From iPods to cell phones, gadgets are all around us these days. As they get smarter, many of us get more challenged. Figuring out how to program these things or fix them when something happens isn't always easy, and it can cost you if you don't know any better! Tracy Repchuk wanted to set up her phone to get a different ring for different callers. "We couldn't get that working at all," she complains. Instead of flipping through the tiny-print instructions, waiting in line for help at the store, or wasting time on hold for tech support… Tracy turned to Cyberspace to solve her problem. "I went to Google.com, and I check out the first few searches that appear and I ended up at a site called fixya.com. It helped her troubleshoot her problem in a matter of minutes. The free site is one of many designed to help consumers do it themselves. Wired Magazine's Joe Brown says they are quite popular. "People are getting a lot more tech in their lives, they're getting a lot of new gadgets, and they don't necessarily know how to use it," Brown explains. Some of the sites, like answerbag.com, have moderators to eliminate duplicate questions, which can run the gamut. "For example, how do I get my iPhone to sync with my Google calendar? And then employees can research the question or other users who have had the same problem can give the answer to you themselves," Brown says. PC users might want to check out techimol.com's numerous hardware and tech forums. When it comes to troubleshooting Macs, forums on both C-net and Apple may be the best bet. "Apple, for example, hosts a discussion board on its site and those forums are going to have some of the best users on them," Brown says. iPhone users can turn to the iphoneblog.com. For those with Blackberrys… there's crackberry.com. Since many sites allow questions to be answered by other users, experts caution it's important to find out who you are heeding advice from. "I would go with the trusted sources first, try to find the employee answers if you can. If you're going to members of the community, make sure you check the member of the community's bonafides," Brown warns. Tracy has had great luck with her device dilemmas. "They have been incredibly helpful, for phone, for stereos, for iPods, for everything," she exclaims. A word of warning from our expert. Joe Brown says once you register as a member, the site has access to your email address and can track questions you have been asking about a product…which could lead to some unsolicited marketing email.