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Favorite Apps

Happy Wednesday!  Today’s post we are going to highlight some of our favorite apps.

Editing:

  • Snapseed is one of the best photo editing apps out there.  It has so much to offer packed into a little tiny app!
  • Instagram is great to edit images/videos and also add text & gifs.  Once you edit a picture or video in Instagram stories there is a down facing arrow that if you click it saves the video to your camera roll! Easy as pie.  Once you save it you don’t have to post it – you can delete it and utilize the saved image/video in your camera roll for whatever you like.

Weather:

  • UAV forecast is our first app we open.  It gives us the KP index (an external force that can possibly reduce your satellite signals, it also measures geomagnetic storms caused by solar activity) which is super important to check before you fly every time.  Even a hobbyist should be checking KP index for the day to avoid a flyaway or possible crash.  (To read more about KP index click here for a great website called Space Weather Live.  They dive deeper into the science behind KP index and they also go through what the numbers mean.)
  • Second weather app is Dark Sky, this one seems to be super accurate and very up to the minute in terms of their information.  NOAA Weather app is also ok but if you don’t pay for their PRO I don’t think the free is updated as much and it does crash a lot.
  • The last weather app is Carrot – and we just like it because she delivers sarcastic funny weather. Sometimes you just need a laugh, especially when dealing with unpredictable weather!

Office:

  • CamScanner is a great app for on the fly if you need to create a PDF of something.  You can take a picture of a document and then email it as a PDF (or several other types of files).
  • MileBug is a great app for keeping track of mileage
  • Evernote is an alternative note taking app where you can add pictures, links etc.  It is a great way to digitally organize your thoughts, ideas or lists

3D Models:

  • Sketchfab! We love using Sketchfab to house our 3D models.  You can follow other people and get some great ideas for models as well as look at some awesome work people are putting out there.

Thanks for reading through some of our favorites and we would love to hear some of yours!  Comment below and let us know which apps you can’t live without!

 

*We are in no way associated with any of these apps/websites or paid to talk about, review etc.*

 

 

 

 

 

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Winter Tips for Tech Devices

Happy Wednesday! Today we have some tips for those of you who live in a colder climate.  When the temp starts to drop we need to be aware of how cold our technology is becoming!  If you let your devices get too cold they can malfunction or worse yet – break!

Laptops:

  • Don’t keep laptops in the car when it’s not running – if you must keep it in the car wrap it in a blanket or sweater.  Or, you can invest in a laptop warmer (which do exist!)
  • Bring your charger because cold air sucks battery life like nobody’s business!
  • Turn it off! I know what you’re thinking ‘but isn’t it working and staying warmer if it’s on??’ short answer yes – long answer – if you are moving around and active you *could damage the computer’s data.
  • Don’t turn your computer on the second you walk in the door – let it warm up a bit as to not encourage condensation 

Phones:

  • Like laptops, phone batteries can drain easily in the winter so have a charger on hand
  • Keep your phone warm by keeping it in your pocket, purse or backpack.  You may even put it in a wool sock for added warmth!

Drones:

  • Fully charge your batteries
  • Hover 30-60 sec before you fly
  • Keep batteries warm!  When on location, we keep our heat on in the car and throw the batteries up on the dashboard

Hope these tips were helpful!  We love our winter weather up here in New England and we also love our technology! Stay safe and warm and keep your gear in check!

 

 

(some laptop tips taken from Popsugar)