iPhone Setup for Emergencies - Medical Data

Hopefully you'll never need this, but just in case...

If you are ever hurt and end up unconscious in a hospital, how will they know who you are or contact your family?  You can save basic medical data such as allergies, emergency contacts, birthdate, etc. into the Health app on an iPhone (it's a built in app).  Open the Health app and touch the "Medical ID" option at the bottom right.  Then type in what ever details you'd like to save (you'll be able to look up your emergency contact information in your stored Contacts).

If and when it's needed, medical personnel can get to it on your phone by touching "Emergency" on your lock screen (bottom left corner).  When the screen changes to the "Emergency Call" style, it has an option at the bottom left that says "*Medical ID" that they can touch.  It will then display the details that you saved in the Health app.

I originally saw this posted on Facebook, and I've done it myself so I know that it works.  I hope you never need it...

Small Business Survival - Do You Have a Website?

This week, I needed to get in contact with a landscape contractor who I'd spoken with in the past.  I didn't have his phone number or name in my mobile phone, and I couldn't remember the name of his company.  I did a few google searches in an attempt to try to find him, and could not find him.

Fortunately for him, I was able to find his advertising postcard later that day, so I was able to contact him in the end.  Apparently he does not have a website for his company, which surprised me.  So many of the smallest businesses all have websites now, which it makes me wonder why he doesn't have one.  I'll have to  ask  him about it...

I also have a friend who owns a small business and we've talked about websites for her company many times in the past.  This week she contacted me about doing a website for her, so that project will be in my very near future.

I'm sure the slow economy has caused the death of many small businesses over the past several years.  I wonder how many of them had never bothered to create a website, thinking it was an expense they couldn't afford.  Perhaps some of the ones that survived were the ones that had websites and/or other technology tools that they were using effectively (email marketing, client databases, mail merges, accounting software, etc.).

Creating a website doesn't have to be expensive, and you don't need to be an expert.  Don't assume that you can't afford to hire someone to do it for you.  It is always worth it to ask around and get some quotes from providers that others have recommended to you.

If the price for a custom site is out of reach, then there are services available now that you can use to do it yourself.  Beware - sometimes a really bad website is worse than having no website at all.  Ugly sites with loads of text and colors that clash will not help your business to attract customers.  Try to focus on the most critical, minimum information and use a simple but attractive design.  Even if you just have a home page with your contact information and some basic details of the services you offer, that's a useful tool.  Give people the ability to find you in those google searches, and good things will come your way.

Are Phone Conversations Becoming Extinct?

I have two sons, ages 10 and 13.  I've recently noticed that they avoid using our house phone as if it's a rabid animal about to bite them.  Neither of them have mobile phones yet, so if they want to contact a friend, they typically ask me to call or text the mother.

One day recently I refused to make the contact for my older son, since he has the phone numbers of his friend (both home and mobile).  I forced him to actually CALL his friend himself. What a revelation.   He could barely use the house phone (and habitually uses the speaker function rather than holding it to his head, oddly).

What the heck are we teaching our kids?  Is it really such a big deal to call and actually SPEAK to someone?  What will he do when he gets a mobile phone later this summer?  I suspect that he'll use it almost exclusively to text, rather than to actually make phone calls.  I'm curious to see how that pans out over the next few months... stay tuned.

I suspect it's laziness that is at play here.  I mean really, is it that much more effort to call and have a 5 minute conversation?  Especially if the person you are trying to reach is not responding to your texts?  My kids just have no idea about the normal etiquette for contacting people.  When you try to text someone and they don't respond, then try to call and they don't answer - it's pretty obvious that they are not home or not available.  Calling them repeatedly is not going to change anything, and you're being a pest!  Yet another thing that I'll be teaching them, starting now.

Transferring Your Website to a new Hosting Vendor

Unhappy with your current hosting vendor for your website?  Running out of space or paying too much?  If you're thinking of moving your site to a new home, please keep these questions in mind:

• Where is your domain name registered?  Find out, because you'll have to login to the account with your domain registrar and tell them the new DNS (server name) of your new website host.  If you don't do this, your site will not actually be "moved" because people will still be seeing the contents at the old location when they go to your domain name.
• How much space do you currently have?  How much do you need?
• Do you need any special tools, such as PHP, web statistics, or others?
• Do you know how (and have access to) to move the contents of your site (text, images, etc.)? 
• Or do you have a support vendor that will need to actually copy your site contents to the new location?

If some or all of these questions are completely confusing to you, please contact me.  I can educate you on what is involved in a website move, and assist with moving your site, if needed.

New Wireless Network Router has "Parental Controls"!!

Recently we've purchased a new router for our home wifi and we've discovered a nifty new feature. We had our old router for several years, so of course the technology and available bells & whistles have changed a lot.

Our new Linksys router offers better coverage in our house as well as better speed.  It also offers a "parental control" feature that lets us set specific times when specific devices may be on the wifi.  This means that I can set it to shut off the wifi to our PS4, iPad minis and any other specific device at bedtime!  We are loving that, although the accompanying moans and groans from our kids were pretty loud at first.  Now if I could just set an automatic "off" time for all of those same devices to make them totally unusable at a certain time, that would be even better...

The router came nicely boxed and it was very easy to set up.  I had it working within just a few minutes.  Some of its other features include:

• a web-based dashboard to change settings, passwords and use the parental controls
• an app to give access to those same things on a mobile device
• it's dual-band, which means that I have two different networks that I can join from my devices - a faster option and a slower option.  It's nice to be able to hook up my work computers to the faster network and give the kids the slower one.  
• offers "guest" networks, too, with their own passwords, separate from my main network
• parental controls to turn wifi on/off for any specific device, or set specific times when it is available

Here is a link to a description of the specific router that we purchased (from Staples):
http://www.staples.com/Linksys-WRT1900AC-Dual-Band-Gigabit-Wireless-Router/product_1051171

Happy wifi!

YouTube Videos to Replace Flash

If you'd like to embed a video on your business or personal website, one approach is to link to it on YouTube.  If you load it to YouTube, you don't use space on your website's server, and you don't have to worry about the different devices that users might have when they view it.

Most embedded videos on websites use Flash, which does not work on any Apple devices (iPad, iPhone, etc.).  That's pretty limiting if you know that you have a large audience that will use mobile devices to view your content.

I've recently tried uploading a video to YouTube and it was pretty simple.  Once it was loaded to YouTube, I was able to easily copy the link from YouTube into a client's website.  Now their video will work for anyone, even if they're using an Apple device.  And they're saving storage space on their website, which is a nice bonus.  Video files can be BIG.

Try it out and good luck!

Travel Tips

A while back I mentioned that I was requesting a "Known Traveler Number" from the TSA in order to make travel simpler.  I went through their process, paid my $85 and got my number back within just a couple of weeks.

Since that point I have traveled several times and I've been 'selected' for the pre-check line at security every time.  The pre-check line is always shorter than the regular line.  I also don't have to take off shoes or belts, and I don't have to take my laptop out of my bag.  It's been a huge help to make security checkpoints a much less time consuming part of travelling.  I don't think pre-check is available at every airport in the US but it's been at every airport I've used so far (a handful).

There are other similar programs, so you should see the TSA website for more details on the differences and which one might suit you best.

See this link for more information:
http://www.tsa.gov/tsa-precheck/participation-tsa-precheck

Next I need to renew my passport which expires in a few months.  I found an online form that I could fill out and print, so I didn't have to write the application form by hand.  All I had to do was write my check for $110, put in a passport photo and my original passport, and mail it off.

Please note that there are websites out there that will do the process for you, for a fee.  It's really pretty simple so I don't recommend going that route.

See this link for passport request and renewals information with the US government:
http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english.html/




Safe travels!