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SIMPLIFY YOUR
WRITTEN BY KIM KOMANDO
In our increasingly high-tech households , your hard drive , phone , or tablet may need as much attention as your broom closet and stove . It ’ s not just stuff . Your privacy needs aclean-up , too . You ’ d be shocked at how much Google tracks about you , including when and where you have been . Here are five tools that can help you organize your virtual ( and real ) environments .
REMOVE ALL REDUNDANT IMAGES
Digital photos are easy to shoot , upload , and copy , which is handy in almost every respect , especially if you grew up lugging rolls of film to the one-hour photo lab . The downside is that you may end up with multiple copies of the same picture . If you ’ re shooting withadecentcamera , each shot could take 10MG or more of space . This volume adds up . The trick is to safely delete redundant photos without losing the original image . This is the premise behind DUPLICATE PHOTO FIXER , which is designed to filter through yourphoto collection in search of double-takes . The program is compatible with Windows , iOS , and Android . Not only can Duplicate Photo Fixer find identical photos on your harddrive , but it will also match similar photos — so don ’ t worry if you cropped an image or tinkered with its brightness and contrast .
SPEED UP YOUR SMARTPHONE
Most of us already know about cluttered desktops , but what about smartphones ? Our phones are essential handheld computers , and when they overflow with useless information , their operations can also slow down . These aren ’ t necessarily apps , but overburdened call logs , search history , and saved texts . For Android users , there ’ s 1TAP CLEANER , an app that earns its name . The app gathers that data in one place , letting you decide what to keep . Most of us are surprised how many outdated messages and URLs get archived , a data stream that we will probably never refer to again . Then again , you do want to make sure irreplaceable bits ( landmark texts , unsaved photos ) survive the deep clean . iPhones don ’ t have an equivalent app to 1Tap Cleaner , so you ’ ll have to remove the surplus manually . Luckily , iPhone makes it pretty easy .
SELL YOUR SECOND- HAND STUFF ONLINE
There are several online markets which are considered more trustworthy than Craigslist , but are still free and user-friendly . ( Note : Scams can happen just about anywhere , so keep an eye out , even on these sites ). Like eBay , OFFERUP lets you sift through commodities and make an offer . Unlike eBay , it isn ’ t an auction site , and you don ’ t have to wait for a clock to tick down . OfferUp also uses the TruYou system , which confirms the identities of buyers and sellers . Some folks would balk at the idea of purchasing used clothes . But others have made acareer out of browsing vintage stores for incredible finds . THREDUP is much like those stores , because qualified fashion experts determine whether items fit their quality standards . If you have a leather jacket or pair of dress shoes , you might consider putting them up for sale .
CLEAN UP YOUR BROWSER
Cookies are like the gunk in your roof gutters : you can ’ t see them , but they ’ re there , clogging everything up and keeping your computer from running fluidly . The same goes for download history . Afree program called CCLEANER helps you sort out the cookies and archives you don ’ t really need . When you download the app , you can focus on aspecific browser that you would like to clean up . CCleaner analyzes its backlog of information and lists the data that seems unnecessary .
CATALOG ALL YOUR
PHYSICAL BELONGINGS
We see household objects every day , but what do we actually own ? You may be the type of person who likes to keep track of every ironing board and lampshade in the house , or you may want to compile areport for insurance companies , so there is no question whether something has been stolen or lost . THE ENCIRCLE app works on both iOS and Android and was created to take inventory of your worldly possessions . Just take aphoto of each valuable object , then attach notes to the image , including its original cost , relevant serial numbers , and even appraisals . It makes the process super easy . ■
20 FALL 2018 MILLBURN & SHORT HILLS MAGAZINE