June 26, 2013

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Simplee App Review

Even though the health care industry is progressing more and more toward a completely paperless system, you likely still receive a lot of paperwork from your insurance company and health care providers. While you can't stop the paper waste from coming to your home, you can ensure that it's properly recycled to reduce its environmental impact. Simplee is an app designed to help you take your medical record-keeping at home into the paperless age, and I recently gave this app a test drive to see how it works.

The Basics

- Available for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad with iOS  5.0 or later

- Free download from the App Store 

- Available in English only

- Created by Simplificare, Inc.

The Features

- Allows you to enter in medical expenses and insurance claims information and easily track payments

- Tracks your deductibles for all of your health plans 

- Enables you to easily track medical spending

- Password-protected to ensure your safety

The Takeaway 

As a self-employed person, tracking medical expenses is very important to me at tax time, and I'm very impressed with how easy it is to enter expenses and see at a glance how much money has gone into co-pays, purchasing prescriptions and paying deductibles. I was worried it would be hard to have my health insurance plans set up, but Simplee makes it very easy. The app has all of the major insurers already inputted, but you do need to already have a user account set up with your insurers to connect the app to your accounts.

The only drawback that I see to the app is that it doesn't provide a place for tracking payments to physicians, so if you're a private pay customer, the app couldn't help you easily track outstanding balances. For anyone with health insurance, though, the app is definitely an easy way to make health care more paperless.


June 21, 2013

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Coupon Sherpa App Review

The Internet has made couponing easier than ever, as you can now find so many deals right on the Internet without ever having to open sales circulars or junk mail packets. Despite this, many people still print Internet coupons, which adds up to paper waste. Coupon Sherpa is an app designed to make paperless coupon easier, and recently, I downloaded and tested the app to see how useful it could be to the average shopper.

The Basics

 - Available for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad with iOS 6.1 or later (optimized for iPhone 5) and Android 2.1 devices and later

- Free download from the App Store or Google Play 

- Only available in English

- Created by Coupon Sherpa, LLC

The Features

- Includes a database of current deals on offer at many major retailers that is searchable by store

- Allows you to share deals via social media with just a tap

- Transfers coupon codes to retailer websites for mobile shopping 

- Provides a search feature to help you find deals in specific categories

- Enables you to take photographs of deals to share with other users

The Details

 The description for Coupon Sherpa makes it sound as if this app can be used to completely take the place of coupons both online and in stores, but after playing with the app for an hour, I hadn't successfully found any truly in-store coupons. While I do think this app would be helpful for those looking for great deals online, I don't really feel that this is that big of a paper saver unless you always print coupons that you will use to make online purchases. The coupons also seem to be limited to stores, not brands, so you can't use it to find savings on groceries and the like unless you shop at a nationwide retailer that has posted coupons.

 Since this app is free, it's definitely worth downloading and giving a try; just be realistic about the paper-saving prospects of the app before you install it.


May 02, 2013

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Project Noah App Review from Paperless Kitchen

One of the things that motivates me to keep up with my efforts to live a greener life is taking time to appreciate the wildlife that I encounter whether it's in my own backyard, at the park or when I'm off on an adventure. For me, part of the fun of seeing a beautiful bird, a funky insect or a gorgeous butterfly is learning more about its species, so in the past, I've found myself snapping pictures with my iPhone and then trying to research noteworthy creatures later.

Project Noah is a wildlife app that is meant for deepening your appreciation of nature and helping to catalog and research species. I decided to download the app and give it a try.

The Basics

- Available for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad with iOS  4.0 or later and Android devices that run on at least 2.2

- Free download from the App Store or Google Play

- Only available in English

- Created by Network Organisms

The Features

- Allows you to upload images of wildlife to study and you can request help identifying species from other users

- Uses your current location to track wildlife 

- Field guide uses your geographic location to tell you what types of wildlife have been spotted in your area with maps to help guide you to the places where you’re most likely to have a spotting of your own 

- Opportunities to participate in field missions being conducted by environmental groups and labs; these missions can involve taking photographs and looking for specific species. Information that you submit is then used as a part of research studies and papers

The Takeaway 

This app is very easy to use and honestly, pretty addictive. I headed out to the park with it and ended up spending more time than I anticipated trying out the features. I submitted a photograph of a bird that I had spotted in our neighborhood on a few occasions and sent it in for help. By evening, I learned that I was the proud owner of a photograph of a common redpolls, a bird which is rare in my area. I think this app could also be great for kids, especially with summer vacations fast approaching. Why not download and participate in a few field missions with your kiddos? You don’t even need to set up a separate user name and password to use the app; it allows you to sign in with a Google sign on or a social media account. I highly recommend this app to anyone who wants to learn more about the creatures with which we share our Earth.


May 01, 2013

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iBloom App Review from Paperless Kitchen

When it comes to my iPhone, I'm not really much of a gamer, but I do appreciate having something fun to play around with when I'm waiting for an appointment or riding the subway. Recently, I heard about the game iBloom, which is touted as being green. Curious, I downloaded a copy and gave it a test run.

The Basics

- Available for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad with iOS  3.0 or later

- Free download from the App Store 

- English and German language options

- Created by NBC Universal

The Features

- Game allows you to plant a seed and watch it grow. There are two modes: one where you care for your seed day by day and an accelerated mode where you actively work to grow your plant by responding to environmental conditions that continuously change

- Location feature makes it possible to plant your seed anywhere in the world

- New plants become available as you successfully grow seeds

- Green tips are displayed as the game loads and are also available to read from the home page screen

 The Takeaway

For my test run, I planted a lily in Paris. I had to feed and water it in response to weather conditions and changes in temperature. The game was challenging, but in a fun way. I don’t have much of a green thumb, but fortunately, I fared better at iBloom than I do with potting soil and real seeds. For me, the day-by-day option wouldn’t be ideal, but it could be a fun activity for kids and tweens to do each day.

The green tips are a nice touch as well. All of them are factually based and give concrete suggestions that anyone can use to decrease the size of their eco-footprint. For example, I learned that just by adding awnings to windows, you can reduce the amount of sun that enters a home by 77 percent and in turn, save on air conditioning costs in the summertime.

The only thing I didn’t like about iBloom was the fact that it displays ads, but for the most part, these are unobtrusive and kept at the bottom of the screen where they don’t interfere with game play. I definitely give iBloom two thumbs up—green thumbs up, even.

April 10, 2013

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EcoDice App Review

When you're serious about going green, taking steps to decrease your eco footprint can begin to feel like a chore. Personally, I find myself getting stressed from time to time when I'm faced with buying something that I want to ensure is eco-friendly. I also get overwhelmed sometimes, feeling as if being green is too large an undertaking. It seems like for every change I make for the positive, I uncover a dozen more changes that need to be made.

Recently, I found an enjoyable app that puts a little fun into leading a greener life, so I wanted to share it with all of you. The name of the app is EcoDice, and it's a novel way to get some green inspiration.

The Basics

- Available for iPhone 3GS models and later, iPod touch 3rd generation models or later and iPads. Requires iOS 4.3 or later.

- Sold for $.99 on the Apple App Store

- Only available in English

- Created by Richard Van tol of Creative Heroes

 The Features

- When you turn on EcoDice, you'll see an animated image of a die being thrown. Instead of dots, the die is adorned with images of stick figures engaged in various activities.

- Once the animation ends, an icon will appear on your screen along with a tip on how you can go green. Examples include "Walk or Ride a Bike to Work or School" and "Shower Together Today." 

- After a few seconds, the die rolls again and a new tip appears until you turn off the program.

The Takeaway

This app has some very good suggestions for ways to green your life, and all of them are easy to execute. I find myself playing with the app when I'm waiting for appointments, and I'm sure this would be a fun program for kids.

The only downside I see to the app is that the images tend to repeat frequently, so you may see the same idea a few times if you play for more than a few minutes.

Still, for $.99 the beautiful graphics and smart tips make this app a winner.


Have you tried EcoDice? Give us your review in the "Comments" section.



April 08, 2013

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Carticipate App Review

If the thought of vehicle emissions and dwindling petrochemical supplies around the world aren't enough to make you want to drive less, the cost of gasoline is definitely an incentive. Carpooling is one of the best ways to cut down on gasoline to save money and the planet, but what do you do when you're headed somewhere that friends, family members and coworkers aren't going? 

Carticipate was designed to help people find rides to and from destinations all over the country. I decided to give it a try, and sadly, my experiences weren't completely positive. 

The Basics 

- Available for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad with iOS 3.1.2 or later

- Free download from the App Store

- Languages include English, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Northern Sami, Norwegian, Spanish, Turkish

- Created by Carticipate, Inc. 

The Features

- Contains a search mode that allows you to find people in your area that have posted rides

- Gives you the ability to register for an account and offer rides to other

- Uses the GPS in your device to find your present location, but you can also select different locations if you wish

The Takeaway

I can't get this app to work at all. When I try to access the app, I only get error messages. I have a friend who has been able to use this app several times to get rides to the airport and to concerts and events in our city, but I did not have success. 

Still, the app is free, so if you're looking for ways to drive less, it may be worth a few minutes to download it and see if you have better luck. Let us know what happens in the "Comments" section!



March 03, 2013

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SolarChecker Review

Switching to solar power to run your appliances and lighting is one way to green your kitchen, but if you live in an area where the gray days often outnumber the sunny ones, you may wonder whether or not a solar system is a practical solution for your home. You could call a contractor that specializes in the sale of solar panels, but there's always a chance that the person may try to push you toward a system, even if it may not be effective.

SMA, a manufacturer of inverters for solar systems, has created an app intended to help people decide whether or not it's wise to go solar. As I've been considering a solar system for years, I decided to download the app and give it a test-drive.

The Basics

- Available for any iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad with iOS 4.3 or later, not available for Android phones

- Free purchase here

- Languages include English, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish

The Features

- Uses GPS to measure your compass location and estimate the pitch of your roof 

- Takes the measurements and uses weather history for your location to calculate an estimated solar energy yield

- Provides detailed information about the annual yield and the yield over 20 years

- Rate of Return calculator allows you to plug in the price of a solar system to determine what your annual savings would be, if any 

- Built-in installer database allows you to find contractors near your home

The Takeaway

I'm not sure if the problem with this app was it or me, but I found it challenging to use. The app opens right to the measurement page, and there were no real instructions on that page about what I needed to do to get my measurement. I found an info page in the app, but I didn't see instructions there either. In the end, I wasn't sure if my measurement was accurate or not.

I did find the Yield and Return pages to be very easy to use and informative, but since I wasn't sure if my data was correct, I couldn't trust the numbers I saw. While the Contact page was a good idea, the contractors that came up from my area were rather far from my home. A Google search showed there were several closer to me. I suspect this list only provides contractors who work with SMA.

Since this app is free, you have nothing to lose by downloading it and giving it a try, but I would recommend conducting some additional research, particularly when it comes to selecting a contractor.


March 01, 2013

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GreenSpot Review

Even though I've had both my iPhone and my iPad for a while, I'm not a fast iTypist. If I'm at a cafe waiting to meet a friend or looking for something to read while I'm at the airport, I usually spend more time trying to search for articles that I'm interested in reading on Google than I do actually reading. When I heard about GreenSpot, an app devoted to green news, I was excited to give it a try, hoping that it would connect me with stories that matter to me much more quickly.

 The Basics

- Available for any iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad with iOS 2.0 or later, not available for Android phones

- Available in two versions: a free version with advertisements posted at the bottom and an ad-free version that is currently $1.99 on the App store 

- Only supports English language

The Features

- Repository of recent news articles broken into categories

- Contains information about green architecture, design and new science and technology 

- Sections devoted to business and investing, health and home and food and agriculture

- Issue-specific sections with news related to climate change, energy and transportation

- Links to green podcasts

The Takeaway 

I spent about an hour browsing through the articles on GreenSpot. The app directs you to reputable news outlets, blogs and organizations, so the content is of good quality. The layout is very user-friendly and easy to use as well, but there is a major problem with the app--the news items were very outdated and old. 

Some of the articles were interesting despite their age, but the app definitely didn’t deliver the latest and greatest of what's out there in sustainable news. I did a quick search for the developer Martian Technology, LLC, and wasn't able to find a website for them. My suspicion is that this app is no longer being updated or supported, so it's more like you're reading about recent history. 

If you decide that you want to check out GreenSpot, I'd recommend that you go with the Lite version as the news you'll find in the app is not timely enough to be worth paying for.



January 13, 2013

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PaperKarma App Review

 In a past post, we discussed ways to cut down on junk mail after learning about a deal between mass mailing company Valassis and the U.S. Post Office that will increase the amount of junk mail many Americans receive. Since then, I've discovered a new way to help fight junk mail. This unique app called PaperKarma allows you to unsubscribe from mailing lists that are currently sending you junk mail and is a great way to help cut down on the amount of mail you have to trash in the future.

 The Basics

 -Available for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad with iOS 4.3, Android devices OS 2.2 and up and Windows Phone 7.5 and 8 models

 - Free purchase from the App Store, Google Play and the Windows App store 

- Only available in an English version

- Created by Readabl, Inc.

 

The Features

 - Allows you to photograph pieces of junk mail that you receive. Then, photos are uploaded and studied to determine the source of the junk mail.

 - If the source appears in the PaperKarma database, the app will send an unsubscribe request on your behalf.

 - Requires you to register for a free account by providing your email address. You must provide your mailing address as well before you scan any mail.

 - Status screens allow you to easily monitor the progress PaperKarma has made in processing your request.

 

The Takeaway

 I saved up about a week's worth of junk mail sent to my family --around 32 pieces in all. It only took me about 15 minutes to get all of the pictures scanned and uploaded. Of what I scanned, about 75 percent was found in the system. I really liked the fact that I could use the GPS feature to find my home address instead of having to spend time typing on my iPhone.

 It would have taken me hours to determine where all of this junk mail had come from and send requests to have it stopped. With my busy schedule, I likely would have received several more mailings from these companies before I had the opportunity to request being taken off the list, so PaperKarma allowed me to stop the junk mail and save paper far more quickly. All in all, I'm really impressed with PaperKarma and highly recommend it.


January 12, 2013

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Four Great Apps to Help You Go Organic

 Going organic makes your kitchen greener, protects your family from chemicals and helps to preserve the health of the planet. Depending on where you live, going organic can be challenging. 


Believe it or not, one way you can make the switch to organic foods and products more easily is by using your iPhone, Android phone or tablet. Many apps are now available to help you lead a more organic life, and we gathered together a few of our favorites to share with you.

1. Organic Life - Magnolia Labs, Free, available for iPhones, iPod Touch models and iPads with iOS 4.0 and later 

When you log into Organic Life from home, the app will automatically find your location and populate lists of organic businesses around you. Then, you can view lists of organic restaurants, organic grocery stores, organic cosmetics shops and spas and organic food suppliers in your area. The lists tell you how far away each business is from your location, and you can touch one to learn more about the business, read reviews of it and even find discounts and coupons.

2. Produce Finder - Sun Bear Apps, Free, available for iPhone, iPod touch models, and iPads with iOS  6.0 and later

This app is a must-have when you're doing your grocery shopping at a regular supermarket. By typing in the code shown on the stickers that appear on all fruits and veggies at your local grocer, you can find out what type of produce you're looking at and whether or not it's organic or GM-modified. You can also reverse search by typing in the name of the food.

3. Organic Farm Finder - Mikalai Martsul, Free, available for iPhones, iPod Touch models and iPads with iOS 4.0 and later 

This app uses your location to pull up a list of the nearest organic farms that sell directly to the public. You can also convert the list to a map to get driving directions.

4. Smart Foods Organic Diet Buddy - by Saagara, Free, available for iPhones, iPod Touch models and iPads with iOS 3.2 and later, Android devices with OS 2.1 and up and the Nook HD, Color and Tablet

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