Computer Support Blog

The first things that come up in an Internet search of computers and chocolate are computer-shaped novelty chocolates, but the relationship between computers and chocolate is a lot more complicated than that!  Computers are involved in almost every step of the chocolate manufacturing process.

All mass production in the chocolate manufacturing industry is done now on assembly lines.  The role of computers in chocolate manufacturing begins well before the first drop of chocolate hits the mold.

Whenever a manufacturer wants to produce a new chocolate, they create computer models of the manufacturing process.  By imputing the ingredients and the desired final shape of the chocolate, chocolate manufacturers can engineer the entire process of making the candy virtually before they start production.  If they intend for the chocolate to have a filling like nuts or nougat, the manufacturer programs additional steps into the computer model.  Through the computer models, chocolate manufacturers are able to accurately project both the cost and time it will take to produce a new chocolate.

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Demand Media had a pretty rough 2011, though its Fourth Quarter earnings were actually better than expected.  A provider of videos, blogs, and other media over the Internet, Demand Media has been working to transform the way people use the Internet for education and entertainment.  While the company has been growing, Demand Media’s Board has been buying back its stock and the company is not quite where the executives and analysts thought it would be.  Dave Panos is the man who will change the direction of Demand Media!

Dave Panos is the Chief Strategy Officer of Demand Media and his plans for the company are ambitious.  Because Demand Media is known for delivering original Internet video content the company is in competition with many distribution channels, like YouTube.  Panos organized a strategic partnership with competitor CoverItLive.  By pairing Demand Media and CoverItLive, Panos helped increase the video base of Demand Media dramatically, which allows Demand Media to reach a much wider audience.  Having the vision to partner with potentially vulnerable competitors is part of what makes Panos a truly great Chief Strategy Officer.

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Ever since Twiggy and the rise of the supermodel, the fashion industry has conditioned women to hate their bodies.  While the philosophy of the 1970s was one of love, acceptance and self-improvement, with the proliferation of size 0 in modeling, the “you must always be thinner” philosophy has replaced the “love your body” mindset.  Fortunately, computers are finally coming to the rescue in the area of women’s body image!  From designing clothes to modeling them, computers are making ultra-thin models obsolete.

Computers have become integral to the fashion industry.  More than simply being used for inventory control and online shopping, the fashion industry relies heavily on computers.  While computer aided design and computer modeling are the most important computer-related innovations in the fashion industry, computers have made easier much more mundane tasks like materials procurement.  The Internet is a wealth of resources for fashion designers and manufacturers, as they are able to find all sorts of textiles and designs through the Internet that are not available to them in the capitals of the fashion industry.

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The biggest problem in the tech sector is not supply chain problems, environmental regulations, lack of creativity or even limited battery life.  The biggest problem in the tech sector, like so many industries, is hubris.  Hubris, the pride that leads one to believe that they are invincible, flawless, destined for greatness/market dominance/perfection, is the true scourge of the tech sector.  Why?  Quite simply it is the vainest form of hubris wherein the largest technology companies come to believe that because they have hired the absolute best and brightest tech school graduates, that the pool is empty, no other geniuses exist.  Virtually every major tech company believes that they have the individuals and teams who are the most skilled and most creative.  That belief makes them blind to the creative programming geniuses who work outside the corporate structure.

Symantec was so blinded when hackers cracked into their servers and downloaded the source code for Symantec’s pcAnywhere and Norton Antivirus.

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If you have seen The Social Network, you know the Hollywood version of the history of the creation of Facebook.  In the movie, Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook for the programming challenge and the status of creating the “next big thing.”  When Sean Parker comes into the mix, the priority with “The Facebook” is keeping the site cool and hip, as opposed to monetizing it.  This is actually one of the details from the film that jives with reality.  However, there came a time for Facebook to monetize and when it did, it was Sheryl Sandberg who made the cool Facebook into a multibillion dollar advertising platform.

Sheryl Sandberg is the Chief Operating Officer of Facebook.  Sandberg arrived at Facebook in 2008 after being wooed away from a potential job at Google.  That hiring was seen as a real coup for the Facebook team and shortly after joining the company, Sandberg initiated the advertising program that changed Facebook from a potential cash cow into a multibillion dollar moneymaker.  By 2010, Facebook was showing a profit, which was virtually unheard of in Internet social networks.

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No matter what the latest leaps forward in computers, we are still a long way away from having computer systems that implant images straight into your brain.  That means that no matter what type personal computer you have, you are going to need a monitor for it.  Even if you have moved to a laptop computer or tablet computer, a good monitor can make all the difference for enjoying games and media presentations when used in conjunction with an adapter cable.  The monitor that can give you the best picture quality at affordable prices is the ASUS ML228H High Definition LED Monitor.

The ASUS ML228H Monitor is a 21.5” flat screen monitor with widescreen proportions.  This Energy Star-compliant monitor has a true resolution of 1920 x 1080, which gives it great definition and pixel density.  ASUS pioneered a 10,000,000:1 contrast ratio that lights images with a powerful backlight resulting in images that look lifelike.  The images are so vivid that looking at photographs on the ASUS ML228H Monitor is like looking through a window into an alternate reality!  That sense of picture quality is not only for static images.  With the 2ms response time, moving objects on the ASUS High Definition monitor remain clear and crisp.

What does all of this mean outside the jargon?

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The Kinect for Xbox 360 has been the ‘next big thing’ for gaming since it came out in November of 2010, but now it may become the ‘next big thing’ for computers too. Microsoft recently announced that they are releasing a Kinect for Windows in February of this year.

According to Todd Bishop on MSNBC, however, the Kinect for Windows are “more likely to show up first in business settings, such as car dealerships and retail stores. This is not coming to your home computer in a couple weeks.” He says this because what Microsoft was announcing was the release of the software development kit so that businesses could develop programs for the Kinect for Windows.

At this point, The Kinect for Windows has limited or no computer support with your personal home computer unless you develop the software for it yourself. Down the road though, the Kinect for Windows has great potential to change how we think about computers and their functionality. With its ability to detect movement both close up in Near Mode and farther away like the Kinect for Xbox, the Kinect for Windows will be a great new way to interface with the computer.

The Kinect for Windows is able to more accurately detect movements than its predecessor, so that when companies develop software for it, this technology will be useful and precise. It will also be able to recognize voice commands more accurately than ever before. This new user interface device will be a truly revolutionary product, when it becomes available widely to the public.

One of the downsides, however, is that because Microsoft owns the Kinect, this technology will only be compatible with Windows computers. Most likely, it will only work with Windows 7 and 8 (to be released this year). Other companies are working on this kind of motion sensing devices for televisions and other electronic devices, but Microsoft may have a monopoly on this type of technology as it applies to computers for a while.

There are plenty of other applications for this technology, as demonstrated on the Xbox Kinect website itself. There are videos there presenting the innovative ways people are already using their Kinects, including helping doctors look at MRIs and CAT scans, teaching autistic children, and helping stroke patients regain motor skills.

The Kinect for Windows could lead to some completely new applications as well. With its ability to track movement and recognize faces, the Kinect for Windows, might be the latest step in moving towards completely immersive gaming and computing. Admittedly, that is a long way off still, but it cannot hurt to dream!

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

For all of the gains in social equality and advances in technology, women still account for a staggeringly low proportion of executives in major corporations.  Samsung, for example, does not have a single woman on its Board of Directors, even for its U.S. Board!  Apple Computers was in the same boat for quite some time, though all that changed in 2008 when the company elected Andrea Jung to its Board of Directors.

Andrea Jung was the CEO and chairwoman of Avon Products, the beauty product company, when Apple elected her to its Board of Directors.  With almost a decade of experience on the Board of Directors at Avon, with various roles from President to Chief Operating Officer, Jung came to Apple Computers with a stunning portfolio of successful business experience.  Even now, Jung embodies a higher level of business ethics in her dual roles with Apple and Avon; when Avon Products found itself embroiled in allegations of bribery overseas in 2011, while Jung denied the allegations, she was quoted as taking responsibility for the actions of her subordinates who might have acted without her knowledge!  That level of corporate responsibility is refreshing.

For Apple, Andrea Jung is the chair of the compensation committee.  While Jung gained a great deal of prestige as a co-lead director of Apple’s Board, chairing the compensation committee gives her an exceptional amount of power.  As the chairperson of the compensation committee, Jung oversees the body that determines the incentive and compensation plans for all of Apple Computers!  This effectively means that Jung is the one who has the final word on all proposals that include providing executives with raises or severance packages.

One of the unique duties that Jung performs as the chair of the compensation committee is performing a review of the CEO’s performance each year!  While virtually everyone knew Steve Jobs, few knew that Andrea Jung was the one who had to rate his performance and judge how his proposals would affect the company for years to come.  Now, Jung performs the same duty on Tim Cook and has to present her findings to the full Board of Directors each year!

Few women rise to the top in the business world and the technology sector is one in which it remains especially difficult to women to break the glass ceiling.  With her proven track record of success at Avon and her fearless evaluations of corporate powerhouses like Steve Jobs and Tim Cook, it is no surprise that Andrea Jung is breaking down the gender barriers at the top of Apple!

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

One of the chief concerns of environmentalists is with the carbon footprint left by individuals and industry.  Because carbon dioxide contributes to global warming, the development of industries that reduce the expulsion of carbon into the atmosphere have been growing.  Most businesses that are serious about reducing their carbon footprint must use elaborate computer models to factor in all of the variables pertaining to their carbon emissions.  In the effort to reduce one’s carbon footprint, the chief goal is to create a carbon-neutral system.  In a carbon-neutral system, there is no net output of carbon dioxide in any of the elements pertaining to the system.  The United Arab Emirates has plans to create a new suburb of its capital, Abu Dhabi, one that is carbon neutral and the developers are using the most sophisticated computer modeling yet to design that city.

Masdar City is the planned new city proximate to Abu Dhabi and computer models of the city project it to be carbon-neutral.  The idea behind the entire project is to create a city that in no way contributes to the generation of greenhouse gasses in both its operation and construction.

To achieve this goal, the city planners designed the entire city around the carbon-neutral goal.  Masdar City will not have any cars within its borders.  By removing such a random and carbon-intensive element from the environment, the models the developers are using are much more accurate.  The solution to moving residents and visitors around Masdar City is an elegant one.  The city will run an elaborate subterranean vehicle network.  The vehicles called Personal Rapid Transit are essentially six-person pods that combine the efficiency of a subway with the independence of a taxi.  When users get inside a PRT, they will be able to designate where they want to go within the grid and the PRT takes them there.  Because batteries that harness solar energy power the Personal Rapid Transit system, they leave no carbon footprint!

Perhaps the most brilliant aspect of the Masdar City design is how the layout of the buildings, their orientation in relation to one another, is designed to cool the desert city!  The city’s designers intend for Masdar City to lower carbon emissions by reducing the need to use air conditioners.  The layout of the city was one of the key elements that computer design models helped to create.

To make Masdar City a success, the designers had to factor in an exceptional number of variables.  In addition to having years’ worth of temperature records and weather patterns programmed into the computer models, the designers had to record light patterns in the area Masdar City will occupy.  Factoring in the carbon footprint of the construction of Masdar City led the developers to strategically place trees within their model to offset those emissions.

Right now, Masdar City is little more than a sophisticated computer model.  That computer program is a blueprint for a healthier world.

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

There are many very cool products that businesses use to improve a customer’s shopping experience or life.  From products that monitor waste water to computer programs that monitor toxins in the air, almost every major industry contains gadgets that perform a vital function.  Many of those devices work behind-the-scenes to deliver superior results on a project or as part of a service.  It is often important that a business have the best possible equipment to help you get the results you want on your projects.  When it comes to house painting, the Auto-Match III is one such essential device.

The Auto-Match III is a sensor produced by BYK.  The Auto-Match III is a safe-like box under six inches square and nine and a half inches deep.  The box weighs just over seven pounds and has a small door in which you place a paint sample.  The safe-like design of the Auto-Match III prevents any light interference from entering the sensor and polluting the results of a scan.

The Auto-Match III is very easy to use.  When you bring a paint sample with the color you want to the Auto-Match III and place the sample inside, the spectrophotometer scans the sample.  One of the key selling points of this sensor is that it operates at 45/0 circumferential illumination, so it scans the sample at precisely the way your eye breaks down light.  In addition to being exceptionally accurate with the precise breakdown of light for color matching, the Auto-Match III renders colors in a way that you will perceive them as identical.  Because temperature affects the way light travels, many spectrophotometers require constant calibration.  However, the closed-system nature of the Auto-Match III eliminates temperature variables to give you clean, crisp results every time.

Why is the Auto-Match III such an important, cool device when it comes to matching paint colors?  The Auto-Match III sensor works in conjunction with the Auto-Match III software to accurately evaluate and replicate colors in a way no other single system does.  At least two different paint manufacturers feature applications for the Apple iPhone that allows you to match any color you photograph with paint from their line.  Unfortunately, the results wildly differ based on the amount of light in the room when you take the picture.  Other color matching programs for the PC fail to take into account that most computer monitors are not calibrated to the expert standards professional photographers or painters use on their equipment.  Thus, you may take a picture and look at it on your monitor and denounce it as the wrong color simply because your monitor is not properly tuned.  The Auto-Match III sensor and software eliminate those variables.

No matter how big or small your painting project is, you deserve to get the color you expect when you purchase paint.  BYK’s Auto-Match III sensor ensures you get accurately-scanned, precisely rendered, information on any paint sample so that you may replicate the color you want without flaws!

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