Lots of people use the Google Maps app on their phones to figure out how to get somewhere. Fewer people know you can also use it as a phone book.
We got this tip and several others from David Pogue, a guy we follow sometimes on Yahoo. Start by tapping the Google Maps app, which comes with Android and iPhones. Then tap the picture of a microphone, which is easier than typing. If you say "Mexican restaurants," for example, you'll immediately see a list of places near you plus their hours of operation; you'll also see the number of stars they get on review sites and links to those reviews. Tap the "call" button and Google will connect you.
Tap two blue things to find your way there. First tap the blue car, then tap the blue words "start navigation" to get directions. (Tap the picture of a pedestrian if you're walking instead of driving. Tap the bus if you're taking public transportation.) Google will show you the bus schedule. An "explore" link acts as a tour guide, showing restaurants, stores, museums and hot spots within walking distance. Google Maps, by the way, also includes maps of shopping malls, indoors and out.
Pogue has a great video explaining a number of these tips. Find it by clicking "Pogue Videos" on YahooTech.com.
Get Moving
We read about a guy who lost 140 pounds playing Ingress, a free Android/iPhone game that gets you moving about in the real world (whatever that is). You the player can choose to be on the side of the "Enlightened" or the "Resistance" as you search for power nodes that connect with another universe.
The story line goes like this: A mysterious energy has been discovered by a team of scientists. We must control it or it will control us. The Enlightened seek to embrace its power as a force for good. The Resistance struggle to defend humanity against what they see as an alien invasion. We think alien invasions require too much time and planning to ever succeed, so we signed up as Enlightened.
Your phone prompts you to walk around in search of "portals," which include landmarks, monuments, public art and so on. You must be within 35 feet of a portal to do anything with it -- such as tapping a link on your phone to claim it for your side. So you end up walking a lot. Joy wandered across town on her first trip, but wasn't near a portal until she was back in our own building, climbing 15 flights of stairs for more exercise.
Besides local play, there are Ingress events several times per year (see Ingress.com/events) in cities around the world. These involve four to five hours of walking or biking. When last we checked, there were gatherings in Slovakia, Japan, Italy, Nepal, Australia, Finland, Poland, Indonesia, the Netherlands, Canada, Greece, Argentina and half a dozen U.S. states. An Ingress friend we met said, "It's a fantastic way to get off the couch, have fun and meet people." And no matter how long you play, there is nothing to purchase. It's always free. The game was created by Google and has more than 7 million players.
App Happy Hello
To whom it may concern: We are told by younger folks that nobody makes phone calls these days; they text each other. In case you do make calls once in a while, Hello is a free Android app that makes it easier to place calls using a free Wi-Fi connection. It also blocks unwanted calls.
Because it connects with the Facebook Messenger app, it makes calling Facebook friends easy, even if you don't know their numbers. When their name comes up in a search, the first option is "Call for free." Besides friends, you can also search for restaurants, stores, museums and other places. When the local art museum came up in our search, the first option was to call it. The second option was to tap its address to get instant turn by turn directions in Google Maps. We also could add it to our contact list or visit its website. If you get junk calls on your smartphone, use Hello to automatically block them.
Internuts
• HankBoughtABus.com shows how an architectural student made a mobile home out of an old school bus. He can still drive it, and frankly it looks really sharp. Unlike most people who do this and document it, he also listed his costs: $3,000 for the old bus, $6,000 for the redo.
• ZeroWasteHome.com is the site of a couple who throw away only a quart of garbage each year from their home in Mill Valley, Calif. When we looked at the site, Bea Johnson, author of "Zero Waste Home," was writing about her first dumpster-diving experience and the pleasures of a minimalist wardrobe. (Mill Valley, by the way, is one of the world's hip places to live.)
• PBSKids.org/noah has a new scavenger hunt game where players must decipher Spanish words and locate objects. Through videos, the site tells the story of a kid called Noah and his grandmother, who live in an area where everyone but them speaks Spanish (sort of like Miami).
Faster than Faxing
Joy's 96-year-old friend Ida had a real estate document that needed faxing. Joy's scanner didn't work, so what to do? Well, she took a picture of Ida's document and emailed it.
We did the same thing with our tax returns. We signed the documents, snapped pictures and sent them to our accountant. Consider the camera as a portable scanner. If you're a student, reporter or researcher, it's also a good note-taking device.
We recommend installing the free Google Picasa photo editor on your computer. Once you've imported your photos, the program opens to allow you to edit them. For example, Joy's photo of Ida's document was a bit dark and distorted; she lightened, cropped and sent it as an email.
Bob and Joy Schwabach can be reached by email at bobschwa@gmail.com and joydee@oncomp.com.
SundayMonday Business on 05/04/2015