Many Skype users are getting a rather disturbing call. It indicates that there is a problem with your computer and you should visit a site to repair your service. This is a complete scam.

Syncing your favorite social networking services

on your

HP TouchPad

is easy thanks to Synergy. Synergy allows you to sync information like

calendars, contact information and photos

from services like Facebook, Skype and more. You can also sync services such as Dropbox and Photobucket.

Voice over IP

(VoIP) services are growing in popularity lately, though none as much as Skype. The

free Skype application for iPhone

allows you to access the Skype service from virtually anywhere. The app lets you

call Skype contacts

, have

instant message conversations

or even call phone numbers with ease.

On this weeks show, the ASUS Eee Pad we're dubbing the Transformer-top, hints at what may be next for PCs, Samsung and Amazon sitting in a tree and Skype gets an update but isn't quite what we were hoping for. Also, the lovely Kate Abraham offers up a killer Android time waster with Slice It!.

Cheryl Poirier picks her top ten PC downloads of 2010 from among the numerous products she looked at in a full calendar year's worth of shows. She finishes off her countdown with numbers one through five of her faves for 2010. Check out last episode for numbers six through 10.

Your netbook is lean and mean. It's designed to be light and compact, perfect for keeping you connected when you're on the go. So, today we'll look at five must-have applications that deserve a place on every netbook. Apps like Rocketdock, Skype and Dropbox.

Samson has made its name, in large part, thanks to its excellent studio and portable microphones. The Samson Go Mic portable condenser mic clips to a laptop screen and offers quality infinitely superior to a cheap-o headset or your laptop's own internal mic. It's pricey relative to other computer mics, sure. However, it's inexpensive when compared with full on studio mics. If you're an audio podcaster, if you make a lot of VoIP calls on your computer, if you need to be mobile, the Samson Go Mic is a great bet.

Doc rounds out his top

ten iPhone productivity apps

with a look at apps that help keep you organized and on top of your to-do list, a way to view your PC desktop right on your iPhone screen, a way to keep notes on the go, to create your own newspaper from online clips and bookmarks, and a great app that lets you browse websites offline on your iPhone.

In this episode, we show you

how to use myPhoneDesktop

to make calls and

send SMS messages

. We also give you a tour of some of the

settings in myPhoneDesktop

that allow you to customize these services and show you how easy it is to copy text from your

computer to your iPhone

.

Your iPhone is great for making calls. It's also great for listening to music and playing games. At the same time there are lots of free applications that can help make you more productive. This week we'll look at the first five of

top 10 free productivity apps for iPhone

. Tune in next week for the remaining five apps.

Making the switch to Linux, even part-time, can feel like a bit of a shock to the system. Doc helps to ease the transition by rounding up his 10 favorite Linux apps that are free for the download. This week, we look at one through five and in next week's show, Doc rounds it out with numbers six through 10.

If you're on a desktop computer, if your laptop doesn't include a web cam or if the web cam in your laptop's bezel is of the VGA (640x480 resolution) variety, it's time to step up to HD. Microsoft's LifeCam Cinema brought 720p HD video to web chat and recordings. Now, similar technology has been shrunk down to fit in this unobtrusive little cam. Perfect for keeping in touch when shipping off to school or for recording YouTube response rants in HD.

Andy and Sean look ahead to the start of the school season and talk about what kind of computer you may want to get for the school year, if you're in the market for something new.

If you've been looking at taking Linux for a spin, you're in good company. Many users are installing Ubuntu so that's what we've installed as well. If you're coming from Windows, there are a few applications you're going to want to get right away. This week, Doc takes a look at five must have applications for those moving to Linux.

Cheryl Poirier, AKA Miss Download, finds a way to make her webcam chats more interesting. WebcamMax software lets you change up your webcam video with neat effects, adornments like hats, glasses, wigs and so on. In the free version, Miss D whets her appetite for silly webcam effects; by dropping $50 on the full version of the software, she'll unlock literally thousands of new effects and add ons.

If you're anything like us, you have at least three or four handles across the different instant messaging (IM) servies. Google Talk, MSN, AIM, Facebook Chat, Jabber, etc., etc.. Trillian lets you keep all these IMs and more organized and in one place. No more firing up multiple messengers in order to track down that elusive IM contact.

There are many more options to Skype beyond the basics that we have already covered. We'll go over some of the more

advanced settings in Skype

here and show you how to do things like

change notifications, allow call forwarding and voicemail, and set up hot-keys

. You'll be a Skype pro in no time!

Just in case you don't want to get bombarded with calls or messages, Skype gives you the option to

change your privacy settings

. These allow you to toggle whether people need to be contacts in order to call you or to send messages or video. We'll show you how to do all that and more in this tutorial!

Just like many other phones,

Skype allows you to change the ring tones for individual contacts

, so that each has a unique tone. You can also change any of the sound effects that Skype uses. We'll show you

how to modify all of those audio settings

in this episode!

If you tend to make a lot of calls, you probably appreciate phones with built-in call logs. You'll also be grateful that

Skype has a call log

that lets you see who you called, who called you, and also to

view past text conversations

. We'll show you how to view the log as well as

how to make group contacts

so that you can call multiple contacts simultaneously!

If you want to

find a person or business that uses Skype

, an easy way is by using the built-in directory. This directory contains the details of all people and businesses that use Skype. For businesses, you can even

read reviews or leave your own comments

. We'll show you how in this episode!

While Skype is free to users who just want to communicate with fellow Skype users, it can also be used to contact regular phones as well. But to

use Skype to call someone who doesn't have Skype

, you'll need Skype credits. We'll show you

how to buy and use Skype credits

as well as how to set up a number people can call you on from standard phones!

Skype has many more features other than just being used to

make calls online for free

. You can also

use Skype to make a video call, send instant messages or files

, or even share screens. We'll walk you through it in this tutorial.

There are many things that you can do to your

Skype account

to make it stand out.

Personalizing your profile

might even make it easier for potential contacts to identify you. Here we'll go through some of the things that you can do to

make your profile unique

.

Now that you've got Skype installed, you'll want to add contacts so that you can start

making and receiving calls

. It's easy to do, and we'll show you how to get your

Skype contact list

growing right here.

If you want a quick and easy way to contact people outside your city, state or country, you can't get much better than Skype. Here, we'll show you where to get it and

how to install

it!

For quite some time, BlackBerry and iPhone users have been able to use Skype from their devices. This wasn't true on Android phones, at least not with a Skype-specific application. Now there's Skype Mobile that unlocks the power of

Skype on Android phones

.

When you install Windows it comes with the basics to get online, chat online, send and receive email and more. However, you'll soon find that specialized applications do the job better. For everyone who loves

free software

Michael "Doc" Callahan chats up his

top 10 must have free Windows applications

. He going to cover a range of tools for browsing, instant messaging and much more. Part one covers the final five of his

top 10 free Windows apps

.

Andy and Sean respond to viewer mail, with letters about multi-monitor configurations, BIOS flashing disasters, how to pronounce "2010" and more.

As anyone that's been in a

long distance relationship

will attest, keeping the romance alive requires resolve, communication and a little imagination. Kate Abraham demonstrates ways to

stay in touch and stay in love

when communicating across borders, across states or across the pond. With

webcams and live chat

, there's no reason a business trip or a relocation has to mean an end to healthy communication and a healthy sex life.

Millions of people use Skype to talk for free between their computers. Well, if you have a Skype account you can also use it right from your iPhone. It's quick, it's easy, and it's full-featured.

With Skype on a BlackBerry you can make free calls to online Skype contacts and inexpensive calls to land-lines and mobile phones around the world. Skype is an amazingly handy tool for communicating with people around the block or around the world. With IM+ for Skype. You can connect to Skype right from your BlackBerry device and it's quick and easy.

Cheryl Porier recently realized that she has yet to share her love for Skype with Miss Download viewers. To remedy this, she chats with A. Alfred Ayache, AKA Notorious Webmaster Web Applications Architect of Tucows and butterscotch.com via Skype to demonstrate its video chat abilities.

Skype has been a great way to make voice calls from PC to PC for quite some time. You can even call landlines and long distance. This new version of Skype for Windows, however, adds expanded video, top-drawer sound and lots more.

You've heard of Skype, software for the PC, Mac and other platforms that allows you to make free PC to PC calls and cheap PC to cell phone. New on the CES 2009 show floor was a brand new Skype with full-screen video calls and other improvements. Also, Skype announced a new version for Google's Android mobile phone environment.

While Sean's away, Andy checks in with Maurice Cacho who's been to the Toronto Auto Show.

Andy and Sean show you extreme router secrets that improve the quality of Skype phone calls.

Andy and Sean give you the scoop on voice over IP using gadgets and a few flying eggs.

If you've got friends or family living outside of the country, you know that long distance bills can quickly pile up with the calls. Fortunately there are many ways to

communicate online for free

, such as Skype.

Skype allows you to make phone calls for free over your computer

. Skype is also a free download and in this series we'll tell you where to get it and how to use it.