How To Scan Any Document With Your Phone (without scanner)

The phrase “scanning documents” used to mean spending a silly amount of time in front of a bulky machine, waiting for it to take a physical piece of paper and make it digital. But this is the mobile age, where nearly anything can be done with a phone. And scanning text-searchable documents is stupid easy with little more than your phone’s camera.

To start scanning everything from receipts to recipes, you probably already have everything you need: an Android phone and Office Lens app.

The app uses your phone’s or table’s camera to take a picture of the document and then edit it to make it look scanned and it does all of that in a few seconds with a few steps. Another cool thing about the app is that once you “scan” the document you can export it in a file type that suites you or to a service of your choice. Also, using the OCR algorithm you can scan business card to convert them into contacts as well as photos that you need to have the text extracted.

How To Scan Any Document With Your Phone

1- Download and install Office Lens app.

2- Once the installation is complete you can launch the app

3- The first thing that the app will ask for is for permission to access your files, which you should allow

4- Next you will see a short tutorial on the capabilities of the app

5- On the final slide of the tutorial you will need to click on “Start using Office Lens” after which the app will ask you for permission to use the camera, you will need to allow this as well since that is how you are going to scan the documents

As you can see on the bottom you have 4 modes of work: whiteboard, document, business card and photo. For this tutorial we went with a document, but the procedure is the same for the other 3 modes.

6- Place the document on a flat surface and make sure that you are not scanning it in the dark

7- Even though we are scanning a document make sure that you are shooting in whiteboard mode, it makes the scanned document look better

8- As you can see, the application outlines the document only without anything on the sides and as soon as you tap the orange button in the middle the document will be scanned

9- When the processing is complete, it can take a second or two, you can review the scanned document and if it looks good for you tap the orange circle on the right

10- The final step is saving the scanned document. You have a variety of options to choose from. On the top you can select the name of the file that you would like to save. Next, you can save it to your gallery as a picture or as a PDF (you do not need to be signed in to your Microsoft account for these). If you want to save the document on OneNote or OneDrive or convert is to text using the OCR and have it in a Word document or to be added as a slide in PowerPoint you need to be signed in. in order to sign in, tap the icon in the upper right corner and then tap on “add Account” and log in with your Microsoft credentials.

The procedure for scanning a business card is almost the same. The difference is when you are saving it. You can only save it as an image in your gallery, or to save it to OneDrive which is also the option that enables you to directly save it as a contact to your phone, using OCR.

Read More

How to Fix iPhone Deleting Messages By Itself

By default, iPhones messages are saved into the phone until you delete them. With the introduction of iOS 11, Apple gives users the option to set iPhone to automatically delete messages to save on storage. If for some reasons you have enabled the auto-delete messages on iPhone, this article will guide you on how to fix iPhone deleting messages by itself.

If you are wondering why iPhone keeps deleting messages by itself, then we have the solution for you. By disabling the auto-delete feature of messages history on your iPhone, your messages will stay in your inbox as long as you want. Take note that over time, message size add up until you may eventually run out of space especially if you are using a device with a lower storage limit.

How Turn Off Auto Delete Messages on iPhone

If your iPhone is deleting messages by itself and you want to fix it, then follow these steps:

• Go to your iPhone’s Settings.
• From Settings, scroll down until you get to Messages.
• From the Messages page, scroll down until you get to the Keep Messages history under the Message History section.
• Tap on the Keep Messages option.

• Tap on the retention period. After selecting the period, your messages aging older than the retention period are automatically deleted off of your phone. If you want to disable auto delete conversation on iPhone, select the Forever option. Once selected, your iPhone will now stop deleting the messages on your device.

iPhone deleting messages by itself can be a big problem if you do not know how to disable the auto-delete message. Now you know how to fix it.

Read More

How to Get Verified on Instagram

Instagram just made it easier for you to verify your Instagram account. Now you won’t have to avail of those shady Instagram verification service just to get that highly-regarded blue tick. This article will guide you on how to get verified on Instagram for free.

People used to buy Instagram verification service just to have that precious blue tick on their names. Aside from being highly likely that these services are nothing but scams, users may get their Instagram accounts at risk especially if the service requires users to provide their Instagram username and passwords. We can safely say that people who offer services and hacks to get verified on Instagram are only there to steal your money and your account details.

How to Get Verified on Instagram

For the longest time, Instagram did not clearly give ways for users to get a verified account. Only famous celebrities and businesses are rewarded with the verified icon. Now, things are changing. Instagram has made it easier for users to get verified on Instagram. The next sections will help you get that blue tick on your account.

Prepare Your Account for Instagram Verification

Though Instagram has made it easier for people to request a verification, not all accounts are verified. Instagram needs to be convinced of these things before they approve verification requests:

• Account legitimacy. The Instagram account must be legit. You cannot just make a “NikeOfficial” account, get a large following, request for verification and get approved. You must prepare a proof of business ownership or personal identification items to support your legitimacy claim.

• Large following. The Instagram account must have a sizeable amount of followers. Though Instagram does not openly give an exact figure, the number of followers must at least be on four digits.

•  No illegal activities. Your Instagram account must not be engaged in fishy activities such as spamming and buying Instagram followers.

How to Request Account Verification on Instagram

Once you are sure that your Instagram is worthy of being verified, you can follow the steps below to request a review and verification of your Instagram account:

1. Open the Instagram app on your phone.
2. With Instagram opened, click on the Profile icon located on the lower-right part of the screen.
3. Now that you are on your Profile page, tap on the Menu icon located on the upper-right part of the screen.
4. From the Menu, click on the Settings icon located on the lower-most part of the screen.
5. From Settings, scroll down and tap on Request Verification.
   
6. On the Request Verification page, enter your full name, another name you are known as, and the category of your account.
7. Prove that you are a real person by attaching a government-issued photo ID that shows your name and birthday. Tap on the Choose File button to attach a photo that is saved on your phone.
8. Tap on the Send button and you will now just have to wait for feedback on your account Instagram account’s verification request.

There are a lot of benefits of being verified on Instagram. Just make sure that your account is ready before you try to get verified on Instagram. If you have questions about any of the information above, let us know in the comments section.

Read More

How To Find Your Lost Android Phone

Have you misplaced or lost your Android device and are looking for solutions? Don’t lose hope yet. In this guide, I will show you two easy ways by which you can easily locate lost Android phone. You will have to be logged in to your Google account on your lost or stolen device for these tracking services to work.

How To Track Android Phone Using Google’s “Find My Device”

Android phones come with a “Find My Device” feature that can be used to recover your lost Android phone. This feature is available in phone settings, and you do not need to install any third party app to access this feature. If you want to locate your smartphone, you need access to a web browser, and you can pinpoint your phone’s location. However, if this service is not activated, then you cannot use it to track a stolen phone.

How To Enable “Find My Device”

1. Go to Settings > Security.
2. Under Device Administration, tap on Device administrators.
3. Make sure the box next to “Find My Device” is checked.

You’ll also need to enable location services and location history for location accuracy while tracking your device. To enable it :

1. Go back to Settings and tap on Location.
2. Turn the toggle switch on the upper left corner to On position.
3. Tap on Mode. Set it to High accuracy.

  4. Go back to Location settings and tap on Google Location History.

  5. Toggle to switch on the option next to Use Location History. Also, toggle the switch next to your device name to On position.

After you have completed these steps, you can locate a stolen phone whenever it has access to mobile data or Wi-Fi.

Find a lost Android using browser and “Find My Device”

1. Go to “Android.com/find” from any browser on any device.
2. Login using your Google profile.
3. If you are running multiple Android devices using the same Google account, select the device you want to connect to.

Once you select your device, you can perform three different actions:

• You can remotely ring the device. It will continuously play a sound for 5 minutes, even if the device is in silent mode.
• You can lock the device and display a message or phone number on the lock screen. This option is much helpful when you had not set any screen before.
• You can also completely wipe your device. Note that this will also delete your Google account from your phone and you will no longer be able to track it. If you have any sensitive data on your phone and there is no hope to retrieve your lost Android phone, this is the best option for you.

How to Locate Android phone with Google Maps

Google Maps is one of the essential Android apps that can even help you to track a stolen phone. To use this feature, your device must be in On state, have access to Wi-Fi or cellular data, and location services must be On. You can open any browser and locate your phone in a few steps:

1. Go to Google Maps and sign in to your Google account
2. Click on the menu icon in the upper left corner and select Your Timeline.

Read More

How To Receive Phone Call Online To Bypass Call Verification

Bypassing call verification is pretty useful in some cases. Here’s a guide on how you can successfully get your own US phone number and receive calls for calls verification

How To Bypass Phone Call Verification Online

A second phone number can come in handy for lots of reasons. If you’re active on a dating app, you may not want to give your potential dates your “real” number. Or you may want a dedicated line for business calls. Or just a phone number to bypass call verification on Whatsapp.

Whatever the reason, having a second number can be both helpful and affordable.

Get free US local phone number for receiving calls and text or for phone verifications

2ndLine is a simple app based on a simple concept. You download the app, you choose a phone number and you add a second line (and a second phone number) to your phone or another compatible mobile device. No muss, no fuss

How Does It Work

2ndLine uses your Data or WiFi connection to provide your phone with an additional line. Just download the app, pick a phone number, and immediately access unlimited calling and texting from an additional line on your phone.

Get Free US Number

To get started download 2ndLine (for Android), Currently, no app for iOS devices exists and we could find no mention of one in development. So if you are an Apple user, this tutorial isn’t for you (although you can find similar apps for iOS).

Once you’ve installed the app, 2ndLine asks you to create an account before letting you proceed further and utilize the services (free or otherwise). You’ll need to enter an email address that you have access to, as well as create a password.

Now you just have to choose your phone number and you're done! You can use this new phone number for online call verification

Read More

How To Know if Someone Blocked You On Facebook

Being able to block people on social media is one of the best tools people have at their disposal on the sites and it is an individual’s right to block someone or not.

It is not up to the person being blocked and if someone blocks you, you need to respect their reasons for doing so. There may be cases where someone blocks your for apparently no reason and you feel as though something is up when they suddenly disappear from your social media site. So here is how to tell whether or not someone has blocked you.

How To Know if Someone Blocked You On Facebook

When someone blocks you on Facebook they effectively become invisible to you on the site or app – they disappear online. You will not be able to view their profile, send a friend request, send a message, comment or see what they have commented anywhere on Facebook if they have blocked you. One of the first things you can try is to search the user’s name on Facebook and if you simply can’t find it this means that they may have blocked you. However, this is no fool proof as the user can have their privacy settings geared in such away that they cannot be found by a simple search. If you are aware of a mutual friend of that person on Facebook you should look at their friend’s list and if they don’t come up there then you may have been blocked.

The person could however have deleted their profile, so a good way to test this is to get someone else on a different profile to see if they can find the person when they search on Facebook. Someone’s profile could have been disabled by themselves or by Facebook following a violation of Facebook terms. One fool proof way to figure out whether you have been blocked or not is to search for an old conversation with that person on Facebook messenger. Click on the conversation and if the user’s photo shows the default Facebook profile photo and if the name of the person is emboldened and you cannot click on their name then they have most certainly blocked you. If you try to send the user a message Facebook will say there is an error. If the person has merely disabled their Facebook account it will say Facebook user in bold rather than their actual name.

Also Check  How To Know Who Blocked Or Deleted You On Facebook
                     How To Know Who Blocked You On Instagram
                     How To View Hidden Photos On Facebook

Read More

Should You Keep Your Laptop Constantly Plugged In ?

You may have had people tutting and shaking their heads over the fact you keep your laptop plugged in for long periods of time. They may quote an old piece of computer wisdom that states you should not keep a laptop plugged in to the mains constantly for long periods of time, else you run the risk of ruining the battery. The usual rule of thumb is to remove the battery and run it purely off of the mains. Now that we’re in a world of laptops with built-in batteries, however, does this advice still hold up?

Does It Overcharge: the Battery?

You may hear advice that says once the battery hits 100%, keeping it plugged in may end up overfilling the battery and doing damage. If you’ve heard this advice, don’t worry; this doesn’t actually happen!

Perhaps in earlier models this would have been the case, but these days laptops are a little smarter. In general, when a laptop detects a 100% charge in the battery, it will stop charging it and instead redirect the power to your laptop. This means your battery will never be overstuffed.

Will the Battery Still Degrade?

Unfortunately, batteries have a habit of degrading whether or not you keep them at full charge. In fact, batteries will degrade even when they’re not being used in storage! As such, if you think you can keep your battery going forever by keeping it plugged into the mains, you may be disappointed to see its performance still drop regardless.

Your laptop battery will always wear down over time. The more charge cycles you put the battery through, the more it will wear down. Different batteries have different ratings, but you can often expect about 500 full charge cycles.

That doesn’t mean you should avoid discharging the battery. Storing the battery at a high charge level is bad for it. On the other hand, letting the battery run down to completely empty every single time you use it is also bad.

Avoid Heat, if You Can

Here’s one clear thing: Heat is bad. So, if your laptop has a removable battery, you may want to remove the battery from the laptop if you plan on leaving it plugged in for a long time. This will ensure the battery isn’t exposed to all that unnecessary heat.

This is most important when the laptop runs very hot—like a powerful gaming laptop running demanding PC games, for example. If your laptop runs fairly cool, you won’t see as much benefit from this.

Of course, many modern laptops don’t have removable batteries anymore, so this tip won’t apply in those cases.

Calibrate the Battery

Putting your laptop through an occasional full charge cycle can help calibrate the battery on many laptops. This ensures the laptop knows exactly how much charge it has left and can show you an accurate estimate. In other words, if your battery isn’t calibrated properly, Windows may think you have 20% battery left when it’s really 0%, and your laptop will shut down without giving you much warning.

By allowing the laptop’s battery to (almost) fully discharge and then recharge, the battery circuitry can learn how much power it has left. This isn’t necessary on all devices. In fact, Apple explicitly says it’s no longer necessary for modern MacBooks with built-in batteries.

This calibration process won’t improve the battery’s lifespan or make it hold more energy—it will only ensure the computer is giving you an accurate estimation. But this is one reason you wouldn’t to leave your laptop plugged in all the time. When you unplug it and use it on battery power, it might show you incorrect battery life estimates and die before you expect it to.

Conclusion

Your laptop’s battery isn’t going to last forever, and it will gradually have less capacity over time no matter what you do. All you can do is hope your laptop’s battery lasts until you can replace your laptop with a new one.

Of course, even if the capacity of your laptop’s battery declines, you’ll still be able to keep using it while plugged into a power outlet anyway.

Read More

How To Know if Someone Blocked You on Whatsapp

Perhaps you’ve tried messaging one of you contacts on Whatsapp and notice that they aren’t responding anymore.  Could you have gotten blocked by that person?

Some indicators let you know someone has blocked you through the WhatsApp application.  Let’s get into what those indicators are.

We've seen in a previous post How to know if someone blocked you on viber, here is how to know if you're blocked on Whatsapp.

How To Tell if Someone Blocked You on Whatsapp

CONTACT INFORMATION IS MISSING

You may notice that you no longer see some contacts last seen or online status in the chat area.  That’s a pretty good sign that the person has blocked you.  The person may have also changed the privacy settings for his or her WhatsApp account so, it’s now hidden from you as well.

Maybe you’ve configured your privacy settings not to show the last time you’ve been online or when you were last seen in WhatsApp.  When you make strict privacy changes, you’ll not be able to see your contacts last seen information also.

If you’ve checked your privacy settings and they are viewable by others and the last time you spoke to said contact theirs were visible, I’d say you’ve now become blocked.

NO PROFILE UPDATES

If suddenly, you’ve noticed that a contact’s profile picture isn’t getting updated anymore it’s a possibility that person has blocked you.  If you continue not seeing updates to a contacts profile chances are that they’ve blocked you.

CHECK MARKS AND MEANINGS

Have you been sending a person messages and only notice one check mark beside it?  That means your message has gotten sent but not received and read by the recipient.  Here’s what all check mark icons tell you.

• One grayed check mark means your message has gone through the sending process
• Two grayed check marks mean your message was sent and delivered to your contact.
• Two blue check marks mean that the message has been sent, received and viewed.

If you’re noticing only one gray check mark next to messages you’ve sent then, it’s a good chance you are on the block list of that individual.

TRY TO CALL

Trying to place a call through the WhatsApp application is another great thing about it.  Though if you’ve been trying to call one of your friends or contacts through WhatsApp and it’s just not happening, you may have gotten blocked.

Conclusion

There are some strong implications that a WhatsApp user has blocked you when all four of the above indicators for being block have gotten met.  Those four combined would lead us to believe a block has gotten put in place.

Only ever seen one check mark when you send a message?  You’ve not seen any profile updates for a user in a while and you know they are active.  The person you’re trying to reach suddenly has no contact information appearing what so ever.  Moreover, finally, you try calling your WhatsApp buddy and the call dosen’t go through.  Don’t jump to conclusions though as these are only a glimpse at the possibility that you’ve gotten blocked.

Maybe your contact has changed the privacy settings or taken a WhatsApp hiatus.  If you keep trying to reach a person through WhatsApp to no avail then, you might as well quit while you’re ahead.  Sorry, they just don’t want to talk you so, instead of telling you that they blocked you.  No worries though we’re sure you’ve got plenty more friends to share your stories and mishaps about life, so, just let it go.

Also Check: How To Know if Someone Blocked You On Facebook

                     How To Know if Someone Blocked You on Instagram

                     How To Know If Someone Blocked You On Viber

Read More

What Is The Differences Between Image File Formats

After you’ve captured great photos of properties, lawns, interiors, and more, you are most likely going to save those images so you can upload them to your website or print them for your portfolio. Do you save them in TIFF, JPEG, PNG, DNG or some other file format?

Lossy vs. Lossless

Before discussing  the image file types that photographers commonly use, it is important to know the concept of lossy and lossless file compression. A lossy algorithm removes some information in the digital file to reduce the file size. However, the loss of information lowers the overall quality of the image. Lossy files can be saved in your computer at various quality levels.

On the other hand, a lossless algorithm retains all the information in the image. But that also means lossless files takes a lot of space in your storage device.

Raster vs. Vector

When you think “image format,” you’re probably thinking of a raster. It has nothing to do with Bob Marley – it just means that the file is essentially a grid of colored pixels that make a picture. JPG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, and most other photo files are rasters. The only information they have is what color the pixels are, so enlarging or stretching them will generally just result in a more pixelated image.

 

Vectors, though, are designed to be scaled forever. SWF, EPS, and PDF files store images not as pixels, but as math equations that can be rendered as points and lines. The image can get as big or as small as you need without taking a quality hit, but these extensions are not as common around the Web since vectors are not as readily compatible as raster images.

Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) – Lossy Raster

The JPEG file is named after the group that created it and dominates the world of web images due to its near-universal compatibility and small size. Your eye probably couldn’t tell a lightly-compressed JPEG from a higher-quality image without a few seconds of scrutiny, and it loads fast, so it’s good enough for most of the Web.

JPEG-2000 is the updated version that has some improvements over the original, but it’s never really taken off, so you’re unlikely to see this format many places.

Great for: putting photos on the Web, saving and sending small image sizes, general use, printing out pictures.

Portable Network Graphics (PNG) – Lossless Raster

This format has become the go-to for high-quality web graphics, especially if you need a transparent background. PNG was originally designed as a GIF alternative, but it supports way more colors and is more flexible about transparency settings. The file size is generally bigger than either GIF or JPEG, but PNG preserves quality better and is more flexible,

You may also run across PNG-8 and PNG-24 in some programs. These will still export as normal PNGs, but PNG-8 only supports 256 colors and doesn’t allow partial transparency, netting you a smaller file size than the more full-featured PNG-24.

Great for: web graphics, high-quality photos where size isn’t an issue, transparency.

Graphical Interchange Format (GIF) – Lossless Raster

The predecessor to PNG, the GIF format is now most famous for enabling the short video loops that you can’t stop watching on social media. The debate over whether to pronounce it as “gif” or “jif” is fairly heated, but if you want to make both sides angry, try pronouncing it as “jeff.”

GIFs only support 256 colors, which makes them a poor choice for high-quality photos, but their compression is excellent, so it can downsize simple images without a huge quality hit. Pixels can also be made transparent, but must be either on or off, not in-between.

Great for: simple graphics, animations, icons.

Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) – Lossless Raster

You may not have run into a TIFF personally, but if you’re into photography or work much with print media, you may recognize them as the large, but high-quality, format often favored by publishers.  Also, no one argues about the pronunciation.

Great for: printing high-quality photos, scanning high-quality images, anything where size isn’t an issue.

Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) – Vector

If you’ve ever tried to save an image off the Internet and instead gotten the “save as a webpage” option, you may have seen an SVG. These are possibly the most widely-supported vector graphics out there, and their ability to maintain good quality and scalability at low file sizes makes them popular for logos, site graphics, and anywhere else that a vector would come in handy.

 

Great for: business graphics, scalable graphics, logos.

New Image File Formats

You may not have seen these formats in the wild yet, but they offer some advantages over today’s standards.

High Efficiency Image Format

HEIF is essentially JPEG but with higher quality and smaller file sizes. This is now the default picture format on iOS 11 and later.

WebP

WebP is Google’s format, and it does pretty much everything: better compression than JPEG, better animations than GIF, and transparency on par with PNG. It’s supported by several browsers and is currently being used by YouTube, Facebook, and a few other sites if you visit them using a supported browser.

Why So Many Formats?

It’s unlikely that there will ever be one format to rule them all, since different fields have different image needs. General internet browsers don’t really need to think beyond JPEG and PNG (and maybe WebP and HEIC in the future), but for business and publishing applications, having options like TIFF and SVG makes life easier.

And, if you haven’t already, you should think about choosing a side in the GIF debate before the format disappears. Be part of history.

Read More