App hoarders, it’s time to Marie Kondo your phone

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If Marie Kondo were to appear before you right now, grab your smartphone out of your hand and thumb through your pages of apps, what do you think she’d say?

The Japanese guru of clean is all the rage in 2019, ever since Netflix debuted her TV show, with perfect resolution-related timing, on January 1. Her “spark joy” meme — toss anything that doesn’t — is the Spanish Flu of our century: It has gone viral while we were paying attention to other crises, and its cleansing progress around the planet shows no signs of slowing. The tech world is only the latest vector of infection.

Kondo’s big-time fame has happened to the chagrin of both hoarders and hipsters who’d long since digested the lessons in her book. I am somewhat sympathetic to the former camp, while my wife is firmly in the latter. She caught the KonMari virus in 2015, beginning the now-familiar rituals of emptying closets and saying goodbye to clothes that no longer served us. Friends began to come down with the bug, smiling serenely at the simplicity of their once-cluttered credenzas.  Read more…

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Get a subscription to Checkbot for cheap and help your website reach Google’s coveted first page

Want to know what a desolate, untouched island looks like? You don’t have to go far. You only have to go on the second page of Google.
If you were wondering, 92% of users only bother to skim the first page, and only 6% make an effort to reach the sec…

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10 of the best personal finance apps for clueless millennials

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Millennials, avocado toast, bad spending habits, blah blah blah. At this point, the dead horse has been thoroughly beaten and shipped off to the glue factory.

Anyone born between 1981 and 1996 knows all too well that millennials get a bad rep when it comes to all things personal finance — as if we *wanted* lifelong student loan debt, a housing affordability crisis, or a gig economy in which well-paying jobs with benefits are basically unicorns. 

… But we digress. The thing is, millennials are actually pretty savvy when it comes to money management and financial planning, or at least way more so than most people think. We budget and save almost as much as baby boomers do, and more than half of us have a savings goal. (The same can’t been said for older generations.) Plus, we can spot a bad value a mile away — sorry, napkins — and we know a scam when we see one. (See: the diamond industry, marriage.) Read more…

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How to automate your email marketing campaigns on the cheap

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Talk of advancements in automation tends to scare people because it conjures mental images of a robot apocalypse. But in the world of email marketing, it’s a very welcome trend.

You see, automating emails makes it super easy to personalize messages for specific prospects and customers without sorting through your contact list person by person. This personalized approach totally pays off, too: It results in wayyy higher click rates than tedious traditional broadcasting emails — 119% higher click rates, according to one estimate — which involve sending an individual message to everyone on your list. Read more…

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Chris Hemsworth launches his own fitness app Centr

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Want to work out like Thor? Marvel star Chris Hemsworth is releasing his own fitness app.

Dubbed Centr, the app will be available for iPhone and Apple Watch starting Feb. 4, and features workouts, meal plans, and mindfulness exercises all helmed by the Australian actor.

“I believe we all have untapped potential,” reads Hemsworth’s website statement. “And we all need support to achieve our goals. Centr puts the world’s best in the palm of your hand, to help you develop a healthier body, stronger mind, and a happier life.” Read more…

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4 apps to help your Mac run better

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“To be, or not to be?” Sorry, Hamlet — that’s not the question anymore. In this digital day and age, it’s more like, “Why doesn’t Apple offer better solutions for cloud storage, data synchronization, and video downloading on Macs?” 

The solution to that pressing issue, dear reader, can be found within ye olde Mac Power User Bundle.

Created by Eltima Software, the bundle includes four top apps that’ll enhance your Mac’s already-pretty-decent functionality without breaking the bank. We normally sell the whole set for $19.99 — a fraction of its $124.80 MSRP — but for a limited time, you can score it for an even better price. Read more…

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This $40 app can help you build a website without writing a single line of code

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If you’re a creative with an impressive portfolio or a business owner selling a medley of high-demand products, but you don’t have a legitimate website to show for it — do you really exist?

In our increasingly digital world, it’s almost a requirement that you have a functioning website to establish your existence and publicize your goods and services to the rest of humanity. But the concept of building a website sounds time-consuming, expensive, and simply put: hard.

But platforms like Page Builder Pro are popping up to offer a fuss-free and cost-effective way to assemble the site of your dreams without any sleepless nights. If you’ve never written a line of code in your life or find website-building platforms like Squarespace too costly, you’ll like the fact that you can build a site with Page Builder for under $40. Read more…

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Meditate, improve focus, and be happier in 2019: These courses and apps are on sale

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New year, new you, new… brain?

Before you ask, no — we’re not going to force you through a Get Out-inspired transplant. We’re merely recommending you subscribe to one of these seven affordable brain-training bundles and apps so that your mind’s in shape this year. 

Whether you want to start practicing meditation, improving your focus, or learning strategies to become more confident, these course collections and tools will upgrade your brain for a healthier, happier 2019.

Here’s what’s on sale:

1. Supercharged Brain Training Bundle

This four-part bundle contains almost 20 hours of neurologically proven strategies that can help you reprogram your brain for improved productivity and focus. Included are two courses on rewiring your brain, one class on improving your focus and learning how to multitask, and one course about boosting your comprehension via speed-reading techniques. Read more…

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5 Instagram tools to help you boost your following and engagement

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No matter how fervently we beg them, Instagram refuses to budge on their stance of NOT reverting to the chronological news feedThe algorithm is here to stay, folks, and there’s nothing we can do about it.

You could swear off the platform altogether (we know you can’t, let’s be honest here), or just embrace it for what it is and abide by the rules of the Insta game. 

Should you choose the latter, you’ll find the five tools and courses below that are useful for getting the most out of the social media platform for work and play. Oh, and all of them are on sale, too — you’re welcome. Read more…

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In-car infotainment and driving blur with Honda’s ‘Dream Drive’

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Honda wants to turn time spent in the car into an opportunity to shop, play, and get things done —even if you’re in the driver’s seat. Honda calls this in-car experience the “Dream Drive.”

In a Honda Odyssey minivan, John Moon, managing director of strategic partnerships at Honda Innovations, showed off the new concept platform in the car’s infotainment system for drivers and passengers. 

First on the driver side is a custom-made Honda app for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Moon said 2 million Honda cars already have the phone-connected infotainment systems in them. So this is a way to offer a customized “Honda” experience on those screens. Read more…

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