Do you have children? Would you like to configure your home network to easily block adult content? Here’s an easy and affordable way to setup adult content filtering for all Macs, PCs, iPhones and iPads on your network. Sign-up for OpenDNS’ free FamilyShield service.

In recent years, when I’ve been asked to setup adult content filtering, I’ve recommended applications like Intego’s ContentBarrier which now appears to be part of Intego’s Family Protector product. This application gets installed on each computer on which protection is needed. This solution is no longer affective if you have iPhones, iPads or iPod Touches on your home network since ContentBarrier or comparable applications do not exist for the iPhones and other iOS devices. This is where FamilyShield comes in handy.

FamilyShield works by modifying the configuration of your wireless router. All network traffic in and out of your home network travels through your wireless router. Thus, by reconfiguring your wireless router, you affect all devices on your network, including computers, mobile devices and gaming consoles like XBoxes.

I should mention the protection offered by FamilyShield can be pretty easily defeated by somebody who understands how networks work. So it’s not a perfect solution if you have a savvy teenager who wants to get around it. However, FamilyShield could be an appropriate solution for younger children. OpenDNS also offers a paid service named OpenDNS Home VIP which might be more difficult to defeat, but because OpenDNS’ site doesn’t do a good job of highlighting the additional features included with this paid service, the degree of increased protection is unclear. It’s also possible that over time FamilyShield might become more robust.

I’m also watching a couple of other products that provide content filtering for your entire network. They included two wireless routers, the iBoss Home Parental Control Router/Firewall and Pandora’s Hope. iBoss has a range of other network products for home and business users so they appear to be a well-established company, but reviews of the iBoss are mixed, like this one and this other one. I couldn’t learn much about the Pandora’s Hope router or the company that makes it. This PR article indicates that the company started selling products in 2009 and that the current model was released in 2011. I couldn’t find any reviews by computer industry reviewers. The iBoss and Pandora’s Hope cost $40 and $160 respectively and then have recurring annual costs of $60 and $20 respectively. I’m not convinced that this money is well spent in comparison to the free FamilyShield service.

None of the solutions that I could find are perfect, but, for the time being, if you want to prevent children using computers, mobile devices and gaming consoles in your home from accidentally or intentionally finding adult content, I would check out OpenDNS’ free FamilyShield service. If I find a more robust solution, I’ll update this article.

It’s helpful to know how to truly quit an app on an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. Some times apps stop working properly. When this occurs you can force the app to quit or close. In iOS version 4 and higher, here’s how to force an app to quit:

• Rapidly press the Home button twice in a row. The Home button is the round button on the lower part of the face of the iPhone.
• The multitasking bar appears at the bottom of the screen and shows you the most recently used apps. Tap and hold one of these app icons. (Note when the multtasking bar appears you can swipe from right to left to see more apps.)
• When the app icons start to jiggle tap the red and white icon that appears in the upper left corner of the app icon to force that app to close.
• Press the Home button again. Tap on the misbehaving app’s icon to open it and see if it now works properly.
• If your app continues to misbehave then I recommend restarting your device.

Apple has an article which describes this same process and will be updated more often than this web page if the process changes over time.

On a related note, a widely-held misconception is that the applications listed in the multitasking bar are using some of your device’s memory and processor, thus slowing it down. This isn’t exactly correct. Read this excellent article to learn more about iOS multitasking features and how non-active apps are handled.

Do you know how to turn off your iPhone or iPad? People often think they are turning off the iPhone when, in fact, they are only putting it to sleep. The same button is used for both functions. The On/Off/Sleep button is circled in red in the image below.

It’s important to know how to turn off your iPhone since it’s a fundamental troubleshooting technique. If your iPhone is acting oddly, one of the first suggestions I have is to turn it off then back on and see if now behaves correctly. Here’s how to use the On/Off/Sleep button:

1. Press and release the button to turn off the iPhone’s screen and put the iPhone to sleep. (To wake up the iPhone press the Home button which is the round button on the lower part of the face of the iPhone.)

2. To fully turn off the iPhone, press and hold the button until the screen displays the “Slide to Power Off” message, then slide your finder across the area displaying those words. If you’ve swiped properly then the message will disappear and you’ll see a small white spinning icon in the middle of the screen. Wait about 20 seconds for the screen to go fully black and the iPhone or iPad to turn off.

To turn on the device again, press and hold the button for a second or two and then release. If you’ve turned on the device, a white Apple logo will appear in the middle of the screen.

Have you noticed how dirty the screen of your iPhone or iPad gets? Finger smudges and other stuff accumulates quickly. Even though we don’t touch our Macintosh laptop screens as much as an iPhone, the screen still gets dirty. I recommend using a microfiber cleaning cloth for quick cleanings. Additionally, use a cleaning spray like OmniCleanz or iKlear for more thorough cleanings.

iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch screens have an oleophobic (oil-resistant) coating on them. This is supposed to make it easy to wipe off smudges. Thus a quick rub with a microfiber cloth can make the screen look pretty good. I clean my iPhone and iPad screens this way a couple of times each week. For a more thorough cleaning I use cleaning spray on a microfiber cloth. Apple Stores currently sell a Bausch + Lomb Cleaning Kit. iKlear is one of the most widely sold cleaning sprays. I tend to use OmniCleanz.

Product descriptions for these cleaners tend to tell you more about what the product doesn’t contain rather than what it does. None of the products list their ingredients, so I can’t compare them. Product descriptions tend to indicate that they are alcohol-free, ammonia-free and detergent-free. Based on this dearth of information, I tend to buy OmniCleanz because it’s the least expensive and works well for me. If you’d like to clean the screen on your Mac laptop, iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, try one of these products. Also, please follow the cleaning guidelines Apple provides. Their most important guidelines are to turn off your device and unplug all peripherals. Then avoid getting any moisture into any openings and don’t use detergents, alcohol or harsh cleaners.

Do you find the iPhone’s keyboard too small for typing? Do you want to record a conversation, interview or reminders for yourself? If so, use the iPhone’s Voice Memo app. It’s a great way to make recordings that can be transferred to your Mac or sent as email attachments.

The Voice Memo app is available to almost all iPhone owners. Apple added the Voice Memo app to the second version of the iPhone which they introduced in 2008, the iPhone 3G. The Voice Memo app is not as capable as Siri, the intelligent personal assistant who can find you information and lets you control your iPhone with voice commands, but Siri requires an iPhone 4S or newer.

Here are a few ways I use the Voice Memo app. Hopefully, you’ll be able to adapt these uses to your own situation and needs.

1. When I leave a client appointment, I’ll record the date, duration and description of the work I did for them while the information is fresh in my mind. I can later transcribe this recording to enter the information into my billing system or send the memo as an email attachment to another person who can do the transcription instead.

2. When I meet with a client, I might record all or part of our conversation as we discuss a project and put together a game plan. This is especially useful if we’re walking around an office when writing notes is not easily done.

3. I’ll record short reminders about what I need to do, then email the recording to myself. This can be much faster than trying to type out this information. Of course, a recording could be emailed to anybody. I could record an email reply to a client and then send it to them.

Here are some quick instructions on how to use Voice Memos:

• Click on the Voice Memo icon to open it.

• Click the red dot in the lower left corner to start a recording. While recording, the iPhone displays the word “Recording,” followed by a timer, at the top of the screen.

• You can press the same button in the lower left corner to pause the recording. The status message then reads “Recording Paused” followed by the timer, as depicted in the photo to the right.

• To stop the recording press the round button in the lower right corner of the screen. The iPhone will then immediately take you to a screen which lists all of your recordings. Your newest recording will appear at the top of the list and the iPhone will start to play it back to you.

• To share the recording with others, press the Share button in the lower-left corner. Then choose Email or Message to send it as an attachment to either an email message or SMS text message.

When you sync your iPhone to your Mac, your voice recordings will be transferred to your Mac. They’ll appear in an iTunes Playlist named Voice Memos.

I hope this article has helped you to think of some ways you could benefit from using the Voice Memo app. Next week’s article will be the next installment in our series about setting email and web hosting for small businesses.

Would you like your iPhone to give you audible driving directions? If so, you should check out MapQuest. It is a free, turn-by-turn GPS navigation app for the iPhone and iPad. MacWorld wrote an extensive review of GPS apps in 2011. After reading the article, I purchased Navigon for $40. (It price has now risen to $60.) I used Navigon for a few months and liked it, but found the interface cumbersome. After a client praised it for its easy-to-use design, I tried MapQuest. It had also been highly rated in MacWorld’s review of GPS apps. While MapQuest doesn’t have all of the features offered by Navigon, I prefer it for its relative ease of use.

Do you have a lot of apps on your iPhone? Do you find it difficult to locate the one you need? By grouping related apps into folders you can find your apps more easily. By setting up folders you can reduce the number of screens that you have to flip through to locate your apps. For example, the iPhone can typically display 36 apps on two screens. I have 90 apps on my iPhone, and they fill less than 2 screens.

You might want to create a folder to store apps that you rarely use. Apple doesn’t allow you to remove the core apps they install on the phone. It’s likely that you don’t use all of these apps, so you could create a folder to store these apps together.

Here are instructions on how to create folders on your iPhone or iPad:

Tap and hold the icon of any one app on your device. After a couple of seconds all of the icons on your iPhone or iPad will start to jiggle side-to-side.

Tap and drag the icon of one app on top of the icon of a second, related app, then release the first app’s icon. (You need to have just the right touch. Otherwise, your iPhone or iPad will think that you’re just re-arranging your apps and it’ll just move the second app to the left or right.)

This first app’s icon will fall onto the second app’s icon and a folder will automatically be created. In the image below you can see that I’ve dragged the KOMO News app onto the SeattleCrime app. My iPhone automatically created a folder and proposed a folder name of News. I can either accept this name or tap on the name to edit it.

That’s it! You’ve created a folder. Press the Home button on the lower section of the iPhone’s face to stop the icon jiggling and indicate that you’re done organizing apps into folders.

You’ll now see the folder icon, which is a square with teeny-tiny icons of the apps that it contains inside the square. The image to the right shows the many folders that I’ve created on my iPhone.

It’s useful to know that a folder can hold a maximum of 12 apps. A folder can not be put inside of another folder.

Chances are good that you’ll want to add many apps to a given folder or create many folders all at once. If this is the case, after you’ve dragged one app icon onto another to create the folder, you can simply tap anywhere outside the folder to return to viewing all of your apps. At this point, you can then drag additional apps into the folder you created. You could also drag another app on top of yet another app to create a second folder. You get the idea.

At some point, you’ll want to remove an app from a folder. Guess how you do it? You tap on the folder’s icon, it opens, then tap and hold on any of the app icons to get them to jiggle. Then, simply drag the app’s icon out of the folder. You’ll see an animation of the app icon jumping out of the folder and back onto the iPhone’s main screen. When you remove the last app from a folder, the folder automatically deletes itself.

I’m surprised how often I’m asked how to remove an app from an iPhone or iPad. Consequently, I decided to write this short tech tip since there are, no doubt, many other people out there wondering the same thing.

There are numerous ways to remove an app, but here’s one simple method:

Tap and hold on the icon of the app that you want to remove. After a couple of seconds all the icons on your iPhone or iPad will start to jiggle side-to-side.

Tap the X that appears in the upper-left corner of the app. The X is a delete button. It will remove the app from your iPhone or iPad.

For example, let’s imagine that I want to remove the app named Navigon from my iPhone. I would press my finger on the Navigon app (see picture below) icon and hold it there. After a second or so, all icons on my iPhone start to jiggle. I can then tap the X button to remove Navigon.

Note: This technique only works for third-party apps that you’ve added to your iPhone or iPad. Apple doesn’t let you remove the core set of apps that come with the iPhone or iPad. If there are some Apple-provided apps which you don’t use often, the best you can do is to put these apps into a folder. What? You don’t know how to create a folder for your apps? I guess that’ll be next week’s Tech Tip.

Update: A reader asked how to remove an iPhone or iPad app when it’s listed in iTunes on your Mac. Here are two methods. The first method is remove the app from your iPhone or iPad as described above. Then, sync your iPhone or iPad to your Mac by connecting the USB sync cable to connect the two devices. As long as app synching is enabled the app will be removed from your Mac since you deleted it from the iPhone or iPad.

If this first method doesn’t work, here’s another option. Open iTunes, on the left-hand list click on Apps. Select the app you want to delete by clicking on it. Go to the Edit menu and select Delete. Click the “Move to Trash” button to fully remove the app from your Mac.

Update: December 2012. JCD Repair has opened a Bellevue store which is located near the intersection of I-405 and I-90.

Does your iPhone have a cracked screen, a broken camera or need to have its battery replaced? If so, you might want to consider JCD Repair. JCD Repair offers affordable, quality repairs for iPhones, iPad and iPod Touches as well as some Verizon Droid phones.

If your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch is under warranty, you should obviously take it to an Apple Store. However, if your device is out of warranty or the damage wouldn’t be covered by warranty, then you should consider JCD Repair. In recent months, I’ve had a couple of clients get their iPhone 4s repaired by JCD Repair and they were very pleased with the service and results.

JCD Repair  has 3 stores in Seattle, WA; Chicago, IL and Madison, WI. The Seattle store is in the Wallingford neighborhood. If you don’t live in Seattle or these other two cities, JCD Repair also offers mail-in repair service. Most in-person repairs can be done in about 45 minutes. Schedule an appointment via their web site or by phone. They prefer that you schedule an appointment but apparently walk-in visits are allowed. Their web site lists all of the repair services that they offer as well as the cost including parts and labor. They are open 7 days a week. Their repairs are covered by a 90 day warranty.

Check out JCD Repair and post your comments about your experience.

Would you like to be able to have your iPhone automatically dial an extension? The iPhone originally wasn’t able to do this, but Apple added the feature a few years ago. Here are some helpful instructions on how to use it. You can enter a person’s extension number whether you’re adding this person directly on your iPhone or adding them in Address Book on your Mac. It’s also possible to have your iPhone store the person’s extension number and then give you a way to  quickly dial it by pushing one button. I typically use this method since it lets me control exactly when the extension is dialed. This can be helpful when dealing with complex voicemail menu systems.

How to enter a person’s extension number when you add a person directly on your iPhone.

When you’re adding a person’s phone number on your iPhone, you’ll be typing their phone number using the keypad. When you’re ready to add an extension click the key labeled *+# (asterisk, plus sign, pound symbol). This key is located below the number 7 as depicted in the photo below.

After pressing this key, you’ll see some new keys available to you. This includes keys labeled Pause and Wait. (See photo below.) If you click the Pause button this will insert a comma into the phone number. This comma translates into a 1 second pause. (Note: It may be necessary to enter a handful of pauses to make sure that your iPhone waits long enough for the phone call to be answered and for the callee’s phone system to be ready to receive the extension.)

Next, press the key labeled 123 to return to the main keypad. From there you can type the person’s extension. Finally, click the Done button.

When you call this person’s number, your iPhone will automatically dial their number, pause for the indicated number of seconds and then automatically enter the extension number.

Pause vs. Wait

While the above method works in many situations, it doesn’t work in all situations. Consequently, I often use the Wait key instead of the Pause key. When you press the Wait key you’ll see that a semi-colon is inserted into the phone number. Then, when you dial the person’s phone number, your iPhone will NOT automatically send the extension number. Instead, the iPhone will wait an indefinite amount of time after dialing the phone number. It then gives you a “Dial…” button that you press for the iPhone to send the extension number listed. This is illustrated in the photo below. This feature is helpful when dealing with complex voicemail menu systems or lengthy voicemail messages.

How to enter a person’s extension number when you add a person in Address Book on your Mac.

If you are adding a person’s phone number using your Mac’s keyboard and the Address Book application. You can easily enter Pauses or a Wait by simply typing commas or semi-colons in the number.

After owning an iPhone for several years, I was pleasantly surprised when I recently learned a new iPhone shortcut that I now use everyday. You can jump to the top of your Contacts list by simply touching the “top bar” which is where the time and battery level indicator are. See the picture on the right to understand this more easily. Simply touch where I put the red mark in the photo.

I use this feature to jump to the top of my Contacts list so I can easily get to the Search field. I have a lot of contacts ,so I find the fastest way to locate the individual record that I need is to use the Search function. I can now easily get to it by tapping the menu bar.

This feature is available on iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches. It works on any long list. If you have many email messages in your Inbox, for example, you could tap the menu bar to jump to the most recently received email message.

Here are some products which can make it easier to sync your iPhone or connect it to other accessories.

iStubz are short iPhone syncing cables - The white sync cable which Apple includes with all iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches is about 3.5 feet long. I find it too long and cumbersome at times. Instead of using this long cable, I now carry an iStubz cable which doesn’t get tangled. iStubz are available in two sizes 7cm and 22 cm which are about 3 inches and 9 inches, respectively.

Apple iPhone Dock –  I like to have my phone standing upright when my phone is sitting on my desk so I can easily see and read the screen. One way to keep the phone upright, while also charging and syncing the phone is to use an iPhone Dock. Apple sells the Universal Dock which works with all iPhones and iPods, but they also only sell the iPhone 3G/3GS dock and an iPhone 4/4S dock.

If you want to learn more about the features and capabilities of these Docks, please read this Universal Dock review and this iPhone 4 Dock review from iLounge.

dockStubz and dockXtender – If you keep your iPhone in a case, you may find that the case makes the phone too thick to fit into a Dock. Alternatively, the iPhone’s 30-pin Dock connector might be too recessed inside the case for some iPhone accessories, like a car charger, to be able to reach it. dockStubz is a short extender which would let you connect the car charger or other accessory. The dockXtender is a short cable which would let you connect your thick iPhone to connect to an Apple Dock or other accessories.

In previous tech tips, I’ve talked about ways to donate your computer and peripherals to groups that will reuse or recycle them. In some instances your used electronics may still have some value. Here’s an overview of options you have to resell your used electronics to a company, which, in turn, will refurbish and resell or recycle them.

Recently, there has been a proliferation of companies that will buy your used electronics, including Gazelle, FlipSwap and BuyMyTronics, to name a few. These companies tend to claim to offer the best price, but they can’t all be right. Enter uSell, which offers to find the best price by comparing quotes from numerous companies. uSell may not include quotes from every company, but they offer a guarantee if you find a lower price.

I recently sold some of my used electronics to Gazelle and FlipSwap. In each case, the process was quite easy. I typed the name of my product into a search field on the company’s web site. The search results let me pick my particular model. I then answered a few questions about the product’s condition and accessories. After that, I accepted the price that was offered. Finally, there was a short check out-like process. Gazelle offered to send me a box and return shipping label or I could ship it in my own box. FlipSwap provided me with a shipping label and instructed me how to securely wrap and ship my item. Once the company received my product, they assessed the item and sent my payment. In Gazelle’s case, I chose to receive an Amazon gift card instead of a check since Gazelle would add an additional 5%.

The New York Times’s Gadgetwise Blog has articles about uSell and Gazelle if you’d like to get their take on this subject.

There are a few ways to enlarge the text displayed on the iPhone. Each method is useful in different situations. You may already be aware of some of these options, but I’ll bet you don’t know all of them.

• When viewing web pages using Safari or email messages, you can spread your fingers to enlarge the text size. The “Pinch Apart” gesture entails placing two fingers on the iPhone screen and then sliding them apart from each other. To reduce the size of text, you pinch your two fingers back together. For more details on how to execute these gestures check out this helpful web page on gestures.

The next two options require an iPhone 3GS or newer.

• Turn on the Zoom function. You can enable this feature by opening the Settings app, selecting General, then Accessibility.  Finally, tap on Zoom and turn it on. Zoom magnifies the entire screen whenever you double-tap the screen with three fingers. Double-taping with three fingers a second time turns off the zoom function. You can move around the screen by pressing three fingers on the screen and dragging them around.

• Turn on the Large Text function. You can enable this feature by opening the Settings app, selecting General, then Accessibility.  Finally, tap on Large Text and select a text size. This feature makes text larger in the following applications:  Calendar, Contacts, Mail, Messages and Notes.

I should mention that the iPhone actually includes a great number of features that enhance usability and accessibility for people with limited vision, hearing or other impairments. Apple describes them all on their web site.

This week’s Tech Tip is written by our guest blogger, Elizabeth Bowman, President of Innovatively Organized.

Are tasks slipping through the cracks? Feeling overwhelmed by all the responsibilities on your plate?  There are lots of tools to help you manage your to-do list, but how do you know which tools are best?  You’re in luck!  At Innovatively Organized we have put together a list of 4 tools to help you manage your to-do list electronically.  Now, you will be able to access your tasks from home, the office, or on the go from an Internet browser or your mobile device!

Keep in mind, it’s not about having the perfect to-do list, it is about picking a tool that will work for you and using it consistently.

1. TeuxDeux

Compatible with:

• iPhone or iPad

• Internet

• Mac or PC

Highlights:

• Simple design

• Basic list tracker

• Cross out tasks when complete

• Moves un-finished items to the next day automatically

Toodle Do's Interface

2. Toodledo

Compatible with:

• iPhone, iPad, Palm, Blackberry, Droid

• Internet

• Ability to sync with Outlook & TaskAngel

• Has ability to print to-do list neatly

Highlights:

• Comprehensive and robust features

• Offers ability to delegate and email tasks directly

• Can filter and run reports on tasks

• Includes a timer to help you stay on task

3. TaskAngel

Compatible with:

• Native PC software download

• Ability to sync with Toodledo

Highlights:

• Matches Toodledo’s comprehensive task tracking details

• Runs fast on your PC helping you stay productive easily

• Can export your to-do list to Excel

4. 2Do

Compatible with:

• iPhone & iPad

• Ability to sync with Toodledo

Highlights:

• Option to color-code tasks by category

• Provides tabs in the interface on an iPhone and iPad

• Has lots of fields to enter your tasks easily from a mobile device

For more organizing and productivity tips, check out the Innovatively Organized blog!

There are a number of easy ways to convert an .mp3 song file to a ringtone for your iPhone. I typically use Garageband since the method is quick and easy. I realize that not everybody owns Garageband, so I’m pleased to share this other free method. Compared to using GarageBand there are more steps, but it’s not difficult to do.

Important: This process doesn’t work for copyright-protected songs (.mp4) purchased from the iTunes store.

• Open iTunes, go to the iTunes menu and select Preferences.
• Click on the General button, then click the Import Settings button.
• From the pick-list next to “Import Using” select AAC Encoder. Click the OK button. Click the OK button a second time to exit out of Preferences.
• Play the .mp3 song file you want to convert to identify the 20-30 section of the song you’d like to use for the ringtone. Specifically, you’ll need to write down the start and end time of your desired section. You can do this by watching the timer that iTunes displays near the top of its window.
• Click once on the mp3 song file. Go to the File menu and select Get Info.
• Click on the Options button so you can enter the Start and Stop times to set the 20-30 section that you want to become your ringtone.
• Go to the Advanced menu and select Create AAC version. [Update March 2013: In iTunes 11, instead of using the Advanced menu, right-click or  control-click the song and choose Create AAC Version from there.] This will cause a duplicate copy of the song file to be created. This duplicate copy will only be the length you selected when you set the Start and Stop times.
• Before you forget, return to the original mp3 song file and clear the Start and Stop times. You don’t need to re-enter the original times. I simply leave these fields blank and iTunes automatically knows to play the entire song.
• Click on the newly created AAC song file to select it.
• Go to the File menu and select Reveal in Finder. It may be listed as Show in Finder instead. This will open a Finder window showing you this AAC song file. Leave this window open. We’ll return to it in just a minute.
• Go to iTunes and make sure your AAC song file is selected.
• Go to the Edit menu and select Delete.
• You may be asked if you’re sure you want to remove this file from your iTunes Library. You’re sure, so click the Remove button.
• Next, you’ll be asked, “Do you want to move the selected song to the Trash or keep it in the iTunes Media folder?” Click the Keep File button.
• Return to the Finder window that you left open. You’ll see the AAC version of the song file. You can identify it since its filename ends with .m4a file.
• Change .m4a to .m4r
• Drag this .m4r file onto the iTunes on the Dock. This will import this .m4r file into iTunes and it’ll show up in the ringtones section.
• Sync your iPhone and make sure that you’ve selected to sync all Ringtones. This will add the ringtone to your iPhone. Then you can assign it to a particular person listed in Contacts.

Do you ever have the need for a transcription service? SpeakWrite is an affordable online transcription service which uses live typists to transcribe your work and send you the finished work within 3 hours. You can submit your work by dictating over the phone, sending a fax or mailing recorded tapes. They even have an iPhone app for submitting your work. The service is available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. The price for general transcription is 1.25 cents per word. Legal transcription and group conversations cost 2.0 cents per word. There are no additional costs. You can use the service frequently or infrequently.

I’ve had a few clients who have used this service, and they speak very highly about it. You can try it for free one time. Simply go to their website, call the phone number listed and follow the prompts. You can record a message up to 10 minutes in length. You’ll receive the completed transcription via email within 3 hours.

Do you listen to either music or audio books on your iPhone or iPad as you fall asleep? If so, you could set the iPhone or iPad’s timer to stop playing music, then let the device go to sleep on its own a minute or two later. Here are the instructions:

• Open the Clock app on your iPhone or iPad. (These instructions should work on an iPod Touch, but I don’t have one so I can’t test it.)
• Tap on the Timer button.
• Spin the hour and minute dials to the desired time, such as 30 minutes or 1 hour.
• Tap on the “When Timer Ends” button if you have an iPhone or the “Sounds” button if you have an iPad. Then scroll to the bottom of the list of options and select “Sleep iPod.” (Note: In newer versions of the iOS software, Apple renamed this option to “Stop Playing.”)
• Tap the Start button to begin the timer.
• Press the Home button to exit the Clock app.
• Open the iPod app and listen to your music or audiobook.When the timer ends, your device will stop playing your music or audiobook. Then, based on your device’s Auto-Lock settings, it will go to sleep a few minutes later. (Note: In newer versions of the iOS software, Apple renamed the iPod app to Music. Furthermore, in iOS 6 they added a separate app named Podcast. This Timer function works in both the Music and Podcast apps.)

Are you looking for an iPhone holder which will move with you between cars and work with various iPhone models? If so, you should take a look at Tetrax’s XWAY.

This holder clips to the louvers on one of your car’s vents by spinning the knob at the center of the XWAY. At the center of this x-shaped knob is a strong magnet with a concave center. The XWAY comes with several thin magnetic discs which each have a central bulge. After affixing one of these disks to the back of your iPhone or its case, you can easily connect it to the magnet at the center of the XWAY. The bulge on the back of your iPhone will fit snugly into the concave center of the magnet on the XWAY. When you want to detach your iPhone it’s best to slide the phone to the left or right. If you attempt to pull it straight off the XWAY, you run the risk of pulling the XWAY off the vent’s louvre.

I like this clip because you can unscrew it and easily move it from one car to another. Additionally, since it holds an iPhone in place via magnets, it can work with any model. In fact, it could be used to hold other small electronic devices like GPS units too.

In my car, I attached the XWAY to a vent that is near the middle of the steering wheel. This way, I can easily glance down to see the caller ID information displayed on the iPhone’s screen. Additionally, the vent is within reach of my car’s cigarette lighter and the Belkin iPhone charger which I keep plugged into the cigarette lighter. This way, I can recharge my iPhone as needed. The magnets on the iPhone are strong, so they hold the it firmly in place, which I appreciate. I don’t want a loose iPhone to sliding around on me.

Are you looking for an easy way to share files with your colleagues who use a mix of Macs and PCs? There are many online file sharing and storage systems, but I use and recommend Dropbox. I’ve tried a handful of systems including MobileMe’s iDisk, SugarSync, Windows LiveMesh, Box.net and GoogleDocs. While I use several of these services on an on-going basis, I think Dropbox is the most versatile and has the best mix of features that I use and care about.

Here’s a list of some of my needs:

• I want a fast, affordable, easy-to-use and secure system. I want to keep the files locally on my computer and have them get copied (synced) to my colleagues Mac or PC.
• I want to be able to share different folders with different people.
• I want to be able to access the shared folders and some of the files from my iPhone and iPad.

Dropbox meets all of these needs and has many other handy features. Here are some highlights:

• It provides status indicators when files are getting synced and optional on-screen notification messages when files have been added, deleted or edited.
• It saves older versions of files so you can retrieve a previous version.
• It lets you view your shared folders and files from their web site, so you can access any file from any computer which has an Internet connection.
• If two people simultaneously edit the same file, it’s smart enough to save both copies and point out this conflict.
• Files stored in Dropbox can be accessed on iPhones, iPads, Blackberries, Android-based phones and tablets.
• There is a special Public folder which can be used to share a file with the entire world, if you want. Any file in the public folder has a “public link” which can be put in an email or on a web site to provide an easy way for others to download this file. This is a handy way to share a file that is too large to send as an email attachment.

Dropbox is capable and versatile, but it’s not as robust as a full-fledged file server to which you might be accustomed. In particular it’s important to know that you can’t share a folder inside another shared folder. Instead you would need to create a separate shared folder outside of the shared folder. Anyone you’ve invited to a folder can then add, delete or change files within that folder. Anyone you’ve invited to a folder can then invite others to join the folder. As the owner of the folder you can see the list of people who have access and you can revoke somebody’s access privileges at any time.

You can try Dropbox for free. A free account includes 2 GB of storage space. If or when you outgrow that 2 GB of storage space you can buy more storage space. 50 GB of storage space costs $100 per year or 100 GB of storage space costs $200 per year. Give Dropbox a try. I think you’ll like it.

If you chose to sign-up for Dropbox, please consider using this link to do so since I’ll earn a referral bonus. Thanks.

Did you know that you can take pictures of what’s on your iPhone’s screen? For example, you can take pictures of a text message, a web page or an email configuration screen.

The procedure is simple. Press and hold the Home button while simultaneously pressing and releasing the Sleep/Wake button.

The Home button is located near the bottom of the front face of the iPhone. This is the button that you typically press to exit an application and return to your Home screen.

The Sleep/Wake button is the button on the top edge of the iPhone which you typically use to put the iPhone to sleep.

Be aware that if you were to press and hold both the Home and Sleep/Wake buttons continuously for 10 seconds, this will reset your iPhone. Resetting an iPhone isn’t necessary very often, but if your iPhone locks up and becomes completely unresponsive then resetting is often helpful. Resetting the iPhone essentially just forces the iPhone to turn itself off and then start up again. It does not remove any of the data or applications on the iPhone.

The ability to take a screen snapshot was added in version 2.0 of the iPhone software, released in mid-2008. If you happen to have an original iPhone and have never updated its software then you don’t have the ability to take a screen snapshot with your iPhone.

Did you know that you can remotely find and/or erase your iPhone? You can if you have a MobileMe subscription and have the Find My iPhone feature turned on.

[Update February 2013: Apple has now made Find My iPhone a part of the free iCloud service. The rest of this tip has been updated with the correct terminology and directions.]

First, let’s enable this feature on your iPhone. Turn on your iPhone and go to Settings. Go to the iCloud section, then turn on the Find My iPhone feature using the slider button.

Now, let’s test this feature. Go to http://www.icloud.com and login to your iCloud account. Click the green Find My iPhone button on the second row of icons. You’ll be asked to enter your iCloud password a second time. Apple is just being extra secure by asking for this information.

Wait a minute or so while your iPhone is located. I should mention that this service relies on the GPS chip in your iPhone so if the iPhone is off then this won’t work. A map showing the approximate location of your iPhone will appear. This can help you determine if your iPhone is around the house, at your office or if you forgot it at the restaurant last night.

Below the map you’ll see three buttons: Display a Message, Remote Lock and Remote Wipe.

Display a Message lets you display a short text message on the screen and play an optional alert sound. This sound will play even if the phone is in silent mode. This sound can help you find the phone if it is under a couch cushion. Or it could help a waiter find it if the phone is under a restaurant table.

The Remote Lock feature lets you enable the lock so nobody can view your data or run-up your phone bill. In my last blog article I recommended that you enable the lock feature on your phone  all the time.

The Remote Wipe feature allows you to remotely remove all data from the phone. As long as you have synced your iPhone recently, then go ahead and do this. If you locate your phone eventually then you can restore all of the data by syncing it to your Mac.

I recommend that every iPhone owner enable the password protection feature built into the iPhone. Then, if you ever lose your iPhone others won’t be able to view your iPhone’s contents or run up your bill by placing lots of calls.

Here’s how you can enable this feature:

• Turn on or wake up your iPhone.
• Tap on the Settings icon.
• Select the General category.
• Tap on Passcode Lock.
• You’ll be prompted to enter a 4 digit passcode (aka password). Then you’ll be asked to enter it again to make sure you didn’t make any typos.
• Finally, tap on Require Password and select how quickly your iPhone will require you to enter your passcode after being idle. I recommend “After 5 minutes.”

This should give you peace of mind in case you lose your iPhone around the house, around town or while traveling.

If you have a MobileMe subscription then you should also make sure that you have turned on your iPhone’s “Find My iPhone” feature. More on this in my next blog article.

It’s now possible to have your iPhone transcribe your speech. Last week, Dragon Dictate, a temporarily free application, was added to the iTunes App Store. This application records your voice, transcribes it, and lets you paste the text into a new email message, text message or any other iPhone application. I tested it last week. It’s not perfect but works surprisingly well. The transcription is accomplished by sending the audio recording to Dragon’s servers which quickly do their best to recognize what you spoke and convert it into text. This recognition process is not always 100% accurate, but one has the chance to edit and correct mistakes. Another problem that I encountered was the recording sometimes stopped abruptly and inexplicably. This wasn’t a big deal since I could resume recording easily enough. Dictating emails was faster then typing a message on the iPhone’s keyboard, so this is a significant time saver. I’m sure that Dragon will charge for this application in the future. I’m also confident that I’ll continue to use this application.