ARRC Technology

When you’re sitting at a desk all day, it’s easy to eat things you shouldn’t. And it’s even easier to eat things for no reason at all – like when you’re not even hungry. It’s just kind of what happens when you work inside a building for eight hours of every day.

Food is one of the only things that keeps you from passing out from sheer boredom at your desk. It keeps you going even when you think you can’t possibly go anymore. But… you eat the wrong types of food, and obviously, things won’t turn out so good for you. And you’ll be passing out for reasons you don’t want to pass out for.

So, to avoid all of that passing out, here are a few body-healthy, mood-lifting snacks to keep at your desk.

Almonds

These little guys are the epitome of snack food. Why? Because they’re so easy to snack on. It’s like eating a chip but without all that stuff that’s bad for you. In fact, almonds are ridiculously healthy for you. They reduce bad cholesterol, build up your bones and teeth, and help oxygen and nutrients flow through your blood. WebMD even insists that crunching on almonds can “help you relieve aggression,” which means almonds are the perfect desk companion.

Dark Chocolate

Every now and then, you want what you shouldn’t want. Cake. Ice cream. Candy. And, yup, you guessed it – chocolate. And luckily for you, you can have that chocolate and still feel good about yourself afterwards. You just have to eat the right kind… which, of course, is dark chocolate. When you eat dark chocolate, a number of things will happen. For starters, you’ll increase blood flow to the bran, improve your blood sugar, and reduce your blood pressure. It’s certainly a tasty way to treat your body (and your mood) right.

Oatmeal Packets

Oatmeal is delicious and good for you. It can lower your cholesterol and reduce constipation. Another great perk with oatmeal is that it keeps you fuller for longer… which helps with your little snacking problem. However, you do need to be careful with oatmeal. The majority of traditional oatmeal packets are overflowing with sugar and sodium. Choose your oats wisely.

Tea Packets

Drinking water all day every day isn’t always enjoyable. Sometimes, you’d just like a little variety in your liquid drinking life. But when this need for variety hits you, it’s easy to run to that extra sugary soda or super frothy $5 coffee. However, we all know where this leads us. So instead of turning to sugar and froth, keep a box of green or black tea packets at your desk. Green tea, specifically, has a whole mess of health benefits like lowering cholesterol, improving blood flow, and preventing things like high blood pressure and congestive heart failure.

Oranges

If you can manage the sticky mess, then you should consider making an orange your midmorning snack. Live Science says “a whole orange contains only about 85 calories and has no fat, cholesterol, or sodium.” Oranges are good for your heart and skin, can lower cholesterol, improve digestion, and reduce your risk for colon cancer. Be careful with how many oranges you consume in a given day, though. Eat too much, and you’ll experience the likes of diarrhea, cramps, and heartburn. And also, keep in mind that it’s better to eat the orange than to drink it.

4 smarthome gadgets to raise the value of your home

Posted on September 14, 2016June 25, 2025 by ARRC Technology

The concept of what a smarthome is has come far since the 1999 Disney classic, Smart House, where Katey Sagal transforms into the AI-infused mother of nightmares. However, it seems we’re closer to the Tony Stark concept of a smarthome than to Disney’s version of it. Robots and connected gadgets aim to open your blinds, tell you when you’re out of milk, and schedule your meetings. Less overbearing mother and more personal assistant.

Nonetheless, smarthome technology has become more and more important over the last few years. It can even have an impact on whether or not you decide to buy a new home. In fact, sources like CNET and Coldwell Banker have gone as far as to say that asking about a home’s smart technology will eventually be just as normal as asking how many bedrooms a home has or what type of stove comes with it.

At this point, one in four consumers already own at least one smarthome product, and over 85% of consumers value the technology. So if you should expect anything from smarthome technology, it would be that these numbers will only grow. This means that if you want to improve the value of your home, then you’ll need a few smart gadgets to help you do it. Here are a few you should definitely keep an eye out for.

Alarm System

Nearly all smart alarm systems can be installed on your own and come free of contracts. A system will run you about $250 initially and then you’ll pay a monthly fee for monitoring services. For example, SimpliSafe’s basic security system starts at $229, takes about 15 minutes to set up, and costs $25 a month for 24/7 monitoring and alerting. It connects to your Wi-Fi, and you can control passwords, view alerts, and update safe words directly from the SimpliSafe app. If you ever decide to move, you can quickly uninstall it and take it with you or you can choose to leave it for the next residents.

Thermostat

Smart thermostats automatically adjust the temperature of your home and do what they can to save you money. They can learn your habits and pick up on your preferences. There are several smart thermostats on the market, but the one that probably comes to mind for you is Nest. The Nest Learning Thermostat costs $249 and comes with features such as Auto-Schedule (programs to your preferences), Auto-Away (turns off when no one is home), Nest Leaf (shows you how to save money), and Farsight (lights up when you walk by).

Smart Doorbell

Smart Doorbells are the latest trend. And for good reason, too. A video doorbell, like Ring, will let you see who’s coming and who’s going. Whether someone rings your doorbell or simply passes by your door, your phone will receive a notification. You can answer the notification and speak directly to the person at your door. You can tell the delivery man that you’ll be right there, or you can avoid a pesky neighbor. The choice is yours. The Ring Doorbell starts at $199 and comes with a simple smartphone application.

Kitchen Appliances

Kitchen appliances will always be a major deal in a home. And nowadays, appliances are only getting smarter. The newest and most advanced smarthome appliance would have to be the Samsung Family Hub Refrigerator. This bad boy will set you back $4,000 (depending on where you’re buying it from) and comes with a touchscreen display, a smartphone application, and a camera to help you figure out what you’re running low on.

Keep your social media strategy strong with these 4 tips

Posted on September 6, 2016June 25, 2025 by ARRC Technology

If your business isn’t on social media, then you’re making a mistake. And if your business is on social media but it’s not active, you’re also making a mistake.

Social media plays a critical role in more areas than just marketing. A consumer might visit your Facebook page looking for directions before they visit your website, and they might reach out to you on Twitter before they contact your customer service line. This is because it’s much easier to open an app and search your name then it is to Google your business, sift through the results, and wait for your page to load.

So to ensure you’re always there for your consumers when and where they want you to be, here’s what we suggest.

Post Regularly

If someone jumps on your Facebook profile or takes a look at your Twitter page, you want them to see something other than nothing. When they see nothing, it’s easy for them to assume things – like that you’re not a legit business or that you’ve recently gone out of business.

To avoid negative assumptions, make sure you post content on a regular basis. If you use an app like Buffer or Hootsuite, this shouldn’t take a lot of time. These apps allow you to post to multiple social platforms at one time. You can even preschedule posts in a customized calendar. For example, you can create a month of content, input it into your Buffer account, and then schedule this content to go out every weekday at noon.

Assign Someone

It’s alright if you have multiple people contribute to your social media content, but you should definitely assign one specific person to be in charge of responding to all comments and messages. If you don’t assign someone to this task, a few things could go wrong.

For starters, it can lead to unnecessary confusion. No one’s quite sure who should respond, so no one responds. Or, what could potentially be worse, is when multiple employees respond to the same message. Each employee who responds might offer up different information, which will only make your business look disorganized and unprofessional.

Respond Quickly

You should always respond to comments and messages as quickly as possible. These days, people are all about that instant gratification, and if it takes you three days to respond to a Facebook message, you might face some hostility at that point.

If you do have someone assigned to social media responses, give them a timeframe. The sooner they can respond, the better. So if at all possible, have this person respond to everything within a day. It also doesn’t hurt to list this timeframe on your social profiles somewhere. It could be something like this:

All messages are responded to within 24 hours.

This just helps consumers feel more comfortable reaching out to you and gives them an idea of what to expect from your business.

Pick Two

One platform simply isn’t enough. Your business should be on as many platforms as possible, strategically speaking. Keep in mind that Snapchat isn’t for every type of business and neither is Instagram.

A good rule of thumb is to have your business on at least two platforms, and Facebook should always be one of those. Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter are the heavy hitters. Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, and YouTube follow closely, but they only make sense for certain types of businesses. For example, Instagram is good for fashion, food, and photography, and Snapchat can be used by educators, lawyers, or makeup artists.

Month: September 2016