Q: I have an email conundrum. I have had Comcast internet for years but have decided to switch to another provider because I don’t get online that much or watch cable. The problem is that I don’t want to lose my Comcast email address. Is there a way to keep my same address even if I don’t have Comcast?

Image credit: OpenClips / Pixabay

A: Unfortunately, Shelly, email addresses are not like phone numbers: you don’t get to keep them if you switch providers. But we think we can make losing your email address a little less painful.

There are a ton of free email services out there that are not tied to internet providers. And, as it turns out, most of the free ones are better than the ones you pay for. These include Yahoo Mail, Outlook, and Mac.com. Far and away the most popular, though, is Gmail.

Gmail is also our personal favorite, because it’s easy to use, has a lot of features, and (most important for you) it interacts well with other email providers. For instance, you can import all of your contacts from your old email account into your new Gmail account.

This process pretty easy. Once you have signed up for Gmail, click the settings icon (it looks like a gear), click “Settings”, go to the “Account and Import” section and click the “Import Mail and Contacts” button. Then just follow the instructions.

Of course, you’re going to want to send a message from your old email address to all of your contacts letting them know that you’re switching to a different one. We would also recommend setting up email forwarding on your old address a few weeks before you cancel that account. This will automatically send new messages from your old address to an email address you specify (for example, your new Gmail address). That way, as messages come through, you can respond from your new account and let people know to begin sending emails there.

The hardest part about switching email addresses will be updating all of the online accounts you currently have linked to your email (e.g. your bank account, Facebook, etc). Unfortunately, Shelly, there isn’t a quick and easy fix for this – you’re going to have to simply log in into all of those accounts and change them by hand.

This might seem like an arduous task, but we think it will be worth it in the end to have an email account that is free, can be accessed from anywhere, and isn’t tied to whether or not you want cable.

Image credit: Stephen Jones / WJCT

In this first of four hour-long public radio specials for 2014, Ray and Tom hear from listeners experiencing problems with their Kindles, wondering how they can have safe and secure passwords, looking for advice on what kind of tablet they should purchase and more.

Links mentioned in the show:

• Laptop Magazine – Laptop Buying Guide
• Snopes.com – Facebook Blocking Religious Posts
• Avast! Anti-Virus
• PC Decrapifier
• Revo Uninstaller
• AdwCleaner
• Microsoft – End of Windows XP Support Guide
• Glympse
• MileBug
• CheckIt Speedometer
• Duolingo

Q: The other day I was at a co-worker’s office, and he had two monitors on his desk. I thought he had two computers, but then I saw him drag a window from one screen to the other. Then, he pulled out his iPad, and started using it as another screen. He acted so nonchalant about it, I didn’t want to ask him how he set it up, but it looked like magic!

How does that work, and more importantly, how can I do it? My computer only has one place to plug in a monitor. Is there some hardware that you have to buy to make that voodoo happen?

Image credit: Chance Reecher / Flickr

A: Awesome question, Brian! No, it’s not magic, but it does look pretty cool. Having dual monitors (or multiple monitors) can really improve your productivity too. It’s like having a bigger desk – the more screen space you have to work on, the more you can get done faster. Instead of having to manually switch back and forth between windows on one monitor, you can just turn your head and look at the other screen.

It’s also a lot easier to multitask, and it’s easier to stay focused on your primary task, when you have multiple screens. You can put what is most important right in front of you, and put things that are less important on another monitor.

There are a few different ways to do this, but which one will work best depends on your computer. On most laptops, you can simply plug in an extra monitor. On desktops, the first way to do it is to install an additional video card. A video card is a piece of hardware that goes inside your computer to give you an additional monitor port. You’ll have to do a little research about your computer to find out what kind of video card you can install into it. It will be an AGP or PCI card if it’s an older computer, or a PCI Express card if it is a newer computer. You should be able to find out which one you need by looking in the owner’s manual.

If you can’t find your owner’s manual, you should be able to find the information on the manufacturer’s website. Just search Google or Bing for the name of your computer (like “Dell Inspiron 8500”), and you should be able to find the site with the manual.

If you don’t want to do all of that research or you’re concerned about opening the computer case, you can always get an external video adapter. This is a little box that plugs into the USB port on the front or back of your computer and gives you an extra video port. Then, you can plug your other monitor into that.

If neither of those solutions work, or you just don’t want to buy any hardware, the other way to do it is through a virtual connection. To do that, you’ll need a piece of software like Air Display by Avatron and a working laptop or iPad or Android tablet. All you have to do is install the software on your main computer, and install the software on the other computer or tablet. Boom! You’ve got second screen! Your old computer or tablet will still work, but the only thing you’ll be using it for is as your second monitor.

Regardless of which method you use, you will probably have to play with your display settings to get your monitors working the way you want them to. Once you do, you will be able to do two screen magic just like your co-worker.

Q: My son wants some games for our family’s new laptop. Can you recommend a way we can download games without being exposed to viruses?

Image credit: Valve

A: Well, Grant, you’re in luck because there are a few great one-stop game shops out there, including the Windows Store, the Mac App Store, and GameFly Digital. The one we recommend, though, is called Steam.

Steam was created by computer game maker Valve to go along with the release of their game, Half-Life 2. It was originally developed as a way to better distribute updates for Valve games, curb piracy, and to let players access online multiplayer games. Valve then began to sell their own games through the platform, and eventually let other companies do the same. Today, virtually every computer game that comes out is available on Steam.

If you have an Xbox, Steam is a little bit like Xbox Live for your home computer. It’s a program that allows you to buy and download games, chat with friends and play games with them online. Steam has all of the top titles you’ll find on Xbox and Playstation (for example, the Batman: Arkham Asylum games), but it also has simple casual games like you probably have on your phone (like Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja).

To use it, you’ll need to download their software, known as the Steam client, from their site, steampowered.com. They have versions available for Windows, Mac and Linux (note: since some games are made for specific operating systems, not every game you can purchase through Steam will work on all three). It doesn’t cost anything to use the platform itself, but games you can download through it do cost money.

Prices are usually anywhere from $0.50 to $60.00 depending on the game. Some games can cost more than that, while others are sometimes offered for free. Another thing we like about Steam is that they have sales basically every single day; you’ll see $50 games for $20, $25 for $5 and so on. You can add games you’re interested in to a wish list and Steam will send you an email when they go on sale.

Once you’ve purchased a game through Steam, it will automatically begin downloading to your computer. This will happen in the background, so you can check Facebook or watch some YouTube videos while you wait. Then, once it’s downloaded, you can launch the game from inside of Steam. If there any updates for the game, it will automatically download them for you. And don’t worry, all of this content is first going through Valve, who work to make sure there are no viruses in the files.

Steam also offers parental controls in case you’re worried about your son playing games that aren’t age-appropriate. Under the “Settings” menu, you can activate a password-protected mode called “Family Options” which will filter which games he buy or play.

So, Grant, Steam is one way to safely download games for your home computer. We also recommend checking out GameFly Digital (which is very similar), or the Windows and Mac stores. Happy gaming!

Q: I enjoy reading and want to start reading more eBooks, but I don’t know if I should get a tablet or an eReader. Do you have any suggestions?

Image credit: kodomut / Flickr

A: That’s a tough one, Casey! Tablets like the iPad, the Nexus and the Kindle Fire can make great eReaders in addition to everything else they do. But dedicated eReaders like the regular Kindle or the Nook are tailored to the reading experience. There are definitely major differences between the two.

The most obvious difference is the screen. Tablets have backlit screens, while Kindles and Nooks have e-ink screens which are lit from the front or not at all. Some people find a backlit screen to be hard on their eyes over long periods of time, but a backlit screen is a plus if you’re reading in the dark. Some eReaders like the Kindle Paperwhite and the Nook GlowLight also have built-in lighting, but they are front lit so the light doesn’t shine in your eyes.

If you enjoy reading at the beach, an eReader is your best bet. Direct sunlight will wash out a backlit screen, making it hard to read (even in the shade you may have glare issues). If you’re reading mostly indoors or on an airplane this won’t be a problem for you.

A great thing about the e-ink screens on dedicated eReaders is that it doesn’t even feel like you’re looking at a screen. A good eReader very closely mirrors the experience of reading a good old fashioned paperback.

On the flip side, if you want to read magazines, comic books, graphic novels, or just non-fiction books with photos or charts, you’ll really want to get a tablet. eReaders only have black-and-white screens. And while e-ink screens are great for reading, they don’t come anywhere near the picture quality you’ll find on tablets. Reading full color comic books on your retina display tablet is really a treat.

Another thing you need to consider is battery life. Most tablets will last you eight hours or so. eReaders, on the other hand, can last for weeks between charges. On a long plane ride, a dedicated eReader will last you way longer than a tablet.

A bigger consideration for many people is price. The cheapest Nexus 7 tablet is $229, while the cheapest iPad, the iPad Mini, starts at $399. The Kindle starts as low as $69, as long as you don’t mind seeing ads on your screensaver. What will make the higher price worth it for some people is that you can do a lot more than just read books on your iPad. Tablets can run apps, play games, check email and surf the web.

So, getting back to your question, which one should you choose? Well, if you’re a casual reader who wants to read some books and run apps then look into getting a tablet. They make good eReaders and they do a lot of other fun stuff too.

Zealous readers or people who like taking books to the beach should consider a dedicated reading device like the Kindle. Not only will it be easier to read outdoors, but it will only cost $69 to replace when you accidentally drop it in a tide pool.

Speaking of which, whatever device you decide to buy, do yourself a favor and get a case!

Q: I recently started experiencing random pop-up ads on my computer even when I was on websites that don’t have popups. Downloading a malware removal program didn’t fix the problem. Eventually I had to roll back to a clean install of Windows. How did my computer get infected, and how can I avoid this in the future?

You may see warnings like this if you attempt to visit a malicious website.
Image Credit: Google

A: Getting infected with malware and pop-ups is no fun. Even though there are lots of software programs out there to clean this junk off your hard drive, these kinds of malware programs are designed to be a pain to remove.

The key is to avoid getting infected in the first place. People know that it’s not a good idea to walk down a dark street in the middle of the night, and the Internet is pretty similar. It has some bad neighborhoods, and you just need to know to avoid them.

First off, you want to be careful with what you search for. Unscrupulous spammers and hackers tend to stake out popular Google searches, and they especially love celebrities. In fact, anti-virus company McAfee published a list of 2013’s most dangerous celebrities to search for. The #1 most dangerous person to search for is Lily Collins – one in seven of the results will land you on a malicious web site! Others dangerous celeb searches include Katy Perry, Sandra Bullock, and Britney Spears.

Celebrity searches aren?t the only searches that can get you in trouble, though. There are plenty of seemingly safe, regular search terms that can yield dangerous results, including:

• “lyrics”
• “free music”
• “game cheats”
• “free ringtones”
• “solitaire”
• “make money”
• “work from home”
• “free downloads”

Now, a few different things can happen when you visit an unsafe website. The most common is that you’ll be hit with a pop-up asking you to download some “helpful” program. Never agree to this! Running strange programs from unknown sources is extremely dangerous. If a website asks you to download something and you weren’t expecting to download it, say no.

In some cases it’s possible for a website to load a malicious program onto your computer secretly. Avoid this by upgrading to the latest version of your web browser. Still running Internet Explorer 7? Go download version 10 immediately. Having the latest and greatest makes sure you’ve also got the most recent security updates.

You also need to be smart about email. It’s a bad idea to open a program or file that’s been emailed to you if you weren’t expecting it, even if it’s from someone you know. That person could be infected with a virus, many of which love to spread themselves through email attachments. If you’re not sure, email the person back and ask, “Did you mean to send this?”

Follow these steps and you’ll be pretty safe. But accidents do happen, so know that if you do get infected with malware, there’s help. Google keeps a list of safe, useful malware removal programs at google.com/goodtoknow. Just click on the “keep your device clean” link.

Q: I have finally joined the 21st century by getting an iPhone. I’ve always had a normal cell phone before, and it did what I wanted: it let me make phone calls and text my kids. I know how to do those things with my iPhone, but I’m embarrassed to admit that I don’t know what else I should be using it for. Do you have any suggestions?

Image Credit: Phil Campbell / Flickr

A: There’s no reason to be embarrassed! Getting your first smartphone can be an overwhelming experience. What can you do with it? What should you do with it? There’s so much to learn and so many options, but we?re here to help. We’ve made a short list of a few of the things we use our smartphones for other than calling and texting.

Use number one has to be navigation. Your iPhone and any other smartphone worth its salt has built-in GPS. We personally like to use the Google Maps app for our navigation needs, but Apple Maps has come a long way as well.

If you want to use your phone for this, be sure to get a cradle so that you can mount it to the dashboard or windshield of your car. You don’t want to be fumbling with your phone with one hand while trying to drive with the other. In fact, in some states it’s illegal to do so. A cradle will keep the phone safely at eye level while you use it to navigate.

Next on our list are the voice-activated features of your phone. The iPhone’s Siri is the most famous, but there’s also Google Voice Search. Voice Search has a little less personality than Siri, but is faster. Either way, you can ask your phone what the weather is going to be like, when a store closes, definitions of words, how long a movie will be, what your favorite team scored in the last game, and much more. This is really useful when you just want a quick answer to something, or, going back to our driving scenario, when it’s not safe to use your hands to operate your phone.

Another great use for your smartphone is task management. Hopefully you don?t have terrible memories like us, Kelly, but fortunately if you do your phone is there to rescue you. You can use your phone to make notes to yourself, set appointments on your calendars, remind yourself to do things and handle your shopping list.

This is an area where your phone’s voice-activated features integrate beautifully. Try telling Siri or Google Voice Search to remind you to get the laundry out a 3:00 PM. It will!

Next up on our list is something that may seem pretty obvious, but is another terrific way to utilize your smartphone: using it as an alarm clock. There is a built-in alarm clock on your iPhone, and there are literally hundreds of alarm clock apps out there to cater to your waking-up needs. You can find alarm clocks that wake you up with music, or even make you do math problems to make sure you are awake. And if you don’t mind sleeping next to your phone in bed, there are even apps that will measure your sleep cycles and try to wake you when you will feel the most rested.

And all this stuff is really just the tip of the iceberg, Kelly. There are many more genuinely useful things you can do with a smartphone, including many great apps that do everything from help you find vegan restaurants to let you learn about our country’s national parks. Check out our list of recommend apps below:

GPS Navigation:

• Google Maps: iPhone – Android
• Waze: iPhone – Android

Take Notes:

• Evernote: iPhone – Android
• Simplenote: iPhone – Android

Make Lists:

• WanderList: iPhone – Android
• Any.Do: iPhone – Android
• Toodledo: iPhone – Android

Alarm Clocks:

• Sleep If U Can: iPhone – Android
• FreakyAlarm: iPhone
• Alarm Clock Xtreme Free: Android
• Wake N Shake: iPhone
• MotionX 24/7: iPhone
• SleepCycle: iPhone
• Alarm Clock Plus: Android

Find and Store Recipes:

• How To Cook Everything: iPhone
• Cook’s Illustrated: iPhone
• Epicurious Recipes And Shopping List: iPhone – Android
• AllTheCooks Recipes: iPhone – Android

Scan Barcodes for Comparison Shopping:

• ShopSavvy: iPhone – Android

Keep Membership Cards in Your Virtual Wallet:

• Google Wallet: iPhone – Android
• Square Wallet: iPhone – Android
• PayCloud: iPhone – Android
• Lemon Wallet: iPhone – Android
• LastPass Wallet: iPhone
• KeyRing: iPhone – Android

Find Restaurants and See Customer Reviews:

• Yelp: iPhone – Android
• UrbanSpoon: iPhone – Android
• Foursquare: iPhone – Android

Scan Business Cards:

• ABBYY Business Card Reader: iPhone – Android
• Yolu Card Reader: iPhone – Android
• Evernote Hello: iPhone – Android

Listen to the Radio:

• Deemable Tech App: iPhone – Android
• NPR News: iPhone – Android
• Public Radio Player: iPhone – Android
• PRX Remix: iPhone – Android
• Stitcher Radio: iPhone – Android
• TuneIn Radio: iPhone – Android

Monitor Your Heart Rate:

• Instant Heart Rate: iPhone – Android
• MotionX 24/7: iPhone

Get Important Weather Updates:

• Weather Channel: iPhone – Android
• WeatherBug: iPhone – Android

Q: The other day I received a direct message on Twitter from a colleague of mine that said, ‘Is this what you were talking about?’ and a link to a web page. Like a dummy, I clicked the link. It took me to some random web page that didn’t have anything to do with me. I messaged him back, and he had no idea what I was talking about. Then, I started getting messages from other friends on Twitter asking what I was talking about. Somebody hacked our Twitter accounts! What can we do to fix it?

A: Ouch! You’re not alone though. In fact, Amanda Bynes, Britney Spears, Justin Beiber, Kim Kardashian, Miley Cyrus, Donald Trump, Burger King, Jeep, NBC News, the Associated Press, the New York Times, and even President Obama have all had their Twitter accounts hacked. Anthony Weiner, MTV, BET and Chipotle all lied about their Twitter accounts being hacked, each for their own reasons, but let’s not get into all that.

So, how do you fix it? There’s a lot to do, but we’ll help you get your Twitter account straightened out and secure.

The first things you need to do are log into your Twitter account and change your Twitter password. In case you may have downloaded a virus, you may want to do that from a different computer than the one you normally use. Make sure to pick a strong password, and make sure you change your password in your password management system (like Lastpass, Dashlane or 1Password) too. Also, in case you did download a virus, make sure to update your virus software and run a full scan.

If you can’t log into your Twitter account because the hacker changed the password, submit a password reset request. You should receive an email with a link to change your password. If you don’t, it’s because the hacker also changed the email address associated with your Twitter account. Now you’ll have to contact Twitter with a support ticket to get access to your account.

Once you’ve gotten into your account and changed your password, you want to revoke the access of any and all third party applications that have permissions on your Twitter account. Go to Settings and click Apps. You should find a list of all of the applications that you and the hackers have given access to your account. You could just revoke the permission of the applications that you don’t recognize, but the smartest thing to do is revoke all of them and then add them back one by one.

Now that you’re finished revoking your apps’ access to your Twitter account, start adding them back. You’ll need to go into each app and sign into Twitter again. Make sure that you change your password on any apps that have it saved. You will get locked out of Twitter for too many failed attempts to login if you don’t.

Finally, be a friend, and make sure to delete the direct messages that your account sent out while it was compromised. Also, make sure to send another direct message letting the person know that if they clicked the link they’ll need to get their account straightened out too. You might want to post something publicly on your Twitter feed as well.

Q: My son recently gave his mother an iPad as a birthday gift. He bought it earlier this year, but he decided he wanted an iPad mini instead. What’s the best way to delete all of his data and accounts on the iPad, and get him moved over to the iPad Mini without losing all of his emails, contacts, music and apps?

Image Credit: Ben Miller / Flickr

A: It is really important to clear your iPad out before you give it to someone else. You don’t want to hand out your personal information when you sell or give someone your iPad or iPhone. But, it’s also good to do, even if the only reason is so that the other person has more room for their own stuff. So, here’s what you do on your iPad to clear it out.

First, you want to back it up and sync it with his computer before you do anything to it. Backing it up saves his settings, Messages, photos in his Camera Roll, documents, saved games, and other data. Syncing his iPad saves all of his downloadable purchased content such as movies, music, podcasts, and apps.

In general, you should sync and back up any iOS device, like an iPad, iPhone or iPod touch once a day, but if you only back it up once every couple of weeks, or even once a month, it’s OK. I won’t tell on you. Just keep in mind, you could lose anything that’s on your iPad at any time since the last time you backed up and synced your iPad. So, the more often you back it up and sync it, the better.

Just plug his iPad into his computer, and you’ll be able to back it up and sync it in iTunes. Once you’re done with that you can take his iPad Mini and plug it into his computer, and restore it using the backup you just made of his old iPad. Just plug it in, and tap Restore iPad. If it asks you which backup to use, make sure to choose the most recent backup. Once iTunes is done restoring and syncing his content, he should have everything back and it should look just like his old iPad. Of course, it will look a little smaller since it is an iPad mini.

Now, the next step is to wipe the old iPad. Now, don’t take this step lightly. Once you’ve done it it cannot be undone. His iPad will be completely wiped clean, and it will look brand new like the day he bought it. Well, except for those scratches and the ding on the corner.

To wipe his iPad, open the Settings app and tap General, then tap Reset, then tap Erase All Content and Settings. The iPad will give you one warning to try to pull you to your senses. If you’re sure you want to do it, pull the trigger and tap Erase iPad. It will take a few minutes to do it’s magic, but once it’s done, it will reboot, and you’ll be greeted with the setup greeting screen, just like he was when he first got the iPad.

Sounds easy, right?

Well, it is easy, if it works. I’ll be honest, this is the one area where Apple to this day has still dropped the ball when it comes to the iPhone and iPad. If it works, it’s seamless and polished. But, a lot of times, it just doesn’t work, and it is very complicated to make sure you have all of your files from your old iOS device on your new iOS device. So, if you try it and it doesn’t work, you may want to contact a professional before you wipe the old iPad.

If you were wondering, yes, this is exactly how it works to move from an old iPhone to a new iPhone as well.

Q: A classmate came over to my house recently to work on a project with me. She brought her laptop. When it came time to print, we had to print from her laptop, which meant I had to find the printer disk, hook her laptop up to the printer, and install it, just to print one thing. Is there a better way to do this?

A: Thank you for your question, Parker! This is a problem we probably have all faced at one time or another. The good news is that there is actually a pretty easy way to remedy this situation, and it involves one of our favorite things: The Cloud! Specifically, Google’s Cloud Print service.

Image Credit: Google

The idea behind Google Cloud Print is that you can print from any computer to any printer without having to connect the two physically or install a bunch of drivers. As long as both the computer and the printer have an Internet connection, you can print. For example, if your work printer was connected to Cloud Print, you could print to it from home. If your home printer was connected to Cloud Print, you could print to it from work. And if your friend is at your house and needs to print, you can just share your Cloud Print connected printer with them , no printer connection required.

Another cool thing about Google Cloud Print is that you control who gets to see your printer. You specify the email addresses of people you want to share your printer with, and only they are allowed to print to it. You can also revoke access to your shared printer at any time.

Now, how do you start using Cloud Print? Well, you may have noticed that many new printers are labeled as being “Google Cloud Print Ready”. That means that once you have them turned on and connected to a network, you can share them through Google Cloud Print quickly and easily. If you don’t have a “Google Cloud Print Ready” printer, don’t worry! You can still use what Google calls “classic printers” with Cloud Print, with the only extra requirement being that the printer must be hooked up to a computer with Google Chrome installed on it.

Open up the settings in Google Chrome on that computer, search for “cloud printer”, and you’ll see options to add your printer to Cloud Print. Once your printer is connected, it’s simple to print from Google Docs, your Chrome browser, or from a Google app.

Yes, you read that correctly: you can print from Google apps. Most Google apps on iOS and Android let you use Cloud Print by default. For example, you could open the Gmail app, tap print and print away! For other apps on iOS, you can download the PrintCentral Pro app to connect your device to Google Cloud Print (this app costs $4.99 for iPhone, and $7.99 for iPad). Many apps on Android have this function built in.

So, Parker, try out Google Cloud Print, and see how it works for you. That way if you’re ever in that predicament again, you can simply share your printer without all of the extra work.

Q: Is there any way to completely block pop-up ads while running Chrome or Internet Explorer? I have turned on the built-in pop-up blocker on both, but that doesn’t stop them on many of the sites I visit. What is up with that? I have to wonder what the point of blocking pop-ups is when so many get through anyway, slowing down the page loading to the point that it reminds me of being on dial-up.

A: To be honest, Bill, it’s been so long since we have dealt with a pop-up that we had forgotten Chrome and Internet Explorer even had settings to block them. To turn on the pop-up blocker in Chrome, click the button at the top right of the screen that has three horizontal lines. Then click on “Settings,” and search for “pop-ups” in the search box. In Internet Explorer, click on “Tools” and then go to “Internet Options.” There you can find the setting under the “Privacy” tab. Recent versions of Firefox have this option too, and you can find it under the Firefox settings.

Ah, the good ole days! Fortunately pop-up ads are much fewer and farther between now, but how do you make them go away completely?
Image credit: Minesweeper / Wikipedia

But as you say, Bill, these settings don’t always work. Why is that? Well, you have to understand that pop-up blocking is like an arms race. Every time there’s some new advance in pop-up blocker technology, the people making the pop-up ads just get smarter.

To make things even more complicated, browser-makers can’t simply ban all pop-ups. There are lots of legitimate uses for pop-ups – in fact, half of the websites on the Internet would stop working without them.

Now, the other way to deal with pop-up ads is with what Firefox calls “extensions”. Extensions are small programs you can download which add features to your browser, including more effective pop-up blocking. Extensions also work for Chrome and Internet Explorer, where they’re known as “plug-ins” and “add-ons”, respectively.

One of the most popular ones is Ad Block Plus, which is available for both Firefox and Chrome. It’s an industrial strength pop-up killer, and we’ve found it effectively blocks most pop-ups. Another good plug-in we’ve found for Chrome is called Better Pop-Up Blocker. You can find either one of these by just searching for it in Google. Try keywords like “Chrome pop-up blocker”, and you should get some very helpful results.

Your options are more limited on Internet Explorer, but there is an add-on called Smart Pop-up Blocker that will block most pop-ups. It’s not 100%, but it’s the best that we could find.

Regardless of what your favorite browser is, if you’re getting fed-up with annoying ads on the websites you frequent, there are tools out there that can make your web-browsing experience a little smoother.

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, it’s time for a friendly little PSA about pop-up blocking. Many of your favorite free websites are ad-supported, so when you visit one of those sites and you’ve got a pop-up blocker running, you may avoid seeing that annoying pop-up ad but you’ve also cost that site some ad revenue. So be sure to deploy your pop-up blocker judiciously.

This is such a big issue that the ever-popular Ad Block Plus actually has a setting called “allow non-intrusive advertising” which is on by default. As the name suggest, this allows many of the less annoying ads through. But keep in mind that the ones that it does block – the really annoying ones – may be real money makers for small, independent websites. Ad Block Plus gives you the option to allow pop-ups for certain websites to remedy this. Other pop-up blockers should, at minimum, allow you to turn them on and off.

Please pop-up block responsibly! Ads may be annoying, but they help keep the web free.

Image Credit: Niki Odolphie / Flickr

Q: I keep deleting apps off of my iPod Touch, but they keep reinstalling whenever the apps are updated. Why is it doing this? It’s driving me crazy. I want to be able to delete apps and for them to stay deleted. I am running iOS 6.1.3. My iPod syncs with iTunes on my laptop over Wi-Fi.

A: Great question, Lynda, and thanks for giving us specific details. It really helped us figure out what was going on here. We did a little research, and we found out what is most likely causing your headache.

Here’s what we think is happening. First, you installed an app on your iPod. Then, you decided you didn’t want the app anymore, and you deleted it before you synced your iPod with your laptop again. Now, the next time you synced your iPod with your laptop, iTunes saw that you didn’t have that new app on your iPod. So, in trying to be helpful, it reinstalled it on your iPod for you.

Now, what’s causing that to happen? Well, it sounds like you have iTunes on your laptop set to automatically download any new apps that you buy on your iPod. This is designed to make syncing your iPod Touch faster, but it can cause a problem like this to happen as well.

Lynda, it sounds like you’re going to have to decide which is more important to you: faster syncing with iTunes, or occasionally having an app come back from the grave. If it were us, we would prefer that our apps stay deleted when we deleted them. The only time where faster syncing would probably be important is if you were syncing your iPod Touch with a cable. Since you’re syncing over Wi-Fi, it’s doing it when you aren’t using the iPod Touch and it’s plugged in.

To fix this, all you have to do is open iTunes on your laptop, open the preferences menu, and click the “Store” tab. Then just unclick the check mark next to “Apps” under the heading “Automatic Downloads”.

If you weren’t aware of it, from this menu you can control automatic downloads of apps, music and books. So, if you want the music and books that you purchase on your iPod Touch to be automatically downloaded to your laptop, make sure to mark those checkboxes.

On your iPod Touch there’s a similar menu under “Settings”, then “iTunes and App Stores”. Play with the settings until you find an automatic download that works best for you. Hopefully that will take care of your zombie apps.

Q: I have a laptop that is about 10 years old, and it is completely beyond repair. What can I do with it? Is it OK to just throw it in the trash?

Image Credit: David Morris / Flickr

A: NO! Stop! If you’ve already put it out for the trash, stop reading this right now, and go bring it back inside! Never, ever, throw computers, or almost any electronics, in the trash.

First of all, you need to protect yourself and clear any personal data off of that thing before you release it into the wild. I’m not talking about a simple, quick re-formatting. I mean such a thorough scrubbing of your data that it would take the entire cast of CSI to recreate it. When you delete something from your hard drive, it isn’t really erased. The computer just pretends it’s not there.

To really delete a file from your computer’s hard drive, you have to write something over that file. There are a few programs that will securely delete your files for you. If it’s a Windows PC you’re getting rid of, use a program like Eraser or the Drive Wiper in CCleaner to completely eradicate your data. If you’re tossing out a Mac, there’s a program called Permanent Eraser.

Once you’ve taken care of protecting yourself, you need to protect the environment. Computers are loaded with toxic metals and materials that are dangerous to the environment and need to be handled appropriately. Some cities and counties have curbside pickup of e-waste, but you should never just toss your computer in with the regular trash.

Check with your municipality’s website to find out where you can drop off your computer so that it is disposed of properly. Here in Jacksonville e-waste can be dropped off Tuesday through Saturday at the city’s Household Hazardous Waste Facility located at 2675 Commonwealth Ave.

Of course as they say, one man’s toxic trash is another man’s treasure. There are companies that will take computers and monitors apart and extract the metals out of them to sell as scrap. So before you just throw that old junker away, you might be able to get a few bucks out of it, even if it is beyond all hope of repair.

You do have to be careful though. There are several companies that will ship your computer and monitor overseas where they will be melted down to get the metals out. This is very dangerous and very unsafe for the workers. Make sure that the company you are dealing with is handling your e-waste responsibly.

Q: You mentioned a few weeks ago that people could back up their information to “the Cloud.” I hear that term thrown around a lot, but what does it actually mean? What is “the Cloud”?

What Is The Cloud?

A: That’s actually a great question, Alex. The funny thing is, most of us have actually been using “the Cloud” for years now. Anyone who has ever used an email service like Yahoo, Hotmail, or Gmail has already used the Cloud. For a normal, non-technical user, “the Cloud” is just storing your data on the Internet instead of just on your home computer.

However, the actual technical definition of a cloud is a little more complicated than that. You see, the danger with storing documents, media or files on any single computer is that no matter how powerful they are, computers can (and do) break. But imagine if you could store your file on three different computers. Then if one or even two broke, you’ve still got your document. The only problem is, every time you updated your document, you would have to update it on all three computers. That’s a pain.

But now imagine that you could treat those three physical computers as one virtual computer that your file is stored on. The actual, physical computers would essentially become invisible. Take this setup and multiply it by hundreds of computers, and that’s basically what a cloud is.

Now, you may have noticed that we said “a cloud.” The reason is that there are actually multiple clouds. In fact, tons of different companies offer their own clouds. They may work differently from each other, but they are all similar in that they allow you to store your files on the Internet instead of your computer, and they allow you to access those files from anywhere.

So how does this affect you? For most of us, cloud services are a really great way to back up documents, pictures, music or whatever to the Internet. And once it’s out on the Internet, you can access it from other computers or devices you own. For example, we use Google Music to back up the MP3s on our computers. All we had to do is download the Google Music program, and it automatically started uploading everything we had in iTunes to the Google Music cloud. When we add a new song or playlist to iTunes on our computers, those get uploaded too, and we can then listen to them on our phones straight from the Internet.

Clouds aren’t just good for music, though. Google and Microsoft both offer ways to do word processing in the Cloud, from anywhere, without even having to install a program. Google has a web application called Google Drive (we use it for Deemable Tech and love it), and Microsoft has introduced Office 365 which you can access through your web browser as well.

For Apple users, there is iCloud, which automatically synchronizes your files across all of your Apple devices.

If you’re looking to backup and share your files, Alex, you should consider using Dropbox. We’ve mentioned it before, but Dropbox is a service that allows you to select a folder on your computer, and anything you put in that folder will be automatically uploaded to the Dropbox cloud. If you install Dropbox on another computer, it will automatically mirror the folders between the two computers. There are a lot of other excellent cloud services as well (like EverNote, SpringPad and SugarShare), and there are more out there every day.

In a nutshell, why should you care about “the Cloud”? Because the Cloud allows robust backups of any data that’s important to you, and it makes that data accessible not just on one computer, but on any computer or device that you authorize. You know, pretty much just like email.