Showing posts with label Tech. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tech. Show all posts

Change Default Folder View in Windows 11

Every time windows 11 updates, it changes my default folder view, using "grouping", and changing my view to lists, on every folder.

This is not how I prefer to view my files.  I do not want them grouped.  And I want to view large icons.  

Fortunately, you can change the default view on all folders at once, pretty quickly.


First open a folder and set it up the way you want your default view to look.
For me, that means going to sort/group and selecting "none"

Then under view, I choose large icons.



Then I click on the three dots to the right, and choose options.  A box pops up.  In that box choose the view tab.  Then choose "apply to folders".

That's it - now that setting has been applied as the default for all of your folders.

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Five Fun Options For Your Alexa Flash Briefing

 
Alexa's Flash Briefing is like your own custom podcast  - short updates based on what you want to hear each day.

First, finding the flash briefing option take a minute.  Open your Alexa app, go to Settings/News/Flash Briefing

  Flash Briefings are built to "hear short updates and top stories from multiple sources". Typically users choose to hear news and headlines. You can even have Alexa alert you to breaking news.   I have no interest in that.  Instead, my flash briefing includes:

1. Daily Almanac Flash Briefing Practical tips and useful advice from the editors of The Old Farmer's Almanac: every day we tell you the date, the day of the year, significant events from the day in history, plus an interesting tidbit. Let us use our more than 225 years of experience to help you get your day started in 60 seconds.

2. On This Day In History - A daily history lesson on what famous events happened on this day years ago

3. Word Of The Day - Like a word of the day calendar, but in digital form.  

4. Your Daily Writing Habit - Although this briefing is aimed at those writing a book, her focus is on mindset habits.  Some days there are quotes, and every day there are tips for making, and meeting your goals.  They are great tips for any goal, not just writing, and I've found that I enjoy this segment very much each day - even though I am not writing a book myself.

5. Verse Of The Day - A simple daily bible verse. No commentary, just the scripture. 

 Harper Collins had a Daily Devotional I loved, in addition to this.  It was a short excerpt from a different devotional book each week.  One week was Max Lucado, one was Rosa Parks..  it was excellent!  Unfortunately, I can no longer get it to work.  :-(  There are other devotionals of course, but I have yet to find one I liked as much as that one.

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More To Try:
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Curiosity Daily - The award-winning Curiosity Daily podcast from Curiosity.com will help you get smarter about the world around you — every day. In less than 10 minutes, you’ll get a unique mix of research-based life hacks, the latest science and technology news, and more. Discovery's Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer will help you learn about your mind and body, outer space and the depths of the sea, and how history shaped the world into what it is today.

Two Minutes In The GardenInformative bite-sized updates covering the hows and whys of gardening basics, tips, science, myths and more.

Healthy Habit - A Daily Healthy Habit

Old Farmers AlmanacGet a daily update from the pages of The Old Farmer's Almanac: each day we'll tell you about the day of the year, the season, let you know the people who were born and who died on this day, and give you a question of the day.

Everyday Positivity A positive flash briefing Alexa skill to help lift your day and put you in the right state of mind to thrive. 

Word Of The Day Options - Learn a French Word Of The Day, A  Spanish Word of the Day,  German Word Of The Day, etc.  There's even a Klingon Word Of The Day.

You can also add your horoscope, just search "Horoscope Of The Day" and find your sign. 

More about Alexa Flash Briefings
https://amzn.to/3CHYlXw

Tips For A New Phone - Backing Up The Old, Setting Up The New

My new phone is "out for delivery" according to Fedex.  It has to be signed for, of course, but Fedex has shelpfully narrowed the delivery time down to a twelve hour window in which someone needs to be here waiting to sign for it. (and it's super windy here today,  I never realized before how much wind can sound like a Fedex truck coming up the lane....)

While I am waiting for the phone to arrive, here's my to do list, in preparation to move all of my files:

First & foremost - Order a case.  Even before your new phone ships, order a case.  Take this advice from someone who dropped her brand new phone less than 24 hours after receiving it. A brand spanking new phone with a small hairline crack across the bottom of the screen is very frustrating.  This time, the new case was here days before my new phone even shipped.
I created a folder in dropbox named "new phone"
And then I moved everything I want to save from my old phone, into this folder. 
Including screenshots of how my home screens are set up

On The Old Phone, Before Making The Switch
  • Go through all of my apps, delete any I am not really using. When google syncs my apps to my new phones, I don't need it to sync the extras that I'm not really using. 
  • Transfer all photos & epubs (Books) I am reading to a folder on my computer or in dropbox,  to quickly transfer back to my new phone.
  • Remember to check the snapchat folder. I have a lot of saved snaps - those are in the snapchat folder, not in my photos folder.
  • Make a note of what page I am on in any books I am reading
  • Check the downloads folder - is there anything I downloaded that I will want to transfer to my new phone?  Upload documents to google drive, or back them up in a folder to transfer back to my phone
  • Screenshot each of my phone screens, upload the photos to dropbox so I can see how I had each screen set up.
  • Go through your texts. make sure there is nothing important in those messages.  Copy important information into a document, or forward them to your email or to a cloud based messaging app such as Whatsapp or Telegram.
  • Make a list of frequently used group chats. (when you get your new phone, just message one of the contacts and ask them to send a message to that group chat. You won't have the old messages, but the "group" will now be back in your list of messages)
  • Find the contacts app on your phone. Go through the list, merge duplicates, delete the extras (My boys old girlfriends, the contact list from our sons 9th grade football team... I really don't need those numbers anymore, and I can find them all on facebook if I need them!), and then find the option to back up and sync. My numbers are almost all stored in Google contacts, but sometimes some get stored just in Samsung - so I want to make sure they are all backed up before my new phone gets here.
  • Look at the apps you use and make notes.  Do you use a different calendar app than the built in app?  Make a note.  Do you use a 3rd party messaging app?  Note the name.  Google is really good about downloading all of my apps to my new device - but sometimes it misses one, or one is no longer supported.  For the important things, that i use often, I like to know what I WAS using, so I can figure out what the issue is, if it didn't automatically sync.
  • I copy all of my downloaded ringtones and notifications over too. (I don's use the ones that come with the phone) I don't have to, I can always re-download them, but this saves me from having to search and find them again.
  • On your phone screen, press and hold until the wallpaper option appears. Then look at your wallpaper settings and take a screen shot or make a note. (on my phone, I went to wallpaper/themes/ click on the three lines at the top, "my stuff". ) I made a note of which theme I had applied and what the name of the wallpaper I am using is. I may use something new on my new phone, but honestly, probably not. I like the way my phone looks as is.
Update - Both Dan and I bought new phones this month.  Both of us were going from Samsung to Samsung, although we have different models.  I went from the Note 8 to the S20, He went from the S8 to the Note10.  Dan used the cord attachment to transfer from phone to phone, and all of his apps (even his financial apps) transferred, but his books did not.  I used the app/wifi option, and all of my books and photos transferred, but most of my apps did not. In both cases, our homescreens and app shortcuts duplicated, although on my phone a lot was missing, including entire folders of apps.  

So the apps and cord options work - but I wouldn't fully trust them, in both cases, it missed files.  Dan thinks the cord option worked a lot better for him, but he tends to not be as...  lets say particular, about his phone, as I am - so things missing will not be nearly as obvious to him.  The only thing that really bothered him was that his books would not transfer.  (they were easily re-downloaded though, once he remembered what he had).  For me, my books transferred seamlessly - but it did NOT save my place, so I was glad I made notes on what pages I was on.

On The New Phone (While on WIFI!)
  • Go to settings, system sounds & vibration, shut off all the touch and keyboard (haptic feedback, or vibration) sounds.
  • Go to Security, pin, and check the box to confirm pin without typing ok
  • Disable as much of Bixby as much as possible. (Varies by phone)
  • Change my ringtone and volume settings.
  • Go to google play, sync and update all of my apps
  • Go to spotify, download my favorite playlists to my phone
  • Go to evernote, sync my notes
  • Open Ancestry App, download all family trees
  • Login to every app.  Seriously.  I know it is time consuming - but some of them will not download updates or data until you login, so do that while you are on wifi. 
  • Disable any background apps I don't use (Bloatware installed on the phone)
  • Open my books and go to the page I left off on, while I have the notes in front of me.
  • Transfer all of my photo albums back from dropbox, or wherever I backed them up
  • Open my bluetooth settings, make sure my watch, speakers, etc are all paired.
  • Set up all of my homescreens, using the screenshots from my last phone (this was mostly done by the transfer app - but a good bit was missing)
  • Group all of my apps into folders (the transfer app did this for me - but it missed so many apps, that I did still have to move all the ones I had to download manually)
  • Reset new shortcuts to my google lists.  (The icons for these transferred, but none of them worked.)

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Using An Antennae For Local Channels With Our Dish DVR



Although DishTv & CBS are currently in a dispute, we are still watching CBS shows from our Dish DVR with no disruption.  Because we no longer pay for local channels through Dish. Instead, we added an antenna and an airtv adapter, which allows us to record over the air channels right to our Dish DVR.

Quick Links:

Total expense came to less than $80 for us.  Since we were paying $12 a month for local channels, we'll recoup that cost in less than 7 months, AND we have CBS even when they are in a dispute with Dish.


A few years back, when Dish was having a dispute with one of the other networks, Dish sent free  antennae to their customers upon request, and it did not work well for us, so I assumed an  antenna just would not work where we live. (We have a large hill right behind the house, and tall trees to the side of us) I was wrong - we just needed a better  antenna.  That may not be the case for everyone - I recommend buying one you can return, just in case!  But when I posted on my facebook page that we had done this, I was surprised by how many in our local area were already doing this!  

We purchased this antenna on amazon.  It ships quick, and was EASY to put together and install!  https://amzn.to/2OzvBsA
Originally the plan was to put this high up on the peak of our top roof.  But we put it together and set it in the backyard first, and immediately pulled in 11 channels. With it sitting on the ground.  So we installed it on our one story porch roof, instead of at the very top of the house, and it works great for us, even though we have a hill right behind the house and woods to the side of us.

Over the air tv - our local channels, are FREE.  We had been paying Dish $12 a month to have them included in our tv package, because those same free channels charge companies like Dish and Direct Tv for access.  But for you an I, these channels are absolutely free to access.  

This adapter connects our antenna to the dish dvr, allowing me to record shows just like I did before, when we had the channels through dish.

If you are like me, however,  and never actually watch live tv in real time, it was worth it to pay the $12 a month to let Dish handle the channels for me, so I could tape them on our dvr.  Until I found that we could add a $30 device to our antenna to connect it to our DISH, and record the channels right from the normal Dish TV guide, and have them appear on our dvr just as they had before!  

We looked into a variety of other DVR options - but all of them are rather pricey for what we wanted.  Keeping our DishTv service, at the lowest package rate, with the local channels dropped, works best for us.  

We pull in around 17 over the air channels with our antenna.  They appear in our Dish guide right along with our other Dish channels.


THE CATCH - 
With this set up, I can only tape two over the air channels at one time.  I don't know if there is an option to record more OTA channels at one time or not, for us, two is enough.

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See How Much Time You Spend On Facebook & Instagram


Note - This only works in the app, not on a computer.
Click on the three lines on the top right
Click on Settings and Privacy
Choose "Your Time On Facebook:"

Once you look at your graph, look under the graph for some nice options.  Clicking on each section allows you to modify settings and set preferences on what you want to see, and do not want to see, in your feed.


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On Instagram


Google - Find My Phone


Misplaced your phone?  Go to your computer, open google, and type "Find My Phone".
If your google account is connected, it will show you where your phone is located, and allow you to turn the ringer on.

For more information - https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/7177579



Ok Google - Add To My Shopping List


This works on both my google home, and just on my phone.  It's pretty nice when cooking and realize I am almost out of something to just say 
"Ok Google - Add This Item To My Shopping List".
without having to stop, clean off my hands, open an app or find a pen.

To see your list shipping online:


And it's not just for shopping lists - you can ask google to create a list for anyting, then later just ask google to add an item to that list.  I keep a to do list on there, that I later transfer over to a better to do list app - I just use google to take a note of what I need to do, really.
I can't find a shortcut to view that on my laptop though..  currently my only way to access it is to ask google to show it on my phone  - or I can ask google home and it will read it to me.


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Tech Tips


See My Pinterest Board Of Tech Tips Here:
https://www.pinterest.com/htruck/tech-tips/

Google - 
Tips - 
In The Archives
(These are very outdated - but I've saved them, because there is some interesting info still in some of these posts...)




Pin This:

How To Quickly Scan Old Negatives Into Digital Photos


I used a light box and an app on my phone to quickly - very quickly - make digital photos from old negatives.

Quick Links:
Recently I was given an amazing box of memorabilia, including an envelope of old photo negatives from 1936.  The envelope told me they were flood photos, but holding them up to the light did not give me much detail.  I'm way too impatient to take them somewhere to have them printed, I just wanted to see what was on the negatives!  So I asked for suggestions, and did some googling, and found that I could quickly capture photos from these negatives with a simple light box and an app on my cell phone.  I'm VERY happy with the results, and it was quick and easy!  

The negatives I started with - 1936 photos from the flood in Milton/Watsontown Pa

The negative on the light pad

Simply place the photo on a light pad, or a light box.  There are ways to make your own with bright lights and clear rubbermaid style boxes... but I happened to have this light pad already, and it works really well!  

This is how the photo looked when I took a photo of it, on the light pad, with just my regular camera.  It at least gave me a better idea of what the photo was - but it's not the results I was hoping for.   So I downloaded this free app from Kodak:
(There is a version for Apple devices as well)

This is how the photo looked when I used the Kodak Film Scanner app to take a photo of the negative on the light pad. 

I did find another method, using a flat bed scanner and a piece of shiny silver paper folded to reflect the scanner light, but for me, the light pad and camera app were much faster.  (I already had the light pad on hand)  There is a tutorial, and a pattern to download and print to make this reflector, here: https://makezine.com/2011/07/13/how-to_turn_slides_and_negativ/


Another Photo from a 1936 negative, using a light pad and the kodak app.
You can see all the photos from these negatives here:


I do have a bunch of other, not quite as old, negatives that I would like to scan - and I think for those I am going to want this handy little machine.

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The Who, What, When, Where, and How of Cloud Storage




WHO has the best free cloud storage?

My favorites are: Dropbox, Google Drive, Box, & Google Photos.
  I personally find one drive and the amazon cloud annoying - but they are also good options

All of these offer programs for on your computer, your phone, and web based access.  All of them offer free storage, and all of them make sharing your files, or keeping them private, easy.

WHAT to store in Cloud Storage
No storage is fool proof.  I keep an external hard drive, and various cloud storage, and I try to keep things backed up both places.  Both can fail - external hard drives can go back, clouds can go out of business (Copy was a favorite of mine that no longer exists.. but I had plenty of time to get my files out before they closed)

Genealogy - folders for each family surname, with subfolders for family members, containg documents and photos and everything related to genealogy research!

Documents - The Christmas card list, pets vet records, the kids high school transcripts  The family recipes, files for cookbooks I compiled, copies of insurance cards, household inventory, copies of important documents - like insurance policies and diplomas.  God forbid the house ever burns down, but if it does, all of our important documents would still be accessible.  I created a folder for each of the children and scanned in newspaper articles, and awards, for each of them. 


Crafts - Cricut svg files & fonts.  Patterns.  Photos of your completed projects.  I keep all of my favorite fonts in a folder in dropbox so that when I get a new device, I can transfer them quickly.  

Digital Media - less and less common.  We used to need a place to back up our mp3 files, now we all use spotify.  A place to back up ebooks, but many have gone to Overdrive (borrow ebooks for free from your library!) and or kindle.  

Photos!  

WHERE To Store Your Cloud Files:

Dropbox - 2gb free
   I probably joined dropbox when they first started, which may explain why I have 30gb of free storage.  There are lots of ways to get more free storage - one as simple as completing their getting started guide.  

For those of you looking to back up svgs for cricut, just for reference, the 2,000 svg files (unzipped - I unzip them and delete all of the extras that come in most zip files) I have stored take up roughly 200mb.  2gb will hold  a LOT of svgs.

Dropbox is my go to favorite for moving files from my phone to my laptop, and vice versa.  I have the app on my phone, and the program on my laptop.  Although I can access the files from any web browser, the apps make it quicker for me.  I created a folder named "Transfer" and when I there is something I know I will want on the other device, I send it there.  Once every week or so I try to make sure that folder is cleaned out and the files are where I wanted them.

Google Drive - 15gb free
Google Drive offers an impressive 15gb for free.  I tend to think of google drive as document storage, but I know others use it for svg storage quite effectively.  

I've never loved the web format of this storage, it just always looks cluttered.  But the new desktop download works just like the basic windows folder system, and will automatically sync and back up whichever folders you assign to do so.

When the kids were homeschooled, this was my favorite.  The kids could save their assignments to google drive, and when I edited them, it would show where I made edits.  If we were working on the same document at the same time, we could each see what the other was doing in real time - really a great feature for collaborative documents!

Box.com - 10gb free
When Box first started, they were giving away 50gb free to entice everyone to sign up.
Box drive as a downloadable program is in beta - I've never used it, I simply open a browser.  It's great for collaboration, with easy access to writing notes and adding comments to files.

Google Photos - Unlimited, mostly
"Google Photo gives you unlimited storage space if you are willing to limit photo resolution to 16 megapixels and video resolution to 1080p. You do have the option to store at higher resolutions, but the storage counts against your Google Drive quota"

This is the best way to back up all of those photos on your cell phone! 

HOW To Back Up Your Files In Cloud Storage

First decide what you are backing up, and where you are backing it up to.  Then organize it a bit if needed - sort those svg files into folders by theme, gather all of your documents in a folder and name them appropriately, and create your free storage account.

Then go to the services website, download the program.  On your phone, download the app.  Figure out if you need to upload your files, or just sync the folders.  

Each program is a little different, but all of them are really good at walking you through the steps, and they all have tutorials if you need them.

Think of it as moving things to a flash drive, except the flash drive is the cloud. 

Then, back everything up on a flash drive (or external hard drive, or even dvds) too, to cover as many bases as you can.  


WHEN to Back Up Your Files On Cloud Storage
Frequently.  Set a time each week, or each month, to update and back up your files.  Once a year plan to spend some time cleaning up your cloud storage.  Years ago we used to have filing cabinets that needed cleaned out and organized every once in awhile, think of your cloud storage as a filing cabinet.  

For me, this is somewhat easy. I am on wifi once a week (we have limited wifi at the farm).  So the night before, I try to sort out the photos on my camera roll (I do not need to back up all 37 photos I took  of our llama yesterday afternoon - I can pick the best 4), add new songs to my spotify playlist, make a note of books I want to add to my phone to read, etc.  Then when I am on wifi the next day, I have a folder on my phone labeled "when on wifi".  I open each of those apps, and back up and upload as necessary.

Each week I try to clean out the downloads folder on my laptop - moving all of the genealogy, photos, and svg downloads to the appropriate folders and storage, before it all gets too out of control.  How often will truly depend on your own habits, and on how many files and folders you accumulate in a week.

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Windows Snipping Tool - Replaces "print screen"


Have you seen the new "Snipping Tool" in Windows 10?  It's REALLY handy.  Now instead of hitting the print screen button, opening a graphics program, pasting the image, then cropping it and saving it, this tool does it all in a few less clicks.




It's found under Windows Accessories in your start menu.  I dragged it to the right and created a new tile for it, as you can see above.  You could also drag it down as a short cut in the bottom toolbar.



To use it, click on the app, and a little tiny box pops up.  Select the part of the screen you want to crop, then name your save.

That's it.  SUPER quick.

There's a more in depth tutorial here - 
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/13776/windows-use-snipping-tool-to-capture-screenshots

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Tips for Setting Up A New Android Phone


Again, I needed a new phone.  My latest Droid 4, refurbished, and sent to me just a few weeks back because I wore out the keyboard on my first one, no longer would charge on any charger other than an old bedside dock cord from 3 or phones back.  So here I am setting up yet another phone...

FIRST:
On My Old Phone

  • checked to see if there were any photos I wanted saved.  Since all my photos sync with google automatically as I take them, there was nothing there I needed to copy over, but I did check, just in case. (I've switched to syncing to the private folder in facebook now, since that is where the photos usually end up anyway)
  • Take Screen shots of each of my screens.  On ICS, hold the volume down and power buttons at the same time.  Then I copied all of these into evernote to reference later.
  • Copy all of my library out of aldiko.  Just to be safe, I jotted down the page numbers of all the books I am currently reading, so if I cannot just copy the library in, at least I will know where I was at in each book. (I could not copy the library folder over - I still had to import the books.. glad I had those page numbers!)
  • Copy the cardiotrainer file - I just copied the whole folder, and once I install cardiotrainer on my new phone, I'll replace the new folder with the old one. (This worked flawlessly)
  • Copy the Task List folder - mine does not sync anywhere online, so if I delete it without copying it, I will lose all of my lists
  • Copy the MyDays folder (also does not sync)

On My New Phone:
  • After registering it with my gmail address, the first app I download is golauncher ex. This allows me to resize widgets, add extra homescreens, and customize the look of my phone.
  • The next app I download is Zedge.  Rather than transfer my ringtones, etc, I redownload them..  because I usually have too many and this seems like a good time to start fresh.  The "DROID" notification will drive me nuts really fast, so changing my notifications is a priority. 
  • Open the google play app, choose settings/menu & uncheck the auto add widgets box.  (That keeps it from adding a shortcut for every app I download onto my homescreens)
  • Open the gmail app (once installed) menu/settings/myemailaddress/ turn off the sound notifications.  (as much email as I get, it gets annoying to be notified every time!)
  • open the stock texting app and disable notifications, under menu/settings (this is because I use a different texting app - if you like the stock app, you will want to keep the notifications!)  TIP - if you use the stock texting app, look through the settings and consider changing the option for reply all.  If you change it to individual conversations, when you send out a bulk text, everyone you sent it to will not receive all the replies.  (I am right now receiving bunches of private texts all in reply to a bulk email a friend sent...  it's pretty annoying.)
  • On the apps screen, I drag all of the apps (I use a LOT of them!) into themed folders.  I'll list the folders in another post (coming soon)
  • With Go Launcher, choose menu/preferences and enable infinite scrolling.  Now the screens all scroll in a loop, not just to the left and right.
  • With golauncher installed, choose menu/edit and add 2 more screens.  (Post showing each of the screens and how I use them coming soon)
  • Go to https://play.google.com/store  Choose "My Android Apps" on the right.  On the left at the top I can now see two phone options - my old phone, and my new one.  I click on the old one, then open each app listed in a new tab.  this takes awhile.  I then click install on each app, and choose to install on new device.  This is time consuming.  There must be a better way, but I have not found it yet.
  • Up on the right hand side of the google play sight, I choose the settings wheel, then choose the settings tab.  Here I can rename my device, rename my old device, and disable my old device from being shown in menus.
  • Somehow I got on a telemarketers list for some cruise ship promo.  They call a lot.  It starts with a loud cruise ship horn.  I added the number to my contacts, then opened the contact, choose menu, and send all calls to voicemail.  Still cluttering up my voicemail, but at least I do not get interupted by the calls.  
I love Calendar Pad - because it shows the text for each event, not just blocks of color.  Syncs beautifully with google calendar.
Odds & Ends:
  • My favorite texting app is handcent.  I like the way it looks.  Recently though, it could not sync contacts with facebook.  I found the explanation, and a work around, here: http://www.handcent.com/dir/help/list##h16  Basically, Use FriendSync - which my phone used to do without an add on, but apparently facebook blocks that option now.   FriendsSync is not like  a stand alone app - to use it, first go to menu/settings/accounts.  While you are there, click on facebook, and uncheck the sync contacts, so that you don't end up with duplicates.  Now choose add account, and add FriendsSync.  The first link in this paragraph has screen shots - but it's really simple. 
  • In handcent, I can set separate notification sounds for different people.  So a text from my husband sounds different than a text from redbox.  At the top right of any text you receive, look for the outline of a person with the outline of the settings wheel on it.
  • I LOVE calendar pad for my calendar.  I create a 4x4 widget on one entire screen, and then press down on it to resize it to make it even bigger (golauncher allows me to resize widgets).  I then go into menu/settings and change the start day to Sunday (Monday is the default)  Then I go to calendar settings and beside each calendar I do not want to see in the widget (like  my agenda - that would completely clutter up our regular calendars) I choose setup, and uncheck the view box.
Misc ICS OS Tips:
  • Hold down the power button and the volume down button at the same time to take a screen shot
  • Hold the Home button for a list of apps that are running. Swipe them to the side to shut them off.
  • This article is loaded with ads and a little slow to load, but is a nice overview of some of the Ice Cream Sandwich Operating System features