Quickly Crop, Resize Images on Google Drive - No Download Required

Google Drive is our easy option when it comes to sharing files — be it for personal or work team collaboration. And it’s easy to see why. Aside from the fact that it’s free, it got a plethora of apps you can use to even supercharge your workflow and save your time in the process.

One of those Google Drive apps that I stumbled upon is BeFunky Photo Editor. If you live in a country where internet is an issue (read: slow, expensive, and often capped internet), BeFunky Photo Editor will do you a favor.

Few days ago while finishing a customer’s website, a client shared a Google Driver folder containing a bunch of images to load up into his landing pages. The problem: the images came straight from a DSLR camera and were almost 30mb each. And we’re talking about 70-100 images.

Imagine the frustration I felt realising I had to download them all using my capped internet data so I can crop, resize them offline. I only needed at least 1200px wide versions of those images.

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Just as you can unzip files on Google Drive without downloading them, there has to have a way to also crop, resize images straight from Google Drive without downloading them for offline editing. So I ended up rummaging through Google Drive apps directory and discovered BeFunky Photo Editor.

Easily Crop, Resize Images on Google Drive without Downloading them

BeFunky Photo Editor is a top-rated photo editor on Google Workplace Marketplace with 4k+ users as of writing. It’s one decent, full-featured photo editor that works straight from your browser. Probably the biggest strength of this app is the simplified editing controls, making it easy to edit photos with a few click.

BeFunky is a uniquely powerful online and mobile photo editor. Think Photoshop, but simplified for everyday users. With BeFunky, you can easily create stunning, professional-quality images with a single click. The process might be simple, but the results are incredibly sophisticated. Thanks to BeFunky, there’s no need to choose between a powerful, do-it-all tool and an easy, user-friendly interface. We’ve got it all!

Here’s how to get started:

1. Navigate to your Google Drive folder

2. Right-click any image > Open with > Connect more apps. This will bring the Google Workplace Marketplace popup

   

3. Search for “BeFunky Photo Editor” and install

4. Once installed, follow the on-screen prompts to authenticate the app to manage your Google Drive files

Once done, you’re good to go. Just navigate back to your Google Drive folder and refresh. You should be able to right-click any image and open with BeFunky Photo Editor.

While BeFunky got all the image editing tools you’re familiar with from desktop apps like Photoshop, I specially like the crop/resize feature and support for Google Drive to quickly import, resize, and crop Google Drive images.

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And if you need fancier editing experience like text and graphics overlays for your ad banners perhaps or social media stuff, BeFunky got you covered. How cool is that?

Go check out BeFunky Photo Editor.

7 Ways to Ensure Efficiency While Working Remotely

Not everyone finds remote work easy. When you associate home with a place of leisure, focusing on job-related tasks can be quite bothersome. However, many people are stuck inside their homes because of the ongoing pandemic, and there is no telling when they can go back to their regular offices.

Whether you like it or not, working remotely is something that will continue. And if you are one of those people struggling to find motivation when there is no supervision, rethink your routine. The tips below should help you improve productivity.

1. Maintain Computer in Good Shape

Let’s start with a computer, which is likely the most important tool of your work. If you have a personal computer, you should not have to worry about the performance too much so long as you maintain it in proper condition. Cleaning dust, keeping tabs on malware, and making sure there is enough free space on the drive are some examples of how to keep your computer in good condition.

A similar thing can be said about laptops. For example, if you own a Mac, you can be quite flexible and not limit yourself to working on a single desktop. Sometimes, sitting on a couch and having the laptop on your knees is a nice change of pace.

On the off chance that your Mac is slow and you cannot get work done on it, check if there are no viruses and clean the dust inside if too much accumulated over time. Lack of drive space and missing macOS updates could also be some of the reasons why the MacBook is not running optimally.

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Whether it is a desktop computer or a laptop, you want to make sure that your device is in proper condition. Otherwise, random crashes, freezes, and even restarts will get in the way of your work.

2. Stick to Schedule

Create a realistic schedule that you can stick to. If your work is flexible and you do not have to follow strict deadlines, you can take advantage of that and finish your work when you have the most motivation.

For some, working early in the morning is a problem because they cannot concentrate and look for distractions instead of finishing their tasks. On the other hand, when it is a bit later, doing the job becomes easier.

3. Take Breaks

Taking breaks is another important element to boost overall productivity. If you have no supervision working from home, it is quite easy to lose track of time and rush to finish tasks without considering how much of a toll it can take on one’s health.

Be it a small five-minute break to get away from a screen or an hour-long walk outside; take all the opportunities you can to relax and not overwork yourself just because you have the freedom to dictate your pace.

Also, have a proper lunch. If you have an hour, take that time to prepare yourself a proper meal and enjoy yourself while forgetting about work, even if it is only for a while.

4. Get Rid of Distractions

Distractions vary depending on your situation. If you live alone, you do not have to worry about other people disrupting your workflow (unless it is annoying neighbors). On the other hand, if you have a roommate or family, make sure to set boundaries by telling them that they should not disturb you unless it is necessary.

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Other than people, it is easy to get distracted by notifications on your smartphone. Disable those, so you do not get the urge to chat on social media when there is work to be done.

If you keep video game shortcuts on your desktop, you may be tempted to play them for a bit and put the work aside. It would be better to delete such shortcuts.

5. Keep in Touch With Others

Make sure to stay in touch with your friends, family, and coworkers. Other people are stuck at home just like you, and there are very few opportunities to socialize in person.

Thankfully, we can stay in touch with others using Zoom, Discord, Skype, and other communication tools. If nothing else, spending an hour or two talking to someone will be a great distraction from work.

6. Create Dedicated Workspace

Having a dedicated workspace is a neat trick to keep your focus. When you sit in front of a desk you have prepared for work; you will know that you should focus on the job and avoid distractions.

7. Make Most Out of Extra Free Time

The last piece of advice is to make the most out of the extra free time you have. Since you work remotely, there is no need to commute to work. Sure, sleeping longer is quite tempting, but you would benefit more by improving your skills or picking up a new hobby that you had no time for before the pandemic.

How To: Enable Yahoo Email Forwarding Without PRO Account

I recently discovered that all my incoming emails from Yahoo Mail are no longer being automatically forwarded to my Gmail account. I previously set up an automatic email forwarding inside Yahoo Mail so that I can have a centralized view of all my emails from different email accounts.

Turns out, Verizon, the new owner of Yahoo Mail, officially discontinued support for automatic email forwarding for Yahoo Mail FREE users last January 1, 2021. Verizon cited security reasons for dropping the feature, which is often abused and used as vectors for hackers to obtain information from compromised accounts.

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You can still use Yahoo Mail automatic email forwarding though, but you’ll have to upgrade to Yahoo Mail PRO, setting you back around $34.99 per year or $3.49 a month.

However, if you don’t want to spend that much to forward all incoming emails from Yahoo to Gmail, then, read on!

Automatically Sync, Forward Yahoo Mails to Gmail

The trick is easy: just grab your iPhone and open your Gmail app and then add your Yahoo Mail account via Gmailify

Just follow the on-screen instructions until all your Yahoo mails are in sync. No more missed emails plus you get the best anti-spam protection from Gmail.

How To: Import, Upload Videos from DropBox to Vimeo in Seconds

A few days ago, I was asked to upload a bunch of client testimonial videos to Vimeo. The videos are about 2+ GB in size total, and they all sit on DropBox shared with me by one of our clients. And me being on the other side of the planet with a limited internet data allocation and unreliable internet, I can’t afford to waste time and manually download them all locally and upload them to Vimeo. Sure it will take me forever to do just that.

A quick look on Vimeo’s dashboard doesn’t offer much help. There’s no “import DropBox to Vimeo” or equivalent that could help me move those videos from DropBox to Vimeo with ease. All I got is an UPLOAD” button that prompts you to locate your videos locally hosted on your computer.

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After a few tinkering, I realized that there’s indeed a way to send and import videos from DropBox to Vimeo. And it’s easy to miss it because it’s hidden somewhere.

So, how do you import or upload videos from DropBox to Vimeo and save time?

The trick is easy: just head directly to https://vimeo.com/upload. On the right, click on the DropBox icon. It will bring in a DropBox dialog where you can choose the videos to import. And your videos will be automatically imported in seconds to Vimeo.

You can also import, upload videos from Google Drive to Vimeo. Just click on the Google Drive icon right beside the DropBox button.

Top 5 In-Demand Skills to Learn During COVID-19 Home Quarantine

With current COVID-19 pandemic situation, many people have been confined to their homes. Due to this, the majority of people are very idle in their homes and are not earning any income. Well then, in case you are one of them relax because you are in the right platform, below are some of the demand skills you can learn within 1-3 months while under home quarantine;

1. Coding

Coding is one of the demand skills in the market today and the best thing is you don't have to professional in coding to secure a job. With just basic skills you have chances to secure a job opportunity. One can start learning CSS and HTML coding and later advance to JavaScript. One can enrol for an online coding course at Udemy or any web development Bootcamp. Further, there are many basic tutorial videos available in YouTube which are resourceful to enable one to comprehend various coding languages.

2. Freelance Writing

Writing is one of the demand skills which is considered an asset because you can employ yourself and be your own boss. Freelancing involves writing online articles for various clients and submitting them through a certain forum. What you need is to have good grammar in the language you are writing. In case you are not a native speaker of that language, don't worry you can sharpen your skills by reading an introduction to freelancing guides and within a few months, you will be an amazing writer.

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3. Web design and development

Many companies are looking for experts in web design to enable their clients to increase their ranking in various search engines. One can learn web design via online tutorials and doing more practical work. However, you need computer literate to understand how web design is done.

4. Blogging

Being a blogger isn't hard. You just have to create interesting and well written online content. For you to be a good blogger you just have to write interesting and high-quality content in your blog. You can advance your skills by visiting the various blog and get to understand how they can attract many people.

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The secret behind being a good blogger is concentrating in one area for example about fashion or politics. By so doing you will get knowledgeable on that area and you will your blog post will be very influential. These days you can create your blog for free in various websites like Wordpress etc.

5. Graphic design

This is one of the marketable skills in the market. This is because many businesses have to come up with unique logos and images which will make them outstanding in the market. You can learn graphic design from platforms such as Lynda.com and within 3 months you will have a strong foundation in color, typography and layout. You can practice graphic design by using Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign.

There are many demand skills you can learn while under home quarantine for a few months and help you make income during this pandemic or even secure well-paying jobs after this pandemic is over.

5 Ways To Free Up, Increase Your DropBox Disk Space

If you’ve been using DropBox since its inception back in 2008, chances are your FREE DropBox account now is either full or about to run out of space. That’s especially true if you’ve been using the platform as your go-to repository to store your personal and work-related files. That’s a massive 12 years of backup files to date.

While there are a handful of newcomers offering the same DropBox-like functionality + FREE disk space, nothing beats the niftiness and simplicity of DropBox. Not to mention the fact that DropBox has been used by well-known digital companies so we can be sure our data is well-protected.

DropBox’s Basic Plan gives you 2GB of disk space. Sure it’s not enough. And if you’re a freelancer who isn’t ready yet to upgrade, then, read along as I’ll show you how you can get as much as 20GB of disk space from DropBox at no additional cost.

(Note: 2TB starts at $9.99/month, if things aren’t tight please consider upgrading to paid plans)

Here are 5 legal ways to increase your DropBox disk space for FREE

1. Delete unused files

   Digital assets such as images, PSD, XD, and other Adobe files can easily eat up our DropBox disk space. Visit each and every single folder and see if you can safely remove those files. If it’s already a one-year-old project or so, better delete them.

   Removing those unused files and folders can quickly regain the extra DropBox disk space you need.

2. ZIP/compress folders

   If you have a large folder on your DropBox you want to keep but don’t constantly use, try archiving it and zip it. You can save as much as half of its size. You can even further reduce it by using the most optimized compression method or use GZIP format to shrink its size.

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   Of course, you don’t want to archive those folders you’ll likely access in the next few months. Just archive those 1-2 years old project folders that you don’t have reasons to access again.

3. Take Advantage of DropBox Referral System

   DropBox has an existing referral system that rewards you with 500MB bonus space for each successful referral installs. Just go to https://www.dropbox.com/referrals page to get your unique link and you can start inviting friends to signup.

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   A lot of people have been gaming this system and was able to snatch as much as 16GB of bonus disk space. The popular method includes using virtual machines and doing fake installations using their own referral link. DropBox requires each referred account to install its Windows or Mac app before rewarding the extra 500MB bonus disk space.

4. Move your backup files to other cloud services

   Again, DropBox has attracted tens of competitors trying to get a slice of the pie. Popular cloud storage platforms include Google Drive, OneDrive, Otixo, Mover.io, ZeroPC, etc. What these guys have in common is that they have free plans that give you as much as 30GB of FREE cloud storage space.

   You now have multiple options to choose from to unload some of your files and free up your DropBox disk space. You can go classic by downloading your DropBox files and upload them to your cloud storage of choice or you can use cloud storage management platforms such as Otixo to move files between multiple cloud storage providers. Doing so guarantees to free up your DropBox disk space.

6. Upgrade your DropBox plan

   If you want to skip the headaches of increasing your DropBox disk space, then, this would be your last option. DropBox Plus tier sets you back $9.99 a month which gives you 2 TB storage space. That should already be enough storage space for your digital life.

Wrapping it up

Our work-related stuff can easily eat up our DropBox 2 GB storage space. While there are other cloud storage platforms we can check out, it’s the security & simplicity of DropBox that makes it hard to depart. And if you’re unprepared to upgrade to a much higher storage plan, you can try the above suggestions to free up and increase your DropBox storage space.

How To Score Cheaper Airline Tickets with Google Flights’ Fare Alerts

Dreaming to hit Philippines’ white sand beaches this summer? Don’t book that tickets just yet! Chances are, you could be getting pricier round trip airline tickets if you’re too excited booking those tickets a lot sooner.

With just a few clicks, I’m going to show you how you can snap up the best airline deals for your upcoming trips using Google Flights.

Google Flights, by the way, is another service of Google launched back in 2011 that lets you search flights in seconds. Unbeknownst to many, Google Flights has a ‘fare alerts’ feature that notifies you in real-time through email if there are downticks (or upticks) of ticket prices from your selected flight. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do in order to get the best deals in real-time from different airlines.

Here's how to monitor airline ticket prices with Google Flights

1. Go to Google Flights website

2. Search for your desired flight. You may opt for a round trip or one-way ticket (there are additional filters too such as desired stop-overs, which cities, airlines, etc.) Best to leave them as is to get the best possible deals)

   

3. As soon as you specify the desired departure date, the page should automatically pull a list of flights you can choose. The best flights for the chosen date will appear first on top of the page. So in case you’re happy with those prices, you can book them right away.

4. If the best flights are too expensive for you, you can activate Track prices toggle. Basically, it will monitor the lowest price for the trip and you’ll be notified through email in real-time.

   

As long as you don’t omit those tracked prices, Google will automatically alert you when there are downticks of those chosen flight, as seen below's screenshot:

Both Skyscanner and Traveloka have "price alerts" functionality, but it doesn't hurt to add Google Flights into the mix to get the best possible airline deals.

5 Handy Google Sheet Tricks To Help You Work Fast & Save Time

Just like Microsoft's Excel, Google Sheet has equally powerful functions hidden up its sleeve. It can help you do routinary, mundane tasks fast and perform time-saving complex operations.

With Google Sheet, being an open-source software and with its collaboration support, it's likely that you'll end up using the app more often than not. It's one indispensable tool every web master and virtual assistant can't live without.

While you may not use below's list of useful Google Sheet functions everyday, it pays to be familiar and well-verse with these shortcuts. We hand-picked this shortlist of five essential Google Sheets hacks to help you save time in dealing with spreadsheets.

1. Use SPLIT function and obtain the first word from a phrase

Suppose you want to extract the first word from a string in a Google Sheet column. You can use SPLIT() function to split a string and obtain first word , as follows:

=index(SPLIT(A2, " "), 0, 1)

With the above function, a string “10042 Ferrara” yields “10042”.

To obtain the n word, just replace 1 with n accordingly.

2. Use REGEXEXTRACT to retrieve number from a string

Suppose you have this data in a column and you wish to obtain the price

<p>Lined Linen Tunic with Silk Hem</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>RRP    $99.95</strong></p>

You can do so with REGEXEXTRACT function to extract the price, as follows:

=REGEXEXTRACT(C2, "[0-9]*\.[0-9]+[0-9]+")

3. Using CONTACT to combine multiple values

Suppose in Column A you want to get the first word and combine it with the value in Column J, you can achieve it using CONCAT function.

=concat( index(SPLIT(A2, " "), 0, 1), concat("-", J2) )

Or use ampersand to combine multiple values:

="RRP "&value(REGEXEXTRACT(E12, "[0-9]*\.[0-9]+[0-9]+"))

4. Use SUBSTITUTE() & RegexReplace() to search and replace

Say you have a column of data that contains HTML ASCII codes and you want to get rid of them. Here's how you do it:

=SUBSTITUTE(B2," ", "")

Or you can go creative, do a nested SUBSTITUTE

=SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(B2, "</p>", ""),"<p>", "")

Or you can go use RegExReplace to get rid all HTML tags

=RegexReplace( B2, "<\/\w+>|<\w+.*?>", "" )

Or a combination of Substitute and RegexReplace

=SUBSTITUTE(RegexReplace( B3, "<\/\w+>|<\w+.*?>", "" ),"&nbsp;", " " )

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5. Use VLOOKUP to search by keyword and return a specified cell from another sheet

Google Sheet's vertical lookup is a powerful function you need to master. It lets you search down the first column of a range for a key and returns the value of a specified cell in the row found.

If that doesn't make sense, imagine you have Sheet14 containing sku and color columns

Sheet14

And wanted to append the color initial found inside a separate table from Sheet15

Sheet15

You can do a quick search using VLOOKUP and return the color initial (from Sheet15) by providing color from Sheet14.

The full formula:

=VLOOKUP(I2, Sheet15!A1:B7,2, false)

Where I2 is the keyword, Sheet15!A1:B7 is the range, and 2 is column position from Sheet15 we want to retrieve.

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So next time you are asked to update a Google Sheet and do dead boring, repetitive tasks, try to look around inside Google Sheet list of functions and see if you can automate stuff and save huge amount of time in the process.

Long Commute? Get Power Naps and Get A Phone Call When You Arrive At Your Destination

The older we get, the less time is spent on quality slumber. Blame it to the corporate life' stress, household responsibilities, or maybe that's just how adulthood simply works?

That's why we always try to snatch that much-needed naps whenever we can, whether on a bus or a train.

So, if you're among those millions of nine-to-five warriors who commute your way to work, or you're a backpacker with long trips to the countryside, here's a neat trick how to sleep off your commute without worrying about missing your stop. Let your phone automatically alerts you when you're about to enter your destination just in time.

What you need

• IFTTT app (available on Android, iOS)
• Mobile data connection

For the uninitiated, IFTTT (short for If This, Then That) is a powerful web-based service that lets you perform actions based on user-defined triggers. We call these actions as “applets”. IFTTT works like Zapier but much easier to use.

Let Your Phone Alerts You When You Arrive At Your Destination

The goal here is to create an IFTTT applet that notifies you when you arrive at your destination. To do this, we'll use both Location and VoIP Calls services. Here's how to get started:

1. Install IFTTT app (iOS, Android), and sign-up.
2. Create your first applet by going to My Applets tab and click on + icon top right.
3. Now, you'll be asked to define the trigger and action, like this:

   

4. Tap on this and search for Location > You enter an area and specify the area you want to be notified.

   

5. Once done you'll be taken back to step 3 where you create an action. Just tap that and search for VoIP Calls service where you can fire Call my device action, as seen below:

   

6. Save your applet and ensure your IFTTT is running in the background. You're done.

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While Google Maps' previous update already has a push notification that alerts you when you're approaching your stop, I find it too unreliable to be honest. A VoIP call works better, ensuring you get off the bus or train just in time.