Help I Have Two (or more) Accounts

I don't know about you, but I signed up for two Google accounts and then I used both of them at different times. It is confusing and I wanted to consolidate them into one account. I was able to do it, but it was a little complicated. In this post I will list the steps to use to consolidating Google Accounts.

1. Find out what is on the different accounts. 

• In the top corner when you are logged in you will see your information. 
• Click on the picture or your email address on the far right and choose MY ACCOUNT.

2.  A webpage opens up with all sorts of ways that you can work with your account. Choose Delete My Accounts or Services.

3. After you click again on Delete my Account this will give you a list of what is on your account. You will have to spend some time looking and thinking about what is on your different accounts, what you want to save, what you want to move to the combined account and what doesn't matter. It is a little scary to click on Delete My Account for the second time, but it really just gives you information. You are not deleteing your account yet. 



4. Once you have decided which account to keep and which to delete you will have to deal with all of the content that is in the account that you are going to delete. Some of the information will transfer to your other account, but some of it will have to be downloaded to your computer and then uploaded to the other account.

Google is clear about the fact that the data in your account belongs to you and you have the right to download that data. Here are some examples of ways I could deal with the data from my account. 

• Blogger - I would need to download my blog and then recreate it with the address I want to use and upload it again.
• Drive - I would share all of the documents and folders in my Drive account with the email address of the other account. Then when they are deleted in one place I will have them in the other.
• Gmail - I would probably download my mail and have an archive on my computer rather than uploading it again to my other address. I could forward any mail that I want to be sure is in my other account.
• Photos - I would need to download my photos from this account and add them to the other account.
• YouTube - I would need to download any videos and upload them to my other account.
• Calendar - Most likely I would just let this be deleted because I would be using the calendar on the other account. I suppose any appointments I need to show on my current calendar could just be added.
• Chrome Sync - I wouldn't worry about this because it is just my bookmarks.
• Contacts - I would need to export my contacts from one account and then import them into my other account.

There are a few other services that Google owns, so you will have to take each one individually and decide what you want to do with it. 

After looking at all of that you may think that it is not worth all of the work to combine the accounts. You can just leave them both up there and use only one of them from now on in order to make it less confusing. One will have current info and the other will be an archive. 

If you decide to do the transfer there are two choices once you have emptied out one of the accounts. You can DEACTIVATE or DELETE the account. When you delete an account you can NEVER use that username again. It is gone. When you deactivate the account the account and the information that is left in it is kept in an archive and if you ever want to use that account again you can activate it. 

If you are wanting to do this, but need a little comfort and a little walking through call (512)560-2609 or email me (helpimnotageek@gmail.com). I can connect with your computer. It does not matter where you are I can help you out :-)

Apps for your new Device: 10 apps I use and several others to try!

Did you get a new device for Christmas? A device might be an iPhone, an iPad or any sort of tablet or phone that uses Android as an operating system. Because I use an iPhone and iPad that is what is highlighted in this post. Most of these apps have android versions.

Now is the time that you are probably looking for new apps to use on your device. Since there are so many this blog will just share a few favorites that you might want to try.

MY 10 DAILY APPS

I use my iPhone and my iPad several times a day. Here are the ways that I use them. 

1. I use the Clock in the morning for meditation. Once I start meditating I find that having a timer set helps me to focus on my inner self instead of what time is left. I also set it for an hour when I am with a client to help us keep track of the time we work together. I also use it as an alarm clock when I am traveling.

2. I use the Map function, either Maps or Google Maps, to figure out how to get to my next customer's house. I can even have it talk to me to tell me the directions as I drive. Once I even used it when I was already at the address I was supposed to be at, but could not find the building. By following the blue dot that showed where I was in relation to the destination I finally found it.

3. Of course I use it as a phone on a regular basis.

4. I use Messages to text my husband when I just have something short to say like, "on my way home"

5. When I am in a waiting room or flying and want time to pass quickly I play Angry Birds or Candy Crush Saga. These are the kinds of games I like, but there are tons of other games with better graphics and more action.

6. Gmail has an app that connects to my email, so if I am somewhere that I can't get it and need to I can access it. I find it harder to write back on the iPhone, but sometimes I do.

7. Contacts-I use this all of the time to find addresses, emails or phone numbers for people. I really LOVE the fact that it is with me all of the time.  I can add people into it easily.

8. Calendar-I use this all day to schedule things for the future, to see what I am doing in the next few hours or even to look back to see what I did in the past.

9. Grocery IQ - This is an awesome app that keeps my grocery list for me. I can put into it lists of items that I buy from certain stores and then when I am at the store it is easy to look and see what I usually buy there. I use it to make my weekly shopping list and then check off the items as I get them. I never write grocery lists anymore!

10. Lots of sites are websites that also have mobile apps. I use Yelp to find restaurants I am interested in going to OR to review services that I have used. Facebook has an app. These apps make working on your device a bit easier and help you skip the step of having to search for them on a browser

I use the iPhone all day. It has changed how I do things. As you can see, most of the apps that I regularly use came with the phone or are free to download. There are so many apps out there that I don't usually download anything that costs something.

Following is a list of other recommended apps that I found online with a few comments.

Waze - This is another MAP app that is free and comes highly recommended. It can also give you traffic warnings. It can be used in a social way so that others can see where you are driving and you can see their routes.

Shazam - This is an amazing app that can find the name of any music that you hear. It does have to be close enough to the origin of the sound to figure it out. I am in a coffee shop now and it is not able to find the music that is playing.  

i-nigma - By now you have probably seen those square marks that look sort of like bar codes. They are often on advertisements, but you see them all over now and they ask you to scan them for more information. These are QR-Codes. i-nigma is a QR-Code scanner. Here is one that I made with another app called QR Code maker.

Layar- This app lets you get an idea of what people who are using Google Glass might be seeing. It is sort of a futuristic app. Amazing and fun.

Lose It - This app can help you keep track of what you are eating, how much you are exercising and how your weight is changing. It works on calories and tells you the calories of food. It can read barcodes and enter the information from the barcode into the program. 

Tree ID - This is an app I downloaded to find out about a tree that I did not recognize in my yard. It walked me through the identification process. I think it is really handy to have.

Flashlight - This is not an app, but is a part of the regular operating system on an iPhone. If you slide up from the bottom after turning it on you are given a window with a lot of choices. Choose the one that looks like a flashlight and it makes the camera into a very strong light.


As I wrote this and looked for icons I realized that there are many more apps that I use often. There is just so much available!

Some of the apps in this post are from this New York Times article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/26/business/basic-apps-for-smartphones-and-tablets.html?hp&_r=0