The release of my “Working with Files and Folders” book (CLICK HERE to read more about it), has led me to yet another video blog topic that’s related to working with folders.

This time I talk about Using the Windows View Menu.

The View Menu (in Windows XP and Vista), the View Button (Windows 7) and the View Ribbon (in Windows 8) are something that many of my students overlook when they are working on their computer.

Here’s the deal…

Most programs, such as Word and Excel, have a View option which allows you to change the way you’re looking at things on the screen.

In other words, it’s a feature you can use to change your display, depending upon what you are trying to accomplish.

One place this REALLY comes into play is when you are working with Files and Folders.  In the Windows Folder window, you have a View option that lets you change how your files are listed (including Thumbnails, Large Icon, Details, List, etc.).

The point is… by using the windows view menu you can take more control over what you see on the screen and make it easier to get your work done.

To give you a better idea of what I’m talking about, I’ve put together another 8 minute video that demonstrates using the windows view menu specifically when you are working with files.

Scroll down and Click the video below to see it.  And remember too that you can see a full-screen version of the video by using the Full Screen button that I point out to you below the video.

On, and don’t forget you can learn lots more about working with Files and Folders in my new book, Working with Files & Folders.  CLICK HERE to learn more about it.

The 100+ page book covers all the basics you need to know in any version of Windows, and even includes specific chapters on picture organization, email attachments, flash drives, and doing backups.

This book is a culmination of teaching file and folder concepts for the past 20 years, and includes everything I’ve ever taught about the topic. Whew… nice to finally get it done!

Using the Windows View Menu

Click the video below to play…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiD7NAbFJg0

Click the lower-right corner button (above) to go Full Screen—>>>

Once the video starts playing, click the “gear” button (above) to change the video quality—>>>

As always, I’d love to hear about your own personal experiences with using the View menu.  You can leave your comments below!

With the release of my “Working with Files and Folders” book (CLICK HERE to read more about it), I have this file and folder stuff on the brain this week.

So I decided to go ahead and talk about another file & folder related issue that I get a lot of questions about.

That is, how to use a flash drive.

And specifically, a lot of folks are confused by what they see when they first plug in their flash drive. In all modern versions of Windows (including XP, Vista, 7, and 8) the AutoPlay window appears.

In this window you see a list of programs on your computer that can potentially open the particular files that you have on the flash drive.

When the AutoPlay window appears, I suggest that most of my students look for an option called “Open Folder to View Files“, which when clicked, displays a folder window that shows you the contents of the flash drive.

At this point, you can start working with those files (copy them, move them, etc.) as needed.

To give you a better idea of what I’m talking about, I’ve put together an 7 minute video that demonstrates what you see when you plug in your flash drive.  Click the video below to see it.  And remember too that you can see a full-screen version of the video by using the Full Screen button that I point out to you below the video.

On, and don’t forget you can learn lots more about working with Files and Folders in my new book, Working with Files & Folders.  CLICK HERE to learn more about it.

The 100+ page book covers all the basics you need to know in any version of Windows, and even includes specific chapters on picture organization, email attachments, flash drives, and doing backups.

This book is a culmination of teaching file and folder concepts for the past 20 years, and includes everything I’ve ever taught about the topic. Whew… nice to finally get it done!

How to Use a Flash Drive – the AutoPlay window

Click the video below to play…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqQGhRSE4FQ

Click the lower-right corner button (above) to go Full Screen—>>>

Once the video starts playing, click the “gear” button (above) to change the video quality—>>>

As always, I’d love to hear about your own personal experiences with using Flash Drives.  You can leave your comments below!

At some point, everyone ends up saving something on their computer. It might be a typed document, or a picture, or a spreadsheet, or a drawing… it doesn’t really matter. The point is, SAVING is how you keep something you’ve created so that next time you turn on your computer, it’s still there.

But when it comes to saving, there’s a question that I hear all the time, and it’s a good one.

“What’s the difference between SAVE versus SAVE AS?”

And that’s exactly what I want to talk about in today’s article.

By the way… I just finished up a brand-new 100+ page book called “Working with Files & Folders“. CLICK HERE to learn more about it!

What is saving?

I’ve already said that saving is how you keep something you’ve created on your computer for later. But it helps to understand what’s really happening behind the scenes.

Take a look at these three computer parts. They are what I call “the big three” that lets everything work on your computer.

• The CPU – the brain of your computer, carries out all the instructions
• RAM – the memory your CPU holds information in while it thinks
• Hard Drive – your long-term computer storage

Now, with regards to saving, here’s the most important thing to know about the big three.

Everything that you see and do on your computer screen is happening up in the computer’s memory.

For example, let’s say you’re typing a letter to your friend Jim using your favorite word-processor.  As you type and see the words on the screen, they are all up in the computer’s memory. Memory is volatile, which means it needs power to work. When power is gone (such as when you turn off your computer), memory goes dead.

Now let’s say you’re done for the day, but aren’t done with the letter and want to work on it some more tomorrow. Before you quit your word-processor and turn off your computer, you need to SAVE your work. That’s because right now, the letter is all up in the computer’s memory which will be cleaned out when you quit the word-processor and shut down.

When you SAVE something, the CPU takes it from memory and copies it down to the hard drive, storing it as a computer file. The hard drive is magnetic in nature, so when the computer power goes off, what’s saved there is kept. That’s why your hard drive is used for long-term storage.

 So, to summarize saving, it simply means to copy what you have created up in the computer’s memory down to the computer hard drive so that you can again use it later.

The First Time You Save Something

To save something in most programs, such as the word-processor I just talked about, you go to the FILE menu or the File tab. But when you do, you don’t just see ONE saving option, you see TWO.

You see SAVE and SAVE AS.

So what’s the difference in Save versus Save As?

Well, the first time you save something (i.e. you’ve never saved it before and it’s not on the hard drive), SAVE and SAVE AS both work exactly the same.  They open a new window called the SAVE AS window where you choose:

1. What folder to save the file in
2. What the file should be named
3. (and in some cases) the File Type

Then when you click the SAVE button, your creation is saved as a file onto the hard drive, and you can quit the program and turn off your computer, knowing that you can go back later and open it from the file on the hard drive.

Beyond the First Save – Save versus Save As

It’s AFTER you’ve saved something once that SAVE and SAVE AS on the File Menu become different.

When you go to the File Menu and choose OPEN to open something you’ve already saved to the hard drive, that item is copied from the hard drive up to the computers memory.

Then, as it sits in memory you can view and work on it.

For example, let’s say we saved the letter we were writing to our friend Jim as a file called Letter to Jim. Then later, we go back and OPEN it with our word-processor.  The Letter to Jim is now up in the computer’s memory where you can make changes and/or add to it.

But here’s a VERY important point.

As you make the changes to the letter, those changes are only being made to the copy of the letter up in memory. (Remember, everything that you do and see on the computer screen is happening in memory).

So guess what you need to do once you are done making changes.

That’s right!  You need to SAVE your work so that it goes copied back down to the hard drive.

And this is where the difference between SAVE versus SAVE AS on the File Menu comes in.

• With SAVE – The CPU copies the letter up in memory down to the hard drive and completely OVERWRITES the one that is already saved there as a file. When you click the SAVE option, no window opens, the CPU just does its work and then returns you to your program.

• With SAVE AS – The CPU copies the letter up in memory down to the hard drive, but opens the SAVE AS window and lets you save the letter as a NEW file, leaving the original one alone. So you end up with two copies of the letter… the original one you opened, and the new one you made the changes to.

 So Which Do I Use When?

In most day to day saving situations, just using SAVE to overwrite your already saved file is the practical thing to do. In this case, your goal is to just make a change and update your saved file.

But in some situations you might have a reason to keep an original copy of your work, in case you someday need to go back to it and start over. In this case you’d want to use SAVE AS and create a separate file with your changes.

For example, in our “Working with Pictures” class we teach students to OPEN their original picture file, and then use SAVE AS to save the picture as a new file they can work on without fear of messing up, since they can always go back to the original file which has been left, untouched.

I hope this has helped to clear up some of the confusion about the File Menu and SAVE versus SAVE AS.

As always, I’d love to hear any comments or experiences you’ve had in the comment box below.

And don’t forget, if you’d like to learn lots more about Saving, I have a 100+ page book called “Working with Files & Folders”. CLICK HERE to read more about it.

If you do any type of document creation on your computer, then you’ve certainly heard of Microsoft Word. It’s by far the world’s most popular word-processor, and lots of folks use it on a daily basis.

But there’s one problem. Word does not come cheap. And for this reason many of my students have opted to go with one of the free alternatives to Word, either Apache Open Office (www.openoffice.com) or Libre Office (www.libreoffice.org).

But there’s a problem there too. What if you share documents with someone else who DOES use Word, and you just need to Open, View, or Print Word documents without the need to actually create them?

Well, OpenOffice and Libre Office will open up documents from OLDER versions of Word, but not the newer Word 2010 or 2013 copies.

Well there IS a way you can Open Word Documents without Word.

And that’s by using the free Word Viewer program from Microsoft.

Microsoft doesn’t make a big deal about the Word Viewer, probably because they really just want you to purchase a copy of Word or better yet, Microsoft Office which includes Word.

In fact, right on the page where you can download the Word Viewer they have ads promoting Office, and make sure that you know the Word Viewer will NOT let you create documents, only open, view and print them.

But the truth is that a lot of folks don’t need the full-blown version of Word. They just need something that will every now and then let them open word documents without word.

Getting the program is pretty simple. First, you visit the Word Viewer Download page (CLICK HERE to visit that page), where you can read more about the viewer and also find a download button to get it.

From that page, you’ll also see instructions on how to get the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack which is another free program Microsoft provides for letting users of older versions of Word open the newer Word files. In this case, the pack upgrades the Word Viewer so that it can also open the new Word files.

Once you’ve downloaded and installed both the Word Viewer and the Compatibility Pack, you’re set to go. Anytime you attempt to open a Word document, it will open in the Viewer.

And to make matters even better, the Word Viewer will open more than just Word files. Here are some of the file types it lets you open:

• Word Document (.docx)
• Word Macro-Enabled Document (.docm)
• Rich Text Format (.rtf)
• Text (.txt)
• Web Page formats (.htm, .html, .mht, .mhtml)
• WordPerfect 5.x (.wpd)
• WordPerfect 6.x (.doc, .wpd)
• Works 6.0 (.wps)
• Works 7.0 (.wps)
• XML (.xml)

So if you are someone who needs to open Word documents without Word, you now have your solution. Give the free Word Viewer a try!

As always, I’d love to hear about your own personal experiences with the Word Viewer and how you open Word documents without Word. Just leave a comment below…

As a technology teacher, I always do my best NOT to assume that my students already know something. And so today I want to cover a trick that I think is essential to know as you work with your files and folders… how to select multiple files with CTRL and Shift keys.

As you work with a folder window (the window that opens when you use My Computer, Windows Explorer, or the Windows 7 and 8 Library window), you are often faced with wanting to do something to a group of files, rather than just one.

For example, let’s say you are working with a folder full of picture files, sorting them into different folders to keep things organized. Rather than move or copy one file at a time, it’s a lot more efficient to move or copy a bunch of files at the same time.

And that’s where learning to select multiple files with the CTRL and Shift keys comes in.

In Windows, you normally can only select ONE file at a time (“select” means clicking on a file to highlight it).

But holding down the CTRL key or the Shift key as you click a file, allows you to select more than one.

Now, CTRL and Shift do work differently…

• CTRL – allows you to click and select multiple files that are anywhere on your file list, not necessarily next to each other.

• Shift – allows you to select a group of files that are contiguous (i.e. next to each other) by clicking one file, and then holding Shift and clicking the last file.  All the files in between are then selected.

To give you a better idea of what I’m talking about, I’ve put together an 11 minute video that demonstrates how to select multiple files with the CTRL and Shift keys.  Click the video below to see it.  And remember too that you can see a full-screen version of the video by using the Full Screen button I point out to you below the video.

On, and don’t forget you can learn lots more about working with Files and Folders (and lots of other Windows tasks) in my Windows PC Guidebook. CLICK HERE to learn more about it.

PLUS… In a few days I’ll be releasing yet another book, called “Working with Your Files & Folders”. Stay tuned!

Select Multiple Files with the CTRL and Shift keys

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX6cMrdjV8g

Click the lower-right corner button (above) to go Full Screen—>>>

Once the video starts playing, click the “gear” button (above) to change the video quality—>>>

As always, I’d love to hear about your own personal experiences with using CTRL and Shift  You can leave your comments below!

Pandora is one of those apps that once you have it, you almost wonder how you got along with out it.

No, it’s not an app that makes you more productive, or let’s you play addictive games, or communicate with family and friends.

It’s an app that can play the music you like, without actually playing your favorite songs.

OK, what does THAT mean?

Pandora is a free music streaming service that lets you search for a song, or artist, or composer that you like, and then uses that information to create a “station” that plays other songs similar to what you picked.

What’s great is that you DO hear your original request now and then, but in between, you hear lots of music that you’ve maybe never heard before, but that you’ll probably like just because it’s similar your favorite.

Because it works in this way, Pandora is sometimes referred to as a “recommendation service“.

In another “My Favorite App” video, I talked about iHeartRadio, a great radio station streaming service.  And although Pandora is also a streaming service, it’s different enough from iHeartRadio that the two should be part of your music listening app arsenal.

And that’s why I’ve added the Pandora app to my Favorite Apps list!

To give you a better idea of what the Pandora app is all about, I’ve put together this short video.  Click on the image below to take a look…

The Pandora App

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZjCjZvAtu8

Click the lower-right corner button (above) to go Full Screen—>>>

Once the video starts playing, click the “gear” button (above) to change the video quality—>>>

As always, I’d love to hear about your own personal experiences with this App or any fun Apps you run into. You can leave your comments below!

And don’t forget, you can CLICK HERE to learn more about the Using Your iPad & iPhone book which has all kinds of tips, tricks, and how-to’s on using your iPad and iPhone.

The book was created as a supplement for our very popular Using Your iPad & iPhone classes held at our Lincoln, NE, computer lab, but it’s also a great guide for anyone who wants to learn more about how to use their iDevice.

Difficulty in working with email attachments is one of the most common problems I hear from students. And although the number one issue is normally “I can’t open or see some of the email attachments that I get”, I hear about all kinds of other problems as well…

• I got an email attachment and I don’t know what to do with it.
• Someone sent me a picture as an email attachment but I don’t know how to save it.
• I want to send someone a file, but I don’t know how to attache it.

And the list goes on.

The first thing to keep in mind about email attachments, is that they are nothing more than files that you are “piggybacking” along with a regular email message. Basically, it’s just a way to send a file with an email.

Email attachments have been used in the business world to propagate important documents for years. It wasn’t really until the digital photography revolution (i.e. folks like you and I taking digital pictures) that the typical home computer user really started using attachments.

And today, the most popular use is to share pictures.

Yes, I know that Facebook is really the number-one picture sharing service, but a lot of people still use email to send their pictures to family and friends.

Anyway, with all the questions I get about attachments, I guess it’s about time that I finally come out with a short video blog on the subject. The video below is not a comprehensive look at attachments, but just something to give you the basics and help you get started with them.

Email Attachments – the Basics

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_akVXJmRSA

Click the lower-right corner button (above) to go Full Screen—>>>

Once the video starts playing, click the “gear” button (above) to change the video quality—>>>

As always, I’d love to hear about your own personal experiences (or problems) with email attachments. You can leave your comments below!

Internet streaming music services have been around a long time, but up until recently, you had to be sitting at your Internet-connected computer to listen.

But of course, that’s all changed with the exploding popularity of Internet-connected mobile devices like iPhones and iPads that let you listen to streaming music wherever you might be.

When comes to listening to steaming music on your device, you have a lot of different app choices, including Pandora, Rdio, Slacker, and many others. (I’ll review Pandora in another upcoming “My Favorite Apps” video).

But when you start comparing these different services and apps, you begin to discover that there are really just two different ways the services all work.

First are those that give you a way to search for songs or artists, and then using that song/artist create a “radio station” of selected music that is similar to what you originally chose. These are not “real” radio stations, but instead are playlists of music tracks the service thinks you might like. Pandora falls into this camp.

The second type of streaming service really does give you access to radio stations from around the world, letting you choose the station by call letters, city, or music genre. And this is where iHeartRadio comes in.

iHeartRadio has been around for a long time, and was one of the first services to provide streaming internet radio to your computer. And when mobile devices became popular, the company created apps on almost all the mobile platforms (including the iPhone and iPad), expanding their service by leaps and bounds.

Originally, the iHeardRadio app provided the same type of radio station access the original iHearRadio service provided. But in recent months they’ve added new features to the app that allows you to create your own “favorite kind of music” stations, just like Pandora and others.

Still, where iHearRadio shines is in how it lets you listen to radio stations from around the country and the world.

And that’s why I’ve added the iHeartRadio app to my Favorite Apps list!

To give you a better idea of what the iHeartRadio app is all about, I’ve put together this short video.  Click on the image below to take a look…

The iHeartRadio App

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJDBRHEBwKg

Click the lower-right corner button (above) to go Full Screen—>>>

Once the video starts playing, click the “gear” button (above) to change the video quality—>>>

As always, I’d love to hear about your own personal experiences with this App or any fun Apps you run into. You can leave your comments below!

And don’t forget, you can CLICK HERE to learn more about the Using Your iPad & iPhone book which has all kinds of tips, tricks, and how-to’s on using your iPad and iPhone.

The book was created as a supplement for our very popular Using Your iPad & iPhone classes held at our Lincoln, NE, computer lab, but it’s also a great guide for anyone who wants to learn more about how to use their iDevice.

The Adobe Reader is by far the most popular way to open, read, and print PDF (portable document format) files, the file type that lets us share formatted documents across the Internet.

But like most programs that almost everyone has on their computer, Adobe Reader is again under fire from those bad-guys who try to exploit popular programs so that they can do something bad to our computer. (CLICK HERE to read a recent article I wrote called “PDF File Security Issues“).

The good news is, Adobe typically responds quickly to security threats, releasing an Adobe Reader update within a day or so after the problem is discovered.

But that leads me to another observation. Have you ever noticed how often there seems to be an Adobe Reader Update?

OK, it’s not every day.  But it can sure seem like it.

You turn on your computer, and not long after you see the Windows desktop appear, you’ll see a small notice down in  your taskbar “tray” area (now called the “notification area”) or a pop-up window that says something like… “Update Available“.

It seems like sometimes, Adobe really ENJOYS bothering us with yet another update.

But again, keep in mind that these updates typically fix a security issue, and are therefore very important to do… at least when time permits and you are not too busy using your computer.

The next question is, how do you do an update?

For most of you, the Adobe Reader update probably happens automatically. Quite a few years ago, Adobe began including a small memory-resident program called the Adobe Updater when you installed the Reader. This updater routinely checks for updates and then gets them when they are available.

But, being the paranoid type and all, I’m one of those who likes to check for updates myself, now and then. And that’s what I’d like to show you how to do here.

I’ve put together about a 14 minute video that shows you how to check to see if you have the latest version of the Adobe Reader, and how to manually update it if you don’t.

Click the video below to see it.

Adobe Reader Update – checking your version and manually updating…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj4o_JaGrdw

Click the lower-right corner button (above) to go Full Screen—>>>

Once the video starts playing, click the “gear” button (above) to change the video quality—>>>

As always, I’d love to hear about your own personal experiences with updating the Adobe Reader or anything else Reader-related. You can leave your comments below!

As much as I love my digital cameras, I’ll have to admit that now days I probably take more pictures with my iPhone than anything else.

Not that I’m a huge fan of the iPhone or iPad as a camera, since my digital cameras still give me the best quality. But let’s face it, the thing is so darn convenient to use, since it’s always sitting right there in my pocket!

So, I tend to use it just because it’s there.

And that leads me to photo editing on my iPhone and iPad. There are a bunch of photo editing apps over in the Apple App Store, many of which I’ve tried and found to be decent. But if I had to pick just one to do my day-to-day, SIMPLE photo editing, it would be the Aviary App.

Aviary is quite intuitive to use, with a lot of quick fixing features that make it great for the photos you want to quickly get out the door.

Would I use it for photos that need lots of fixing and photo editing love? No.  For that type of job I have other, more sophisticated editor apps that I’ll review in the future.

Aviary is what I would call my “quick and dirty” editor, and that’s why I’ve added the Aviary App to my Favorite Apps list!

To give you a better idea of what the Aviary app is all about, I’ve put together this short video.  Click on the image below to take a look…

The Aviary App

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBp6SdliRq8

Click the lower-right corner button (above) to go Full Screen—>>>

Once the video starts playing, click the “gear” button (above) to change the video quality—>>>

As always, I’d love to hear about your own personal experiences with this App or any fun Apps you run into. You can leave your comments below!

And don’t forget, you can CLICK HERE to learn more about the Using Your iPad & iPhone book which has all kinds of tips, tricks, and how-to’s on using your iPad and iPhone.

The book was created as a supplement for our very popular Using Your iPad & iPhone classes held at our Lincoln, NE, computer lab, but it’s also a great guide for anyone who wants to learn more about how to use their iDevice.

Everyone wants to know what the weather is going to do. Come rain, snow, or shine, the weather is one of those things that affects everyone, in so many different ways, that we just can’t seem to get enough reports and forecasts.

And now in this age of mobile devices, getting an updated weather report is easier than ever.

A few months ago, in an article called My Favorite Weather Apps, I passed along the names of a few of my favorite weather-related iPhone and iPad apps, including the Weather Channel App. You can CLICK HERE to read that article.

But here in Nebraska, as we head into the last days of winter and prepare for the spring season of thunderstorms and tornadoes, I thought it might be a good idea to actually SHOW you what the Weather Channel App looks like, and try to entice you to download the free app and give it a try.

Over the past few years, I’ve looked at just about every weather app out there, and this one from the Weather Channel is still my favorite. It’s easy to use, keeps itself up-to-date, and gives you a ton of weather information, right there in your mobile hands.

And that’s why I’ve now officially added the Weather Channel App to my Favorite Apps list!

To give you a better idea of what the app is all about, I’ve put together this short video.  Click on the image below to take a look…

The Weather Channel App

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Brc_vRzA6HE

Click the lower-right corner button (above) to go Full Screen—>>>

Once the video starts playing, click the “gear” button (above) to change the video quality—>>>

As always, I’d love to hear about your own personal experiences with this App or any fun Apps you run into. You can leave your comments below!

And don’t forget, you can CLICK HERE to learn more about the Using Your iPad & iPhone book which has all kinds of tips, tricks, and how-to’s on using your iPad and iPhone.

The book was created as a supplement for our very popular Using Your iPad & iPhone classes held at our Lincoln, NE, computer lab, but it’s also a great guide for anyone who wants to learn more about how to use their iDevice.

For years, Dragon Naturally Speaking has been the go-to-program on the PC for converting spoken words into text. In the early days, the software was quirky and you had to do a lot of training (speaking specific sentences into the microphone to help it learn your voice) to get it to work right.

It was almost more hassle than it was worth.

But today things have changed.  Now the software is easier to use, takes little up-front training, and does a great job of translating whatever you say into typed text in your favorite word processor or email program.

My son Jack (who is dyslexic) uses it all the time for school papers. Yes, he’s a good typist, but he has difficulty spelling. With Dragon he can simply speak his mind into the computer microphone without having to worry about spelling mechanics and having his though-process interrupted.

And the more he uses it, the better it gets at knowing his voice and his particular voice inflections.

Dragon Dictation is really great.

But that greatness comes at a price.  The version that Jack uses (which has all the best bells and whistles) costs about $130.00, although there is a “home edition” that’s about half that amount.

But I have good news for those of you who have an iPhone or iPad (or even an Android device), and would just like to trying playing around with this voice to text stuff. Dragon has a FREE app for iDevices called Dragon Dictation that gives you the ability to dictate short notes that are great for email, text messaging, Twitter feeds, or Facebook posts.

I even use it in my car to capture brainstorms as I’m commuting from Omaha to Lincoln to teach classes.

And that’s why I’ve added Dragon Dictation to my Favorite Apps list!

To give you a better idea of what the app is all about, I’ve put together this short video.  Click on the image below to take a look…

Dragon Dictation App

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJbshUorGms

Click the lower-right corner button (above) to go Full Screen—>>>

Once the video starts playing, click the “gear” button (above) to change the video quality—>>>

As always, I’d love to hear about your own personal experiences with this App or any fun Apps you run into. You can leave your comments below!

And don’t forget, you can CLICK HERE to learn more about the Using Your iPad & iPhone book which has all kinds of tips, tricks, and how-to’s on using your iPad and iPhone.

The book was created as a supplement for our very popular Using Your iPad & iPhone classes held at our Lincoln, NE, computer lab, but it’s also a great guide for anyone who wants to learn more about how to use their iDevice.

As much as I’ve held off writing this, I’ve come to the point where I just can’t help myself anymore.  So here goes!

As you’ve probably heard, the issue of Java security has again reared it’s ugly head.

As reported by lots of different news sources, and even Homeland Security, hackers found series flaws in Java 7, including the latest fix that Oracle (the maker of Java) had released. The flaw lets bad-guys using two popular hacker tool kits (Blackhole and Nuclear Pack) to setup malicious web sites that when visited, can drop code on your computer letting the hackers take over.

So where we are again, talking about Java and trying to help folks know what to do with it.

My mind hasn’t changed since I last wrote about in an article called Java Security Problems Uncovered. There, I told you about the original security issues and gave you all the choices of what you could do. (You might want to read that article again, since nothing has really changed! CLICK HERE to go to it).

 My advice to most of the students that ask, “what should I do”, is to just uninstall Java completely.

If you do happen to run across a program or web site that needs it, and you just HAVE to use that program or web site, you can always, easily, re-install it again. In fact, most programs will not only tell you it’s needed, but then link you over to Oracle where you can pick it up.

And if you’re wondering what programs need Java, the two that I know of and you may have heard of are…

• LibreOffice (a Microsoft Office alternative)
• OpenOffice (another Office alternative)

I did a Google search for more examples of programs that use Java, but guess what?  I couldn’t find any!  What does that tell you?

As for web sites that use it, they are also becoming less frequent.  I personally haven’t visited one site that needs Java in the past 6 months. And if I do find one, it will have to be a pretty darn good site for me to re-install Java so that I can visit it.

So again, my advice is to just get rid of the darn thing if you don’t need it (CLICK HERE to visit my last article on how to do that).

In case you are interested, here are some more articles you can read to learn even more about the Java problem:

• How Big a Security Risk is Java? (from last summer, but has lots of good background information).
• Homeland Security warns to disable Java amid zero-day flaw (from ZDNet)
• Beware of fake Java updates (from CNet)
• Do you need to uninstall Java? (from CNet)
• Oracle’s Java patch contains new holes (from PC World)
• How to disable Java (PC Magazine)

As always, I’d love to hear about your own personal experiences with Java and what you think about this big security mess!  You can leave your comments below!

It’s the time of year for buying technology, which also makes it the time of year I get the most questions on what technology to buy.

This year, the most asked buying question has been “which tablet should I get?“, with a subset of that question being “can you explain all my choices in tablets?“. And that’s what I’ll talk about here.

But first a couple up-front notes.

(1) I’m only going to cover the most popular (and frankly best quality) tablets, and not the low-end budget devices that are really hit-and-miss when it comes to quality and usefulness.

(2) I’m only going to talk about tablets, and not smartphones (iPhones, Droids, Blackberrys, etc.).

(3) This is NOT an extensive review, but information that will help you understand the terminology and what your choices are.

(4) It may seem I’m trying to make you a geek here, but I promise, I’m NOT!  But I DO want to make you an informed tablet consumer, which is why I have to throw quite a bit of technology jargon at you.

(5) You could make a case for purchasing any of the tablets I mention here. Yes, iPads are the most popular, but it’s not necessarily because they are the “best”. The other tablets can definitely hold their own with the iPad.

(6) This is going to sound obvious, but the tablet you decide to get will depend upon what you are going to do with it. So this should be the first question you ask yourself (and the first one any sales person should ask you!)

OK to help you understand your tablet choices, I’ll break them out by the most important features that are typically used to compare them.

Which OS?

The OS (operating system) is the software that makes the tablet work. For example, on your computer, Windows is your OS if you are a PC user, or Apple OS X if you are a Mac user.

Since tablets are just hand-held, touch-screen computers, they too must have an OS, and in the tablet world the three most common are Apple iOS, Google Android, and Microsoft Windows 8.

Here are some specific facts about each major tablet OS:

iOS (Apple) - This is the proprietary OS used by all iPads (and iPhones and the other Apple iDevices). Right now, iOS 6 is the latest version available for the iPad and iPad-mini.

Android (Google and others) – An open-source OS purchased by Google back in 2005. For tablets, the Android 4.2 OS is used for the Google Nexus tablets, but since it’s “open source” (is publicly free to copy, modify, and redistribute), customized variations of the Android OS are also found on the Amazon Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble Nook.

Windows 8 (Microsoft) – Microsoft’s latest Windows version that is also found in the PC world, but was specifically created to run Microsoft’s new tablet called the Surface. For tablets, Microsoft also created Windows RT, which is a special version of Windows 8 which has fewer Windows 8 features but takes advantage of special power-saving chips in the Surface tablet, giving longer battery life.

With this in mind, here are the current popular tablets and which OS they run:

• Apple iOS 6 – New Apple iPad, iPad 2, and iPad Mini

• Google Android 4.2 (Jellybean) – Asus Nexus 7, Samsung Nexus 10, Samsung Galaxy Note

• Android 4.0 (customized) – Amazon Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD 7, Kindle fire HD 8.9

• Android 4.0 (customized) – Barnes & Noble Nook HD 7, Nook HD+ 9

• Windows 8/RT – Microsoft Surface

Which Marketplace?

On your PC and Mac you have “programs” or “software” that you run to do things. For example, to type a letter you would run a word processing program like Microsoft Word, or to browse the Internet a browser program like Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Google Chrome.

In the tablet world, programs are called Apps.  Why?  Because it’s cute, short, and sweet!  But really, they are just programs.

And when it comes to Apps, each tablet brand has an App marketplace it’s connected to. What this means is that for the most part, you can ONLY shop for Apps at the marketplace for that device.

Also keep in mind that besides Apps, most of these marketplaces also offer music, movies, and books you can purchase for your tablet.

Here are the marketplaces for the tablets I’m covering here:

• Apple iPad – Apple App Store – One of big selling features of the iPad is the number of available Apps. As of this writing, the Apple App Store has close to 900,000 Apps available for purchase.

• Google Nexus and Samsung Galaxy – Google Play – Google was a bit behind other tablet makers in getting a well-branded marketplace in place, but over the past year they’ve made big strides, and as of this writing, their store has over 700,000 Apps available.

• Amazon Kindle Fires – Amazon.com – One of the big reasons Amazon came out with the Kindle Fire tablets was to hopefully sell more from their BIG money maker, the Amazon.com online marketplace. The Kindle Fire tablets all give you access to that marketplace, which includes books, audio programs, music, and of course, Apps. Having said that, when you only look at Apps, Amazon only has about 100,000 as of this writing.

• Barnes & Noble Nook – BarnesAndNoble.com – As with the Kindle, the Nook has a marketplace that is full of books, and to a lesser degree music and movies.  But when it comes to Apps, there are only about 7,000 available for the Nook, putting it far behind the iPad and even the Kindle Fire.

• Windows Surface with Windows RT – Microsoft App Store - When it comes to the Microsoft Surface, things are a bit different than all the other tablets.  If you purchase a Surface that is running the Windows RT operating system, it will only run Apps from the Microsoft App Store, and at right now, the App store doesn’t have much in it. Still, Microsoft is promising a lot of apps in the near future.

• Windows Surface with Windows 8 – Microsoft App Store AND regular Windows 7 software – One of the big selling points of the Surface tablet running Windows 8 is that it will run both Apps and all of the old programs from your Windows PC. Running your old PC software is something that no other tablet can do.

One thing to keep in mind about all these marketplaces, is that the most popular Apps tend to be available for ALL the different tablets.  For example, if you are a fan of Angry Birds (a very popular game App), rest assured that you’ll find it at every one of these marketplaces.

Still, when you look at the smaller number of Apps currently available for the Nook and the Surface running Windows RT, folks who want the flexibility of lots of Apps will be disappointed, at least right now.

I should also mention that you can “jailbreak” the Apple iOS and “root” the Android OS so that the device can get Apps from places other than their intended marketplace.  For example, if you have a Kindle Fire, rooting the OS would let you also get certain Android Apps from Google Play. Another method for going outside the regular marketplace with the Kindle Fire is to “sideload” apps, which means to download them on your Android smartphone and then load them via a USB cable.

But keep in mind that jailbreaking or rooting also exposes your device to potential virus and malware threats that love to hang out in Apps outside the official device marketplace.

What Size?

The tablet world is basically divided into two different size camps. “Full Size” tablets are those that are around 10″ tall by 7″ wide, and “Mini Size” tablets are those that are around 7″ or 8″ tall by 5″ wide.

Of course, they all are actually a bit different in size, but the point is, you have a fundamental choice:

1. You can go with a smaller 7×5 inch tablet which is easier to handle and hold OR…
2. You can go with a larger 10×7 inch tablet that has a bigger screen

And here are how the tablets we’re discussing here break down…

Smaller

• iPad Mini
• Nexus 7
• Kindle Fire
• Kindle Fire HD 7
• Nook HD 7

What Capacity?

The tablet capacity refers to how much on-board (versus online) storage it has. The more capacity, the more books, music, and videos you can carry around with you and access without being connected to the Internet.

Which Internet Connection?

I cover this feature in more depth in my book, Using Your iPad and iPhone (CLICK HERE to read more about the book), but tablets can connect to the Internet in two ways:

1. WiFi – A wireless network connection that you can have in your home and/or can access in public places that provide it. WiFi is currently the fastest way to connect your tablet to the Internet and have no additional cost involved.

2. Data – This is a connection provided by your cell phone company that allows your device to connect with a data cell phone signal. Although these connections are getting faster (example: 4G LTE), they are still slower than WiFi. Plus, you pay an extra monthly fee to connect.

When you purchase a tablet, most offer you models that are either WiFi only, or WiFi plus Data. Of course, with the latter you’ll not only pay more for the device, but will also have that additional data access fee.

Which do you need? Well, if you are someone who is typically in the vicinity of a WiFi network, you probably don’t need a data connection.

On the other hand, if you’re someone who travels a lot and needs to be connected on the road, you’ll need a data connection to do that.

Finally, keep in mind that you can also connect a WiFi only device to the Internet on the road, if you have a smartphone that offers HotSpot capability.  This is where you can turn your phone into a miniature WiFi network.  Of course, you have a monthly fee with this service, but most cell phone companies allow you to turn the feature on/off on a month-by-month basis.

Other Considerations

Although probably not as important as what I’ve already mentioned, there are a few other features that might be important to your particular tablet needs.

Does it have a camera? – Because it’s not hard to do, many tablet makers include a camera on their devices. Whether your tablet has a camera on the front, back, or both sides will depend upon how you want to use it.

A camera facing you above the display is for making “video telephone calls” where you and who you are calling can both talk and see each other. To do this, you use programs such as Skype or Apple Facetime (and there are others).

A camera on the back of the device is for taking pictures. For this camera, you’ll also see an associated MegaPixel (MP) number indicating how many pixels the camera sensor inside your tablet takes. Numbers will range from 1MP to 5MP.

Battery Life? - Most tablet batteries are rated to last from 8 to 12 hours on a full charge. The truth is, the time you get totally depends upon how you are using it.  If you are simply browsing the web and reading email, those numbers are probably accurate. However, if you are watching videos and movies, plan on that time being a lot less.

Display Resolution? – This is the number of pixels wide and tall your screen displays.  Generally speaking, higher the numbers, the sharper your display will look.  Here is what you can expect from the current crop of tablets.

• iPad – 2048 x 1536
• iPad Mini – 1024 x 768
• Nexus 7 – 1280 x 800
• Nexus 10 – 2560 x 1600
• Galaxy – 1280 x 800
• Kindle Fire HD – 1280 x 800
• Nook HD – 1440 x 900
• Surface – 1366 x 768

What Uses?

As I mentioned at the beginning, which tablet you get depends on what you’re going to do with it. ALL of the tablets mentioned here are capable of doing most of the things folks typically want to do.

But to help you out, here’s my own personal take on what each of these tablets is best at “doing”.

GREAT = really good at it

VERY GOOD = above average at doing it

DECENT =  So-So at doing it

• Apple iPad – Great for web browsing, reading email, watching movies, listening to music, and playing games.  Decent for book reading and audio books.

• Google Nexus and Galaxy - Great for web browsing, reading email, watching movies, listening to music, and playing games.  Decent for book reading and audio books.

• Amazon Kindle Fire HD – Great for book reading and audio books. Very good for movie watching. Decent for web browsing, reading email, listening to music, and playing games.

• Barnes & Noble Nook – Great for book reading. Decent for audio books. So so for web browsing, reading email, listening to music, playing games, and watching movies.

• Microsoft Surface with Windows RT - Great for web browsing, reading email, watching movies, listening to music, and playing games.  Decent for book reading and audio books.

• Microsoft Surface with Windows 8 - Great for web browsing, reading email, watching movies, listening to music, and playing games.  Great at doing lots of other things since it runs your regular Windows software. Decent for book reading and audio books.

My Own Experiences

Currently, when it comes to tablets in my household we have an iPad 2, a Kindle Fire, and a Kindle Fire HD. All of them do a great job at what I mentioned in the previous section.

Now, if all of them were sitting in front of me, and I had a choice of taking ONLY ONE out the door, I’ll have to admit that it would probably be the iPad. Apple has done a great job in putting together a tablet that is flexible, responsive, great looking, and fairly easy to use. But the quality you get comes at a cost that not everyone can justify. And that’s why I would have NO PROBLEM recommending my Kindle HD to anyone who wants to listen.

As for all the other devices I’ve listed here, I have to go by what I read from others.

But again, in the end, I don’t really think you can go wrong with ANY of these tablets.  But at least now, you can hopefully go shopping a little bit better informed.

Of course, I would LOVE to hear your experiences with tablets. Please leave any comments or questions you might have below.

And don’t forget, you can CLICK HERE to learn more about the Using Your iPad & iPhone book which has all kinds of tips, tricks, and how-to’s on using your iPad and iPhone.

The book was created as a supplement for our very popular Using Your iPad & iPhone classes held at our Lincoln, NE, computer lab, but it’s also a great guide for anyone who wants to learn more about how to use their iDevice.

Marketing people love an excuse for a sale. Any excuse will do. If “something” is happening, a sale can be built around that “something”.

This time of year the “something” is Christmas, which is an obvious no-brainer for marketers to build sales around.

But not being happy with just “Sales for Christmas”, the marketing world came up with the idea to have Sales within Sales for Christmas, by promoting the busiest retails sales days of the year as being “special days EVERYONE should go shopping on”.

Of course I’m referring to the phenomena of Black Friday and all of it’s offshoots.

Since technology sales are a big part of Black Friday, I thought it might be fun to give you some background on the day and also talk about how you can prepare yourself and find the best technology deals this time of year.

[Now, before I begin, I just HAVE to tell you that I AM RUNNING A BLACK FRIDAY SALE of my own. CLICK HERE to see the Big pre-Black Friday - Cyber Monday 25% Off Book Sale that I'm having on all my technology learning books!]

Black Friday Traditions

As you probably know, “Black Friday” is the name that’s given to the day following Thanksgiving in the U.S.

According to Wikipedia, it’s traditionally thought that the name Black Friday originated in the early 1960′s in Philadelphia as a way to describe the “heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic” that would happen the day after Thanksgiving.

But according to Ben Zimmer of Word Routes,  researcher Bonnie Taylor-Blake discovered the term was actually coined back in the 1950′s to describe worker absenteeism after Thanksgiving day.

Regardless of it’s origin, it wasn’t until the mid-1970′s that the media starting picking up the term and claimed that it indicated the point in time that many retailers began to turn a profit (were “in the black”). There was actually no real validation of this, but since it made sense to most people, the mythology stuck.

As the term Black Friday gained momentum in the 80′s and 90′s, marketing people (via the media) began to describe the day as the “busiest shopping day of the year“, just to get more folks to participate in the sales. But at that time, the truth was that the Saturday before Christmas was typically the busiest shopping day.

It really wasn’t until 2003, after more and more companies started pointing their advertising dollars to Black Friday Sales, that Black Friday became the busiest shopping day of the year. Of course the busyness of  Black Friday is also helped because many companies give their employees the day off, and that for many the day represents the start of the Christmas season.

Finding the Best Deals

Most of us know that the local Thursday newspaper is always the best source for Black Friday sales ads, and there’s nothing quite like sitting in the easy chair after three helpings of turkey, flipping through all those glorious ad pages.

But by the time the ads come out in paper form, the REALLY savvy shopper already knows the best deals, and has their plan made.

How? Well since the late 1990′s, as another marketing ploy, many of the big retailers have started “leaking” their newspaper ads to the Internet, weeks before they appear in print.

Early on, finding the leaked ads was kind of a “sneaky” thing to do, but today most big companies actually promote you finding their ads and many even send you access to the ads if you sign up on their email list.

For example, this year Best Buy, Amazon, and NewEgg sent me Black Friday sales information about two weeks ahead of time. And I’m sure other retailers have done a similar thing.

So again, as a TIP – Go to your favorite store’s web site and sign-up for their email list!

But for a centralized, comprehensive list of Black Friday ads, there are some great online places you can visit.

Here are some of the most popular Black Friday ad sites:

• TheBlackFriday.com

• BlackFriday.com

• BFAds.net

• SlickDeals Black Friday Section

• FatWallet Black Friday Deals

Black Friday is Not the ONLY Day…

As I’ve already mentioned, since 2003, Black Friday really has been the largest retail day of the year (except for in 2004 when it was #2). Still, there are other days during the Christmas shopping season which come close to rivaling Black Friday, and because of that, many marketeers have come up with additional days they use to promote holiday sales.

Here are a few of the most popular:

• Cyber Monday – This is the Monday immediately after Black Friday, which was created in hopes of persuading people to shop online. The term was first used in 2005 in a press release from Shop.org, a web site run by the National Retail Federation. The marketers based their excitement about Cyber Monday because that day had been one of the biggest selling days of 2004. The press and concept seemed to have caught on with the public, and in 2011 the online tracking company comScore reported sales in excess of $1.2 billion dollars.

• Small Business Saturday – This term refers to the first Saturday after Thanksgiving, and was created by American Express in 2010. On that Saturday, American Express encourages shoppers to visit their local “brick and mortar” small retail stores. It’s pretty doubtful whether this term will catch on to the extent that Black Friday and Cyber Monday have, but many small businesses use it as a great excuse to market themselves and promote sales.

• Green Monday – This last term was coined by eBay to promote it’s biggest sales day in December, which is normally the 2nd Monday of December. comScore specifically defines it as the Monday with at least 10 days prior to Christmas, when a lot of folks do more “last minute” shopping. comScore reported sales of $854 million on that Monday in 2009, and over $1.1 billion in 2011.  And although eBay uses it for marketing, other businesses have picked it up, giving them yet another day to promote sales during the Christmas season.

• Black November - And don’t forget the entire month of November! Yes, many stores now promote “Black November” and have daily or weekly sales deals all throughout the month. The first place I saw this was with NewEgg, the online computer technology giant.

Most of us who have spent a lifetime of shopping know that the Christmas season, including Black Friday and all it’s offshoot days, is not necessarily  the best time to get the best prices.

The truth is you tend to get the best deals AFTER the holidays when stores are selling off their excess and making room for their incoming Spring/Summer merchandise. Of course the selection can be pretty limited, but if you’re shopping for something that isn’t the “hot item of the year”, waiting until December 26th might get you a better deal.

Still, if you are diligent and carefully shop around, you CAN find some great deals on the big holiday shopping days. And I’m not just talking about those those “door-buster” deals where the store only has 5 on the shelf with 500 people waiting in line for them.

I’m talking about good discounts on items that marketing folks know will draw you into the store, where they can perhaps sell you something else that is NOT such a good deal.

I think you know what I mean.

From a computer technology viewpoint, there are a few items I always look for in the Black Friday (and Cyber Monday) ads.  The great thing about these technology items is that no one will be knocking down the door to get them, and you can often even find them in stock later in the day on Friday or even on Saturday.

I’m a book-kind-of-guy. For years, really ever since I graduated from college back in the late 70′s (which really dates me), putting books to read on my plethora of shelves has always been one of my favorite (and expensive) pastimes.

I don’t know, there’s just something comforting about having shelves of books.  I’ve heard folks say, “books are like old friends you can always count on and go back to”. And I’d have to say that’s pretty much how I’ve always looked at them.

But there’s a problem with books.  After you’ve collected them for years, you wake up one day and suddenly discover that they have taken over so much space in your dwelling, you no longer have room for anything else. And those books you’ve had for years, especially those non-fiction books, are outdated to the point of almost worthlessness.

What’s a book lover to do?

I’ve discovered an answer.  It’s called “eBooks” and it’s awesome.

Of course, what I’m referring to is this new age of reading a book on a digital ebook reader, where you purchase or borrow electronic copies of books (eBooks) and then read them on what’s called an eBook Reader Tablet or an eBook Reader App.

Benefits of doing this include:

• You no longer need ANY shelf space for your bound books.
• You can carry your entire library (even if you have thousands of books) around with you on a device the size of a paperback.
• You can easily share the book with someone else in your house who also has a book reader, and you can both read the book at the same time.
• You can lay in bed at night and easily read your book without having a book light.
• You can read the same book on multiple devices you use, and have your place automatically synchronized across those devices.

I respect that.  BUT… I also know folks who went kicking and screaming to eBook readers, and after a few days wondered how they got along without one.Now, before I continue let me just say that not everyone is in love with eBook readers the way I am. I know folks who still prefer turning the paper pages of a good book, and just can’t seem to get used to the idea of reading a book on a small computer-like screen.

And I have to tell you, clearing off all my old shelves of bound books and taking them over to 1/2 Price Books for a little cash, sure feels good. Especially when I rediscover all the space those old books were taking up.

But now, back to the original subject.

There are all kinds of ways to read eBooks out there. Probably the most popular way is to use a dedicated tablet device. Popular eBook tablets include the Amazon Kindle line and Barnes & Noble Nook.

But if you own an iPad or iPhone, you also have a eBook reader in your hands because you can add eBook Reader Apps.  And the great thing is, unlike the Kindle or Nook readers, you can access books from all kinds of different sources, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, the local library, the Apple iBook store, and so on.

But one note... As an owner of 2 Kindles, I’ve found that the tablets designed to read books from their parent company (for the Kindle it’s Amazon), have more robust reader programs. For example, on my son Jack’s Kindle Fire HD, when he reads a book, if we also get him the audio version of the book, he can actually listen to the book at the same time his Kindle highlights it on the reading screen.  Amazon calls this Immersion reading, and it’s great for him since he’s dyslexic.

But now on to the eBook reader apps.

Before I mention the most popular eBook reader apps, be aware that all these apps work basically the same, and have these features in common:

Of course, each eBook Reader app has it’s own look and style, but there’s only so many ways you can read and interact with a book.

Finally (and this is really cool), for all these apps, your purchased books are kept in your own personal “cloud” library (online library) where they and stored forever and can be downloaded to other devices that have book readers.

For example, in my family with an iPad, two iPhones, and two Kindles, when I purchase a book at Amazon on one of my Kindles, it’s instantly available to download to 4 additional devices, which means I can have the same book on ALL my reading devices.  Not only that, but if I read to page 103 on one Kindle, and then switch over to reading on my iPhone using the Kindle App, I’m automatically taken to page 103. Amazon calls this WhisperSync.

How about that!

So with all these features in mind, here are my 3 favorite eBook Apps for the iPad and iPhone:

One final note about eBook Reader Apps… they also work on your iPad or iPhone as PDF readers. This means that when you visit a web site that has a PDF to download, or someone mails you a PDF as an attachment, you can open it directly in your favorite eBook Read App and for the most part, it will work just like a regular eBook.

So that takes care of eBook Reader Apps. I hope you’ll give one or more of them a try, especially if you are a book affectionato.

And don’t forget, you can CLICK HERE to learn more about the Using Your iPad & iPhone book which has all kinds of tips, tricks, and how-to’s on using your iPad and iPhone.

Now it’s your turn.  If you’ve run across a book app your really like, let me know in the comments below! I would LOVE to hear from you!

Just when you thought you were safe…

Well, OK  if you’re a savvy Internet user you never REALLY feel safe. But one place where your online safety has normally been pretty secure is with the PDF files that you find to view or download. But now it’s been discovered that even PDF files have security issues.

But let’s backtrack a bit and give you a bit of background.

What Are PDF Files?

For those unfamiliar with them, PDF files (PDF = Portable Document Format) are a special document-like format created by Adobe that allow you to share documents created with just about any program with other folks who don’t have that same program.

For example, let’s say you use Microsoft Word to create a 50-page story of your life that includes lots of great pictures, and you want to share that document with your Aunt Ruth.  So you send to her as an email attachment, but alas, when she tries to open it, she can’t!  She doesn’t have Microsoft Word on her computer!

But, if from inside of Word you had saved that story as a PDF file, and then sent it to her, she would have no problem at all opening it, viewing it, and even printing it. That’s because just about everyone who has a PC or Mac already has the free Adobe Reader program on their computer. And the Adobe Reader is all you need to open a PDF.

So what Adobe has done by creating the PDF format, and then giving us the free Adobe Reader, is a mechanism for sharing documents without worrying about our audience having the right software to open that document.

Two Ways PDF Files Are Opened

You get PDF files from lots of different places. Here are a few examples:

• A friend might create something in PowerPoint or Word and then save it as a PDF file and send it to you as an attachment (as we did above with Aunt Ruth).
• You buy a new software program at the store, and instead of coming with a printed manual, the manual comes as a PDF file on the CD/DVD installation disc.
• You visit a web site to get some information, and there’s a PDF brochure or booklet you can download and read or print.

Security Issues?

But now back to the security issues.

As you might imagine, with everyone having the Adobe Reader and frequently opening up PDF files that they get from friends or find as free information on the Internet, PDF files have become a lucrative target for those bad people who create viruses and malware.

[BTW, you can CLICK HERE to read more about getting my book, Staying Safe on the Internet]

But knowing this, Adobe took extra steps to make the Adobe Reader and PDF’s secure by introducing a special feature called “sandboxing“.

With Sandboxing, any malware or virus ridden PDF file is trapped inside the Adobe Reader and can’t get out to infect your computer. And they added this security feature to both the full reader and the in-browser version.

But as with all things on the Internet that are supposed to be “totally safe”, hackers recently found a way to trick the Adobe Reader sandbox feature, and the trick was published as part of a hacker toolkit that many of those bad-hacker-people use.

The first hacker attacks are already being seen in the form of banking malware that’s being installed on victims computers.

Not only does the exploit target the regular Adobe Reader, but also the in-browser versions for Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. Interestingly, the Google Chrome version seems to be immune to the problem because Chrome has some additional built-in security for the Adobe Reader.

What To Do?

As of the date this article is published (November 11, 2012), Adobe has not yet released a fix for the security flaw. But considering the wide-spread issues this could cause, most experts believe Adobe will come out with an update sooner than later.

In the meantime, you can use typical Internet related common sense to protect yourself.

• Don’t open a PDF email attachment that comes from an unknown source.
• Don’t download or open a PDF from sites that you do not trust.
• Make sure you are running a good anti-virus/anti-malware program.
• When Adobe tells you that there’s an update to the Adobe Reader program, be sure to install it.

Here are some links if you want to read more about the PDF problem, and also about staying safe on the Internet:

• InfoWorld – Zero-Day PDF Exploit reportedly defeats Adobe Reader sandbox protection.

•  The Best Password? Here are some tips…

• Windows Update – An Important Part of Internet Safety

• Phising Emails – Don’t Get Caught!

• Are Free Internet Security Solutions OK?

• Internet Security Solutions – A Commercial Look…

And again, don’t forget I have an entire book about the subject called Staying Safe on the Internet. CLICK HERE to read more about it.

Please leave any questions or comments below in the Comment box.  I’d love to hear from you!

This past summer, we started a new class at the Lincoln AgeWell Computer Education Center called “Using Your iPad and iPhone“. The class was so popular, that I decided to release a book of the same name, in hopes that I could also help iPad and iPhone users not able to attend classes.

(BTW… you can CLICK HERE to learn more about the Using Your iPad & iPhone book which is ON SALE for 20% off until Tuesday, October 16th, 2012 at 11:00 PM).

Anyway, after one of the classes, one of the students mentioned that there were so many apps out there, that “it would be great if you had a list of all the best iPad apps”.

This got me to thinking, maybe I SHOULD come up with some type of Best iPad Apps list and share it with everyone.

Thus was born this article, which is the first in a continuing series I’ll do on my favorite apps for the iPad and iPhone.

Now, since this is the first article in a series of what will be many, let me explain a few things about how I’m going to do this.

• Every app that I include here will be one that I personally use on a regular basis.
• Unless I otherwise mention it, all the apps I talk about will work on either the iPad or the iPhone.
• In most cases I’ll try and recommend FREE apps, but will also talk about my favorite PAY-FOR apps.

And that’s it. So let’s get started with our first segment.

The Best iPad/iPhone Apps for Weather

Ok, I’m a weather nut. I LOVE weather. In fact, if I had to do it all over again, I’d become a meteorologist and chase funnel clouds in the stormy spring along the dry-line in Texas and Oklahoma just for fun.

But since I’m just a lowly computer geek, I’ve instead settled for watching the weather to the best of my nerdy ability  using my computer and more recently, iPad and iPhone.

I spent a LOT of time and even some money looking for the best weather related apps, and after looking high and low decided on two that give me all I need to know about the weather and what’s out there in the sky.

• The Weather Channel – FREE (ad supported)- Believe it or not, the same company that gives you 24/7 weather on your TV also has an app that does the same thing… put the latest weather information at your fingertips.  The Weather Channel App was recently redesigned to be even more graphical and is especially attractive on your iPad.The app gives you current conditions (5 minute delay) with hourly, 36 hour, and 10 day forecasts, as well as local/national radar, and weather alerts from NOAA. There are other options too (like Weather Channel video and social connections), but the forecasts are what I use the most.

• My Radar – FREE (ad supported)-  The radar map that the Weather Channel includes is pretty good, but what I was looking for is a radar app that is as close to real-time as possible.  I DID find an app (that cost a yearly subscription) which provide ALMOST real-time radar, but I just didn’t want to pay the fee.Then I ran across My Radar, an app whose sole purpose in life is to give you a good, ALMOST real-time radar (it’s normally about 2 to 4 minutes behind).My Radar has a nice map screen with radar that’s pulled from NOAA (as most radar is), and includes temps and alerts if you want them.There is  a pay-for version that removes the ads (and I’ve done this), but since most of us are used to ads in our free apps, I suggest you NOT pay for the non-ad version.

So there you have it. My favorite two weather related apps.

And don’t forget, you can CLICK HERE to learn more about the Using Your iPad & iPhone book which is ON SALE for 20% off until Tuesday, October 16th, 2012 at 11:00 PM!

Now it’s your turn.  If you’ve run across a weather app your really like, let me know in the comments below!

This past week, yet another internet-related security issue became big news as tech sites reported a newly found security hole in Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE). Leading folks to again ask the big question… is Internet Explorer safe?

As you might guess, I have some thoughts on the subject.

But first, a bit more about this specific IE problem.

The latest IE security problem, which affects almost all the versions, was first reported earlier this week (September 16th, 2012) by security blogger Eric Romang in a blog post (CLICK HERE to read his post), and then later passed along to the general public by sites such as CNet (CLICK HERE to read a good summary of the problem by CNet writer Elinor Mills).

Microsoft didn’t immediately respond to the issue, and so during the middle of this past week many online experts were suggesting that folks just stop using IE completely, and go with an alternative such as Google Chrome or Firefox until Microsoft released a fix.

Today (September 20th, 2012) Microsoft announced plans to release a critical “out of cycle” update to IE tomorrow (Friday, the 21st) to fix the IE security issue.

The update is out of cycle because normally Microsoft only releases updates during it’s regular “Patch Tuesday” (the 2nd Tuesday of each month).

In the meantime, Microsoft has also released some “fix-it” software that you can download and install to protect you until the full patch comes out on Friday. CLICK HERE to read more about the quick fix on CNet.

So here’s a quick summary of the issue

• If you are an Internet Explorer user, and want to keep using it today, download their quick fix-it software to tide you over until tomorrow.
• If you don’t feel like downloading the quick fix-it software, just stop using IE until the full patch is released tomorrow. Instead, use an alternative like Chrome or Firefox.
• After the patch has been released tomorrow, and your computer has been updated, you can go back to using IE

And then life with IE goes on.

Or does it?

Now we are back to the question I first posed at the beginning of this article… is IE safe?
And then, to take it a step farther, let’s ask… should I continue to use it?

At our computer lab in Lincoln, NE, I teach a class called Browser Wars where we spend two hours giving students a chance to look at and compare Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox. If time permits, we even take a quick look at Apple Safari, although I personally rank it #4 compared to the other three.

The point of the class isn’t so much that you should stop using IE as much as it’s a lesson on choices, and the ones that are available in the world of browsing.

I personally prefer Google Chrome as my day-to-day browser. I’m use to it, I like it’s speed, and it doesn’t give me many issues. But I talk to other folks who really like Firefox and can’t imagine using anything else. I also run across lots of people who are very comfortable using IE because it came on their computer with Windows. They have no intention of changing.

My point is, in the Internet browsing world we have choices. And just like when choosing something like the brand of a car, the choice we make is determined by our comfort level.

ANY car will get us from here to there, but THAT car is more comfortable during the trip.

ANY browser will take us to a web page and display it, but THAT browser makes it easier/faster/funner to get there.

But once again, let’s go back to the question, is IE safe?

The answer is… no, not completely. Even with the patch that Microsoft is supplying tomorrow, there’s nothing to say that next week, another one won’t be found.

But that fact is true for ALL the browsers. They all have historically had issues, and will continue to have issues as long as there are hackers out there who want to attack you.

And now that the browser market is no longer as dominated by IE as it once was, and the “browser use percentages” have evened out, hackers are attacking Chrome and Firefox just as intensely as they are IE.

So here is my ultimate advice when it comes to browsers…

• There is no such thing as a “perfect browser”. They all have had, and will continue to have security issues.

• All of them work the same with regards to getting you to a web page and then letting you view it.

• They ARE different in their “feel” and one might seem more comfortable to use than the others.

• You should download and install Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox , and along side the already installed Internet Explorer, compare them.
  (No, they do NOT interfere with each other or take up much space… so you can have them all on your computer at the same time. However, as you install them they will ask to become your “default” browser. Until you decide on which one you really like, you should say “no” or uncheck that option)

• Once you have a favorite, leave the other browsers on your computer, just in case the one you are using has problems with a particular site you are viewing, and you need to use a different browser to see it.

As always, I’d love to hear your experiences with a particular browser or comments about issues you’ve had. You can leave them below…

[UPDATE - On Thursday afternoon, 8/30/2012, Oracle threw aside it's normal update schedule and released a special upgrade fix to the Java 7 engine.  If you visit www.Java.com, you'll see a download link for Version 7 Update 7 which is suppose to fix the security problem][ CLICK HERE to read a ZDNet Story about the Update]

[ANOTHER UPDATE - Monday, September 3rd - CNet reports that yet MORE security flaws have been found in the Java 7 update that was released late last week. CLICK HERE to read the article on CNet. So, most security experts are saying... unless you need it for something, just completely uninstall Java!]

Now on to the original article…. which is STILL worth reading…

This past week, news reached the masses that Java, a programming technology used on the Web, has a security vulnerability (called a “zero-day” vulnerability) that allows attackers to exploit the computers of site visitors.

Java, which was developed by Sun Microsystems back in 1995, allows programmers to create software that among other things, makes web sites more interactive. For the software to work, your computer must have the Java engine installed. Then, when you visit a site using Java code, that code is quickly downloaded to your computer and run by the Java engine.

Java, along with Adobe Flash, Adobe Shockwave, and Apple QuickTime is one of the most common add-ons found on people’s computers. Although the engine runs in Windows, it also integrates itself with your browser (Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, etc.) to make web pages work.

So here’s the problem…

The recently found Java security problem is posing a big enough threat, that most online security experts are advising computer users to temporarily disable Java in each of your browsers, or even just completely uninstall it from your computer.

Oracle, which now owns Java, is not expected to release a patch for the problem until later this year (which is really frustrating a lot of security experts).

So what should YOU do?

Here are my suggestions:

(1) If you visit sites that DO use Java for interaction, and you are a user of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox browsers, disabling Java is not hard to do, and once disabled in those browsers, you’ll be safe from any Java exploits as you browse.

To learn how to disable Java, you can use these links…

• How to Disable Java in Firefox
• How to Disable Java in Google Chrome

(2) If you are a  user of Internet Explorer for your browser, things are a lot different. It’s actually pretty hard to disable Java in Internet Explorer. I know how to do it, and I toyed with the idea of putting together a video to show you how, but to be honest, even with video instructions you might have some problems getting Java disabled.

So my suggestion for those using Internet Explorer is…   just completely uninstall it from your computer, using Add/Remove Programs (in Windows XP) or Programs and Features (in Windows 7). Both are found in the Windows Control Panel.

NOTE: Only Java version 7 (versus the older version 6) is affected by the security flaw. So if you find that you are still using the older version, you MIGHT be OK in just leaving things alone. But in all honesty, since Java is not used as often as it use to be, I still think just uninstalling it completely might be the best bet for most folks.

(3) If you DON’T visit sites that commonly use Java, I would just uninstall it completely. For quite some time, now, a lot of Internet Security companies have said that if you don’t need Java, why leave it on your computer? And I agree with that.

I uninstalled my Java engine a few days ago, and haven’t noticed the loss of anything important.  I figure that I can always reinstall it if I run across something important that needs it.

Again, to uninstall Java, just open your Windows Control Panel, and in Windows XP go to Add/Remove Programs, and in Windows 7 go to Programs and Features.

As always, I’d love to hear your experiences or comments. You can leave them below…