Computer Support Blog

2011 saw some real changes in the world on online video streaming.  As the Cloud rose to prominence thanks to Apple and it advertising juggernaut, some of the traditional leaders in home media found themselves in drastically new positions.  Netflix, for example, was quick to reinvent itself as a digital streaming company, but in the process of price hikes and trying to distance themselves from their DVD subscribers, the company had a much more erratic year than many in the industry thought they would.  With Netflix faltering, Amazon.com was able to make significant strides in the digital video streaming market.  Amazon.com now has a service called Amazon Prime that allows members to stream unlimited videos and receive free two-day shipping on all orders, for only $79 for a year.  Amazon Prime’s video streaming service is now a very cool way to get your movies and television programs on your computer.

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Amazon.com is the largest online retailer in America and the company has made huge profits from its ability to sell almost any product to customers all over the world. Over the last year, though, Amazon has begun to focus more on eBooks. The company has even gotten to the point of announcing plans to publish exclusively on and for Amazon.

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When browsing products on Amazon and you see a product has a five star rating that means it is a great product, right? Unfortunately, you cannot trust that rating as much as you might have thought. At least one Amazon retailer has been paying people to post rave reviews for its products on the site.

Though this highly misleading practice violates Amazon’s stated policies, VIP Deals paid its customers to give the product good reviews. The company is now suffering the consequences – Amazon took down the product page on which people posted the offending reviews and then removed all other VIP Deals products from the website.

When shopping online, many customers place a high importance on peer reviews because they cannot physically see or handle the item they are purchasing. Good reviews are essential for retailers to sell their product amid the multitude of similar products available online. Therefore, some retailers like VIP Deals are resorting to posting anonymous reviews or selling reviews in order to obtain customers.

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Zappos, an Amazon retailer that sells shoes, announced recently that hackers breached their website and stole confidential client information. The stolen information included email addresses, the last four digits of credit card numbers, phone numbers, encrypted passwords and physical addresses. Using this information, the hackers might be able to determine a client’s other passwords. For many people, their email password is also the password they use for many other websites. This dangerous practice can compromise your Internet security.

Internet security is a vital issue in this age of online-everything. When we have online banking, important private emails, online shopping, and other important private information kept online, it is essential to know that your information is safe.

It is very important to make sure that your online banking passwords, email passwords, and passwords for other websites that contain sensitive information are not passwords you use for less important websites. If remembering passwords is an issue, do not hesitate to make use of the forgotten password feature of most websites or set up a master password. Your Internet security may depend on the difficulty and variety of passwords that you use. As the lesson of Zappos should teach you, low Internet security could mean hackers get your information or even plant malware and viruses on your computer.

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For those who chose to keep the purity of the Kindle idea alive by not upgrading to the much-hyped Kindle Fire, there are some rewards awaiting you!  The e-reader concept was upgraded into a multimedia player, much like a tablet computer, with Amazon’s latest iteration.  But for those who like to read, for whom being trendy, current and/or not upgrading at the first sight of the next new product, companies like SolarFocus are there for you!  SolarFocus has a great product for Kindle users with its SolarKindle Lighted Cover!

The SolarKindle Lighted Cover is a portfolio-style cover for the Amazon Kindle that features a powerful solar panel on the front cover.  The cover helps to recharge both the Kindle and the case using solar power.  As trendy as renewable energy is, there have been very few companies to tap into the market and synergize it with the e-reader and tablet market.  With the SolarKindle Lighted Cover, SolarFocus brings together two very popular concepts to enhance the user experience of the Kindle e-reader!  Read more »

It is always amazing how quickly the remote control seems to disappear! Even when you’re the only one using it, it just seems to have an affinity for dark spaces deep within the couch or other large pieces of furniture. The problem definitely gets worse when kids are involved, since the remote migrations expand beyond the living room and into the kitchen, bedroom, and the inside of an easy bake oven. Of course, losing things like remote controls is a problem that affects many other products. Trivial as it may seem, constantly misplacing items is frustrating and time consuming. So if you know someone who is constantly losing keys or other important items, then now would be a good time to offer him or her a Click n’ Dig item finder as a gift.

This easy-to-use gadget helps you or your gift recipients find those things you misplace most often. Using a small transmitter with up to four buttons, you simply press the corresponding button on the transmitter causing the appropriate receiver to beep and flash. Click n’ Dig comes with up to four receivers that you can attach to a key chain or a pet’s collars, for example.

Also, both the transmitter and the receivers are about the size of a car remote control, so no one has to know about your forgetful habit.

The Click n’ Dig remotes come with batteries already installed, although you need to remove the insulating tab from the receivers before you can start using them. They also come with replacement batteries. Because they are small devices that don’t require too much battery effort, the batteries are expected to last between three and twelve months. The product is easy to attach to other items, as it comes with both double sided adhesive tape and key rings. According to the manufacturer, the remotes have a radio signal range of about 60 feet, which is more than enough tech support for finding keys in a forgotten coat pocket or underneath a couch.

Over 73 percent of reviews on Amazon rate the product with four stars or more, so it’s gotten the popular approval. There are several other products out there that do similar things, but Click n’ Dig’s price tag is especially attractive. The remote and two receivers package sells for around $26 on Amazon. If you’re looking to buy wholesale, you can do that directly though the Click n’ Dig website for a 40 percent discount. So if you or someone you know just won’t learn, get them the Click n’ Dig, if only to prove a point.

About RESCUECOM:

RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.

For More Information, Contact:

David Milman, CEO

315-882-1100

david@rescuecom.com

The Internet has produced many billionaires.  The dot com bubble may have burst, but some business owners made a lot of money very fast.  One of the few such executives who are still standing at the head of a successful dot com is Jeffrey Bezos.  Jeffrey Bezos is the President, CEO and Chairman of the board of Amazon.com.

Jeffrey Bezos founded Amazon.com in 1994 as the Internet was still growing.  As brick and mortar stores were slowly developing an online presence, Bezos created the virtual bookstore with a robust inventory and a commitment to customer service.  A year before eBay was launched, Bezos had Amazon.com online, selling books and building a customer base.  Quickly realizing the site was underperforming for its potential, Bezos expanded Amazon.com to sell movies, music and other products alongside books.  Bezos transformed the business he ran from his garage to an international online retailer that increased his net worth to approximately 18 billion dollars!

While many billionaire CEOs of technology-related companies achieved their prominence from having a fresh, new idea, Jeffrey Bezos simply exploited, first and best, the emerging technology.  There is nothing particularly audacious about the idea of using the Internet to sell goods.  What made Amazon.com impressive at the time of its inception was that Bezos effectively exploited the new revenue channel to reach an exceptional marketplace.  While established brick and mortar stores were looking to supplement their income through occasional online sales, Bezos realized the potential of the virtual storefront and built Amazon.com.  Bezos pioneered the idea of the virtual storefront, selling a product online without an accompanying physical store.  When Bezos’s model proved successful, Pierre Omidyar would take the idea a step further and build an online sales site without any product (eBay)!

While many Internet stores have since risen and fallen, Amazon.com has remained strong.  Many attribute the strength of Amazon to the leadership Jeffrey Bezos exhibits as founder, CEO, President and Chairman of Amazon.  It is hard to argue with that logic.  By commissioning the creation of the Kindle, Bezos helped to ignite the entire e-reader market as well as a renewed interest in reading by the general population.  The success of the Kindle Fire, which many industry analysts suggest Amazon is selling at or below the cost of production, illustrates Bezos’s commitment to a long-term approach for Amazon.com’s success.  Bezos sees the value in selling more of a product at a loss when the virtual product – the e-books – has the potential to make his company billions!

A pioneer in the Internet retail market, Jeffrey Bezos is a CEO who was at the right place, at the right time, with the right vision!

About RESCUECOM:

RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.

For More Information, Contact:

David Milman, CEO

315-882-1100

david@rescuecom.com

If you are doing last-minute shopping for a video game player this year, it might help you to know what video games, across all platforms, have been the bestselling of the year so far.  While Mario Kart 7 has been tearing up the global gaming sales charts for the past week, Nintendo came shockingly late to market with the game.  It did not even register on the top ten bestselling games of the year!  Sure, that could change in the last few weeks of the year, but it would have to overcome several titles like Batman: Arkham City and Just Dance 3, which are desperately clawing their way up the Top Ten list for the bestselling games of 2011.  What might well surprise video game enthusiasts is that in 2011, three of the top six bestselling games of the year were not released in 2011!  The Top Five bestselling video games in the world (across all platforms) for 2011 are:

5. Wii Sports.  Beating out Wii Sports Resort by just over one hundred thousand units, the exceptionally popular game for the Nintendo Wii managed to add over five million sales to land in the top five, even after five years on the market!  Nintendo rightly realized that video game enthusiasts are not adverse to moving around and people who like sports enjoy them even as a video game!

4. Kinect Adventures! A late-release in 2010, this adventure game had a strong 2011.  While it might have only sold 5.3 million units in 2010, Microsoft has a real hit on its hands with over 12.5 million units sold total!  It might not have sold as many units as the Wii Sports games, but Microsoft is showing it knows how to produce successful sports games as well.

3. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.  Who says every sequel stinks?!  Not video game players!  Bethesda Softworks hyped the fantasy role playing game for over a year and when it released in mid-November, the market was primed for it.  With just under six million units sold, Skyrim is a very safe bet for fantasy game enthusiasts if you need a late gift!

2. Battlefield 3. Almost seven million people decided that being a first-person shooter along the Iran/Iraq border sounded cool.  As U.S. troops were withdrawing from Iraq, gamers across all platforms were experiencing virtual combat situations through this game.

1. Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. This first-person shooter game buried its peers.  With over 16.3 million units sold, the latest installment in the Call Of Duty franchise outsold even Battlefield 3 by almost ten million units!  With the Internet-based companion service, Call Of Duty: Elite, it is unlikely that video game enthusiasts will run out of interest in this game and franchise, promising Activision a good 2012 as well!

About RESCUECOM:

RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.

For More Information, Contact:

David Milman, CEO

315-882-1100

david@rescuecom.com

In advance of Black Friday, the technical news was abuzz with one story that was interpreted a different way with every article that was written.  Right before Thanksgiving, industry analysts released the sales figures of personal computers in 2011.The news left many in the computer support world scratching their heads in confusion.  The sales reports acknowledge that HP continues to be the leader in PC sales . . . unless you consider tablet computers a PC.

Since then, pundits have written hundreds of articles on the sales projections and the nature of the PC.  In one corner, there is the perception that the tablet computer is a PC.  That perception greatly benefits Apple because with iPad tablet computer sales factored in, Apple would be the number one computer company by sales in the world.  Apple, naturally, wants to cash in on the prestige that comes from overtaking HP and becoming the world leader in the PC market.

HP, who had a disastrous tablet computer release in 2011, remained strong in sales of traditional personal computers.  HP has the element of public perception on its side in the argument.  Consumers bought tablet computers in 2011 largely as a companion for their PC, not a replacement.  Sales numbers have shown a slight decline in traditional PC computer sales over 2011, but many industry analysts attribute that to a PC sell-off in 2010 with the release of the Windows 7.  In other words, many consumers purchased their new PC last year; so many computer users do not need to buy a new computer this year.  Computer support and computer repair businesses seem to support this idea; they remain as busy as ever, solving computer problems on PCs purchased during last year’s sales spike.

The public perception for tablet computers remains that they are primarily for entertainment and personal use, not serious computing.  Tablet computers may have valuable business applications, like inventory control and presenting customers with product information, but they remain more expensive than most businesses want to invest for the technology.  As well, the tablet computer has not reached its full business potential because manufacturers have not developed the apps that meet the needs of many businesses.  As a result, consumers continue to use their PCs for serious work – business, education, and research – and their tablet computers for entertainment, like watching movies or reading digital books.

The argument over whether to include tablet computers or not is a moot point in many ways.  To many computer users, the debate just seems like big business trying to cook the books in their company’s favor.

Ironically, Apple needs the status of being the #1 computer manufacturer less than HP does.  For over a decade, Apple has built its advertising campaign around being original, buying Apple products in defiance of the Big Companies.  After years as the outsider, could Apple effectively rebrand with “Conformity is cool?”  Even Apple could not sell that.

About RESCUECOM:

RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.

For More Information, Contact:

David Milman, CEO

315-882-1100

david@rescuecom.com

The current structure of most keyboards is neither intuitive nor mechanically necessary. The layout of most keyboards today is a remnant of the days of typewriters. The first typewriters had letters arranged alphabetically, but because hitting adjacent keys often jammed the machines, manufacturers rearranged the keys in order to distance letters that frequently occurred consecutively in language. The result was what today we know as the QWERTY keyboard, named after the first six letters on the top row.

We are so used to typing on the straight rows of QWERTY’s keys that an alternative way of typing probably seems impossible. But in reality, if you take a moment to look at your hands the next time you type on your keyboard, you’ll notice that your wrists are bent outwards. Most people never realize the awkward movement involved in typing on a keyboard. Human hand form favors typing at a slight angle. In fact, take a minute to look at how your wrists. Notice their awkward typing angle.

Learning to touch type can help increase your typing speed, reduce neck-related injuries, since you do not need to look down at the keyboard all the time, and increase your typing accuracy. Still, even touch-typing places unnecessary strain on your wrists. If you’re at a job where you spend all day typing, consider switching to an ergonomic keyboard, that is, a keyboard whose keys are structured to reduce the risk of Repetitive Strain Injuries associated with typing and to allow your wrists to remain in an more ergonomically sound position as you type.

Think of ergonomic keyboards as a means of supporting your body. We spend plenty of money on providing tech support for out machines, so why not get some for our wrists?

Ergonomic keyboards can range in price from affordable to very expensive, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get a good deal. Many online websites offer discounts on ergonomic keyboards. Amazon, for example, is offering the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 for under $30.00.

Most ergonomic keyboards provide added support for hands, wrists, and forearms by splitting the keys down the middle and positioning them at an outward angle to allow you to type more naturally. Some also elevate the keys in an inward curve.

Switching to an ergonomic keyboard might take some getting used to, though. After all, just like switching between playing the piano and the electric organ or between typing on an Apple keyboard and a standard keyboard, your fingers need some time to adjust to the heaviness of the keys, the different spacing, and the angle. Once the adjustment period is over, you will find that your wrists and hands are much happier typing at an angle.

Ergonomic keyboards work normally with any computer device that requires a standard keyboard and require no additional computer support. So take advantage of online sales, and get yours today.

About RESCUECOM:

RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.

For More Information, Contact:

David Milman, CEO

315-882-1100

david@rescuecom.com