Patricia Dwyer, Author at Digital Chaos Control

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What Everyone Ought to Know About Using LinkedIn to Stay in Touch
Social Networking

What Everyone Ought to Know About Using LinkedIn to Stay in Touch

LinkedIn is a social networking site for professionals. (You are a professional if you have or have ever had a job or a business.) There are several reasons why you should be using it, including:

Staying in touch with your former co-workers
Keeping up with professionals and companies that you’ve done business with
Joining groups related to your profession
Sharing updates related to your business
Keeping updated contact information

You need to have a LinkedIn profile […]

By Patricia Dwyer|August 18th, 2014|Social Networking|Comments Off

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Are You Tired of Your Old Computer? Why Not Go PC-free?
Cloud Services, Technology

Are You Tired of Your Old Computer? Why Not Go PC-free?

Have you ever wondered if you still need a computer? If you own both a smartphone and a tablet and find yourself using your computer less and less often, then it’s a valid question. Our mobile devices have evolved to become as powerful as some desktop computers. They are easier to use in many ways with their touch interfaces and dedicated apps and also easier to maintain. They are less vulnerable to hackers (thus far).

So […]

By Patricia Dwyer|March 18th, 2014|Cloud Services, Technology|1 Comment

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The Secret to Keeping Your Computer Speedy
Technology

The Secret to Keeping Your Computer Speedy

All computers slow down over time. As the months or years go by, and as more & more applications are installed and data fills the hard drive, you may find yourself looking at a spinning wheel more often than you’d like.

If you’re running a software program such as Norton Utilities, or if you have a vendor-installed maintenance program, then you have a built-in, automated tool to keep your computer “tuned up”. But if you’re not […]

By Patricia Dwyer|February 14th, 2014|Technology|2 Comments

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Are you Dealing with Email Chaos? Here are 3 Ways to Help Manage Your Inbox.
Email Management

Are you Dealing with Email Chaos? Here are 3 Ways to Help Manage Your Inbox.

It’s very common to procrastinate dealing with your email chaos. Does this sound familiar to you?

Email comes in and sits there until you have a chance to look at it.

The size of your inbox keeps increasing.

You have not just emails from your co-workers, clients, friends, and family, but also emails from school lists, notifications from social networks, and newsletters from retailers, vendors, and consultants (including mine! Sign up here).

Unfortunately, it’s all too easy to miss […]

By Patricia Dwyer|December 27th, 2013|Email Management|2 Comments

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Here are 3 ways that I use Evernote for a productive digital life
Evernote

Here are 3 ways that I use Evernote for a productive digital life

Have you heard of Evernote?
It’s a note-taking application, but it’s got many uses:

Create notes that can be shared between your devices
Create to-do lists
Organize files into notebooks
Scan documents and make them searchable
“Clip” and save webpages

The list goes on and on…

There are tons of articles on how to use Evernote for productivity. There are even Evernote “ambassadors” who hold seminars on how to use it for your business.

So I’ll jump in with my two cents. Here are […]

By Patricia Dwyer|November 26th, 2013|Evernote|Comments Off

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How Do I Know if my Cloud Storage is Secure?
Cloud Services, Password Management, Technology

How Do I Know if my Cloud Storage is Secure?

I am a big fan of cloud storage services. It’s magic to me, the way that the photos that I take with my cell phone appear on my PC when I get home, without having to plug anything in. And to have all of my work from my desktop PC available to me on my laptop.

My data is available to me alone unless I choose to share it with someone. Most cloud services encrypt the […]

By Patricia Dwyer|October 29th, 2013|Cloud Services, Password Management, Technology|2 Comments

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Is Your Facebook News Feed Out of Control? Here are 3 Steps to Help.
Social Networking

Is Your Facebook News Feed Out of Control? Here are 3 Steps to Help.

When I first started using the Facebook news feed, it was an exciting new way to connect with friends, especially friends whom I didn’t see very often.
Over time, more and more people connected with me on Facebook – friends, co-workers, family, childhood acquaintances, other parents, etc. Some people are completely quiet, some update occasionally, some update every day, and even multiple times per day.

Even as it became more and more difficult to follow my quieter […]

By Patricia Dwyer|October 14th, 2013|Social Networking|2 Comments

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What Everyone Ought to Know About Automatic Local and Cloud Backups
Back-Ups

What Everyone Ought to Know About Automatic Local and Cloud Backups

Your digital data is crucially important to the quality of your life. Imagine losing all of the photos of your children, or your client information, or your financial information.

Most of us know about backups and that we should be doing them regularly. Did you know that there continues to be new and easier ways to automate the process?

I recommend three copies of your data:

On your computer storage
On external storage media
In the cloud

Use […]

By Patricia Dwyer|September 24th, 2013|Back-Ups|3 Comments

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How to Stream Music That You’ve Ripped to Your Mobile Device
Cloud Services

How to Stream Music That You’ve Ripped to Your Mobile Device

If you have a collection of CDs that you’ve ripped into digital form, then you’re probably enjoying the music on your PC. But do you know how to also stream music that you’ve ripped on your smartphone or MP3 player?

You may be using Windows Media Player or iTunes to manually sync some playlists to your portable device. There is a way to stream music from your entire library anywhere that you are, as long as […]

By Patricia Dwyer|September 10th, 2013|Cloud Services|4 Comments

Photo Sharing

In this age of digital photography, we generate tons of photos – our families, pets, vacations, school field trips, concerts, parties; the list goes on and on. The old days of getting our photos printed and into binders and scrapbooks are largely gone. It used to be fun to pull out the old photo albums and sit down with family and friends to laugh at crazy poses and faces, and to experience a shared emotion […]

By Patricia Dwyer|July 23rd, 2013|Cloud Services, Digital Chaos Control, Photo Management, Technology|Comments Off