Sell handmade holiday items online

— -- Question: I'm trying to make some extra money for Christmas by selling some artsy knick-knacks online. Where would be a good place to start?

Answer: There are lots of selling sites that cater to artists. I would start with Artfire, Etsy and Zibbit. All three let you set up a store for free and help you promote your wares to interested customers. While set up is free, do note that there are fees involved with listing items and selling items. Check carefully to determine which site is the best fit for the number of items you'll be selling. Visit http://www.komando.com/news for a more detailed analysis of all three options.

Q: My family is scattered around the country. I'd like to set up a voice conference call for Christmas. What service should I use?

A: If you just need a voice conference call, check out FreeConferenceCall.com. It lets you set up a free account with a toll-free conference number. You can host conference calls with up to 96 people. Even better, you can record the call for no charge. Just be sure to let people know you're recording first. Visit http://www.komando.com/news for a link to the FreeConferenceCall app, which gives you even more control over your call sessions.

Q: I'm reading an older book for an English class. I have to keep stopping to look up words. It takes forever. Is there a free dictionary program that will work on my Mac?

A: You're in luck. Your Mac came with a built-in dictionary. Go to the Application folder and scroll down until you see Dictionary. The Dictionary program has several libraries, such as a dictionary and thesaurus. In your case, you would select the Dictionary library and start typing in the word. Look through the list of matching words and select the one that applies. You'll have your definition in no time.

Q: My son wants a video game system for Christmas. What are my options and which one should I buy him?

A: Your three options for video game systems are Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. The one you buy depends on the games your son wants to play. If he wants to play Mario games, the Wii is the only option. Halo is an Xbox 360 exclusive and Uncharted only appears on the PS3. You'll also want to think about others who will be using the console. The Wii is more suitable for casual, family-friendly games. With the PS3, you tend to get mainly hardcore action games. The Xbox 360 with the Kinect add-on falls somewhere in the middle.

Q: I'm setting up a new banking account and I want to make sure no one can hack the password. How would you suggest creating one that is unbreakable?

A: The most unbreakable password would be a random collection of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols more than eight characters in length. Of course, that would be hard to remember. You can get close by thinking up a random, yet easy to remember, sentence. As an example, I'll use "I wish I looked at Microsoft stock in 1986." Combine the first letter of each word to get IwIlaMsi1. Now, let's add some symbols and change the numbers at the end. You get IwIl@M$i86. Congratulations! You now have a memorable password that's virtually impossible for a hacker to crack. Of course, you'll want to come up with your own.

—

Kim Komando hosts the nation's largest talk radio show about consumer electronics, computers and the Internet. To get the podcast, watch the show or find the station nearest you, visit www.komando.com. E-mail her at techcomments@usatoday.com.