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Thanks to recent price increases and the dwindling fuel resources which are plaguing the energy sector, many households have found their bills hard to manage of late. Over the past year, both gas and electricity prices have risen dramatically, but the price we pay goes beyond our bills and we should all be trying to cut down our natural gas and electricity usage in a bid to manage our individual carbon footprint.

The need to monitor our consumption and bring our energy usage back under control has therefore become a priority – and mobile apps have once again led the way in helping us achieve this.

As Android models continue to be one of the most popular handsets to own, there are naturally a multitude of apps available to help you monitor your energy consumption.

Meter Reader

This app requires you to input your daily meter readings for vital amenities, such as water, gas and electricity, translating the information into a visual graph. The graph is created automatically and allows easy tracking of your energy consumption from day to day.

This prompts you to adjust the amount of energy you use in your home and could see you begin to reduce your energy usage and bills almost instantly.

Energy Savings Calculator

For those who want to make their home more energy efficient, investing in new appliances or home improvements is often recommended. Unfortunately, homeowners can be cautious about such action as they are unsure of whether the future savings will compensate for the initial outlay.

Thankfully, an android app has sought to rectify this with the Energy Savings Calculator allowing you to compare new and old appliances based on their energy consumption. All you need to do is input the respective values and the app will tell you how much you stand to save per week, month and year.

It can also calculate how long it will take you to recoup the initial price you paid for the appliance in savings – the perfect way for the energy-conscious homeowner to ensure they make the right decision over their spending.

SmartLinc

Compatible with Insteon home systems, the free SmartLinc app allows you to control various appliances in your home using your smartphone. This means that your lighting and even your heating thermostat can be adjusted remotely – giving you complete control over your home.

This is especially important when you consider how much these services contribute to our energy bills. Lighting is claimed to account for 25 per cent of our electricity bills and lowering your heating thermostat by just a couple of degrees could translate to a 10 per cent annual saving.

About Paul Salmon

Paul Salmon is the founder of Technically Easy. He is a an experienced PC user, and enjoys solving computer-related problems that he encounters on a regular basis.

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If you’ve not yet been convinced to swap paper and print for a portable library (aka. a Kindle, Nook or Sony Reader), perhaps you can be convinced to give these half-way houses a try. The following apps are free, easy to use and offer a fantastic range of additional features that no block of paper could ever dream of offering you.

eBooks by Kobo

According to its iTunes preview page, Kobo gives users access to ‘millions of free and affordable eBooks‘ as well as subscriptions to popular newspapers and magazines.

Kobo also allows users to take advantage of a number of unique features designed to make the reading experience more social and interactive.

• ‘Reading Life’ enables keen bookworms to create a personal ‘book cover’ based upon the titles they choose to read. You can also view stats on your reading habits and compare your habits with friends.
• Reading through Kobo can earn you awards (because of course, reading has always been a competition…)

I like this feature a bit more though:

• You can find out your book’s ‘pulse’ – this enables you to see who shares your taste in literature and discuss your current conquest in the Kobo ‘community’.

Users can also benefit from night mode, customisable text and the ability to add notes.

Wattpad

Wattpad is an eReader application designed around user-generated content; thus, if you’re a firm fan of Charles Dickens or Booker prize winners you might find the hit and miss nature of this free content a little bewildering.

Wattpad enables anyone to try their hand at telling a story and sharing their words with the world. If you’re open-minded about amateur writing and are enticed by the idea of discussing what you read with the writer them self, Wattpad can’t be beaten.

Kindle

As an application from the makers of the ereader, the Kindle iPhone e-book reader is always going to be one of the best.

As well as offering users instant access to over a million books and hundreds of magazines and newspapers, users benefit from:

• A simple, attractive and effective interface.
• The ability to read book samples before you buy.
• A ‘search’ function, to help you relocate a page of particular interest.

The kindle application also offers ‘whispersync’; a feature that remembers precisely where in your book you were when you last stopped reading.

B&N eReader

Understanding that if they want to survive bookshops have to move with the times, bookstore giant Barnes and Noble have jumped on the eReader bandwagon in order to offer casual readers and dedicated bookworms alike this simple and attractive way to view publications on their PC, Android or ‘i’ device.

With over two million books, newspapers and magazines available at the touch of a button, along with thousands of books available to download completely free, it’s clear that Barnes and Noble are a firm contender in the race for the eReader crown.

The B&N eReader offers such invaluable features as ‘LendMe’ technology, that lets you share books with family and friends, as well as the ability to sample any book for free and sync your eReader across multiple devices.

The Real eReader

Although all of the above offer a feature rich, cheap and convenient way to get reading, there really is no substitute for an actual eReader.

Simply put, real eReaders utilize an ingenious screen that has no light and can’t instigate eye strain – just like reading a real book!

About Guest Blogger

This post was written by a guest blogger. Their details, if any, are in the post. If you are interested in guest blogging for Technically Easy, please read the guest posting guidelines.

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There are now many apps designed to keep iPhone users busy with their device, among which is photo sharing apps and networks. With a user database of more than 4.25 million people, instagram is among the most popular photo sharing network and app available these days. If you want to explore totally new photo-sharing possibilities with your iPhone, or perhaps you are new to instagram, here are some really cool things you can do with this crowd-pulling app.

Bring the Power of Image to Your Personal Communications

Have followers you value so much and wish you can thank them in a way they will feel and appreciate? Guess what, it is now possible. Instagram comes with an application called the Statigram. When you want to load this service, it will request a username and password; just use your Instagram details here. Then navigate and snapshot the right person for a vote of thanks.

Put a Mark of Personality to Your Photos

There are many photo-editing services you can use to create cool effects with your photos. For your iPhone, you can use Outcolor, Photogene, ArtCamera and many others. These iPhone camera apps will allow you to exactly have your photo with the right graphics and customizations. Have photos of your pets or any other family picture on other photo sharing services like Snapily, Mixbook, Smilebox and others? Why not get them over for some catchy fun on Instagram?

Just download them to the iPhone and the app will take care of the rest.

Identify Your Top Brands and Follow Them

It will surprise you to learn that some top organizations and brands are already rocking it with instagram; speaking of World Health Organization, NBC News, CNN, Starbucks, and even celebs and artists. You can find any brand or group of your choice by searching for their usernames on the app.

Hashtag your Uploads

While hashtag may seem so popular with twitter, it is now making its way into other photo sharing networks as a way of discovering even more shared photos. A lot of people use it to find more fun images while for others it is a way of finding new people or groups to follow. Hashtaging uploads before sharing can enhance their discoverability across any network including facebook, twitter and of course instagram.

Grow Your Instagram Followers

With most photos, people need less explanation to understand it which is why they help to break the language barrier restricting international friendliness. With Instagram, you can follow as a many people as you like despite their background and they have a choice to either follow you back or not. I have gained many friends on Instagram by making serial uploads every Monday morning. My serial uploads are centered on golf sports which is my favorite game.

Hey, the opportunity is limitless. Instagram is growing on daily basis and the good news is, you don’t need a laptop or desktop computer loaded with applications to use it. For most of us, our iPhone is already our second home and Instagram provides us even more photo sharing features without lifting a finger off this device.

About Guest Blogger

This post was written by a guest blogger. Their details, if any, are in the post. If you are interested in guest blogging for Technically Easy, please read the guest posting guidelines.

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I was recently installing Microsoft Office 2010 on a Windows XP computer when I encountered an error. The error prevented the installation from continuing, which prevented Office 2010 from installing. Installation errors can be a pain, as some error messages may not be well documented. Luckily, Microsoft OFfice 2010, much like all version of Office since 2000, use the Windows Installer service for installation.

While the error itself doesn’t provide a whole lot of information regarding the problem, a quick search yielded the solution, which I outline below.

Microsoft Office 2010 Installation Error 1935

As mentioned I received an error when attempting to install Microsoft Office 2010 on a Windows XP computer. The error I received was:

After doing a a quick search I found out that the error is related to the .Net framework that was installed on the Windows XP machine. Depending on the version of the .Net framework that is installed, there are actually to methods of solving the problem.

.Net Framework 2.0 Installed

In my case, the .Net framework 2.0 version was installed on the Windows XP computer, so all I had to do was repair the framework to correct the problem. To repair the framework, I used the following steps.

1. I clicked “Start->Run”.
2. When the Run dialog appeared, I typed “appwiz.cpl” and then clicked the “OK” button.
3. In the “Currently installed programs” list, I clicked “Microsoft .Net Framework 2.0″, and then clicked the “Change/Remove” button.
4. When the setup window was displayed, I selected “Repair” and then the “Next” button.
5. The .Net framework was repaired and the Office 2010 installed completed successfully.

After correcting the above error, I update the .Net Framework to version 4.0 to avoid any similar problems in the future.

.Net Framework 1.1 or No Framework Installed

Unlike current version of Windows (Vista and 7), Windows XP didn’t include the .Net framework, which was installed once Windows update was run. For those with .Net framework 1.1 installed, or no .Net framework installed, you should update to .Net framework 4.0 to correct the issue.

You can use the “Windows Update” tool to update to the .Net framework to version 4.0, or use Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Web Installer to update.

In the end, the .Net framework caused the installation problem, which was easily solved by repairing the framework that was installed on the Windows XP computer.

See larger image Microsoft Office Home & Student 2010 - 3PC/1User (Disc Version) (DVD-ROM) List Price: $149.99 USD New From: $110.00 In Stock Release date June 15, 2010.

About Paul Salmon

Paul Salmon is the founder of Technically Easy. He is a an experienced PC user, and enjoys solving computer-related problems that he encounters on a regular basis.

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Have you ever tried to keep healthy by exercising often and changing your diet by yourself? Many men and women have tried and have left midway feeling demoralized, not knowing if what they were doing, really worked at all.

Not everyone has the time or money to go all the way to the gym and hire a professional trainer who will suggest a proper and effective workout and diet.

Fortunately for us, third party developers are now making health-related apps that are available on our mobile devices. Choosing these new apps is a new option for weight loss and staying fit. There are three noteworthy apps that have caught the public’s attention.

Pedometer PRO GPS+

For those who do not go to the gym, do not have the time or extensive equipment for a workout, “Pedometer PRO GPS+” is the answer. This app calculates and records how many calories you burn based on the distance you walk and steps you take.

You have the luxury to customize your own daily goals and be refreshed to see your progress in numbers. You may not feel it, but walking is the most basic yet vital form of exercise.

Lose It!

Living healthy is not just working out properly; it is also eating the right food. The “Lose it!” app is your own mobile dietician. It will help you lay down a plan for just the right amount of food by budgeting your calorie and nutrient intake.

Here you can gorge on multiple salad diets and see a detailed record of your improvement. This is a handy tool that can work hand in hand with popular diet programs such as Diettogo or BistroMD.

iFitness

For those who often go to the gym or have their own equipment, iFitness is the app for you. Think of iFitness as a gym instructor. You can ask him what exercise you need for almost every muscle.

He will follow up with a list of related workouts on the specified muscle and even explain its purpose. You can go at your own pace and fulfill the required sets as suggested. This app will even allow you to keep track of your progress and create your own exercises.

Weight loss without a trainer is most difficult, but now you do not have to fight alone anymore. These apps offer their friendly services to show you effective exercise, various diets, and the progress you make.

Avail of their coupon or promo code for good deals. Keeping healthy is a challenge, but now you have help.

About Guest Blogger

This post was written by a guest blogger. Their details, if any, are in the post. If you are interested in guest blogging for Technically Easy, please read the guest posting guidelines.

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