Beacon Links & Apps – February 2018
How the world works
Can alcohol cause anxiety? Is Seattle the rainiest U.S. city? Why are rodents such popular lab test animals?
You’ve got questions, and the website HowStuffWorks has answers to thousands of them. The site got its start in 1998 at a college professor’s kitchen table. From there, it grew into a source of unbiased,
reliable, easy-to-understand answers and explanations of how the world actually works.
There are now nearly 30 million visitors to the free site each month.
Hire a helper
A lot of customers don’t want to just buy TVs and sofas. They also want someone to come over to hang up the flat screen or put the furniture together.
Launched six years ago as an online platform where people could hire professionals to clean homes or put up a ceiling fan, the company Handy has moved into partnerships with stores and shopping sites to offer its services to customers.
On Wayfair, for example, furniture buyers can also hire someone to assemble it for them as they check out. At Walmart, a test at its Atlanta stores lets shoppers hire Handy professionals at the register when they buy a TV or furniture.
Handy CEO Oisin Hanrahan says people are more likely to buy a product when they can have it assembled. If the site you order from doesn’t offer Handy as an option, you can connect with one of their background-checked and insured workers (they have 80,000!) through the Handy website or app.
www.handy.com; Free in the iPhone app store and from Google Play.
Uber for snowplowing
While we haven’t had a lot of snow yet this season, there’s still a chance for a big storm this month. Instead of spending hours shoveling your driveway and sidewalk, an app called SnoHub lets users connect with local people who can plow you out.
Started in Connecticut last winter, SnoHub expanded to the Mid-Atlantic (including the Washington and Baltimore areas) and the Northeast this winter. Users can select if they just want their driveway plowed, or if they need sidewalks and other walkways cleared, as well as any salting desired.
https://snohub.com; Free in the iPhone app store and from Google Play.
Eat better
Fooducate won first prize in the U.S. Surgeon General Healthy App Challenge several years ago for its personalized approach to finding foods that are healthy and nutritious.
Users sign up with their age, gender, weight, height and activity level, as well as health conditions and dietary goals, such as non-processed foods or vegetarian. They can also tell the app if they want to avoid MSG, high fructose corn syrup, gluten and other things in food.
The app lets users scan a product barcode to see a personalized nutrition grade (A, B, C or D) and learn about a product’s pros and cons.
The app also tracks food intake and exercise, as well as the quality of calories, not just quantity. It also ferrets out ingredients that are sometimes not easy to decipher on food labels — such as trans fats, excessive or added sugar, and artificial sweeteners.
Users can chat with others on the app to swap nutrition advice. This community is also available at the Fooducate website, along with recipes.
www.fooducate.com; Free in the iPhone app store and from Google Play.
Solo travel pricing tracker
As most single travelers know, they’ll pay a price for not sharing a room or cruise ship cabin. But it can be hard to find out how much more they will have to spend or where such options are offered.
Solo Trekker 4 U claims it is the only existing way to find solo travel deals by destination and trip type linked to single supplement pricing.
Users can search 900 providers with 26,000 trips. Some of the best are featured on the home page — from English countryside bed and breakfasts to Sri Lanka cultural adventures.
The site also includes a blog with posts about such subjects as safe solo traveling for women, and how to travel with your dog.
Technology 2025
