Reviews / Recommendations Archives - My Scattered Brain All In One Place Thu, 20 Aug 2020 08:34:11 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.3 Photo Organization – Removing Duplicates https://myscatteredbrain.com/2020/08/19/photo-organization-removing-duplicates/ Wed, 19 Aug 2020 19:28:30 +0000 http://myscatteredbrain.com/?p=228 Here are tools to help with de-duplication of photos.  I found this in a Facebook group and saved it here for future reference. Highlights: DupeGuru a free cross-platform deduplication app for initial heavy lifting of dedupe efforts. Lightroom Classic with Teekesselchen, a free cross-platform plugin for second pass. Photosweeper for Apple Photos. Tips on How to Deal with Photos That Are Very Similar But Slightly Different It's all about the eyes.  If the eyes aren't in focus, delete immediately Keep the first one and get rid of the rest At the start of the emotion - When Ashley and I were going through Big Sur photos, this one stood out.  There was a photo of Nicole and Savanna, one when they were starting to laugh and another where they were in full on laughter.  Ashley picked the first one, when the emotion was first triggered. Go quickly from one photo to another and back and follow the first response each picture awoke.  Go with overall impression.  If you go into the details, there's always something in the photo that is worthwhile. Group: Advice from the Photo Organizing Pros https://www.facebook.com/groups/thephotoorganizers/permalink/2585836638394281/

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]]> 228 Decision: Why I Stay With iPhone https://myscatteredbrain.com/2020/08/18/decision-why-i-stay-with-iphone/ Tue, 18 Aug 2020 05:23:54 +0000 http://myscatteredbrain.com/?p=179 It is easier when the family is all in the same iPhone ecosystem. We can find each other, share photos and airdrop each other, even just to name our family group chat. You can’t do that if someone isn’t on iPhone. And you can FaceTime too. I know there’s other apps, but it’s just easier. I really like the Photos app on Mac and iPhone and how it syncs with Cloud.  I love the Live Photos, especially when it app creates a memory from the photos.  I love how the live photos bring it to life.  When 3rd party apps like Adobe Elements or Google Photos creates videos from them, they are still photos presented as a slideshow and it does have as much impact as the live photo. I had considered switching to a Samsung a year ago because of the better camera, but I am glad I stuck with the iPhone. Photo by Bagus Hernawan on Unsplash

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]]> 179 Tool to Compress, Convert, Edit PDFs and More https://myscatteredbrain.com/2020/08/17/smallpdf-com/ Mon, 17 Aug 2020 19:54:34 +0000 http://myscatteredbrain.com/?p=42 Use smallpdf.com to compress, convert, edit PDFs, etc.

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]]> 42 Apps for Photo Organization https://myscatteredbrain.com/2020/08/17/apps-for-photo-organization-2/ Mon, 17 Aug 2020 17:13:42 +0000 http://myscatteredbrain.com/?p=206 These are the primary apps I've considered or tried for photo organization.  More detail is available below. Adobe Bridge* Adobe LightRoom Adobe Elements Mac Photos* Google Photos* Dropbox* Forever * Products I currently use Mac Photos I use iCloud Photos which syncs photos across my phone and MacBook. Then I use the Photos app on Mac to do the first round of curation. I use the Favorites feature a lot so it’s easier to curate in Photos rather than having to find the favorites again in another organization app. Round 1: I put albums by Year/By Month and separate Personal from other stuff SmartAlbum criteria: By month Not in an Album Round 2: I use another SmartAlbum to find all photos for each week Mon-Sun. I find my Top 7, drop in an album and then put all the Top 7 in an Album for the year. Then I export these photos onto an SD Card and put in the digital photo album. SmartAlbum Criteria Top 7 by Week Top 7 All by Year - These I save to an SD card and put in a digital photo frame Dropbox I use Dropbox Camera Uploads to get the full files out of Photos. Otherwise, if you export from Photos, the file creation date is the current date Once in Dropbox, I use Adobe Bridge (previously Adobe tried Elements) to separate personal photos from Other Stuff and Real Estate Stuff and file them by year. Dropbox is used to hold the master files because it is the raw file and not exported where the creation date gets changed. Google Photos I let Google Photos backup the Dropbox Photos folder by year. Google Photos is just a failsafe. Other apps and notes I've considered and ruled out Forever - doesn't support Mac Adobe Elements - I’ve tried multiple version of Adobe Elements and it is insanely slow. If you turn off auto face recognition, it speeds it up significantly. However, so far, I found Adobe Bridge to be faster. It could be because I didn’t have a large number of photos in my initial test set, but it still seemed to be blazing fast. I don't like working on photos in the cloud.  This rules out Google Photos and Forever.  Forever has a standalone app but is not supported on Mac. Another reason I don't like working on photos in the cloud is because of needing to export the photos when you download them locally.  The creation date of the file is the current date not the date the photo is created, so when you sort via your computer's file system, it is all out of order. Summary Photos on iPhone/Mac – These are my working photos where I curate and organize the photos. Dropbox for storing the raw files.  Adobe Bridge to curate the raw files when they are downloaded onto the computer and separate personal, real estate and other stuff Google Photos – Final backup of photos for Just in Case Info For My Family When I die, my family should be able to access photos here: Dropbox Photos Folder SD Card in digital frame for my favorites Photo by Vitaly Sacred on Unsplash

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]]> 206 Fitness and Gyms https://myscatteredbrain.com/2020/08/17/fitness-and-gyms/ Mon, 17 Aug 2020 06:26:25 +0000 http://myscatteredbrain.com/?p=259 30 Day Challenges 30 Day Squat Challenge - I started this with Nicole and got about halfway through but never finished the challenge 30 Day Burpee Challenge 30 Day Plank Challenge Gyms 24 Hour Fitness - Not too happy with this gym right now.  We're a member of the PQ Gym by Stater Brothers.  It is always super hot in there.  The best treadmills are closest to the door because there is a fan and you don't get trapped by the pool with the heat from the machines and sweaty people and you're not overwhelmed by the smell of chlorine.  Also, they reduced their hours so it's not 24 hours open anymore.  This was even pre-COVID F45 - I did some classes with Colette and loved it.  There's two types of classes, one that focuses on strength and another on endurance.  My favorites were the endurance classes.  It worked my legs HARD but I was surprised how strong my runs felt after the classes.  However, the monthly cost is very high.  Rob bought me a 10 class package which is perfect because I can go when my schedule permits around all the running.  However, because of COVID, the gyms have been closed.  I understand they are doing some outdoor classes right now, but not sure I want to use up my classes when it's not a full class, running has been very time consuming and Colette hasn't been available to go. OrangeTheory - I've heard this is a great class but for some reason, haven't been too motivated to try this out. Barre Classes - Bianca told me about these classes years ago and I've been intrigued. Yoga - I did a one month. unlimited pass to a hot yoga place in Rancho Bernardo.  It was awesome and helped with gaining flexibility.  I was injured from running so I can't confirm that it helped my running.  However, one time I went the day before a run and got so dehydrated from sweating so much, that I had an absolutely terrible run the next morning.  Another thing about the class was that is was 1.5 hours long.  I was sweating so bad and felt like 1.5 hours was too long.  It was hard to carve that much time out of the day, plus the travel time and mandatory shower!  One last comment about this yoga studio, as you walk up to it, you are walking right up to a dumpster.  The door to the yoga studio was right next to the dumpster so it is the first thing you see walking in and out of the studio.  It grossed me out and didn't leave me very relaxed. Class Pass - I considered trying Class Pass.  At the time, it was pretty pricey but they've changed their packages.  Maybe it's more affordable now but I just haven't been motivated to do classes. Random other exercise stuff Trampoline - I have a mini trampoline.  It's great for practicing high knees, butt kicks, side to side movements, and toeing off. Stretchy bands - I need to remember to do these more - monster walks, calf exercises. Hip stretches - I'll need to find links to some of the stretches I need to remember to do. Punching speed bags - I've always wanted these.  They would build upper body strength, tone the arms and be a great core workout.

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]]> 259 Why I still give my cell phone number instead of doing everything from my CRM https://myscatteredbrain.com/2020/08/13/why-i-still-give-my-cell-phone-number-instead-of-doing-everything-from-my-crm/ Thu, 13 Aug 2020 20:22:00 +0000 http://myscatteredbrain.com/?p=46  Right now, I switch them over but I am debating the same thing. I like seeing when my message is Delivered or Read if the recipient has an iPhone. Also, other things aren’t easy from the FUB mobile app such as sending videos, BombBomb integration, sending locations from Apple and Google maps, etc. I just talked myself into continuing to use my cell phone number. These are the same reasons I got away from Google Voice for a separate business cell phone number. I can’t send contact cards or group text either. Group: Follow Up Boss Success Community https://www.facebook.com/groups/followupbosscommunity/permalink/2949305908509451/

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