Bostonian Adam

Tag: Google

  • Sharing tech news and resources – July 2022

    I wanted to share a few articles regarding tech news and also a few interesting links I found around the internet. First, I posted a few quick notes in bullet points and then I list out a few articles/blog posts I found that I wanted to share with you and give my thoughts.

    • I was on GitHub this week and noticed an article on their The ReadME Project, about turning the tables in your job interview where you ask the interviewer some important questions that I found interesting and useful. You can read the article, Interview the interviewer, on GitHub.com.
    • Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge have both had updates recently to fix exploits, so as always, make sure all of your web browsers are updated to the latest version to keep safe.

    Gmail has a new view

    Google’s Gmail has a new integrated view coming, which tries to make it easier to switch between Gmail, Chat and Meet. I was able to see this new view with one of my Gmail addresses and don’t worry, there are no big changes to your Gmail. You can read more about the new view and see images of it in the article, Updated timeline for the new integrated view for Gmail, on WorkspaceUpdates.GoogleBlog.com.

    Google Keep

    Google Keep is my favorite app to keep notes on my cell phone and a new update brings a feature that lets users drag and drop images saved in Google Keep to a third-party application. This info was found in the article, Google Keep now lets you drag and drop images to other apps, on AndroidCentral.com.

    NES games in 2022?

    I love playing video games so seeing this next story was really cool. GitHub posted on their LinkedIn, how some people are still creating games for the original NES (Nintendo Entertainment System). The post included a link to a Reddit post where the author explained what they tried and also gives links where to find the kits to do the same. The original NES was the first console my brother and I had, so hearing about this brings back good memories. This is really cool to see and I wonder what talented people may make with these kits.

    Need to erase data on your hard drive?

    The Washington Post has an article talking about how to delete data from your hard drive that I found interesting. I am no computer hardware expert so I can’t say these are the best ways to do just that, but do note that one of their approaches is to actually take the hard drive out and physically smash it to pieces. You can read the article, Deleting files is not enough. Here is how to properly erase hard drives., on WashingtonPost.com.

    Google Chromebook

    I bought a Google Chromebook a few years ago when they were on sale on Amazon.com and I’m glad I did. It has been useful for when I went out of town for personal or business trips. I highly recommend getting one for basic computer use (checking email, going online and visiting websites, editing text documents and completing other basic tasks). I found an article where the writer switched to a Chromebook for a week and gave their thoughts, you can read the article, I switched to a Chromebook for a week. Here’s what surprised me as a Windows user, on DigitalTrends.com.

  • Sharing resources and tech news – June 2022

    This will be a quick blog post where I wanted to share a few online resources and also discuss a few interesting articles with a brief summary and get your thoughts.

    Resources

    • AnimatiSS – A collection of CSS animations for your web projects. If you visit the website, click the “STYLES” button to see the different CSS animations you can choose from. (Credit goes to Ray Villalobos for sharing this link on LinkedIn)
    • Avataaars Generator – A free online avatar generator
    • Tabler Icons – A free open-source collection of icons to use for your website or app. (Credit goes to Ray Villalobos for sharing this link on LinkedIn)

    Adobe Photoshop

    Adobe is currently testing a free web version of its popular Photoshop software in Canada, where users can use its core functions. According to the article I read there is no timeline when the free web version will be available to other locations. This info was found in the article, Adobe plans to make Photoshop on the web free to everyone, on TheVerge.com.

    I personally think this is great, especially for those who have never used Adobe Photoshop before. I remember before my wife and I started paying for the Adobe Creative Cloud subscription, which includes Photoshop, we had to use free image editing software and I could never get use to the user interfaces, and they were missing features (or I couldn’t find them LOL) that Photoshop had. Also, the high price tag that Photoshop once had (before Creative Cloud) kept us away from it. Are you going to try out the free version of Photoshop or are you already paying for it with Adobe Creative Cloud?

    Google News

    Do you use Google News on your desktop? Well if you do, you most likely have seen an option to switch to the new look. The biggest change was moving the main categories from the left side of the page to across the top which I like. If you want to read more about this, check out the article, Google News gets more personal with desktop redesign, on TheVerge.com.

    Amazon Alexa

    Amazon is working on something creepy… they are developing a feature for Alexa which can emulate anyone’s voice. The article I read even suggests it could emulate a dead person’s voice. This info was found in the article, Amazon demonstrates Alexa mimicking the voice of a deceased relative, on CNBC.com.

    To me, this screams security concerns and ethically just wrong, but that’s just me. My wife and I don’t even have Amazon Alexa. What do you think of this? What benefits does this bring?

    If you made it all the way down here, thanks for checking out my blog post, I appreciate it. Stay safe and try to do everything in love, the world really needs it.

  • Sharing resources with you: LinkedIn profile and job searching tips, and optimizing Google fonts

    I came across a few good resources I wanted to share with everyone, ranging from LinkedIn profile tips to job interview tips to optimizing Google fonts performance.

    • LinkedIn profile tips – Blog post from dev.to, you may not agree with every tip that is listed but they’re something to look at and consider
    • Things to not say in a job interview – Blog post from roberthalf.com, with tips on things to not say during an interview, most are obvious
    • 12 best job search websites – Blog post from roberthalf.com, with a list of job searching websites (a little arrogant of themselves to list their website as #1)
    • Optimizing Google Fonts Performance – Blog post from SmashingMagazine.com, where they give great tips on how to optimize load times for Google Fonts on your website

  • Sharing resources with you: Firefox extensions, shady Google and data breaches

    Here are some resources from around the web I thought would be helpful for everyone.

  • Sharing resources including social media tips, a HTML5 template and more

    Here’s a few articles/resources I found online recently that I wanted to share with others.

  • Testing your web site in different web browsers and mobile devices

    When building your web site, at some point you should test how your site looks in different web browsers and mobile devices. To do this all you need is the Google Chrome web browser. Follow the steps below to test your site. The below steps were written while using Chrome version 33.0.1750.154. Future updates of Chrome may have the icons or tabs in different places.

    1. In Chrome, open the “Developer tools” via the button with the horizontal lines in the top right corner of the Google Chrome web browser
    2. Now with “Developer tools” open, in the bottom right corner click the round gears icon (the word “Settings” appears when you mouseover it)
    3. In the “General” tab, check the “Show ‘Emulation’ view in console drawer” checkbox and close that overlay
    4. With the “Developer tools” still open, in the bottom right corner click the icon with a greater than symbol and three lines (the words “Show drawer” appear when you mouseover it) and a new tab appears below the “Developer tools”
    5. Click the “Emulation” tab and now you can see how your web site looks in different mobile devices (in the “Device” tab), different screen sizes (in the “Screen” tab), and different user agents/web browsers (in the “User Agent” tab)

  • Helpful resources including free icons, Google Analytics tips and email stats – December 2013

    I meant to post this sooner but here are links to articles I found interesting and they can most likely help you with your web sites.