While GPS (Global Positioning System) is not that new, the world has recently exploded with GPS sales making it the new “gotta have it” electronic gadget. In the past GPS were relegated to handheld units, which are great for outdoors-y type people, but now that you can get GPS with larger screens built right into your car, everybody wants one. If you have never experienced the benefits of GPS first hand then ask around until you find a friend or colleague who has one. Their reaction will be unanimous: they love their GPS and now will never be able to live without one.

If you are looking to pick up a GPS then here are a few things you should be aware of.

It is not very often in this forum that I choose to write a whole column on a single piece of technology, not when that technology is a printer - make that a multifunction device. Blackberrys, or iPods yes, imaging devices, not so much. That is going to change because I am smitten with a peripheral: HPs PhotoSmart C8180 All In One.

I have probably shown a few dozen multifunction printers on my show over the years, and I have to tell you, the bar is pretty high when it comes to today’s crop of AIO (all-in-one) devices. Each time I look at a new one I am impressed with the innovations in print technology, price and interface. The manufacturers are constantly challenged to come up with better, less expensive, more innovative technology, and the bar keeps climbing higher.

Now more than ever it is important for us to keep our computers up to date to ensure we keep the nasty part of the internet at bay. There are several areas which you need to keep as up to date as possible.

This week brought the much anticipated MacBook Air into the Dotto Tech studios for our first look at the somewhat controversial new notebook from Apple. Once again Apple is leading the way in innovation with a new class of notebook.

It is not really a subnotebook and it is definitely not a full sized notebook. The MacBook Air is ultra light - only 3 lbs - but it still has a large 13” screen and a full sized keyboard. Thin is in, and as the TV commercials pay testament to, the Air will slide nicely into a manila envelope. 

As they did with the first iMacs, Apple has eschewed removable storage on the Air. There is no optical drive - the Air is designed to be fully self-contained - and in fact there is only a single USB port and a headphone jack, plus a mini DVI video output to allow peripheral connections.

An all to familiar question we receive is something to the effect of “My computer is infected with ABC virus. How do I remove it?”. There are some good websites and tools available to help users remove viruses on their own and avoid expensive trips to the computer repair shop. Now I am not saying that you will be able to remove all viruses but you will be able to make a better determination on what needs to be done before you have to take it into the shop.

With the amount of options hackers have to enter our computers these days it is essential that you ensure that you are as secure as possible. One area that we often do not secure enough is our wireless routers. There are several easy steps that you can take to ensure that your router is reasonably secure.

Almost all routers use a webpage to configure their settings. For the most part they use a default address of 192.168.0.1 . The usual administrator username is simply “admin”. But I would consult the documentation for the unit to make sure before starting these steps. The first thing to do is to make sure to change the default administrator password on the laptop. By default most routers come either with no password set or the password is simply the word “password”. I would recommend using a password of at least 6 characters that is made up of both numbers and letters.