What makes us special is our ability to troubleshoot an issue quickly and accurately. Secondly, all two of our techs are friendly. We won’t blame you for any of your problems. And, when you come to us at the worst of times, we’ll make sure that your data is safe, first and foremost. We never operate without the safety of a backup (and neither should you).

Come try us out yourself or refer us to a friend, next time your Mac or PC is acting up. We aim to please.

It was easier to reverse the door than the office.

office, we’ll be sure to let you know if we can look at it while you wait on our couch or if we need to look at it later.

And, we’ll troubelshoot the problem and let you know how much it would cost before you commit to anything.

Call us at 212-255-3970 and ask for Michael Song, our resident Mac Genius.

We signed up for the Enterprise version to give us more space, and more everything else, only to find some gross limitations on the product, keeping us (far from the size of an Enterpise) from using the product fully. Our initial findings are:

Upside on email:

- Providing PUSH for iphone
- App sync for Outlook (very similar to Exchange)

Downside on Docs:

- Difficult to upload to
- No single file size larger than 2Mb
- Limited file formats (i.e. won’t accept Quickbooks files)
- Can’t access files via iphone (you can login, can see files, can’t open them)
- Currently there is no easy way of converting file folders into “labels”

The simple idea of using Google Apps as an online storage drive is not there, not even to hold us over while they work out the bugs. Essentially $50 per user, for the Enterprise version, gets you nothing more than 25Gb of email storage.

Here’s how you can strengthen your own relationships by using the software on your home or work computer, cell or cordless phone, or PSP:

Visit http://www.skype.com and download the software according to the directions on the website. Windows 2000, XP and Vista are the only platforms that are compatible with Skype. Once everything has been properly downloaded to your home or work computer, double click on the icon to view your options.

Secure your connection by logging into your account with the pre-selected user name and password that you registered with. Plug in your headset or Skype phone. Check all wires to make sure that everything is running properly. Perform a sound test and turn up your computer’s volume before placing a call.

One of four things can take place on Skype at any given time. You can call a person who uses Skype for free. You can call a person on their home phone for a fee. You can chat with someone who is online at the same time as you and you can send pictures via text through instant messaging. Depending on your style, you can do a combination of things at once. You can speak to a person audibly while chatting with them and enclosing embedded photos, songs, and movies.

A pull down menu allows you to leave messages for other users while you are away. Simply choose the appropriate phrase and step outside for a couple of hours. When you return home, you will be able to view all the messages that were left for you by your friends and family members. You can even set up call forwarding and use the service’s voicemail without missing an important call.

When you are done using Skype, you can log out without having to worry about someone else using your account. Fast, secure, and free, Skype to Skype calls are the way of the future.

1) Computer Shuts Off With No Warning
This could be a heat related problem or a hardware problem.

Heat related problems are the most common cause for a computer to shut off with no warning. Many computers are designed to do this when they become too hot. If your computer is making strange noises, such as squealing, it may be that one of the fans isn’t working properly, allowing the computer to over heat. You can check the fan that cools the power supply by looking at the back of the computer to see if it is running smoothly. To check the processor and case fans you will need to open the computer case to look inside.

A hardware problem may arise if you’ve recently added new hardware,which isn’t working, to your computer. Try removing the new hardware to see if that’s the problem. If it isn’t, or you have not added any new hardware recently, try removing any hardware that isn’t necessary to your computer’s operation such as the modem, sound card, and other expansion cards.

2) Computer Freezes
This is usually an easy problem to solve. If you can’t move your cursor or type, try pressing the Num Lock button to see if the Num Lock light turns off and on. If the light does turn off and on, and you’re running Windows, press the Ctrl-Alt-Delete buttons to shut down the current task. This should get your computer working again.

If the Num Lock trick doesn’t work, and you don’t get results from pressing Ctrl-Alt-Delete, shut down your computer and re-boot. This should solve your problem.

3) Computer Is Running Too Slow
First, you should check your hard disk drive. If your hard disk is too full, it can cause your computer to run slow. If your hard disk drive is 2GB or less, check to make sure you have a minimum of 200MB of free space available. If your hard disk is larger than 2GB, you should have at least 500 MB of room left. This space is necessary for the swap file to increase, and for temp files.

If your hard drive has enough space, you should next make sure your computer is not over heating. Follow the steps in tip #1 above to do this.

Whether you use a Mac or Windows, the basics are the same. Hard disks can have head crashes and other mechanical failures, the dye layer on CD-ROMs can be scratched off, tapes can break, etc.

Most problems cannot be handled by the users themselves (although there are good and often reasonable data rescue software programs for both Mac and PC owners if you are computer literate enough to figure out how to use them and don’t mind that your files will have to be renamed because they have become numbers and the files are not in the same condition as before), but sometimes it is necessary to go to a professional company that can try to salvage your data for you with their technical experience and the necessary hardware, parts, and/or programs.

The smartest idea, however, is to do something in advance of technical issues and go to a network that backs up your data for you, and if you pay only for the amount being stored monthly, the price is well worth it to prevent problems in the future.

Such a network is Pillar Consulting Corp. which gives customers fast service (within two hours of your call and usually faster) to provide support as if you had your own internal IT department but, instead, one with far superior knowledge of how to handle the various situations that might occur, whether a hard drive data recovery problem or any other.

Pillar can create a computer package that will be tailored to your particular needs, and you can then rest easy that you have technical help at the dial of your phone and can spend your time instead on the details of your own business operations.

To discuss this desirable, friendly, professional help, contact Pillar at 212-255-3970 or www.pillarcc.com.

Like major appliances, most computer problems arise in the first few months after purchase and will routinely be covered under the standard warranty. Unlike a refrigerator, many computers are likely to need some type of repair if kept for three years or more. Studies have shown that extended warranties, if they are used at all, usually cost the consumer more that the price of repair. If the results of those studies are reliable, those who advocate declining the extended warranty would appear to be on the winning side.

There is a contingent who recommend extended warranties for book and laptops—Windows models and Macs. Portables are more likely to have problems and more expensive to fix. Be sure that warranties cover the common, careless incidents that frequently happen to portable models—falling off tables, cracked screens, spills and crumbs in the keyboard. Don’t expect them to cover malicious abuse or theft. Apple’s extended warranty is a little more attractive than some as it can be purchased anytime within the first year, since it doesn’t overlap the standard warranty, it offers up to an extra year of protection.

Picasa’s basic interface consists of a sleek, easy-to-use photo tray. Users can import photos directly into the tray from a camera or external harddrive, and the photos may then be moved, sorted, renamed, edited, what have you. There is a caption option which allows users to make a caption strip appear below the picture, but this will only show up on Picasa, Picasa Web Albums, and other IPTC compatible programs. For those of you that are looking beyond simple photos, users can also create a variety of multimedia from their pictures. Picasa offers easy tools with which to make movies, slideshows, collages, gift CD/DVDs, and more. For those that wish to share their pictures on the net, Picasa Web Albums allows users to tag their photos for easy tracking, and in fact Picasa itself has a handy search function for them to browse through the pictures.

Picasa is available for download for Windows XP users, Vista users, Mac users, and Linux users. There are a few key differences between the Windows and Mac versions: for example, in Macintosh computers Picasa will scan and display the photos in the “iPhoto Library” as read-only files. This is to ensure that Picasa and iPhoto do not clash – Mac users that wish to use Picasa to edit will have to copy the file over before they can work with it. Otherwise, the bulk of the program is the same for all operating systems.

Are You a Mac or PC?
The first decision you need to make is which operating system you’d prefer to use – Windows or Macintosh. Both offer their own advantages and disadvantages. The majority of computer owners use Windows as their operating system and most computer programs will run on Windows. The cheapest computers on the market also tend to run Windows. However, its popularity makes it particularly vulnerable to security risks like spyware and viruses and many users find the latest operating system, Vista, to be a hassle.

Macs have been around about as long as PCs and are slowly gaining ground in popularity. The machines themselves are sleek and the operating system (Leopard) has far fewer security issues than Windows does. They tend to be among the more expensive computers available and are not compatible with all software (though the latest Macs can now run Vista or Windows XP through a program called Boot Camp, somewhat eliminating this problem).

Do You Need a Desktop or a Laptop?
This is the second question you need to ask yourself. Desktops offer a larger hard drive (some now come as large as one terabyte in size) but are anchored to one place and not easily transported. Laptops are far more portable and necessary for anyone who works away from a desk or needs to bring their work with them between home and the office. Laptops are also more expensive than a desktop, so you may end up paying more money for a computer that cannot do as much as a desktop. For many, though, the advantage of a portable computer more than makes up for the price difference.

What Specifications (Specs) Do You Need?
How much RAM (your computer’s thinking-power) do you need? Do you pick an Intel or an AMD processor? It depends. For those who simply need a computer that will surf the internet, email friends and coworkers and type up documents, a computer with 1-gigabyte of RAM and an AMD processor should be fine, and relatively inexpensive to purchase. Intel processors are more efficient and 2 to 4 gigabytes of RAM will give you a faster computer – ideal for the computer gamer or person who runs many programs at once.

The second component to the wireless network security issue is securing the wireless connection itself. Most consumers neglect to lock down their wireless network connections, leaving them open to anyone who wants to use that connection to surf the web…..or perform more malicious acts. WEP keys can easily be used as a very basic form of wireless connection security, denying most casual users the privilege of using your connection. Unfortunately, WEP keys are often the easiest to crack by anyone using encryption key cracking tools. Also, most WEP keyphrases are kept short so that they are easy to remember, making them easier and quicker to crack. WPA and WPA2 are stronger protected access protocols that are harder to crack, but can be harder to set up for average consumers.

Another problem concerning wireless networks is the strength of the wireless signal, which can fluctuate depending on a number of factors. These include distance, the number of walls and obstacles that have to be surmounted and the presence of electrical devices that can cause interference with a wireless signal. 2.5 Ghz cordless phones are notorious for interfering with wireless signals. These phones operate on roughly the same frequency as wireless routers; therefore these devices must be placed on separate channels in order to prevent interference. The ideal channels for wireless routers to operate on are channels 1, 6 and 11. Cordless phones should be kept off of these channels.

Download and upload speeds can also be affected by the very nature of wireless transmissions. You may have noticed that download speeds can be faster with wired connections than with wireless ones, and speeds can degrade due to interference or weak signal.