Computer Support Blog

In the complex legal framework that defines both major corporations and the Internet, it helps to have a good lawyer on your side.  In fact, virtually every major company in the tech sector has an executive Vice President for General Counsel.  Now, specialized law departments write up and enforce contracts and deal with all legal issues that confront the company.  For the professional social network LinkedIn, the General Counsel is Erika Rottenberg! Read more »

Those who lived through the late 1960s laugh at the absurdity of protest today.  Protests since the late 1990s, like when protests erupted against NAFTA or the World Trade Organization, have become highly choreographed events that usually involve getting permits, inviting the media and the like.  They are also remarkably ineffective.  The fact that Occupy Wall Street does not actually feature tents and human chains physically blocking access to the critical financial buildings there illustrates the differences between protest then and protest now.  Protesters of days of yore fought for Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Assembly (Constitutionally-protected rights) using means that were frequently illegal (trespassing).  Today’s protestors seem very pale by comparison. Read more »

Every city has something unique to offer its residents or visitors, but nothing truly defines a location as its small businesses – especially restaurants – do.  So, to get the real flavor of a city’s unique benefits, it helps to have a site where small businesses may promote their deals and customers may be exposed to all that locale has to offer.  That is the concept behind the LivingSocial website. Read more »

There are many executives for whom their technology business is the end of their personal or professional growth.  This can make a lot of sense, as it is a herculean task to establish a successful business within the tech sector.  So, it is always interesting to find an executive who remains close to their roots and uses their businesses success to fund the causes dearest to them.  Lorne Trottier is one such executive. Read more »

One of the most important aspects of a sales-driven business is the ability to reach out to your customers.  Having an interface for customers and vendors is especially important on Internet sales sites, notably online sites that are essentially a platform for vendors who are not directly connected to the site, like eBay and Amazon Stores.  For the art sales website Etsy, the community aspect is exceptionally important.  Artists and those who buy art tend to naturally form communities to discuss art – both the creation and acquisition of art.  That makes Vanessa Bertozzi’s role at Etsy a very important one. Read more »

One of the common misconceptions many people have when they hear the advertising about smartphones is that “4G” refers to the speed of data transfers across a network.  “4G” does not actually mean something like “four gigabytes per second” or anything of the sort.  Instead, “4G” is a simple term referring to the fourth generation of standards that guide transfers over wireless cellular networks.  But even as 4G networks are the key selling point to current hardware like the Samsung Infuse 4G or the Sony Xperia 4G, if Broadcom has its way, 4G will soon be passé.  Broadcom has innovated the fifth generation of cellular wireless standards. Read more »

The ability to read and type are two essential skills one must have in order to use computers and the Internet.  While there are many adult literacy programs both on the Internet and in many communities, there are fewer volunteer services that teach adults to type.  As a result, many adults have to learn on their own.  Some of the most popular software in the marketplace is typing software, but a lot of typing software is tailored to teaching young children and teenagers to type.  For adults who want to learn to type on their computer, one of the most enduring and popular programs in the marketplace is Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing Platinum. Read more »

It is rare for a Chief Operating Officer of a company, especially a company in the tech sector, to have a visible presence in the media.  More often than not, when a company issues a statement, they use their press department, the Director of Marketing or even the CEO.  But for VisionTek, that is not always the case.  In fact, in 2010 when rumors were swirling that the company was facing bankruptcy, it was VisionTek’s COO Michael Innes who leapt into the public spotlight to quell those fears. Read more »

Businesses that endure in the marketplace, by and large, weather trends that are cyclical.  No company has an unfettered ascent; there are adjustments, products that fail to launch the way the company anticipated they would, and economic events unrelated to the particular business that nevertheless impacts the business.  In the tech sector, companies that were once leaders suddenly find the niche they dominated crowded by competitors who devour their market share.  That is where smartphone manufacturer Research In Motion, inventor of the Blackberry, now finds itself. Read more »

In the late 1980s, there was a popular game called Laser Tag.  Despite the controversies about it at the time, Laser Tag was remarkably popular with young adults who enjoyed the technology and the physical activity the game required.  As a precursor to paintball, Laser Tag was a safe way for young people to run around shooting one another for live-action play.  Players had a laser sensor and a laser gun.  The object of the game was to shoot your opponent three times (as registered by changing lights on their sensor each time they were “hit”) with the laser gun . . . before they shot you!  Young people played Laser Tag in buildings, woods, and fields, both during the day and at night.   Now, Metalcompass, Ltd. is updating Laser Tag with some new twists with their XAPPR Gun! Read more »