Nextdoor - Facebook for Neighborhoods?

If you live in a Nerdy Neighborhood, you might want to check out the newest web service that’s making a buzz. It’s called “Nextdoor,” and it’s a social network for neighborhoods. Users can advertise garage sales, post community messages, and connect with others in their area. It’s been described as a “Craigslist and LinkedIn hybrid.”

Not too quick to post your home address online? You should be - identity theft is a growing problem. Fortunately, Nextdoor requires address verification, which means that everyone in a Nextdoor neighborhood must enter a PIN sent to their home address. Users outside of a neighborhood have no access to the groups within a neighborhood. As the CEO, Nirav Tolia, told Mashable, it’s “about problem-solving.”

The service also partners with local authorities, which means that neighborhoods can receive emergency alerts relevant to their neighborhood.

Nextdoor has a list of more than 18,000 neighborhoods on the site, and about 75 are added to the list everyday. If you can’t find your neighborhood on the site you are encouraged to put in a request. Once there are enough people interested in a neighborhood, the group is created and the interested users are sent postcards with PINs. However, the group’s status is contingent on enough users joining within a set time. Nextdoor gives a time period for users to invite a certain number of their neighbors to the service - if not enough people join, the neighborhood is removed from Nextdoor. As people join, the trial period is extended until the group finally becomes permanent.

Nextdoor has an iPhone app as well as a recently-released Android app, which allows users to quickly see group posts and messages relevant to their neighborhood.

For now, Nextdoor is only available in the United States, although they plan on expanding into Canada later in 2013 and other countries the following year.

Android Phones Vulnerable to Hackers

Android Vulnerability Patched

Android is the most popular mobile operating system in the world, installed on three quarter of a billion devices. Having a master key to all of those would give a hacker near-total control in the mobile world. Fortunately, this doomsday scenario has been narrowly avoided.


Bluebox Labs, a computer security company, recently discovered http://bluebox.com/corporate-blog/bluebox-uncovers-android-master-key/ a vulnerability in the Android operating system that leaves “99%” of Android users open to the possibility of malicious software. But the most shocking thing about this discovery is not only the breadth of the vulnerability, but its depth as well.

The “Master Key” vulnerability, if used by a hacker, would allow them to access all of a user's data on their phone. This includes text messages, account access, and photos. It is unknown at this time the full extent of this vulnerability's use.

This vulnerability makes it possible for a hacker to change the code of an app without modifying its cryptographic signature. What this means in practical terms is that a hacker could develop an app and deliver it to the Google Play store and have it downloaded by people wanting to use its functionality. Those who download the app would confirm the app's access to the file system. Then without anyone's knowledge, the hacker could then change the code of the app to act as a trojan horse, gathering data and personal information from the user's phone. This process would be invisible to the user, aside from a slight slow-down.
[pullquote]"We have not seen...any exploitation"[/pullquote]
Now the good news is that the vulnerability has already been patched by Google. They've shipped it to providers like MetroPCS and Verizon, who will deploy the update to their users' phones in the next few weeks.

More good news: According to a statement http://www.zdnet.com/google-releases-fix-to-oems-for-blue-security-android-security-hole-7000017782/ sent by Gina Scigliano, Google's Android Communications Manager, “We have not seen any evidence of exploitation in Google Play or other app stores via our security scanning tools.” So in the meantime while you're waiting for your phone to update, don't download any sketchy apps. If you're worried that you may have been infected already, you can install https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bluebox.labs.onerootscanner to check for infection.

 

Mobile Malware Explodes in 2013

Mobile Malware Gains Ground in 2013

The numbers are out: McAfee's report on viruses in the first quarter of the year shows mobile malware, which exploded last year, is showing no signs of stopping. Smartphones, which just recently outnumbered “dumb phones” worldwide are increasingly becoming the targets of the same sorts of viruses and malware that we've worried about on our computers for years. McAfee, a large security firm owned by Intel, reports that 28% of all malicious smartphone software has appeared in the first quarter of 2013. The year previous saw a huge spike in which the rest of the 50,000 programs emerged, although some estimates claim there are up to a million mobile viruses at the time of this writing.


The most common form of mobile viruses is the age-old Trojan Horse virus. This virus pretends to be another sort of software and coaxes the user into installing it. After being installed, it spreads throughout the system and locks down many of the phone functions, essentially turning the phone into a zombie under the control of the hacker. The zombie phone will then send out text messages to infect its next targets. For instance in South Korea, a widely-spread virus poses as a coupon app for a coffee shop and then takes control of the user's phone.

There are a number of security products for smartphones on the market. One such app is AVG's Antivirus for Android http://www.avg.com/us-en/antivirus-for-android. It will also help you locate your device in the event that it's lost or stolen. It's only available for Android, which is also the only system that runs a high risk of infection. However, some research shows that mobile antivirus programs aren't nearly as effective as their PC counterparts, due to the way antiviruses access the phone's system http://www.informationweek.com/security/antivirus/does-mobile-antivirus-software-really-pr/240008673.

The best antivirus for iPhones running iOS is Lookout Mobile Security, which is available for free. While there are fewer viruses on iPhones, Lookout also notifies you of connections to unsecured networks and allows you to track your phone if it's lost.

So how do you tell if you have a piece of this mobile malware? The warning signs are largely the same as on PCs: applications will start to slow down and strange things will start happening. Make sure you've installed an anti-virus first, but if it's gotten past that, you may be out of luck. Call a phone repair company or use a service like Sugar Sync to back up your personal files from your phone and follow your provider's instructions to reformat and reinstall your Android phone.

For now, the best way to keep your smartphone free of mobile malware relies on vigilance from you. Make sure not to download any apps that you didn't go looking for. If it comes to you, it's probably too good to be true! Make sure to only download from authorized sources. And as always, don't give your passwords to anyone you don't trust. If it looks sketchy, it almost certainly is! If you think you may have been the victim of mobile malware, call a smartphone repair company that can salvage your data and restore your phone.

Speed up Windows - Software Alternatives

Looking to Speed Up Windows? Try these programs

“My computer is so blazingly fast I can hardly keep up with it!” – said no one, ever. The complaint I hear voiced most often by people calling to have their computer serviced is that their system is sluggish, slow to boot up and unresponsive. While the usual culprits (viruses and spyware) often factor in, sometimes even clean computers run slower than they should. If you have a decent, malware-free system that’s underperforming, you may be able to get noticeable improvement by replacing some of its resource-sucking software with less bloated alternatives.

Norton and McAfee are the most well-known anti-virus programs around – just about everyone with a computer has at least heard of them. They have relationships with most computer distributors, resulting in the vast majority of pre-built systems arriving at the user’s door with one of these software packages pre-installed. Unfortunately, Norton and McAfee are massive programs that hog system resources. Heavy-handed online monitoring can lead to slow-as-molasses Internet surfing and in some cases can even restrict access to certain sites, or break a user’s web-access entirely.


Adobe Reader is the most widely used PDF reader around, yet it’s large file size (it takes up over 100MB of drive space) and drain on your system’s resources makes it one of the slowest PDF reader programs on the market. Many websites instruct users to install Adobe Reader and include links to download it, though in most cases it came pre-installed on the machine. While some advanced PDF functions may work best with Adobe (like watermarks, for example), you do have alternatives that can quickly and easily handle basic PDF viewing.

Sumatra PDF (http://download.cnet.com/Sumatra-PDF/3000-18497_4-10698785.html) is a simple reader program with a small file size (4 MB drive space used) and streamlined configuration. Another popular option is Foxit Reader (www.foxitsoftware.com/Secure_PDF_Reader/). It's less than 1 MB to download and allows you to open, view, and print all types of PDFs. It integrates with DocuSign®, a program that allows users to securely send documents with eSignatures.

iTunes an easy way to get your tunes and videos on your iPod, but you may be regretting making it your default media player. It’s slow to launch, slow to run and is constantly popping up notices to download updates to itself and its partner program, QuickTime. Save iTunes for your Apple gadgets and use any number of other media players to listen to your music – even the default Windows Media Player is faster to load and less of a drain on your system’s resources.

To get all of the organizational tools you’re used to from iTunes, check out MediaMonkey (www.mediamonkey.com/), a free media management program. Play MP3s, audiobooks, podcasts and videos, sync with your mobile devices and even burn CDs and DVDs, all the while keeping your media collection in order, be it small or massive (its site claims it can “manage 100,000+ music and video files without bogging down”). It supports most file types and can even convert file types to enable syncing across devices.

With a few software swaps, you could be singing a different tune about your system’s speed and responsiveness.

 

Image of Windows 7 by Microsoft

Speed Up Mac Computers with Software Alternatives

Computer Running Slow? Speed Up Mac Default Applications

Apple fans may claim that Macs have a blissfully symbiotic relationship between software and hardware, but the truth is that some of the applications that come standard (or are very common) on Macs could be improved upon. Here are some alternatives to Mac’s most ditch-able software.

Last week I highlighted iTunes as a program Windows users should avoid unless necessary. While it tends to work faster on Macs, it can still be a system hog, and users commonly complain of random track deletions and duplications. Consider using iTunes to download music and podcasts and Spotify (www.spotify.com/us/) to do everything else. The basic version is free, organizes and syncs your music and iTunes library across a multitude of OS and mobile device platforms, all the while allowing you to stream millions of songs you don’t own from their massive music library. Upgrade to a premium account for $9.99/month to ditch commercials and stream to your mobile devices.


Firefox has advantages, too. They're launching a silent update feature in the near future which will allow it to update itself in the background so you're not bothered by all those pesky reminders.

ICal is the default calendar application for Macs, but it lacks some of the features of Google Calendar. Notifications can be both annoying and difficult to modify. Google Calendar works across all OS platforms, an advantage over iCal. Google supports syncing multiple calendars, allowing you to see work and personal events simultaneously while color-coding them for organization. It’s compatible with all Smartphone platforms and allows any authorized party to edit shared Google calendars, whereas iCal is read-only to non-Mac users.

Macs come with Mail pre-installed as the application to organize your email, similar to Outlook Express. It's extremely basic and not really worth the effort to configure if you're using a Gmail or Yahoo account. Simply log in to your email provider from your browser window and disregard Mail. Gmail's spam filtering is also much more robust than what you'll get with Mail.

IWork is the Mac alternative to Microsoft Office. It provides such programs as Pages (for word processing) and Numbers (for spreadsheets). Its advantage is that it integrates with iCloud to sync seamlessly with your other Apple products. The drawback: limited functionality makes it difficult to use across OS platforms. Opening documents created in Microsoft Office is possible but often involves some modification or loss of functionality to more advanced features and alternatively, Office users may encounter difficulty viewing your Pages document in its full glory. NeoOffice (www.neooffice.org/neojava/en/index.php) is free and considered a more stable alternative to the Mac OS versions of OpenOffice or LibreOffice. In addition, NeoOffice sports a host of features those suites don't offer.

Movies and TV shows downloaded from iTunes usually play seamlessly in QuickTime, but if you find yourself more often watching home DVDs or movie files from your video camera, QuickTime can be slow and buggy. It's also not robust enough to read or play corrupted files. For that you should try VLC Media Player (www.videolan.org/vlc/). It's free (unlike many other alternatives to QuickTime) and recognizes more file types than QuickTime does, so you don't have to worry about cross-compatibility with your devices.

DNSChanger: What you need to know

DNSChanger: How To See If You're Infected, How To Fix It If You Are.

On Monday, July 9th, the FBI will pull the plug on internet access to hundreds of thousands of computers infected with a malware Trojan known as DNSChanger. Even if your computer is clean, companies that have compromised systems in their network will be taken offline, hindering their ability to do business and possibly breaking their websites, in what many are referring to as “Internet Doomsday.”

In November 2011, the FBI (together with international cyber crime agencies) identified and located a ring of cyber criminals that had infected more than four million computers across the world with a Trojan virus known as DNSChanger. According to the FBI’s webpage about this malware (www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2011/november/malware_110911), “DNSChanger was used to redirect unsuspecting users to rogue servers controlled by the cyber thieves, allowing them to manipulate users’ web activity.”

Systems infected with DNSChanger were ultimately controlled by the crime ring that perpetrated the infections. The Trojan re-directed unsuspecting users to fraudulent websites which in many cases resulted in users providing personal information or credit card numbers to websites they thought were legitimate. It interfered with web browsing and in some cases prevented infected PCs from downloading anti-virus and operating system updates, leaving them vulnerable to viruses and spyware.

Once the rogue DNS servers were found and seized, the FBI faced a daunting challenge. Take them offline and millions of systems would lose all access to the internet causing widespread damage to online commerce and business functionality. Instead, they set up temporary replacement servers which allowed infected computers to remain functioning in the hopes that users would clean the Trojan off their system before the temporary servers go offline on July 9th.


Perhaps more troublesome, a report by IID (Internet Identity) indicates that machines at 12% of Fortune 500 companies and 4% of government agencies are still infected with the malware (http://internetidentity.com/news/blog/686-iid-finds-12-of-fortune-500-still-infected-with-dnschanger#). When their systems are taken offline on the 9th it will lead to loss of productivity and may make it harder to service their customers.

Facebook and Google are sending notices to users that browse to their sites from a DNSChanger-infected computer. However, even if you haven’t been notified of an infection you shouldn’t breathe a sigh of relief and consider yourself in the free and clear.

When the FBI disables the temporary servers it will break infected system’s access to the internet but it will not remove the malware from those systems. Take a few minutes to ensure that you’re not kicked offline on July 9th.

First, open your internet browser and go to www.dns-ok.us. If your system is infected you’ll see a red image with the words “DNS Resolution = RED.” Alternatively, a green image with “DNS Resolution = GREEN” means that your computer is looking up IP addresses correctly. Unfortunately, a green isn’t necessarily an all clear either. Some internet service providers have created their own mini-DNSChanger servers which allow infected systems to bypass the FBI servers to access the internet. This means that while you won’t lose access to the internet on the 9th you may still be infected.

Next, if you don’t have a reputable antivirus software program installed on your system, get one. I like Microsoft Security Essentials (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/products/security-essentials) because it scans for and protects against malware and viruses in one step. The DCWG’s website, www.dcwg.org, also offers a list of links to download software to rid your system of the Trojan.

Finally, make sure your anti-virus is up to date. You’d be surprised how many users cripple their anti-virus by not downloading updates regularly. Once it’s up-to-date, run a scan to make sure you’re DNSChanger free before finding out the hard way.

Still worried that your system is part of a malware-infected bot net? Get in touch with us at www.callnerds.com/nerdchick

Check out the news coverage about the DNS Changer on KRCR News Channel 7 in Redding.

3 Things To Do When You Set Up A New PC

Set Up A New PC: Protect, Transfer, Store

After scrimping and saving, researching and debating, you finally settle on the perfect new PC, only to realize once you get it home and plugged in that you can't get much use out of it until you get the files and programs from your old PC onto your new one. Here are my top 3 steps to set up a new PC.

If you'd have asked me three years ago how I get a new system set up like the old one, I'd have told you how lucky I was to have a team of skilled technicians to set up a new pc for me. It turns out that the magical process of migrating data to a new computer isn't so complicated after all, and most typical PC users can be up and surfing the net on their shiny new machine in no time.

#1 Do not surf unprotected:

Before you take the new system out for a spin, make sure it has an installed, up-to-date anti-virus program. This will help protect you from transferring infected files from your old PC and corrupting the data on the new one. If you aren't sure whether you have anti-virus and anti-malware protection, make your first stop on the Internet to Microsoft's website to download its Security Essentials program. Your second step is going to be to install the programs that didn't come with your new PC so that you can open the files you move over from your old system. This means if you use a budgeting program like Quicken or a photo editing program like Photoshop, you're going to want to track down the disc and any necessary registration keys so that you can get it installed on your new computer.

#2 Transfer your old files to your new computer:

 

Once you've decided the transfer method that's best for you, Windows Easy Transfer will scan your old PC for files to transfer and then ask you to select the files you want to migrate over. It will provide you with a list of programs installed on your old system not yet installed on your new one, and for those available online it will give links to the latest versions.

#3 Keep your old hard-drive:

Finally, if possible, you should keep your old drive, just in case you missed something. While it may be tempting to format the drive and get rid of it, hanging on to just the hard drive will allow you to retrieve anything you may have missed. If you are turning over your old system to the kids or selling it, consider using an imaging software such as Acronis True Image Home , which offers a free 30-day trial and allows you to create a complete copy of your hard drive that can be restored if you forget to move something onto your new machine.

One final tip. If you're still hanging on to your Commodore 64 for fear you forgot to pull something off the hard drive, drop me a note on Facebook or email me at nerdchick@callnerds.com. We can get you ready to put that gold mine up on eBay in no time.

[transcript]
Hi, I'm Ryan from Nerds on Call, and today we're going to talk about moving to a new PC. So, now that you've got your brand-new PC, you've got to get all your stuff on it. So what do you do first? The first thing you're going to want to do is install an anti-virus program on there. We recommend Microsoft Security Essentials. The reason why you want to do that right away is because it takes less than seven minutes for a computer to get infected while it's on the internet these days. So now that you've got anti- virus installed on there, the next thing you're going to want to do is install all of your programs. See, you can't move programs from an old PC to a new one, so you're going to have to locate all the discs for all the programs you used on your old one, like Quicken, PhotoShop, and all the other programs you use. Once you get all those programs collected together, install them one by one on your new PC.

The next thing you're going to want to do is move all of your data from your old PC to your new one. First, you'll need to get both of your computers set up on the same network. If you don't have a network set up, then you can buy a transfer cable from Amazon.com. To get the easy transfer, click on the "start" button, go to "accessories", and then "system tools." You can always back up your data to an external hard drive or, if you don't have a lot of data, to a little flash drive. Finally, once you've transferred all of your data, the next thing you want to do is save that old hard drive out of that old PC. The reason why is that there's no way to completely erase all of that data, and you wouldn't want it falling into someone elses hands. Not to mention, if you accidentally forgot to transfer something over to your new PC, you'll have a back-up file if you just keep that old hard drive.
[/transcript]

How to Remove a Virus

How to Remove a Virus: The Best Anti-Virus Software

Do you remember back when your computer was shiny and new, it likely came with pre-installed Norton or McAfee antivirus software. It would periodically pop up little notices that it had downloaded the latest updates, and you felt snug and secure when you surfed online.

Then that trial membership expired. You may not have even noticed the lapse in coverage, assuming that the icon in your toolbar was a sign that all was well -- or, like many, you may have been wary to spend your hard-earned cash to subscribe. This story is so common that it's one reason why Panda Security reported in January that approximately 50 percent of the world's computers are compromised by some form of malware.

While I fondly remember the days when viruses were primarily built to annoy their victims, today's viruses are far more dangerous. Infected computers attack other computers. Hackers use these vast networks of infected computers or "botnets" to send spam, break websites and infiltrate corporate networks to steal credit-card data and customer information. Before you decide to unplug your computer, rest assured that there are some easy ways to protect yourself.

The 4 Best Anti Virus Programs for removing a virus

#1 McAfee Anti-Virus:

If you're already running an anti-virus program and making sure that it is up to date, kudos! If you elected to shell out the dough to keep your Norton or McAfee running after the trial ended, keep in mind that these two programs dominate the consumer security space. This makes them the biggest targets for hackers and virus writers who study their code to find vulnerabilities. While I am not suggesting that you look for an unknown, untested antivirus for your computer's safety, there may be good reason to consider switching to one of the great free anti-virus options available.

McAfee Anti-Virus For Mac:

McAfee also has an antivirus solution for Mac Computers. I know people say that you can't get a virus on Macs and to a degree that is true. So far, Mac computers are not vulnerable to traditional viruses, however they can be targets of  malware, phishing scams, identity thieves and hackers. Anti virus software for Macs will help secure your data and keep malware off your computer. Another solution worth mentioning is Avira.  Avira anti-virus has a Mac virus protection program called MacKeeper.

#2 Microsoft Security Essentials:

One of my favorite anti-virus programs for the basic user is Microsoft Security Essentials. It's free, easy to use, updated frequently and provides great protection from most Internet-born parasites. The fact that it's made by Microsoft, the company that makes Windows, is a great benefit. Who is better equipped to know which Windows vulnerabilities hackers are targeting? Programers can then integrate the fix seamlessly into Windows.

#3 Avast!:

If you just can't get past the idea of trusting Microsoft to protect your Windows PC, or if you are running an alternate operating system, consider Avast! free antivirus. Avast is one of the highest-rated antivirus programs, according to AV Comparatives, an independent antivirus program reviewer. Avast offers both a free and a paid version, and boasts one of the fastest virus scans on the market. It also uses fewer system resources when scanning, so you can continue to use your computer normally while the scan runs in the background. Anyone who has been held hostage by a seemingly endless scan that makes everything else on your system slow to a useless crawl can appreciate this benefit. Fun side note: You can select different voices to proclaim, "Ding! Avast's virus definitions have been updated." I am quite partial to Pirate.

#4 Sandboxie:

Finally, if compromised or lost data would devastate your productivity, check out Sandboxie. Sandboxie is an applications that allows you to run certain programs "virtually," like putting them in quarantine. Essentially, you open your web browser or email in a "sandbox," so an infected website or virus-laced email attachment won't compromise the rest of your system. When you close the program, you destroy the sandbox's contents, including any infections. However, cookies and temp files go, too, so if you like to auto-login to websites you frequent, this solution will likely annoy you.

Don't surf naked -- get some protection. If you're already suffering from and nned help to remove a virus or for more ways to be safe on the scary wide web, visit www.callnerds.com/andrea. 

[transcript]
Hi, everybody. I'm Ryan from Nerds on Call. Today we're going to be talking about how to remove a virus from your PC. Back in the day, when you first got your computer, it probably came pre-installed with something like Norton or McAfee. Those are great protection, but usually they expire after about a year. Then what do you do?

One of my favorite anti-virus is Microsoft Security Incentive. Just go to Microsoft.com and search for Microsoft Security Essentials, it's free, it's easy to use, it's frequently updated, and it's really fast. If you don't want to use the Microsoft product, you can always use a program called Avast, it's also a free anti-virus software. And one of the coolest parts of it is, when it's all done scanning your system, it will say "Hey, ding, we're all done looking for viruses." And you can change that voice to anything you want. So my favorite is "Pirate" It will go "Argh, no viruses found." Thanks for watching. I'm Ryan, from Nerds on Call.
[/transcript]

Tips & Tricks: Simple tricks to edit a PDF

Edit a PDF like a Boss!

Portable Document Format (PDF) is a great tool when you want to send a document electronically that you don't want the recipient to edit. But what about when you're on the receiving end of a PDF that you need to change, such as an online form or application? Those blank gray fields stare back at you, mocking your attempts to click on them. Before you resort to printing the document and filling it in by hand, check out these great tools to outsmart the restrictions and edit a PDF and master those gray boxes once and for all.

Escape the frustration

For easy and quick edits, try PDFEscape.com. This handy online PDF editor lets you insert text notes, fill in forms and even create new forms boxes. Just click on "Click Here to Use PDFescape Now Free" and follow the steps to upload your PDF — you don't have to download any software onto your computer.

Choose the "Start using unregistered" option if you just have one document to edit, or register to save files and access them multiple times. Once you've uploaded the PDF from your computer, select the edit options on the top left side of your screen. Here you can add text, use correction fluid, add images or links, create a form field or add lines. When you're done, download and save or print your edited document.


After you download and install the program, you can elect to make it your default PDF viewer. If you do, simply click on any PDF file to open the program. If you decline to set it as your default PDF viewer, open the program and drag and drop a file into it, or right click a PDF, choose "Open With," and select PDF-Xchange Viewer.

Under "Tools" you'll see "Comment and Markup Tools." If you want to fill out a form, choose the typewriter tool and click anywhere on the PDF that you'd like to add text. From this menu you can highlight, add text boxes and annotate the document.

Gotta Pay? Go Nitro

With these programs you're still a bit limited. You're basically just writing on the document, but what if you want to edit the actual text in the PDF? I couldn't find a free product that allows this, but Nitro Pro is a full-featured program that lets you do just about anything to a PDF, including editing text or converting scanned documents into editable PDFs.

Start by downloading the trial version from nitropdf.com, and then open a PDF file. Click the giant edit button and double click the text you want to change. You can annotate, add images, add pages and manipulate the PDF in just about any way imaginable. You can even export the document to Microsoft Word or Excel for major revisions.

One of the coolest options in Nitro Pro is to scan a document (which creates a PDF file) and then use the program to convert it into an editable document. This Optical Character Recognition technology has a bevy of great uses. For example, if you need to make changes to a lengthy contract, you can now edit the text without requiring handwritten strikethrough. If you have a brochure with outdated information, you can change the portion you need without having to pay the creator to make you a new one.

All this functionality comes at a price: The full version of Nitro Pro is $120. However, Adobe charges over $400 for a comparable product.

Looking for that visual how to? Check out these simple steps with Andrea at the helm eHow: How to Edit a PDF file

[transcript]Hi. I'm Ryan from Nerds on Call, and today we're going to talk about how to edit a PDF.

Now, somebody sends me a PDF that needs to be filled out with my name and address,phone number, and all the other stuff. It's kind of a pain to have to print it out and write it out. It just doesn't look very professional.

So, what I like to use is a program called PDFescape.com. This handy online PDF editor lets you insert text notes, fill in forms, even create new form boxes. Just click on Click Here to Use PDFEscape Now Free and follow the steps to upload your PDF. You don't have to download any software to your computer.

The main drawback to PDFescape is you're basically uploading your PDF to somebody else's server, or if you want a little more privacy, I like to use PDF Exchange Viewer. You can download it from TrackerSoftware.com.

Both of these programs are great, but essentially you're just writing on top of a PDF. If you really want to get into the PDF and edit it, change text and even reformat it, I like to use Nitro PDF. The main drawback to Nitro PDF, unfortunately it's not free like the other two programs. It will run you about $120 but it's still cheaper than Adobe's option, which is over $400.[/transcript]

Can An iPad Replace A Laptop

iPad vs. Laptop: Can an iPad replace a laptop?

As the new school year approaches, the question I get asked most often is, "Should I buy a laptop or a tablet?" Apple's Steve Jobs has asserted that we are living in a "post-PC world". can an iPad replace a laptop?

To test the theory, I traveled to Florida with my 2-year old, bearing my iPad 2 but no laptop. When an article needed editing, I realized that while it would be possible for the iPad to do everything I needed, it wasn't going to work for me straight out of the box. It needed modification.

If you are considering ditching your laptop, whether it's for a trip or for good, here's my guide to making it possible.

Touch screen vs keyboard

Microsoft Word vs iWork
With or without a keyboard, creating or editing a document or spreadsheet on your iPad isn't going to be easy unless you make an aftermarket modification. Microsoft Office isn't available on the iPad, but Apple's iWork suite will give you most of its functionality at a fraction of the cost. Pages, Numbers and Keynote handily replace Word, Excel and PowerPoint , and cost $5 each through the Apple app store. All the content you create in these programs is cross compatible, so if you edit a Word document on your iPad using Pages, you can open and edit it later in Word with no difficulty.

As much as we'd all love to be paper-free, there are inevitably times when you need to print something. You can search the iPad for a USB port, but to no avail. Printing something off your iPad will require accessing a printer wirelessly. To make the process as painless as possible, look for a printer that is compatible with Airplay, Apple's proprietary wireless application.

Universal Acsess
Finally, sometimes I need a particular program that isn't compatible with the iPad, or I need to transfer content to another device. The lack of a USB port or disk drive can make this challenging. But with Logmein Ignition ($30 in the app store), you can remotely access your home or office computer via the Internet. Install the companion app on your laptop or desktop and leave it running while you are away. Now you can access everything on your home or office system from your iPad, from World of Warcraft to your accounting software.

What do you think? Can an iPad replace a laptop? If you're still nervous about unplugging from your laptop or desktop, share your thoughts with us in the comment section below.


[transcript]
Hi, I'm Ryan from Nerds On Call and today we're going to talk about whether you can replace your laptop with your iPad. There's nothing cooler than an iPad, but when you start using it, after a while you start to think do I really need both a laptop and an iPad? Well, one of the first things you're going to notice is when you start using an iPad there's no keyboard, you tap on the screen. Well, that can be fantastic for short emails or Tweets or Facebook updates, but let's say you have to do a long email or a very long document. You'll find that tapping on the screen can get kind of tiresome and correcting is really difficult, but if you buy a keyboard like the one from Zagg.com, you could connect it to your iPad with Bluetooth and it turns it into a laptop.

With or without a keyboard, editing a document on an iPad is kind of difficult. While you get the touch screen so you can move around your cursor and decide exactly what you want to edit. It's not as intuitive or easy to use if you're used to a mouse and a keyboard. Another thing to keep in mind about the iPad is if you're used to using Microsoft Office for Word and Excel, you don't get those on an iPad, but what you do get is Apple's version called Pages or Numbers. So you'll have to learn a new kind of software just to get some of the basic stuff done that you're already used to.

As much as I'd like to live in a paper-free world and have everything go digital, I still have to print things every now and then. Well, with a laptop it's relatively easy, I don't even have to think about it anymore. But with an iPad only AirPlay enabled printers will work. One of the saving graces for the iPad though is a little piece of software called LogMeIn. For $50 in the app store you can use your iPad to access your computer or your Mac and do everything that they can do. So can you replace your laptop with your iPad? Yeah, it can be done, but you're going to have a lot of compromise and if you're willing to take that step, it could be kind of cool.
[/transcript]

Online Computer Repair: Is It Safe?

Online Computer Repair: Is It The Force or Magic?

These days, we want everything fast, from food to computer repairs. If you've seen the TV ads for iYogi.net, you may have wondered, "How can a tech in India fix a computer in Nantucket?" I'm here to unravel some of the mystery of Internet-based tech support or online computer repair.

Whether you take a faulty computer to a repair shop or have a tech come to you, it can take days or even weeks to get your system back on its feet. The major benefit of online computer repair is that in many cases it's immediate. Answer a few questions, click a few buttons on your computer, and you can often have a tech working on your system while you make dinner or catch up on your scrap-booking. It can actually be quite fun watching a remote desktop session in progress.

Many companies, (including ours) offer extended hours for their online computer repair, allowing you to fit computer repair around your schedule. Besides, if you have to have your computer fixed, it's a slightly less distressing experience if you don't have to get out of your pajamas and bunny slippers.

But there are some drawbacks to having your computer fixed remotely. A tech working from afar can only fix software-related issues, involving viruses, spyware, program corruption and operating-system glitches. While these account for the majority of repair issues, lots of problems will require you to be a more active participant in the repair. If you suddenly can't print, for example, the tech probably will need you to check wires and do a manual restart before he or she can install drivers, etc. If you're unable to get online, expect to spend some time on the phone while the tech walks you through basic troubleshooting.

If your computer needs hardware replaced or upgraded, techs likely will be able to diagnose the issue. But to get it resolved, you'll need to have a tech put hands on your machine.


Choose wisely when contracting a company for online computer repair. Many companies require that you provide a credit card number up front, and they'll have virtually unfettered access to anything stored on your computer. To research companies, get recommendations from friends or family, use online review sites, and Google the company's name. For more computer-security tips, see the Federal Trade Commission's OnguardOnline website at OnGuardOnline.

The reality is that dropping off your computer at a repair shop isn't any safer than online computer repair. When you're in front of the machine, you can see exactly what the technician on the other end of the line is doing. This actually may give a little more comfort to those of us who like to retain a measure of control over the process. A remote desktop repair might be perfect solution to your next computer tune up.

Do you have any computer problems, you'd like to fix right now? We would love to look at your computer for free. Click here to get started with online computer repair today.


[transcript]Hi, I'm Ryan from nerds on call, and today we're going to be talking about online computer repair. These days we want everything fast. Fast food, fast computers, fast everything. So it's kind of a pain when you have to take your computer into a shop to get it repaired.

Well, that's the beauty of online computer repair. Now you can connect to somebody on the internet and have them fix it for you, while you make dinner, or finish your scrap-booking, or whatever you like to do. Just watch Star Wars again.

Despite the on-demand service that online support provides, the only problem is, they can't fix anything hardware related. So hard-drives, cracked screens, printers, all of that stuff can't be fixed online. But one of the cool parts is, if you got a virus, or spyware, or something like that, you can sit back and watch them as they control your computer while it's being fixed.

A lot of people are concerned that online computer repair isn't as safe as taking it to your local computer repair shop. Keep in mind, that a lot of major retailers are already using online repair to do the work for their people in the stores. So you don't have as much risk, because you can sit there and stare at the screen, as somebody is fixing your computer for you. Unlike when you take it into a repair shop and they take it into the back room.

I'm Ryan from nerds on call. Thanks for watching.[/transcript]