iLife is a nice software suite that comes for free on all Macs.  The software includes: iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand, iWeb, and iDVD.  The new iLife 09 comes with all new Macs.  So, if you still have iLife 08, you’ll need to upgrade to the new version for $79.

Is this upgrade to iLife 09 worth it?  iPhoto alone validates getting this upgrade.  iPhoto 09 has a new Faces and Places bundles which organizes pictures by face and/or location.  The Faces option is not perfected and may require entering one’s name first before it can recognize it again.  The Places feature is spot-on as is GPS technology which is what powers it.  iMovie allows for more video integration in between clips, and also stabilitize herky-jerky videos.  Garageband provides more tutorials and freebies on how to play the piano and guitar, as well as provide some more functions to mix and play music.  iWeb and iDVD are pretty much the same.

So, if you’re a big photo and movie creating buff, go get iLife 09.  Otherwise, stay put.  You won’t need a mac specialist or Apple guru to assist on this one.  Software installation here is a snap.

Nowadays, printing photos is not common.  Why?  We point, we shoot, and we share online.  Why print if we can share photos much faster?  Well, if you have the grandma in Miami who thinks the computer is the devil.  Or if you want to blow up your family photos to hang on the wall.  Or if you just want to see and feel the beauty of photography.  Then, printing photos is still somewhat accepted.

The Canon Selphy CP780 prints 4-by-6-inch photos with ease in under 50 seconds.  Its claim to individuality is that it can self-detect faces and correct skin tones.   At $99, it’s a solid printer for quick photo prints.  It has robust color and works well with a glossy finish.  The tech support aspect is a snap and the printer doesn’t take up much space at all.

Typically, spyware will send your Internet website preferences to advertisers.  In turn, your computer will receive pop-ups or spam in the form of promotions and advertising.  Nowadays, spyware has taken a more malicious turn, deeply infecting your computer for no rhyme or reason.

The latest malicious spyware is Antivirus2010.  This spyware not only infects your computer by taking over the Windows host file, a major Windows file, but it also further infects your system by making believe it is helping you remove it.  For instance, it attempts to re-direct you to an old cnet.com website for downloading a supposed anti-virus software.  Instead, if installed, it will actually perpetuate the infection and soon cripple your internet browsing and Windows navigation.

To remove this infection, make sure your Windows updates are installed and you can use Malware Bytes as a solid anti-spyware for removal.

Gmail is a free account that is great to use.  It store gigabytes of storage and can be accessed from any computer.  It could get a little tricky for the email setup if going through Outlook, Outlook Express, on your iPhone, blackberry, or another mobile device.

Typically, internet e-mail accounts are set up through a POP account which is a technology where the e-mails from Gmail, for instance, are downloaded to your computer.  So, all your e-mail will reside on your computer after viewing it versus still remaining on Gmail, or the Internet site, for webmail viewing.  Another way to set up your e-mails is via IMAP which stores all of your e-mails on the Internet site and is viewable from your computer or mobile device.

Lately, Gmail has required to be set up via an IMAP account since mobile devices and software, such as Outlook, Outlook Express, Windows Mail, and Entourage, are unable to handle downloading the e-mails.  IMAP doesn’t conflict with Gmail’s technology since it basically just allows you to view what is already on the Gmail mail server versus manipulating it by downloading e-mails as POP accounts demonstrate.

Follow these 6 steps to ensure your Gmail is set up via IMAP properly:

1. Log into your Gmail account online
2. Go to Settings
3. Click on Forwarding and POP/IMAP
4. Enable IMAP below
5. You may follow how to set up your Outlook, Thunderbird or other software or phone by clicking on the Configure your email client link
6. Make sure to Save Changes to enable the IMAP setting.

Your mac was fast when you first got it.  Now, a few months later, your mac is slow and needs a jump start.  There a four steps you can do to get your mac back in the fast lane.

1.  Unplug any new peripherals one by one.  Unplug your iPhone, printer, or other USB or firewire device one by one to see if your mac is faster after each removal.  Sometimes, a usb or firewire cable can fail and cause a slow computer.
2.  Remove any new software.  If you just installed Norton for mac or some other multi-layered software, and then your computer slowed down right after, get rid of it.  It can be the culprit.
3.  Remove any unnecessary loading programs.  You might need all your programs, but you certainly don’t need them all to load at startup which can definitely slow down your mac.  Press and hold the shift key after logging in to temporarily disable all programs from loading at login.  If you computer seems to have more pep, then you’ll need to isolate the slow starting program and remove it.
4.  Your hard drive might be failing.  To check this out, go to Disk Utility in Applications/Utilities folder and select your disk and click Verify disk to check for any errors.  If you find any errors, you should contact a data recovery specialist or computer repair company to assist immediately so you don’t lose important information.

Are you looking for a good all-around home printer?  We’ve played around with many residential / small office printers over the last decade, including: HP, Dell, Epson, Canon, and Lexmark.  Epson printers are good for photo printing while Lexmark can offer a cheap wireless printer solution.  Canons are solid photo and document printers, but are overpriced.  Dell printers are good home printers while some select HP printers are a good all-around solution.  There are some HP printers we loathe due to the bulked up software that slows down the operating system.  However, the HP Officejet Pro L7780 All-in-One is definitely are printer of choice for having an office printer at home.

What sets the HP L7780 printer apart from the rest?  It prints, faxes, copies, and scans.  But, it also prints wirelessly which many 4-in-1 printers do not offer.  This is crucial at home when having spaghetti cables all over the place to connect a printer is not ideal or aesthetically pleasing to the eye or visitors.  Furthermore, the printing is outstanding and rivals several laser printers out there due to the 1200 x 1200 dpi resolution.  There are 2 paper trays which makes it convenient for putting photo paper on one tray and 8 x 11.5 on another, or envelopes.  It has a feeder on the top for multi-page scans or faxes.  It has a memory card reader as well as an additional USB port to plug in your camera directly.  You can view a small display for functionality and options as well.

Most importantly, the computer support setup is a breeze.  HP has scaled down the printer software for this device so it doesn’t slow down your mac or PC, and the setup takes approximately 10 - 15 minutes.  This is definitely a good printer to go with for great functionality at home or the small office, without sacrifices. The only drawback is that it is a bit bulky.  But, hey, you need to have the size to support all of these bells and whistles!  It has recently dropped in price from $550 to $300 and is definitely undervalued.

Microsoft is further taking a page out of the Apple handbook by opening retail stores.  Is this a good move?  Well, it’s a different move without a doubt.  IBM tried this move decades ago and failed.  Apple, of course, it thriving with its retail locations.

Microsoft may do well, but they’ll need an edge like Apple’s Genius bar or Apple’s cool design.  Several questions arise, such as: When? Will they just sell software? Where?

Top execs have confirmed that Microsoft has hired a top Walmart marketing rep for this avenue.  However, this could just be rumor and something to stir the pot with Apple.  This might be a good move to promote Microsoft new flagship, Windows 7 especially after Windows Vista early bust.  Will Windows support and bluescreen errors decrease with Microsoft’s retail tech support shops, or will they just cause lag times like Apple.  Time will tell how this all pans out.

Google Latitude is the latest installment of a beta program from Google.  It is used as a tracking device to find your friends through Gmail, Gtalk, or text.  By enlisting in this free program, your e-mail recipient or fellow Gtalker will know where you are.  Pretty spooky, eh?  One of the software programmers for Google thought this would be a cool feature to have especially since as an avid traveler, he’d rather have folks know where he is instead of having to waste an e-mail to discuss it.  And by the time he answered, he was already in a different place.

The good.  You’ll get to know where your friends and family members are right away.  If your parents are travelling cross country, you’ll be able to easily keep track of them.

The bad.  Can you say “stalkers?”  Or ex-boy/girl-friend?  This is not a good feature for those you are not in contact with any more.  But, you can turn of the feature.

This Google feature has already sparked some debate on the classic privacy laws among computer consultants.  One side argues that it invades privacy and the other side contends that the Internet is still a free realm for those to do as they choose on it.  Feel free to comment on your thoughts if you feel Google Latitude should be allowed especially in this time of identity theft and spyware provokers.

The Win32 Heur virus is a nasty little bugger that will slow down your computer; cause you to be re-directed to websites; and pop up odd boxes at startup.

This file lies in the Windows folder as well in the registry.  A manual removal is not possible since this virus contains a .bat executable that repeatedly loads after attempting to remove it.

Typically, you’ll need a couple of different anti-spyware and anti-virus software to get rid of this malicious trojan.  A couple of good free software programs to use are: AVG Free, Spybot Search & Destroy, and Malware Bytes

Please make sure to remove this trojan immediately before it’s too late.  Too late means that you might have to have a computer repair technician recover your files and reinstall Windows for you.

You may avoid this virus by staying away from P2P sites, such as Limewire and others where you can download free music, photos and files.

If you’re looking for the best wireless router that is the fastest and widest range, look no further.  The Airport Extreme is the most solid router out there.  If your current Linksys, Netgear, or Dlink is not cutting the mustard, meaning your signal strength is low or not found, go the Apple route, get the Airport Extreme. 

In situations where constant router reboots where necessary or wireless extenders were not reaching duplex or townhouse floors, the Airport Extreme always seemed to provide the necessary wireless coverage.  And don’t worry, this wireless router is meant for Macs and PCs, and may be used with both.

If you want to get the Airport wireless router with an integrated 500GB hard drive, you can pick up the Time Capsule 500GB.  Or if you want to double your space, go for the Time Capsule 1TB .

All of the routers are wireless N and have the capability to plug in a USB printer and share the printer to all your computers in the apartment.  The time capsule is cool way to have a backup.  Instead of having an external hard drive to plug into your desktop, you can just wirelessly back up files to the Time Capsule’s hard drive.  This backup feature is accessible to all wireless computers.

If you still don’t get a good signal, you can purchase an Airport Express extender via Apple:

We just bought 2 Airport Express units thinking that it was needed for a 2,500 square foot apartment, but the Time Capsule alone was able to light up the whole apartment with wireless.  We recommend to try the Airport Extreme or one of the Time Capsules first, with your wireless computer, and see if that does the trick.  You’ll just need to pop in the router’s CD that comes with it and it will guide you through the setup.