Borrow eBooks: All of the Library, None of the Late Fees

Borrow eBooks Online

Whether you read them on an e-reader, tablet, smartphone or your computer, e-books are growing increasingly popular, and with good reason. Instant download capability lets you get right into the newest bestseller, you can hoard thousands of books without having to build a library in your basement, and with a mobile handheld device you can have your library always at your fingertips.
It may come as a surprise that e-books aren’t necessarily less expensive than their printed counterparts. That can lead many frugal bookworms back to the budget-saving oasis of the library to borrow the latest best seller. Luckily, more and more libraries are delving into the digital realm, offering an expanding selection of e-books available to download onto your computer or e-reader device. Here’s how to borrow an e-book from the library.


While you may envision instant access to every bestseller you’ve ever wanted to read, keep in mind that digital books require licensing just like their traditional paper counterparts. The library has to purchase every “copy” they offer for digital lending. As many institutions are new to the e-book lending arena, many libraries only have room in the budget to buy one or two copies of an e-book. If someone else has already borrowed the book you want, you’ll have to wait until they “return” it before you can get it on your device. If the book you covet is new and popular, it can make for an impressive waiting list.

Another obstacle you may encounter is file compatibility. OverDrive (www.overdrive.com) is the leading distributor of e-books for libraries. It provides the software interface that transfers the file from the library’s database to your computer or device and manages the process of “expiring” the copy when your borrow time is up.

OverDrive Media Console (OMC) is a free application available for download through all major mobile phone carriers, as well as Mac and PC, should you want to read books on your computer. Visit their website and click on Software/Apps to learn more about the appropriate download for your particular device. Once you've downloaded the application, simply locate a library or school in your area, enter your valid library card number or school ID and borrow for up to 3 weeks.

Just this month, OverDrive announced the release of an application for NOOK that allows users to wirelessly borrow books and MP3 audiobooks from their library. This is a vast improvement over the previous process of installing a plug-in and downloading an Adobe file that didn’t support all of the NOOK’s bells and whistles.
Amazon Kindle chose a proprietary format for their e-books so while Kindle users can borrow from the library, you'll need web access to do it. Use your library card information and PIN number to log into your library's website. Once you find an e-book you'd like to borrow, place a hold on it and choose Get For Kindle. Then, log into your Amazon account to complete the transaction. Select the device you'd like your book delivered to from the drop down menu and your library book will download to your Kindle, just like a normal purchased title.
Shasta Public Libraries users have access to a number of digital titles. Visit www.shastalibraries.org and click on Digital Media at the top of the page. Use the Quick Search if you have a particular title in mind, or browse titles using the arrow keys for each section. You’ll need to sign in using your username and PIN, so establish those in advance. Users are limited to five digital checkouts at a time, with a maximum of three weeks to keep the material. Be aware, popular books yield a lot of waiting lists as they generally keep only one copy of each. Still, if you don't mind reading other things while you're waiting, it's certainly nice to be able to read for free.

Image is of Amazon Kindle

Internet Printing with Google Cloud Print

Print from Anywhere: Google Cloud Print Enables Internet Printing

I refuse to replace my old, ailing printer because I believe it’s a dying technology, like landline phones and fax machines. Yet just as a home phone is good for emergencies and faxing is often convenient, sometimes you just need to print - forms that require signature, travel confirms, etc. Enter Google Cloud Print: a simple application that allows you to print remotely to any Google Print-enabled printer from any computer or mobile electronic device with access to the Internet. Finally, I can print without wrestling with my own printer.

You can use Google Cloud Print on any printer that connects to the Web (it supports both Windows and Mac), even those that have to be connected to a computer to do so, but if you plan on using the application regularly, consider a Google Cloud Print Ready printer (http://www.google.com/cloudprint/learn/printers.html). They connect to the Internet right out of the box over your home or office Wi-Fi network without needing to run through a host computer and register themselves directly with the Google Cloud Print service, so they’re always available. You’ll get the same PC-free functionality from any Wi-Fi capable printer, but it may require additional drivers.
To enable Google Cloud Print on an existing printer, download Google Chrome (www.google.com/chrome) onto the computer to which it’s connected. After Chrome is installed, click on the wrench icon on the browser toolbar and drill down through the settings tab to Advanced Settings to the Google Cloud Print section. Sign in using your Google Account. Then, click "finish printer registration" and Google Cloud Print is enabled.

Once the printer is registered with Google Cloud Print, enable sharing with the parties you want to allow to print. Log into your Google account and navigate to the Google Cloud Print management page. Click on "Printers" and select the printer you'd like to share. The person you share with will receive an email to confirm their registration.
Simply install an app onto your Wi-Fi enabled smartphone or tablet and Google Cloud Print to gain the wireless printing capability most mobile devices lack. Users of iOS devices should look for the PrintCentral Pro App ($5.99 for iPhone and iPod Touch, $9.99 for iPad, iTunes Store). Gmail for Mobile allows you to create and print emails from any mobile device. Visit m.google.com/mail from your phone or download the application from Google Play or iTunes. Google Docs for Mobile lets you create, share and print Google Docs from your Android or iOS device.

A note about iPhone 5: You’ve likely been inundated with buzz about the newest generation of iPhone, available in stores on September 21st. It sports a larger, 4” screen (up from 3.5”) that enables watching widescreen media without the black bars on the top and bottom while still managing to be thinner and lighter. A faster processor, improved display and support for 4G LTE network connectivity round out improvements. Drawbacks are a new docking connector, so existing charging cables won’t work (argh!) and, of course, having to shell out $199 or more for a new phone.

 

Image copyright Google

 

Wireless Security Breach: Reaver

A New Program Thwarts Wireless Security

Having wireless internet access is awesome, especially with how many devices these days use the technology. And with proper network security, we can be sure that al our data is safe from intrusion…as long as we don’t make any silly mistakes, right? Well, that would be nice. However, there is a new piece of software in distribution that makes it easy for anyone with the know-how to crack into your wireless network. It’s called “Reaver” and it’s available to anyone online. Now don’t worry too much just yet – most people using it are just going to use it to try and get free internet access where they’re not supposed to have it. But this can cause slowdowns on your network or, if you have sensitive files, can be a possible bigger problem.

Reaver works by exploiting a flaw in your wireless router. The flaw was originally designed simply to make setup easier for the end user – you. However, it can be exploited by someone using this tool to gain your wireless password, which gives them access to your internet just like another one of your computers. You might not even be able to tell. This flaw is called WPS, and even if you turn the feature off, the program can still use it when you can’t.


Use a secure password. The way the program works makes it harder to determine your password the more complicated it is. As we’ve written about in previous articles, there’s an easy way to come up with a secure password: use a phrase that has significance to you but to no one else. For instance: andreacollectspetrocks. This way you’ll have a password that will take so long for the computer to guess that it will eventually give up. Stay current on updates if you’re concerned further about this issue!


 

 

Travel Pages on Pinterest: Trip Out

Travel With Pinterest

Whether you’re compiling your own personal “1,000 Places to See Before You Die,” planning your summer vacation, or just collecting gorgeous images for your desktop screensaver, Pinterest’s many travel boards offer ample material. If you just love drooling over white sand beaches, iconic landmarks, and picturesque cityscapes, there’s more than enough inspiration for a thousand daydream vacations. You’ll also find useful tips to make your trips more enjoyable and insider information to visit like a local, making Pinterest a great resource for planning a real-life getaway. With so many amazing destinations to discover, the hardest part will be narrowing it down to the places you want on your travel “bucket list.”

Travel Channel

http://pinterest.com/travelchannel/

It’s no surprise that the people who compile content for a channel dedicated to travel have a pretty amazing collection of places, cultures, foods and natural wonders to explore around the world. It’s tough not to get lost in the undeniably gorgeous images which link back to their primary site, www.travelchannel.com for more information about the destination. Whether you’re drawn in by the idea of hanging in a hammock by the ocean, looking to explore your inner champion with skiing, golfing, or fitness boot camps, or planning a family vacation on a budget, you’ll find links to helpful articles and the Travel Channels many “best of” lists. The “Travel Bucket List” board is full of fodder for your own must-see file, while the “Daily Escapes” board offers a different awe-inspiring image for (you guessed it) just about every day of the week. There are also boards devoted to behind-the-scenes peeks at their most popular shows, including “Destination Summer,” “Man v. Food,” “Off Limits,” and many more. Whether you’re looking for amazing hotels or the ultimate romantic locales, you’ll find it here.

Travel Hyper

http://pinterest.com/travelhyper/

Created by down-to-earth travel blogger Julie, Travel Hyper explores ultimate vacation destinations, to be sure, but with a more down to earth approach that allows you to translate your dreams into real trips. There are boards organized by place, from Australia to Bulgaria to Spain and just about everywhere in between; boards devoted to Disney, “Vacation Reads”, maps, and much more. Travel vicariously with her “2012 Vacation” board, tracking her route through Western Europe, or escape for a one-of-a-kind experience with inspiration from “2012 Events.” There are boards to help you plan your trip, from budgeting to keeping the kids copacetic on a plane, tips for packing or capturing your memories with “Travel Photo Tips”. If you plan your trip around where you’ll stay as much as what you’ll see, explore “Amazing Hotels,” “Castles,” and “B&B Love.” It’s hard to balance awesome escapes with a sense of achievability – Travel Hyper makes you believe you could one day make it to that beach in Jamaica, not just fantasize about it.

Thrifty Travel Mama

http://pinterest.com/thriftytrvlmama/

While I may wistfully imagine a relaxing beach vacation, toes in the water and margarita in hand, my reality is planning travel around nap schedules and kid-friendly entertainment. For that, I love Thrifty Travel Mama. From the gear that will get you where you’re going with the least amount of “are we there yet?” headaches, to ideas for making memories when you get there, there are solutions to any of the hurdles standing in the way of you taking your kiddos on that amazing getaway.

Conde Nast Traveler

http://pinterest.com/cntraveler/

One of the most well-known travel magazines has created one of the most massive Pinterest pages dedicated to all things travel, with 2,500 pins of inspiring images, tips and links to their picks for the best places to visit across the globe. While not always particularly budget conscious, the peek behind the first class curtain is fun while balanced with some great ideas for the rest of us. I didn’t know that “glamping” was a thing, but apparently so. Boards dedicated to just about any major destination are full of breathtaking images, from Shanghai to Charleston to Egypt. Get ready to ooh and ahh your way through page after page of pictures that will make you want to pack your bags.

Photo Copyright Flickr User Gael LE HIR


 

 


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Malware Primer: Deciphering the Digital Devils

Understanding Malware: Everything you need to know

You’ve probably heard the terms “virus,” “malware,” “spyware,” and others all used interchangeably. However, these are actually all different types of bad software. The blanket term for software that harms your computer is “malware.” If you paid attention in Latin class, you’ll know that “mal” is a prefix that means “bad” and “ware” simply refers to any type of computer program.

Now the second-most-popular term that gets thrown around is “virus.” A virus is pretty much the same as its biological counterpart, but on the computer. It attaches itself to files on your computer, replicates itself, and spreads itself out to as many computers as possible. It can attach itself to the hidden parts of your hard drive, system files, or even random files that contain data valuable to you. Quite often they spread through executable files. If you see a file that ends in “exe” where you didn’t expect it to, don’t open it! It’s probably a virus. Make sure to run a scan on it.


ScareWare is relatively new on the field of malware. It tricks you into downloading something that looks like an antivirus, and then tells you that you have hundreds of viruses which you have to pay to remove. Chances are however that the only virus is the program that is telling you that you have a virus! The best chances for removing this virus, if your other programs haven’t caught it, is simply to Google the name of the software and see how to remove it. Many security programs haven’t quite figured out how to deal with these yet. Your best defense is simply not to download any programs that you can’t verify are legitimate.

The final type of Malware that gets mentioned a lot is a Trojan Horse. This software allows your computer to be controlled remotely. It’s unlike a virus in that you have to be tricked into installing it, but once installed, you might never know. Hackers use PCs with Trojan Horses for their own ends – proxy servers, attacking websites, or even sending out spam. Make sure your antivirus is up-to-date and you should be able to stay safe from these.

There are of course many other types of viruses, but the methods for protection essentially remain the same: practice safe browsing, and keep your antivirus updated. If you have more questions about these or other computer repair related topics, contact me at http://www.callnerds.com/blog

Screenshot copyright Malwarebytes Corporation

Slow Computer Myths and Fixes

Myths About Your Slow Computer: How to REALLY speed it up

“My computer is running so slow!” – said everyone who’s ever owned a computer. It’s true: your computer never quite runs as fast as the day that you bought it. While a large part of that is simply your perception of it, it’s true that computers tend to slow down over time. That being said, there are a lot of misconceptions on why exactly this happens. Here are few of the common ones that you may have heard.

Myth 1: You need to pay for an antivirus program.

When peoples’ computers start running slowly, many assume that it’s because they have a virus. At this point, they will often buy an anti-virus program, or even a second. However, the problem can usually not be solved at this point by these methods.

The way to keep safe is first to read up on safe browsing habits (find blog link here). That will be your biggest safeguard. Then just make sure that you have an antivirus program and that you can keep it updated. Use something like Microsoft Security Essentials, which takes up little disk space and is fast as well as efficient. Programs like Norton or McAfee are more often the cause of computer slowdown than the preventative measure. So contrary to belief, you should probably get rid of your paid antivirus software to speed your computer up. Installing a new one will only compound the problem.

Myth 2: You need as much RAM and Hard Drive space as possible.

The truth here is that any RAM or Hard Drive space above what you actually use is generally just going to go to waste. If you have between 2 and 4 gigabytes of RAM, you probably have enough. Unless you’re running Photoshop or another resource-hogging program, that much will be plenty. Upgrade if you have between 1 and 2 gigabytes.

Now, if you do use a lot of RAM, remember that unless your operating system is 64-bit, you can’t use any more than 4 gigabytes of it, no matter how much you put in. Check with your local computer repair guy to figure out what kind of operating system you’re running if you’re unclear.

Myth 3: Your hardware “wears out” and gets slower.

With the exception of your hard drive, your hardware cannot really wear out. And when the hard drive wears out, you’ll know because the computer will actually crash, not slow down. What causes your computer to seem like it’s just “wearing out” is because of the real cause of computer slowdown: you using it. As you use your computer and install programs, create files, and browse the web, your computer stores more and more data. The one thing your computer isn’t great at is cleaning up after you. It doesn’t want to delete something that you might need in the future, which can be convenient, but it means that every once in a while you need to go in and do some maintenance.

For this task I would recommend the excellent CCleaner. It can scan your entire system for caches to clear and can help you uninstall programs you no longer need. It’s available here: http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner

Internet Speed: Netflix Takes A Test

Are you getting a Fast Internet Speed

It’s hard to find an unbiased comparison of various internet service providers. If you’re one of those fortunate enough to have a number of choices as far as ISPs go, chances are you only have two options for choosing the best. Either you’ll have to listen to the companies’ marketing pitches or you’ll have to find reviews from other customers, which may not always be reliable. However, one of the biggest sites on the internet is now offering their unbiased evaluation of every major ISP in the US.

Netflix, which serves high-bandwidth video on demand to 30 million members, is now offering statistics on internet speeds based on the data they’ve collected. Unlike bandwidth claims from ISPs, which are devious at best, the data Netflix collects actually reflects the real-world performance of each of internet service. Each month, they’ll post a list of ISPs, ranked by speed, as well as their change in rank from the previous month.
Netflix is in a unique position to offer this information, and perhaps the best. Because the service they provide can max out most internet connections, and because of how many people use their service in a variety of locations, they gather the most accurate data on bandwidth usage possible. Only Google’s YouTube service would be able to provide a similar level of data, but as they provide internet through their Fiber service, they would be a biased analyst

They don’t really need the help: Google Fiber leads the pack by a long shot. However, it’s only available in very limited locations. After that, it’s Verizon’s fiber optic service, then Comcast. It will be interesting to see if this transparency affects the claims made by major ISPs, but it’s too soon to tell at this point. Their findings will be posted monthly at http://blog.netflix.com

Facebook Messaging: Pay to Send

Claims of Change to Facebook Messaging… sort of

If you’re anything like me, you probably didn't even know your Facebook account had two in boxes That’s right; when you go to your messages, there’s a little grey link at the top that says “other.” This is where less-relevant messages end up. Check it out: you may be surprised at what you find. But most of the time the “other” category just catches messages that you never really wanted to read anyway. If a page that you’ve “liked” or someone you don’t know sends you a message, it’s likely to end up there.

Facebook wants to make that other inbox a little more functional. They've started a trial limited to only a few users that allows them the option of paying one dollar to guarantee that their message ends up with the rest of your messages, not filtered out into the box that no one knows exists.

Facebook claims that:

“This test is designed to address situations where neither social nor algorithmic signals are sufficient. For example, if you want to send a message to someone you heard speak at an event but are not friends with, or if you want to message someone about a job opportunity, you can use this feature to reach their Inbox. For the receiver, this test allows them to hear from people who have an important message to send them.”

Right now, the experiment is very limited, and Facebook isn’t saying who exactly has access to this feature. It is unknown at this point if they’ve set any safeguards in place to prevent spamming, but the cost should deter any spammers from using it to flood your inbox with messages you don’t care about.

It remains to be seen what the full extent of this option will be, but Facebook promises further changes to the messages system over the next few months. In the meantime though, don’t worry about any weird messages coming to your inbox – but if it does happen, you’ll know exactly why!

Stay nerdy, my friends.

Why You Need a Router

Firewall Router is Necessary

While most of us have less than fond memories of dial-up Internet - gritting teeth through the high-pitched squeal while your computer connected, heading to the kitchen for a snack while you waited for a website to load – these days just about everyone uses a high speed Internet connection like DSL or cable. While you may think that the moment your ISP (Internet Service Provider) installer leaves you’re good to go, there’s one more piece of equipment that everyone with a high speed Internet connection needs: a router. Yes, even if you don’t plan to get online from more than one computer.

In its basic form, a router acts like a splitter for your high speed Internet, allowing multiple systems to get online using the same connection. While that’s certainly handy, if you’re one of the many households that only utilizes one computer or laptop you may not think there’s any benefit to adding a router to your network.

However, one of the most important functions a router supplies is that of hardware firewall, managing traffic to and from your PC. Without a router, you’re leaving your computer vulnerable to attack by viruses, malware and malicious code that’s designed to look for systems connected to high speed Internet lines with open ports.

Every time you pull up a web site, your computer sends a request over the Internet to the server hosting the site to send back the web page information to your computer. It supplies your IP address to the website so the site’s server knows where to send the information. Your computer is designed to accept information from anything on the net, whether you asked for it or not.

Information sent from the web to your system is called a ping. When a program sends information to your computer in the form of a ping, your system is designed to send back an “I’m here!” of sorts. Automated programs like viruses and malware look for active IP addresses and flood them with pings, probing for open ports.

All Internet traffic travels over ports. There are countless ports, many of which have a specific designated function. For example, port 80 allows your computer to see the Internet – all HTTP (basic web site page) traffic travels over port 80. Port 21 is designated for file transfer. Certain ports aren’t assigned a function, leaving them open for data to flow in or out when a request is sent over them.

Open ports are like windows into your PC. Your computer is designed to accept information from the Internet, even when it didn’t specifically request that information. Malicious code uses open ports as a way into your PC. A router closes all the ports, or windows, per se, that aren’t specifically designated for expected web traffic.

What’s more, every time your computer sends out a request to a web page, a router directs the traffic and anticipates the data coming back from that site. A router will not respond to anonymous requests. It only allows in information that it’s expecting, that your PC specifically requested. The router acts like a security gate, standing between you and the Internet.

These days, some ISPs offer a combined modem/router. So long as you have a router standing between you and the Web you’re good to go - you don’t need to add an additional standalone router. However, if your system is connected directly to the web, either via a cable plugged into a modem or a 4G card plugged into your laptop or computer, a router is an important investment to keep your system protected online.


Photo used by permission: Public Domain Photos

Video Editing for Beginners

Video Editing: How to

Ours is a video generation. We grew up with parents shooting camcorder footage of every birthday and graduation, and most of us have hours of movie footage without any cohesive organization or engaging content. Any novice with a video camera can benefit from editing. If you’ve ever forced your friends and family to suffer through six minutes of boring for two seconds of awesome, I’m talking to you. Before you post that cell phone video to YouTube, a little polish with a free editing program can make your friends actually want to click on your Facebook links.

While Adobe Premier is widely held to be the most comprehensive video editing software available, I'm hesitant to suggest a pricey application to learn a new skill. Luckily, there are some great free or cheap programs available. All of my recommendations support clipping, drag-and-drop editing (to change the order of clips) and splicing several smaller videos or photos into a single cohesive video with the addition of transitions (like fading from one scene to another). You can use any of them to convert your camera’s output into a format accepted by YouTube, social media sites, or recognizable to your DVD player.

For novice videographers using Windows, download the free Windows Live Movie Maker (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-live/movie-maker-get-started), a program packaged into Windows Live Essentials. Microsoft provides some basic tutorials and how-to videos to get you started. It’s a decent beginner product with a relatively easy to follow interface. Opt for one of the AutoMovie themes for an easy way to convert your clips or photos into a more professional looking video with intros, transitions and effects. There’s an integrated one-step upload option to post your masterpiece to YouTube, should you be so inclined.

Note: The link provided on Microsoft’s site installs the Windows Live Essentials suite of products. Select “Choose the programs you want to install” to avoid installing a bulk of software you may not use.

If you don't like the interface or find Windows Movie Maker too bulky or difficult to use, a great alternative option is VideoPad Video Editor Pro (http://www.nchsoftware.com/videopad/index.html). The catch is that VideoPad only offers a 14 day free trial, after which my understanding is that the software will continue to work but only allow you to created limited types of videos. However, the product is only $30 (according to current pricing on their website) so it's not too expensive if you try it and like it.

VideoPad is an easy-to-use solution that brings advanced features to the beginner’s reach. Record your own voiceover narration, or import recorded narrations, something Movie Maker lacks. Also, the full product lets you create BluRay DVDs, a feature that typically requires the purchase of additional software.

Mac users probably don’t need me to mention iMovie, Apple’s movie editing software. Packaged into iLife, the software suite is included on all new Macs. iMovie has more themes than Window’s Movie Maker, more advanced audio editing (like the ability to adjust volume of a single segment and integrated background music options), and “People Finder” that will scan your clips to find additional footage with your intended subject. Overall, it’s widely held to be one of the most easy to use video editing software applications around… provided you have a Mac.

One last note: video editing is time consuming and taxing to your system resources. If you are using a slow or under-performing PC, your system may not be able to handle the task of editing videos. Save your project often if you aren’t sure that your system is up to the task. If your system crashes frequently during the process, try a different editing program, but your system may not be powerful enough to handle the editing process.


Photo used by permission: YuvalH

Top Pinterest Pages For The Bride and Groom

Best Pinterest Boards For Weddings

They’re just three letters, but they’ll change your life forever: “Yes” to the proposal and soon, “I do.” But as any bride or groom can attest, the time between those two utterances can be overwhelming, stressful, and even crazy. Whether you’re planning an unforgettable affair for 400 or so of your nearest and dearest, or searching to instill your own unique style into your special day, Pinterest has boards to make your vows full of wows.

The Perfect Palette

http://pinterest.com/perfectpalette/
What started out as a wedding blog aimed at “exploring the color palette possibilities for your wedding,” has grown into more than 115 boards of beautiful, colorful images covering coordinating palettes, to be sure, but also shoes, accessories, paper straws (with 31 pins!)… you name it. There are boards dedicated to weddings by season and every detail imaginable from cupcakes (even a board of cupcake flags!) to burlap – I didn’t even know that was a theme. If you are looking to color coordinate your big day, join the ranks of over 261,000 followers and add this to your list of wedding resources. If you haven’t decided on a color, prepare to be overwhelmed and inspired. One caveat: not all the images contain links that facilitate purchasing the item you see, so while you’ll be given lots of colorful, beautiful ideas for every detail of your wedding, you may be on your own to recreate it.

Offbeat Bride

http://pinterest.com/offbeatbride/
If the idea of a white princess dress, bow tie tuxedos, chiffon bridesmaids and roses makes you yawn, check out Offbeat Bride. The images explore unique, wild, and, well, offbeat weddings to help you create a special day all your own. They promise to “provide positive encouragement to couples who are trying to retain their identities,” and suggest you “altar your thinking.” Just to give you a sample of the creative ideas filling every board: the invitations page includes a ransom note invitation, Dr. Who themed invites, vintage templates, and a walk through of how to create a Harry Potter howler card. Many of the pins link to how-to instructions so you can create a celebration that’s distinctly yours without breaking the bank.

intimatewedding

http://pinterest.com/intimatewedding/
For many, the prospect of hosting a wedding for hundreds of people you barely know is less than appealing. If you want your special day to be more personal than grandiose, the 50 or so boards that make up “intimatewedding” are full of ideas and DIY tips to help you create a perfect party for your closest loved ones to celebrate your matrimony, on any budget. Many of the boards are full of ideas to incorporate nature, creating beautiful décor, accessories and gifts from pine, moss, even pumpkins. More sweet than stuffy, those planning a small gathering will find plenty of inspiration.

Brides

http://pinterest.com/brides/
Created with the images that adorn the pages of Brides Magazine, I have to admit that my first perusal left me feeling overwhelmed and over budget just looking at the couture-laden photos. Yet it’s impossible to deny the classic beauty artfully displayed throughout the 74 boards. I actually love the “DIY Wedding Details” board with over 100 pins of creative ideas for favors, décor and details. The how-to tips offer anyone with some time the tools to add personal flair to their dream wedding. Exploring past the “fashion-week” pages reveals that Brides offers ideas to bring beauty and grace to any affair, whether it be rustic or romantic, classic or colorful. Turns out decades of creating one of the most iconic wedding magazines around lends itself to an impressive collection of stunning images, awww-inspiring stories, and ideas to help any bride achieve her perfect day.


Photo used by permission: http://www.victoriajohnson.co.uk

Top Pinterest Pages for Cooks and Foodies

Best Pinterest Boards For Cooks

The world of cooking and food is a perfect match to the visual scrapbook nature of Pinterest. From gorgeous images of food art to helpful tutorials for the novice chef, finding inspiration isn’t hard; narrowing it down to a few great boards to follow so you don’t get overwhelmed… well that’s a bigger challenge. Here are my favorites:

Two Peas and Their Pod

http://pinterest.com/twopeasandpod/
Brought to you by Salt Lake City food blogger and recipe developer Maria Lichty, she promises her over 13,000 followers “simple, fresh and family-friendly” fare. There are 107 boards filled with sweet treats, dishes for every season, and boards dedicated to some of her favorite foods (from French toast to asparagus). More than just a food-centric page, it’s also a collection of Maria’s life and style loves. You’ll find ways to create tasty gifts, entice your kids to the table, and prepare a unique presentation.

The Kitchn

http://pinterest.com/thekitchn/
Dedicated to “real home cooks,” The Kitchn boards contain recipes, to be sure, but also tutorials and DIY projects aimed to inspire you to try new techniques and get more comfortable in your kitchen. The Kitchn’s blog boasts a following of over 3 million readers who come for the food and return for daily articles that keep their menus fresh and innovative. The Kitchn shares their favorites with their 9,000 Pinterest followers.

Cooking Light

http://pinterest.com/cookinglight/
For those of us that try to balance their love of food with a desire to keep fitting in their jeans, my favorite healthy eating platform, Cooking Light, has a Pinterest board dedicated to just that. With 45 boards full of categorized recipes, cooking tips and guides to help you eat healthy, you won’t have to cut out taste to cut calories.

Paula Deen

http://pinterest.com/pauladeen/
At the other end of the cooking spectrum, if you’re a fan of the queen of Southern Home-style cooking, you’re not alone. With over 76,000 followers, Paula Deen’s page hosts 46 boards of finger lickin’ goodness. Beautiful images of comfort food galore, Paula’s signature down home fare abounds. Those who fear butter need not follow.

Windows 8 Upgrade Questions

Reader Questions about Window 8 Upgrade

As we near the brink of massive Operating System overhaul (i.e., the release of Windows 8), readers want to know what to do to prepare and if they should upgrade. Here are some tips to save time, money and headaches.

My family PC is on its last leg. Should I wait to replace it until Windows 8 is released?

Maybe, but probably not for the reason you think. If you are planning to replace your dying PC with a laptop, it’s a good idea to see what the release of Windows 8 brings to the hardware arena.

Windows 8 is designed to work best on a touchscreen device like a tablet. Manufacturers are working to take advantage of this by integrating touchscreen capability into laptop-tablet hybrids that will offer the traditional laptop benefits of keyboards and ports for USB, HDMI and the like, while remaining super thin and lightweight. Laptop functionality with a touchscreen? Yes, please!

If you’re in the market for a desktop PC, go ahead and replace your system whenever your budget allows. Windows is running an upgrade program wherein anyone who buys a new Windows 7 PC can purchase a Windows 8 upgrade for $14.99 through January 31, 2013. After it’s been on the market for a couple of months, if you’ve heard nothing but favorable reports you can upgrade at minimal cost. On the other hand, if early adopters find the new OS less than perfect, you’ll be thanking your lucky stars you didn’t wait for it to be pre-installed on your new PC.

I’m excited about the new design of Windows 8. Should I upgrade when it comes out?

I’m never inclined to recommend that you pay to be a guinea pig to a massive design change by Microsoft. Let the nerds get a couple of months with it, at least, so that you can make sure you aren’t investing in the next Windows Vista. My concern about Windows 8 is also what makes it exciting: it’s a hugely different OS. Layout, navigation and application launch are all entirely different from previous versions of Windows. While there has been a preview/developer version available since September 2011 for those in the tech community to flush out the bugs, there will inevitably be hiccups discovered at its official launch.

Microsoft’s carrot to get you to adopt the new operating system early is the bargain price of $39.99 being offered through January 31, 2013 to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for any system currently running Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7. What’s the rush? On January 30th, take a survey of people who’ve had some time to use it and decide then if it’s awesome or awful.

What are the early reports from people testing out the new Windows OS?

Results are quite mixed. Some people find that the look and layout is different but relatively intuitive. The integration of ribbon menus is familiar and launching programs from tiles on the home screen has become second nature due to widespread use of smartphones and tablets. Others feel that the interface is frustrating on a standard desktop system. They argue that the ability to use a keyboard and mouse feels cobbled together, leading to menus disappearing while you’re trying to enter information. Apps on the home page are overwhelming, leading to an annoying game of “find the program I want” among the visual sea of tiles. Experiencing a smooth transition will likely come down to what type of system you use it on and if you’re able to approach it with an open mind, resisting the urge to try to make it conform to the Windows layout you’re used to.

Video Chat to Connect this Holiday

Video Chat With Family & Friends

The holidays are all about connecting with loved ones, but it can be a challenge when you’re separated by miles… or oceans. While you can pick up the phone, you miss out on seeing your nephew’s gleeful happy dance when he opens the super deluxe Batman Batcave action set you sent. There’s never been a better time to try one of the free video chat services to host a virtual get together. It’s the best way to feel like you’re there when you can’t be.

Everyone needs to have a computer, high-speed internet connection and a webcam with audio. Most newer laptops and tablets will have a built-in camera and voice-transmitter. While the screen is tiny, many smartphones can support video chat as well.

In the event that Aunt Edna is missing the necessary hardware, there are many inexpensive plug-and-play webcams with built-in audio. I like the Logitech 720p Webcam C510 (www.amazon.com/Logitech-960-000593-720p-Webcam-C510/dp/B003LVZO92, $50) for its clear video and integrated noise-cancelling audio. The swivel feature is nice because you can adjust placement to accommodate your monitor size and location. Also, it’s really easy to install and will likely be automatically recognized on most systems.

If everyone has a Wi-Fi enabled Apple device or iPhone, Facetime is probably the easiest of the available software applications. I use it when my husband is working in our Sacramento office so we can still have family dinner “together”and my 4-year old knows how to “call daddy.” Everyone with an Apple computer or mobile handheld device should already have it installed and it’s super easy to use.

Just launch the Facetime app and select among your contacts for the person you want to chat with. If you want to FaceTime with a FaceTime-enabled iPod touch, iPad 2 or Mac, select the email address that is linked to their Apple ID from your Contacts list. If you both have iPhones, just place a call to the recipient and tap the FaceTime button when it appears on your screen in the grid of six options (alongside mute, keypad, speaker, etc).

The biggest drawback of Facetime is that it ONLY works on Apple devices, and doing it on an iPhone’s small screen isn’t exactly endearing. The winner for cross-platform simplicity is Skype (http://beta.skype.com/en/), a name that just about anyone who has ever heard of video chat is likely familiar with.

Skype is great solution for its ability to work over just about any operating system and a bunch of different devices, like tablets, smartphones and more. Video chat is free between Skype members, so everyone will need to create an account and download the software to use it.

While video quality is great, some users complain that the audio doesn’t sync perfectly, which can be annoying and distracting. Also, while the software supports group chat so you can connect with multiple parties simultaneously, it’s only available when you upgrade to Skype’s premium service ($9.99/mo or $4.99 for a “day pass”). There are several other cool perks to a premium account, particularly if you plan to call landlines or internationally, so it may be worth considering.

If you’re looking to put together a multi-party virtual gift opening extravaganza, your best bet is Google Video Chat (https://www.google.com/chat/video). It’s free and pretty easy to use. It works across platforms which is a big plus, though everyone needs a Google login (usually a Gmail account). Google+ Hangouts allows you to add up to nine video chat participants simultaneously with a split screen, all for free. While the interface will likely be easy enough to navigate for someone familiar with Google products like Gmail, others may require time and assistance to get their Google+ login established and chat to launch.

If, for example, Grandma doesn’t have a web cam, Skype and Google Chat both support one-way video so that she can see and hear you while you only hear her (provided she has a microphone). Worst case you can piggyback a standard phone call so you can hear each other while she gets to see you on her computer screen.

Photo used by permission: stefan.erschwendner

Last Minute Unique Gifts

Unique Gifts For The Procrastinator

Every year I swear I will have my Christmas presents bought, wrapped and under the tree by the first week in December. Yet as the big day nears I inevitably note the passing of the last day to reasonably expect to ship online purchases with dismay, knowing I have at least a few gifts left to find and acquire. Lucky for you, dear reader, this has led me to amass a variety of great last minute gift alternatives that are easy to get a hold of yet more unique than a standard gift card.

Check out the deals available through sites like Groupon (www.groupon.com), Living Social (www.livingsocial.com) or Google Offers (www.google.com/offers) for great deals on unique services and experiences that you can gift. Think half price sky diving or heli-skiing for the adventurer on your list; half off online cooking, photography or music lessons; or discount online personal training sessions for your favorite workout junkie. While deals are made available by area, just pick the nearest major metropolitan area to your gift recipient. Online deals are typically redeemable anywhere, but if you spring for a certificate for an in-person adventure you’ll want to make sure your recipient can take advantage of it without too much travelling.

Amazon Prime isn’t just about the free two-day shipping (though that’s a pretty amazing selling feature). It also gives members access to their sizable collection of movies and TV shows free to stream to any WiFi enabled device that supports Amazon’s app (most of them do). While anyone with a Kindle or the Kindle app on their computer, smartphone, or mobile handheld device can buy or access some free eBooks via Amazon, Prime members gain an expanded collection of free titles.

Nerds love social media. It lets us stay in touch with friends and family that we might otherwise never see or hear from, what with our propensity to sequester ourselves indoors with our computer and home theater system. If you want to hear more about what’s going on in the life of your favorite nerd, join their preferred social media site, be it Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc and soon you’ll be sharing LOLs and know more about the dietary habits of their cat than you ever thought possible.

Unfortunately, I’ve been unable to find a way to gift an Amazon Prime Membership. However, I’d suggest a $79 Amazon electronic gift card with an attached note that you’d like to give them the joys of Prime.

I loved story time in school, particularly when the librarian seemed to vocally act out the dialog with different voices. As an adult I’ve discovered that many great audioboooks convey that same engrossing experience. Even better, I can enjoy a great book when I’m driving or doing the dishes. Audible (www.audible.com/mt/giftmembership, 3 months for $45) allows members to instantly download any their more than 100,000 audio books. Install the Audible app on just about any mobile handheld device and listen to audiobooks on your phone, iPod, or a wide selection of MP3 players. Membership typically covers one audiobook download per month with additional books at a reduced price. If gifting by the month seems too impersonal, you can gift a specific book.

If you know someone that breaks their piggy bank every month downloading the hottest new music from iTunes, Google Play or Amazon, a gift subscription to Spotify (https://www.spotify.com/us/get-spotify/e-card/, $9.99/mo) will surely be the highlight of their holiday. A Spotify Premium membership gives them access to millions of tracks that can be streamed while online, or downloaded to a device for listening offline. In addition to unlimited music synced across all their devices, they’ll be able to listen to custom, ad-free radio stations tailored around their favorite artist or song. Purchase Spotify e-cards by number of months you’d like to give and then email or print the certificate.

We all know someone who grumbles every time they tear open their cable or satellite bill. Consider gifting them a membership to Hulu Plus (https://secure.hulu.com/plus/buy, $7.99/month). Using a Hulu-compatible internet capable device (like a computer, gaming console, Roku Box or even many internet-ready TVs), a Hulu Plus membership allows users to stream TV shows - including many first run shows shortly after airing on regular TV and entire seasons of older episodes - and thousands of movies on demand.

Those Presents Are Going To Need Batteries & Cables

If you splurged on that perfect gadget gift, you've probably imagined an ecstatic squeal accompanying its discovery. But if you extend that fantasy five minutes, is the scene as jubilant? Gadget givers everywhere forget to make their toys useable straight out of the box, leading to frustration before the fun can begin.

So, here are my last-minute reminders to make your tech gifts truly perfect.

#1 Make sure portable electronics are charged. If they require batteries, add them before the gift goes under the tree. If it's too late for that, make sure you have the appropriate batteries on hand so the gift will be functional in minutes. If the device doesn't require batteries, make sure you have a charging device in case it doesn't come with full battery. The recipient of a LeapFrog LeapPad learning tablet or iPad surely will want to play immediately.

If you're giving an MP3 player, gaming device or tablet, consider preloading some content so your loved one doesn't have to spend the first few hours loading games, apps or music to enjoy the device. Pre-installing Angry Birds will generate immediate smiles before the recipient launches into synching his or her music library.

Certain accessories can improve a gadget gift.

#2 Don't Forget A SD Card: If you're giving a lucky loved one a camera, keep in mind that most digital cameras require an SD card for storing photos. Unfortunately, not all cameras come with one. Look at the box to make sure it's included -- and has sufficient memory. If not, pick up an SD card compatible with the camera so the recipient can snap photos immediately.

#3 USB Cables: Printers notoriously lack the USB cable necessary to function. You'll also want to confirm there's ample ink for printing a few photos. Always check to make sure what's included in the box, and get the additional part required for it to function.

#4 Screen Protectors: Portable electronics: Screen protectors or cases can ensure that devices survive the first excited tumble or spill. A car charger makes a smartphone far more functional, and a decent set of earphones will ensure that an MP3 player is immediately awesome.

#5 High-def equipment: If you're giving an HDTV or a Blu-ray player, remember that the image will appear crystal clear only if the content is high definition. For most cable and satellite subscribers, this will require a package upgrade to HD channels. Consider giving a Blu-ray movie with the player so you won't suffer the otherwise inevitable complaint, "But it doesn't look any better than it did before." And of course, make sure that your gift recipient has a compatible TV with HD capacity if you're giving them a Blu-Ray player

#6 Get Discounted HDMI Cables: Most devices will require at least one HDMI cable, and it's unlikely you'll find it in the product box. Before you buy that cable, charger or case off the rack, know that most retailers drastically mark up accessories to compensate for the loss they take on the TV or camera itself. If you have time, order online. Monoprice.com has a huge selection of low-priced cables, and Amazon.com offers almost any other accessory at a reasonable price. Don't be fooled by Monster cables or similar overpriced cables as places like Best Buy. Due to the way that HDMI cables work, a cheap cable will provide the same signal as an expensive one.

I've compiled links to all the cool Nerdy gadgets, services and products I've reviewed this season at nerdsecret.com. Friends don't let friends give boring gifts.

 

The 6 Best Christmas Card Gift Ideas

Despite my best intentions to give personalized gifts to everyone on my holiday list, at least one or two people always end up with a gift card. Deep down I can't shake the feeling that I'm calling it in. This year, I've resolved to consider gifting some great online services, a gift that keeps on giving, month after month.

The Best Gift Cards For Music Lovers: There are several great options to stream music either to a computer or to any number of wireless-enabled personal electronic devices. Streaming music has gotten really popular -- and really easy. Services such as Pandora and Spotify offer the ability to listen to a wide variety of music without having to purchase and/or download it. Unfortunately, the free versions also have annoying pop ups and commercials. Consider a subscription to Pandora One (www.pandora.com), where a year of ad-free music streaming can be had for $36. Spotify's library and service is constantly improving, and you can buy gift cards at major retailers, or its premium membership is 7.49$9.99 a month.

The Best Gift Cards For Book Lovers: If a Kindle is out of your price range, consider a membership to Audible. Members can instantly download any of the more than 100,000 audio books in its holdings. Membership typically permits one download a month, with additional books at a reduced price. You can give a membership by the month (three months is $45, six months is $90, etc) or give a specific book. Install the audible app on any number of personal electronic devices and stream books from a smartphone or a wide selection of MP3 players. With the gift of audio books, your avid reader can catch up on "The Hunger Games" -- Suzanne Collins' young-adult series -- while picking up the house or carpooling the kids to soccer practice. Win-win!

The Best Gift Cards For Movie and TV Lovers: There are options. If that special someone doesn't already have Netflix, you can purchase a gift membership for $7.99 a month. Netflix's gift memberships are limited to the streaming service, not movie delivery. Keep in mind that the certificate is nonrefundable and requires that the recipient enter a valid credit card number and authorize automatic re-bills after the gift membership expires.

Or give Blockbuster Total Access a try. Gift memberships start at $9.99 a month for one DVD out at a time and are available in various combinations of months and number of movies out. Movies can be returned or exchanged in store, and the monthly rate includes the ability to rent video games. Some users have complained about movie turnover -- the time from mailing a movie back to the receipt of the next movie -- being longer than Netflix, but Blockbuster claims that new releases are available up to 28 days before Netflix or Redbox. That may make up for waiting three or four days for replacement movies to arrive by mail.

Or consider gifting a membership to Hulu Plus, a TV streaming service that lets users watch their favorite shows and thousands of movies, on demand, on any number of wireless-enabled devices. Gift memberships start at $7.99 a month. If Uncle Jim is distraught when he misses an episode of "House," make him and his couch happy again.

I've compiled links to all the cool Nerdy gadgets, services and products I've reviewed this season at www.nerdsecret.com. Friends don't let friends give boring gifts.

(Andrea Eldridge is CEO of Nerds on Call, which offers on-site computer and home theater set-up and repair. Based in Redding, Calif., it has locations in five states. Contact Eldridge at www.callnerds.com/andrea.)

 

Things Nerds are Thankful For

Nerds Give Thanks like a Baws!

Everyone has a nerd or two in their life these days, whether it’s a computer guru, video gamer or mobile gadget aficionado. From texting to email to blogging, the typical nerd often favors electronic communication over “real world” conversations, and this can make it difficult to connect. In honor of Thanksgiving, here’s a bit of insight into the heart of the nerd you love with a few things that just about every nerd is thankful for this year.

Nerds are thankful for loved ones that accept our quirks. We are thankful you finally got cable. We are thankful for Dr. Who, Peter Jackson and the preponderance of free WiFi.

Nerds are thankful for websites that let us keep in touch without speaking.

Nerds love social media. It lets us stay in touch with friends and family that we might otherwise never see or hear from, what with our propensity to sequester ourselves indoors with our computer and home theater system. If you want to hear more about what’s going on in the life of your favorite nerd, join their preferred social media site, be it Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc and soon you’ll be sharing LOLs and know more about the dietary habits of their cat than you ever thought possible.

Nerds are thankful for the ability to do holiday shopping without having to get dressed.

We nerds are grateful for the annual holiday shopping day for the public-phobic, Cyber Monday. The Monday after Thanksgiving has grown to be one of the best online shopping days of the year. Major online retailers like Amazon, Walmart.com, Newegg and Dell slash prices on computers, televisions, handheld electronics, computer parts and much more, allowing those of us that shudder at the sea of people swarming Walmart on Black Friday to still get a crack at some of the lowest prices of the season. Plus we get to compete with our fellow nerds in the sport of snapping up limited quantity sale items, just like we would on Black Friday, just without any actual physical interaction.

Nerds are thankful for expanded access to high speed cellular data.

Smartphones have become the nerd’s go-to gadget to stay “plugged-in” on the go. Nothing drags down our sunny disposition like slow mobile data – waiting while that YouTube video buffers can really fray the nerves. Thank goodness 4G networks are expanding beyond major city centers. Now we can actually get some benefit from that next generation 4G compatible phone we sprung for 2 years ago in the hope that 4G would come to our area soon. It’s finally here!

Nerds are thankful for the promise of more Star Wars.

In October 2012 the unthinkable happened: Disney purchased Lucasfilm Ltd and simultaneously announced that production will soon begin on the next installment of our beloved Star Wars series. Star Wars Episode 7 is targeted to release in 2015. Regardless of whether the nerd in your life greets this news with glee or horror, they’re surely going to see the movie when it comes out. Will it be awesome? Many of those that were disappointed with George Lucas’ rendition of Episodes 1-3 argue that it can’t be worse. Or will Disney over-commercialize the file, stripping out the true spirit of Star Wars? Only one thing is certain: it will provide fodder for debate in the nerd community for years to come.

Nerds are thankful for algebra.

Nothing cramps a nerd’s style like slow internet. Luckily we have an international team of telecom technology researchers from MIT, Harvard, Caltech, the University of Porto in Portugal and the Technical University of Munich to thank for discovering what many believe is the future of broadband: algebra.

Typical broadband works by breaking up large amounts of data into packets and sending each packet separately to the user requesting the data. On average, 2-5% of packets are lost in transit, requiring that the data be re-sent. Researchers have discovered that sending data in the form of an algebraic equation instead of traditional packets allows the recipient computer to “fill in the blanks” of any missing packets, resulting in significantly faster internet transfer speeds and more stable mobile data connections.

And these Nerd Chicks are thankful for you, dear reader; we hope you had a fabulous Thanksgiving.

Create Custom Gifts Online

Who has Time For Custom Gifts?

Nothing says you put time, thought and effort into a gift like personalization. I don’t mean just pasting Uncle Barry’s name on the coffee mug you bought at Target. I mean creating something unique for that special individual. Before you book a weeklong craft-a-thon at your neighborhood paint your own pottery shop, check out these great ideas for creating a totally custom gift online.

These days it’s easy to get your photos printed on any number of items, from shirts to mugs to jewelry to canvas. Costco, Snapfish and Shutterfly are just a few of the sites that offer a wide array of photo gift products.

If you’re looking to branch out beyond photos, however, Café Press (www.cafepress.com/make/personalized-gifts) maintains one of the most comprehensive collections of single-run, design-your-own products. Choose from an overwhelming list of clothing, drinkware, kitchen items, home and office décor, and accessories - from stuffed animals, bags and wallets, custom cases for mobile electronics and much more. Add full color graphics; enter your own text in a wide variety of fonts and colors; and adjust layout until you have your masterpiece.


While there are many other sites that offer a large selection of customizable products, what makes Café Press special is the ability to get a single item at a reasonable price. Most other sites require a sizable minimum order (in many cases it starts at 10 or more). Giving out the same hand designed t-shirt to everyone you know makes it a bit less personal, even when it’s undeniably awesome.

For the soda-lover on your list, Jones Soda Co. (http://www.jonessoda.com/) offers a fully custom label that you can have printed on any of their twelve most popular flavors. Upload a photo and enter your own text for the back of the bottle. A 12-pack will set you back $30, but it will be the most memorable blue berry lemonade soda they’ve ever enjoyed.

Little ones on your list are sure to love a book all about them. I See Me! (www.iseeme.com) offers a great selection of personalized books about their name, the holidays or their birthday, even “The Super, Incredible Big Sister” (or Brother). Simply provide the child’s name and a few additional specifics depending on the book (such as date of birth, gender or name of sibling) and they’ll send you a beautiful, personalized, hardcover book. My son has the “My Very Own Name” book where it tells the story of animals selecting each letter in his name. Each letter has a poem in which the animal of the same letter (Jaguar for J, etc) sings the praises of the letter. He got it when he turned one, still loves it now that he’s four, and has memorized it (despite the fact there’s more than 20 letters in his name).

Trailblazers and on-the-go snack-lovers alike will get a kick out of the custom nutrition bars you devise for them at You Bar (www.youbars.com/buildabar). Choose your base from a variety of nut butters, dates, soy or sunflower. Then select protein powders, nuts and seeds, fruits, sweeteners, seasonings, cereals and infusions. If there’s anything you want that’s not listed, you can write it in under a “special requests” option. As you add ingredients the nutrition facts automatically updates so you can see the effect on fat and calories if you add those chocolate chips.

The choices can be overwhelming so they’ve added tips and recommendations along the way as well as a “Taste Tester” to ensure your concoction is delicious, not disastrous. Name your creation and you’re ready to order a box of thirteen for about $3-5/bar (depending on size). Ingredients are all natural and their online support can help you build a bar to fit just about any nutritional requirements. Bars are “guaranteed delicious” – if you don’t like your bar they’ll help you replace it for free.

Even those of us that aren’t crafty enough to sew mom a custom tea cozy can achieve personalized present perfection with a few clicks of the mouse.

Top Tech Gifts You Don't Know About

Ditch That Gift Card for a Top Tech Gift

Now that so many of us rely on electronics to read, watch movies and listen to music, you may be thinking that giving gift cards is the only option to help fill out your loved ones media library this holiday season. Yet the generic ease of a gift card makes for a very impersonal gift. Luckily you can achieve gift nirvana with a variety of truly useful digital products and services that are sure to please even the most difficult to buy for loved ones on your list. Here are our Top Tech Gifts of 2012.

With the increasing popularity of eReaders, it may seem that giving the gift of a great digital book requires you resort to an Amazon or Barnes and Noble gift card. Not so! If there’s a specific title you’d like to share, you can gift an eBook to your favorite Kindle or NOOK user. As long as you have the recipient’s email address, neither of you need wait for the title to arrive in the mail.

For Kindle owners, find the title in the Amazon Kindle store and choose the “Give as a Gift” option on the right side of the page, under the “Buy now” button. Share the love with the NOOK users in your life by finding the title you’d like to give at www.barnesandnoble.com, scrolling to the NOOK Book option and choosing “Buy as Gift.”


Give the Apple gadget lovers on your list a better excuse for wasting so much time on their phone by gifting them a few great apps, movies, TV shows or tunes. While you may consider just picking up an iTunes gift card, take the time to find a game, video, album or tool that you think they’d enjoy for a more personal touch.

To gift an app, start at the iTunes app store and find the app that you think your loved one will enjoy. To the right of the “Buy App” button, click the smaller grey button for an additional options menu. At the top of the menu select “Gift This App.” You can send the gift via email or print a certificate to wrap or deliver by hand. A similar procedure can be followed to gift a movie, TV show, song or album.

If you know someone that has a towering stack of magazines that they love to peruse for inspiration and leisure, a gift membership to Next Issue (http://www.nextissue.com/gift/, 3 months of premium membership for $44.97, longer periods are available) will give them all-you-can-read access to over 70 digital magazines delivered to their iPad or Android 7” tablet. While titles are limited on the Android application, the iPad’s list of titles is comprehensive, including just about every magazine I’ve heard of – Vogue, Cooking Light, Cosmopolitan, Fitness, GQ, Money, and many more. Upgrade to Premium to get Entertainment Weekly, People, Time, and Sports Illustrated.

For the person who has everything - particularly if a lot of it is stored on their computer – a gift membership to a cloud-based data backup service is a truly thoughtful and likely unexpected gift. What better way to show you care than helping to protect them from the sorrow of losing precious photos, family movies and possibly years of work due to hard drive failure. Crashplan+ is a great, easy to use data backup solution for the home user. Simply pick a plan from their list of pricing options (www.crashplan.com/consumer/store.vtl, starting at $1.50/month). Complete the payment form, entering your email address so that you get the receipt and license key. Clear the auto-renew check box if you want to just purchase a one-time gift. Now all your recipient need do is download CrashPlan and navigate to Settings – Account – License to activate it with the license key you gifted them.

We totally stole the picture from Crashplan, but we recommend their service all the time, so we hope they'll forgive us.

3 Easy Ways to Save on Gift Cards

Score a Deal on Gift Cards

Gift cards are a ubiquitous staple of the holiday season. Whether you’re looking to show some appreciation to someone you don’t know very well (like your newspaper delivery person or your gardener), or have someone on your list that’s hard to buy for, a gift card can be the perfect present for giver and receiver.

However, sometimes you get a gift card that you can’t or don’t use. What can you do with it? This dilemma has led to the creation of a gift card resale market where you can snap up gift cards at a discount. Saving money while giving more value – now that’s a gift.

My favorite gift card resale sites are Cardpool and eCard Exchange. They buy gift cards from people who want to cash out a card they don’t need. Once received, they verify the authenticity and balance on the card, and then resell them at a discount. While the savings isn’t as substantial as you may find on eBay, the balance is guaranteed to be valid at the merchant (Cardpool covers up to 100 days from the date of purchase, eCardExchange covers for up to 30 days). There’s a large selection of retailers and restaurants available, including Target, Walmart, Petsmart, Outback Steakhouse and Olive Garden, just to name a few. Shipping is free, so the price you see is what you pay.

Most merchants will allow you to use one gift card to purchase others. For example, you could buy one $90 TJ Maxx card for $80 and trade it in at the store for three $30 cards which you can give as gifts. Or use the card to pay for the gifts you’re buying and score yourself an instant discount on your purchases.

Discounts are proportional to the popularity of the retailer. As such, Target cards carry an average 3% discount while you can score 30% off PacSun gift cards.

Gift Card Granny is a gift card resale consolidation site. They collect lists of gift cards available across a multitude of other sites, including eBay, Coupon Trade, Cardpool, eCardExchange, ABC Gift Cards and more. Since each site’s stock is limited by what they’ve acquired from individual sellers or partner retailers, this site is a great way to find and compare available deals all with one search. It has, by far, the largest selection of gift cards available across the net. You aren’t buying direct from Gift Card Granny, however, so pay close attention to the terms and conditions of the site you’re re-directed to in order to ensure the site guarantees the balance on the card before you buy.

Speaking of guaranteed balances, many people choose to sell their unused gift cards through eBay in order to obtain the most money on the sale. Resale sites purchase cards at a greater discount than they sell them for. This means that the person who sold the $90 TJ Maxx gift card in the example above probably netted about $65 dollars for it. Those looking to try their luck at getting more for their card often turn to auction or direct to buyer sites. While cutting out the “middle man” consolidation site can score you a better deal, you lose the guarantee that the card you buy will have the promised value on it when you show up at the store.

Finally, if you maintain a membership at Costco or Sams Club, check out their gift card offerings. Unlike grocery stores that sell a variety of retailer cards at face value, wholesale outlets typically offer cards at a discount. Purchase $100 worth of gift cards for $80 and you’ve scored an instant 20% discount whether you use the cards yourself in lieu of cash of give them as gifts.

Photo used by permission y2bk

Move over Black Friday, Cyber Monday Tops Charts

Cyber Monday: Better than Black Friday

Many have heard the term “Cyber Monday” floating around. But what exactly is it? Is it just a marketing term designed to sell more products or it is actually an event worth taking note of? It’s mostly both – and definitely worth paying attention to if you’re looking to buy lots of gifts this Christmas season.

The National Retail Federation is an international group of retail companies, the largest in the world. One of their major divisions, and one that is growing quickly, is shop.org, a consortium of online retailers. In 2005, shop.org coined the term “Cyber Monday,” claiming that “77 percent of online retailers said that their sales increased substantially on the Monday after Thanksgiving, a trend that is driving serious online discounts and promotions on Cyber Monday this year.”

How this pseudo-holiday started was when online retailers wanted to take advantage of the holiday craze for gifts, but could not compete with brick-and-mortar stores for once. Too many people were spending all Friday in line at physical stores and not online with their computers. So to capitalize on the trend, many online retailers started offering significant discounts on the Monday following Thanksgiving. Contrary to popular belief, Cyber Monday doesn’t just apply to cyber gifts like computers, tablets or smartphones, but simply to those goods offered solely online.

Cyber Monday Factoid

Because of its timing on the first workday after the holiday, many people started doing their Christmas shopping while on their work computers. In 2005, 37% of those surveyed said that they would secretly shop online while at work. In 2010, that number nearly doubled!


Despite some employers’ lost productivity from employees shopping online, many online retailers are making lots of money. In 2010, Cyber Monday shopping exceeded the $1 billion mark for the first time at an increase of 16% over the previous year. 88% of online merchants now offer Cyber Monday discounts.

The most common markets for Cyber Monday purchases range from the expected to the surprising. Jewelry and luxury retailers actually see the biggest benefit from the event, while the predictable consumer electronics market experiences the second biggest bump. The demographics of people taking advantage of the sale range wildly too. 70 percent of 18-34 year-olds shop online, but 30 percent of 65+ year-olds do as well. From young to old, more and more people are transitioning into online retail. In 2010, online sales totaled more than 165 billion dollars, meaning that almost a half billion dollars are spent each day on products online.

Sadly for some, all this online activity is taking its toll on previously-established major corporations used to working with a physical business model. Many companies like Best Buy are adapting price-matching strategies to keep up with online sales. However, these guarantees apply only to a limited number of items, and specifically in Best Buy’s case, are suspending that offer during the major shopping week that contains Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Trendy Tech Gifts for 2012

Black Friday Goto Guide

In the sea of tech toys and gadgets that hit the shelves every holiday season, a few stand out as the year’s sure-to-sell-out favorites. With the first new console gaming system in six years and a mini-tablet war, this year is no exception. Here are the hottest trending tech goodies of the 2012 holiday season.

Video Game Consoles

Nintendo’s Wii U (http://www.nintendo.com/wiiu, $299.99 for an 8GB “basic”, $349.99 for a 32GB “deluxe”) is the first new console gaming system released since the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 first debuted in 2006. In addition to the standard game controls, the GamePad incorporates a 6.2-inch LCD touch screen (which they’ve dubbed a “Personal Second Screen”) with motion control. Additional game content is beamed to the controller screen so you can see maps, complete challenges with the stylus or your finger, or use it to move your character or vehicle on the big screen. It can be used for handheld gaming, even when the TV is unavailable.

It’s the must have item this season, and it’s sure to sell out fast. If you want one, don’t wait for a sale. The best you can hope for is a bundle deal where retailers may package in an extra game, but you’ll risk losing out to resellers that snatch them up in bulk to mark up $100 or more and sell to the desperate on EBay.

Tablet

Despite the much heralded release of Apple’s new iPad mini, my pick for the best 7” mini tablet is Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008GGCAVM/ref=kindle_dp_comp), starting at $199. An entry-level iPad mini will set you back $329, making the Fire’s price a big draw. Unless you are already married to Apple’s iTunes store, rest assured that the Kindle gives you access to just about all of the most popular apps, as well as the huge library of books, videos, TV shows and music housed in Amazon’s massive library. With an HD display, dual antenna for stronger WiFi reception and both a USB and Micro-HDMI port (for connecting it to your home theater), anyone on your list looking for an ultra-portable mini-tablet is sure to be pleased with the Kindle Fire HD.


If 7” seems just too small to accommodate your handheld web surfing, video watching and game playing needs, Amazon is releasing an 8.9” version of the Kindle Fire HD in time for the holidays starting at $299.99 (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008GFRE5A). Pre-order now – they expect to sell out.

Video Games

Call of Duty (http://www.callofduty.com/blackops2, $60 for XBox 360, Playstation 3, Nintento Wii U and PC) is going to be the hottest video game of the season. This first-person shooter game has developed a huge fan base since the series first launched in 2003, making it the biggest-selling title on Microsoft’s Xbox gaming system. Holiday sales of their annual game releases have outpaced all other games for the last four years and this season will be no exception.

Players battle it out online over a variety of “maps” and game styles. New “map packs” are released regularly to keep game play fresh. Just keep in mind that content is mature so it’s best saved for the older gamers on your holiday shopping list.

Trendy music lovers are clamoring for the pricey but oh-so-fashionable Beats by Dr. Dre headphones. The colorful can-style headphones are about style even more than sound, though many swear by the quality and durability. With many versions available, the entry level Beats Solo HD (www.beatsbydre.com/headphones/beats-solohd-black/900-00011-01,default,pd.html) will set you back about $200, though many retailers are offering them on sale for the holiday shopping season.

With eight colors to choose from, they sport an in-line control and microphone to easily switch from your tunes to an incoming call. Reviews are mixed with users seeming to love or hate them, but they’re unquestionably popular.

Use Pinterest to UP Your Holiday Game

Unleash your inner Martha Stewart with Pinterest

The holidays are my favorite time of year – gathering with friends and family over special meals, showing you care with gifts, watching the kids explode with excitement over pumpkins, decorated houses, lit Christmas trees… you get the idea. If you’ve yet to explore the wealth of inspiration that is Pinterest, this season is the perfect time to take a tour. Whether you’re a holiday lover like me, looking to build some memorable traditions without going overboard, or a budding Martha Stewart ready to make over your home in festive extravaganza, Pinterest has something for everyone.

Pinterest (http://pinterest.com/) is a social, image-sharing website that functions like a shareable scrapbook. Users “pin” images to a virtual board from the Internet, other user's boards or their own computer, resulting in a collection of images that you can visually scroll through until something catches your interest. Boards are all public, so once you’re a member you can see anything that anyone posts.

The biggest challenge for those new to Pinterest is the overwhelming abundance of material and a relatively weak search function. Search is limited to a single text box where you enter keywords and choose to search Pins, Boards or Pinners. Searching for Pins results in specific images where the “pinner” has listed your keyword in their description of the image or link. Search by Boards for collections of images that pinners have categorized under your keyword. Search by Pinner if there’s someone on Pinterest that you’d like to follow.

When it comes to using Pinterest for holiday inspiration, I recommend that you start with a relatively generic keyword search by either Pins or Boards. For example, search Boards for “Thanksgiving” and you’ll get hundreds of images: crafts to keep the kids busy; beautiful ideas to decorate your home with pre-made printables, nature or artistically presented edible arrangements; and food upon glorious food. My favorites are the ideas to help me connect with the spirit of the holidays with creative family activities, charitable acts or homemade crafts and gifts.
When you find an image that links to something that you like, click through to view the other pins on the same board and then the other images that the pinner has collected on different boards. In many cases, once you find someone with similar taste, style or interests, you’ll end up discovering a wealth of great ideas that they’ve already done to footwork to collect. I’ve also discovered that perusing the boards of others who have repinned something I find appealing often leads me to like-minded individuals and the ideas they’ve found to be appealing.

Once you find inspiration, “repin” the links onto your own boards so that you can have them at hand when you’re ready to get in the holiday spirit. I’ve collected numerous ideas that I can come back to when I want to take some time to do a craft with the kids or make a special themed treat for family or friends. There are many, many things I will surely never get around to, but even if it gives me two or three memorable things to try, it’s a win.

In the same way that leafing through a fitness magazine can motivate you to go for a walk or choose a healthier snack, it’s not the specific project so much as the overall feeling that you can create something cool or beautiful. It gives those of us with little time and creativity the opportunity to find achievable projects while offering those with more crafty skills tools, tips and tricks to take their creations to the next level.

While I’ve grown to love Pinterest, it truly is an Alice In Wonderland-style “rabbit hole.” You start off looking for homemade gifts you can create for the neighbors and before you know it you’ve ventured into DIY garden gnomes or motivational quotes. Time on Pinterest is like dog-years – an hour morphs into five more often than I care to divulge.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to attempt to make marshmallows into snowmen.

Top 5 Ways to Save on Your Holiday Shopping

Use Technology to Save on Holiday Shopping

November seems to sneak up on me every year. I’m minding my own business, working out costume details and sugar coating trick-or-treaters when, BAM! Out of the blue it’s time to get cracking on holiday shopping. To help myself get in the game and to help you save some money, here are my top five ways you can use your tech savvy to save money on your holiday shopping.

1. Check out the resale market:

I know, you’re thinking, “wrapping up used gifts?” but a lot of things available though sites like Craigslist and Ebay, or even at your local gently-used second hand store, haven’t actually been used. We’ve all received a present that we thought for sure would come in handy but instead just gathered dust. That posh purse may be perfect for your sister-in-law and is significantly less expensive than buying it in the store. If you have any youngsters on your list I can assure you that they aren’t going to care that the shiny new tricycle took a few spins in someone else’s yard before it showed up under their tree.

2. Use discount gift cards:

Just as there’s a resale market for items that people didn’t end up needing, there’s a resale market for unused gift cards. Check out eCard Exchange (www.ecardexchange.com) or Cardpool (http://www.cardpool.com ) for an extensive selection of discount gift cards that you can use to get instant savings on your holiday shopping. Benefit from those looking to cash-out a gift card they don’t need with savings averaging 10%. Unlike buying on eBay where you have to take a leap of faith that the balance on the card will be valid when you receive it, these sites act as a middle man. They purchase the card from the seller and then guarantee the value to you, the buyer. There’s even free shipping. While you can certainly re-gift the gift card itself, I like to buy discount gift cards for the places I know I’m going to shop for presents, earning myself an instant discount that I can then combine with sales and coupons.

3. Become a coupon printer:

Before you head out the door to cruise the mall, check out the in-store coupons available online through RetailMeNot (www.retailmenot.com/printable) and Coupon Cabin (www.couponcabin.com/printable-coupons/?tn=printable-coupons). You can earn yourself a quick $10 or percent off your purchases with just a couple of clicks and an available printer. If you’re buying online, be sure to check the coupon codes section for instant savings on your order.

4. Compare, compare, compare:

The Shopping Assistant browser extension (http://taoassistant.com/, available for Chrome, Firefox, Opera or Safari) gives you a toolbar that automatically shows similar products to what you’re shopping for at other online retailers, such as Walmart, Newegg and slickdeals. If you prefer to peruse the shelves in person, make that Smartphone data plan earn some money back for you with ShopSavvy 5 (http://shopsavvy.mobi/, for iPhone, Android and Windows Phone). Once installed on your Smartphone, simply use your phone’s camera to take a picture of the barcode of the item you’re considering. The app will instantly report back prices of that item online and at other local retailers, allowing you to request a price match or drive next door to get the best deal.

5. Make your credit card work for you:

Many credit card companies have discovered that the key to keeping customers is to help them save money on purchases they are already making. Most deals and special coupons can only be activated by logging into your account and navigating through the associated deals section. For example, Bank of America cards now offer “cash back deals” that give you cash back on purchases made at certain retailers, restaurants and more. The catch is that you have to activate the offer in advance of making your purchase to get the reward. Citibank now offers Citi Price Rewind which it calls “buy now, save later.” Register your covered purchases and Citibank will track prices at online retailers for 30 days. If the price drops by at least $25, you get the price difference back – up to $250 per item.

Photo used by permission: stevendepolo

The ZeroAccess Rootkit Trojan

ZeroAccess Rootkit: Doomsday and Armageddon all-in-one?

The ZeroAccess Rootkit Trojan is the latest rootkit virus to gain widespread infiltration into a huge number of computers. While traditional viruses attempt to infect and destroy as many computers in their path before they're stopped by anti-virus software, rootkits aim to keep your system working but under the control of an outside party. They typically give a remote user administrative power, allowing them to manipulate files and maintain control of your system.

Once your system is controlled by the administrator of the rootkit, he can cause it to execute actions. Your system becomes a “botnet,” or “zombie” computer, assisting the culprits to perform fraudulent acts, downloading additional malware and opening software back doors for hackers to enter. Since rootkits execute at the same privilege level as anti-malware software, they’re harder to remove – your computer can’t decide which program should have greater authority to shut down the other.

According to James Wyke, Senior Threat Researcher for SophosLabs, The ZeroAccess Rootkit Trojan and its nine known variants has been installed over 9 million times. Its resultant “botnet” is comprised of approximately 1 million zombie machines, generating huge profits for their masters. In his Technical Paper, “The Zero Access Botnet – Mining and Fraud for Massive Financial Gain,” Mr. Wyke calls ZeroAccess “one of the biggest threats on the Internet.”
There are two primary ways this virus is distributed. The first is through something called a Blackhole exploit kit. Through a compromised website or a spammed email, the victim is directed to the hacker's landing page. Ad servers are prime targets for this type of corruption because their high traffic leads to widespread infection. The bad web page contains a JavaScript that scans your computer for vulnerabilities. If they're found, the virus silently downloads into the background workings of the computer and begins to take over.

The second method of distribution is through social engineering. The victim is convinced to run an executable file because they're attempting to obtain a piece of illicit software, bypass copyright protections, etc. For example, one lure the ZeroAccess creators have used in the past is an illegal copy of a popular game called Skyrim. The user attempts to download it, is prompted to open a Zip file, and the virus is installed, essentially with the user's permission.

Initially, victims notice that computer processing slows to a crawl. Internet searches are re-directed to unrelated sites and pop-ups appear much more frequently during web browsing. Advanced forms of the virus have even been linked to information mining and financial fraud, with hackers gaining access to your personal information and performing identity theft.

According to SophosLab’s research, hackers will pay up to $500 for every 1000 infected U.S. systems that a rootkit administrator can prove they’ve added to their botnet.

Defend yourself before you're infected. Make sure all your browsers, plug-ins and operating systems are updated with the latest version of software. Out-of-date Firefox, Internet Explorer and Google Chrome, in addition to Adobe Flash, Acrobat and Java are prime targets of Blackhole exploit kits. Don't give in to the temptation of downloading illegal software through sharing and torrent sites. Keep your anti-malware software current and run it often. Regular backups of your data and applications will allow you to more easily perform a re-format/re-install of your operating system if you become infected and are unable to remove the virus through conventional methods.

If you suspect you may be infected, contact a computer repair professional as quickly as possible. Not only does this virus open doors for other malware to enter your system un-detected, but removal is extremely difficult. It is known to leave behind portions of itself and continue to haunt your computer if not removed properly.

Photo used by permission: Brett Jordan