Computer Support Blog

Traditional television service, like any other service, has both positive and negative attributes.   Lately, though, it can be difficult to find the benefits of traditional broadcast television service when the detractions to it are so easy to spot (like weather-related outages).  Even cable television no longer seems as impressive a service, especially when compared to emerging Internet-based television options. Users of Internet television services have discovered that they can pay a fraction of the price to subscribe to Hulu Plus or HBO Go and get a more customized service. Read more »

Have you ever seen something legitimately newsworthy and wished there was a reporter around to get the facts correct? Do you wish there was a way you could give feedback to companies easily?  Do you love sharing great deals you find with your friends as soon as you encounter them?  Now, there is a smartphone app that meets all of those needs!  That app is Stringfly.

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With the death of Steve Jobs and movies that focus on how Mark Zuckerberg and his friends created Facebook, many in the media are focused on looking out for the next tech sector wunderkind.  With so many of the current crop of rising stars in the tech sector focused solely on their Internet startups or technological breakthroughs, it is easy to forget that historically, the real geniuses of the tech sector have been well-rounded individuals with a lot of interests.  The fact that these creative geniuses who are interested in many things focus on the technology industry to leave their mark does not negate the fact that the inventors, CEOs and envelope-pushers of the tech sector all had more going for them than simply their career.  That is why Martin Kleppmann is the Internet entrepreneur to watch! Read more »

Good language software may be very hard to find.  Even so, if you are visiting China there are many options for software that teaches you Chinese.  To learn Japanese, there is Jibbigo.  If you are planning a trip to the Orient, why not continue your trip through Asia and visit Russia?  Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia has opened up to tourists from the United States and the country has much to offer travelers there.  However, unlike traveling to Europe, visitors to Russia need to have at least a rudimentary knowledge of the Russian language.  For that, there is Russian Complete Edition software! Read more »

With so many changes coming to the tech sector and the distribution of media, it is understandable that evaluating those changes has often been difficult to assess.  While television has mechanisms built in, like the Neilsen Corporation’s statistical analysis, how can industry leaders determine if you are watching their program from your smartphone or tablet computer?  When users stream videos from the Cloud is not as easy to chart the impact of your programming.  At least, it was not easy to chart before Deb Roy set his mind to the issue!

Deb Roy saw the way social networking was changing the landscape of communication at the same time as technology was advancing to provide users with more instantaneous shared experiences.  Deeply interested in the relationship between the distribution of media and news through technology, Deb Roy began an ambitious project to collect the statistics that would inform him – and others – as to the actual effect of the technological changes.  That was when he and Michael Fleischman founded Bluefin Labs. Read more »

Living in a city and owning a car can feel both frustrating and pointless sometimes. Most of the day your car sits in a parking space with no one using it. You have to have a car to get to work, get out of the city for vacation, or go across town to meet a friend, but while you are at work or staying home for the day, your car remains idle, doing nothing. What if your car could be making you money when you are not using it? What if the car could pay for its own monthly payments? Would you be willing to let strangers rent your car for a few hours when you do not need it?  If you answered “yes,” a car sharing service, like the ones offered by the Getaround, RelayRides and JustShareIt apps, might be for you. Read more »

In the tech sector, there are many important companies whose influence is not felt as widely in the United States as it is in other parts of the world.  One company that is still gaining footing in the United States is Archos.  Archos has a significant market share in the consumer electronics market in Europe, especially France.  Archos produces its own line of portable audio and video players, tablet computers and netbooks.  The man who pioneers the various technologies for Archos is Yves Gregoire and he is an impressive engineer! Read more »

Virtually everyone in business knows that discovery and invention are the keys to future success.  Ironically, while most businesspeople know that invention is critical to the future of any company’s long-term health, very few businesses reinvest as radically as they need to in research and development.  The profession of “inventor” is all but dead in the United States.  Intellectual Ventures is one of the few companies that are investing heavily in revitalizing the American spirit of invention.  No one is more committed to the importance of investing in shaping the future than Intellectual Ventures’ President and Chief Operating Officer, Adriane Brown. Read more »

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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The diverse and specialized markets within the technology sector change with alarming frequency.  With the demands that come with operating within quickly-changing field, it is almost surprising just how many strategies there are for a business to survive.  While some tech sector businesses invest heavily in research and development in order to survive the erratic fluctuations of the market, others make frequent incremental updates to their product line to continue to inspire consumers to spend.  Voxx International has managed to survive the turbulent technology market by buying its competitors.  That is a strategy developed by Patrick M. Lavelle. Read more »