Morning Show (470)
Geek of the Week: Here Comes the Bus
If you live in Akron, Canton or Alliance, here's an app you need to download...and have your kids download it too. It's called “Here Comes The Bus”. Its a tracking app that gives you a real-time location of the school bus on its way to your house. The app also gives you an estimated time of arrival, and actual time of drop-off.
The app is free on both iPhone and Android devices – but you need to be in a participating school district. (if your school or district aren't participating, the app will not the location of your bus.
Geek of the Week: The Krazy Coupon Lady
So you missed Ohio's back-to-school Tax Free Weekend; maybe you still have items on the kids shopping list; or you enjoy bargains! Check TheKrazyCouponLady.com for deals on everything from body lotion to furniture, markers to mangos. The website is full of coupons, deals and sales for stores all over the country...and they've devoted an entire section to back-to-school (click the link in the upper right-hand corner): clothes, supplies, sneakers, books, and everything in between.
You can search for coupons for specific items, limit your results to one store, event filter out coupons and focus just on sales!
TheKrazyCouponLady.com is free...and so are their apps in the AppStore and GooglePlay.
Geek of the Week - Amazon Part Finder
Earlier this month, Amazon rolled out a new feature on it's app. Take a picture of a screw or washer and it will help you find and order an identical match. The feature asks you to place the (for instance) screw on a white piece of paper and place a penny next to it for scale.
Snap a pic, and the search engine takes it from there. It'll let you customize your search to narrow down the results too. Slot head or phillips head, brass or galvanized, US or metric. This feature is helpful both for professionals and hobbyists.
Whether you're working on your car or a cabinet, fixing the deck or fixing a broken toy...the Part Finder feature on the Amazon app is sure to come in handy.
So far, iOS only.
Geek of the Week: Paddle Sports
This week is a two-fer! For the fishermen, canoers and kayakers in the audience, here are a couple apps that can help you with your next outing:
First, “Go Paddling” (free for iPhone & Android). This app points you, not only to all the great, scenic places to take your canoe, but it also points out designated in-and-out points along the way. You may already know you want to travel the Black River, but you may not know where you'll have access to put-in and take-out...this app tells you. (works all over the country, not just Ohio).
Second, “RiverApp” (free for iPhone & Android). Before you head out for a river excursion, check the conditions with this app. It uses data from the USGS, NOAA, and other government agencies to give you information for your trip. River depths, speeds, water temperatures and more information is available for over 20,000 waterways world-wide.
Geek of the Week: Official 7-11 App
Every July 11th, 7-11 celebrates by giving everyone a free Slurpie. Well, today, you can get even more from them – and what you get is the gift that gives all year. Download the Official 7-11 App and earn reward points toward free stuff with every purchase! The app is, essentially, a mobile rewards card, but it also pushes coupons to your phone, has a store locator and more.
(Members of the 7Rewards club also get their 7th drink free!)
Download the app for free on iTunes or GooglePlay
Geek of the Week: Taking Pictures of Fireworks - with your phone
Next week is the Fourth of July, and there will be fireworks shows all over Northeast Ohio for the next week-or-so. If you're thinking of taking pictures with your phone, here are a couple ideas to give you an advantage:
First, use a tripod. Either buy a stand, specially made for your phone, or make one (plenty of ideas for DIY phone tripods are just a Google search away).
Second, lower your shutter speed. Many Android phones have either “low light” or “fireworks” mode built in (go to camera's settings). If you have an iPhone, you may have to download an app to override the camera's “automatic” settings (“Slow Shutter”, and “Litely” work well).
For added camera steadiness, some phones allow voice-activated picture taking so you don't bump the phone when you press the screen to snap a pic.
Other ideas include using “Burst Mode”. Several phones will let you press the screen once, but will snap several shots at once and composite them into the best version. You could also try taking a time-lapse picture (will absolutely need a tripod)...or a video. Good luck!
Geek of the Week: US Open App
No matter what activities the family has planned for you on Sunday, you'll be able to stay up to date with the US Open. The tournament starts tomorrow, but the real action won't be until the final round on Sunday.
The official app of the U.S. Open Golf Championship features 4 channels of live streaming coverage, live score updates, shot-by-shot states, plus a map of the course – complete with current players wherabouts! You can also set the app to sent alerts when there's a scoring update for your favorite player or players.
GEEK of the Week: Yoshi – Keep Moving
Stopping for gas on the way home from work, blocking out a few hours for an oil change or a car wash are a thing of the past with this app!
Sign-up for the service and the Yoshi crew will stop by your work once a week to fill up your tank, or they'll take it for an oil change and a wash. You don't need to worry about it, they'll take care of it all for you.
Note: Nothing about this is free. There's a $20/month membership fee, plus the price of gas and oil-changes. BUT, your first month's membership is free.
Cleveland is one of 12 cities across the country where Yoshi is available.
For more information go to: startyoshi.com or download the app on your Android or iPhone
Geek of the Week: Eyealert
Students at Rocky River High School have developed an app that can help in an active shooter situation. The app uses crowed sourced information to track the shooter in real time.
The idea: Every student and teacher have the app on their phone. When there is an active shooter situation, they open the app and it tracks their location in real time. If they see the shooter they press on the screen and their name pops up, like a location on a Google Map, and says [for instance] “Dan Deely just saw the shooter here”.
Every time someone presses the screen, it plots a point on the school map. Not only does it show you where the shooter is, it shows where he's been, and gives you an idea where he's going. Letting students and teachers know whether to hunker-in-place, or its okay to run.
They're still testing the app, so it isn't widely available yet.
But in some of their drills, the school says they've had half the student body out of the building BEFORE there was an “active shooter” announcement over the PA system.
More...
Geek of the Week - Datefit
A new dating app was released last week – and it was created by a company in Cleveland.
The app is called “DateFit” and it matches up people who are into staying fit and exercising. Similar to the other dating apps, you swipe one direction to like someone, swipe the other way to reject them...but this app lets you “super like” someone.
The creators say that sometimes approaching someone at the gym can be tough...their app makes it easier.
Its free for iPhone and Android
** note ** while there may be 9,000 people currently using the app, the odds are pretty good that not many of them are in Cleveland, so pickings may be pretty slim until this thing catches on. It's only been out a couple weeks.
Geek of the Week: Cedar Point App
Cedar Point opens in a week (05/05/18) and they've made improvements to their app, and one detail alone makes this app invaluable. The Roller Coaster capital's official app has maps of the park, it'll show you the route to take from one ride to another, check wait times, and take advantage of online coupons and specials. But the best feature: is the car locator! Plot your location on the app when you get out of your car, and at the end of the day, it'll lead you right back.
There's also plenty of information about the park and its amenities. You can even store your season pass on the app, so you always have it with you.
The official Cedar Point Mobile App is free for iPhone and Android.
Geek of the Week: Superman Homepage
Wednesday, April 17th is Superman Day in the City of Cleveland, so to celebrate, check out the Superman Homepage (and download the app). The go-to source for all things Superman.
The latest news about upcoming comics, movies, and TV shows; interviews with those in-the-know; and podcasts related to the Man of Steel.
** its actually a pretty good source for information on all DC comic characters
The website is free, and the apps are free for Android and iPhone.
Geek of the Week: EyeBleach.me
Sometimes you need a break from social media. The negativity, the political bickering, the surveys...it becomes overwhelming. Take a few minutes away and visit this website: EyeBleach.me.
Its not much more than a slideshow of kitten pictures.
A nice way to “cleanse the palate” from time to time.
...and its free.