Computer Support Blog

Authors do not generally have a chance to receive direct feedback from readers during their writing process, especially in regards to e-books. Most e-readers only include fully completed books, and fans of an author rarely see a work in progress.  There are also very few apps or services sharing books from independent writers.  BookieJar is different, combining the typical services available from any website or mobile platform offering e-books with several additional unique features. Read more »

Those who like to keep up to date on their favorite topics or important events locally, nationally, or worldwide likely use constantly updated feeds to gather that information such as those provided by news social media websites.  Known as RSS feeds, they compile a list of recent stories from blogs, e-magazines and any other website that offers regular articles and stories. The trouble is that there are few ways of collecting them all in one place for easy viewing.  Headslinger is a solution to this problem.  The app lets you view all your favorite feeds, helps you find new ones, and lets you share those that interest you all from one page.  For just about any category that there is a news source for, Headslinger brings it to you quickly and easily and allows you to peruse the digital versions of any popular publication. Read more »

Whether the standard options at a specialty store or a large retailer, online, or a professional designer and printer, or even by hand at home, there is no shortage of options when choosing the perfect invitation or card.  There are few ways for those who are not professionals to add a truly personal touch or get the perfect design, however.  PurpleTrail offers a solution to this problem, combining users’ ability to display their unique style and an extremely high standard of quality with speed and efficiency for a low cost.  It provides a unique collection of designs for any imaginable event, and the key is in a users’ complete customization of these designs, which they can personalize in every way to fit their style and theme. Read more »

Whether for educational purposes or for more personal use, timelines have long been used to add an element of detail or a more visually appealing and interesting aspect to history.  WhenInTime is an app that enables its users to build, view, explore and contribute to interactive digital timelines on the topic of their choice.  There are many reasons applying technology to the creation of a timeline could be extremely beneficial.  Students can use WhenInTime to build timelines for school projects on a variety of topics.  Journalists can use it to embed interactive timelines in their articles related to political figures or events of historical significance. Entertainment buffs could find it very useful in building a timeline on the life, discography, filmography, or performances of their favorite author, singer or actor.  There are many potential uses for an interactive timeline with easy, quick access online, and WhenInTime is a simple, user-friendly option to a few better suited to those who are more tech savvy. Read more »

While those searching for a new home certainly have an advantage in searching Internet listings as opposed to print listings and can view many more options much more efficiently, most websites link directly to a particular company or agent and options are still limited, while the information provided is dependent on what a company or agent chooses to give potential customers.  Househappy is an app created to improve the process of searching for a new home online beyond even the improvements we have seen thus far.  According to its creators, the app’s main advantages are many and make finding the house that is right for you faster and easier than ever before. Read more »

It seems that most if not all retailers that have an online presence offer coupons to their customers through email or the company website.  Not only that, but separate sites exist to offer coupons through a partnership with companies.  This adds up to a lot of developers putting a great deal of time and effort into creating subscription lists and uploading coupons onto these websites, blogs, and apps.  Coupilia offers a solution to diminish the many hours of coupon uploading otherwise necessary.  In the words of its creators, the app is an automated coupon feed for your website, blog, mobile or software apps.  That automation is the key to its ability to help businesses save time and money, making for much less work overall. Read more »

Though we can communicate with more people than ever before, our communication seems to have become less personal through the Internet, making collaboration and community key to developing relationships and expressing ourselves online.  Creator Republic is, in its creators’ words, a leading source of the most popular independent web videos that focuses deeply on surfacing the best video content before anyone else and connecting fans with the content creators.  From posting photos and videos on the Internet to collaborating on ideas through email to communicating on social media and much more, almost anything we enjoy can be shared online.  The real appeal, and one of the app’s more unique aspects, is the ability for fans to communicate with the people who create the entertainment they enjoy. Read more »

Oftentimes the most useful aspect of technology on the Internet is the ability to combine many features in a way that we could never have done before.  Menuism is an app that does exactly that for food, combining menus, reviews, journals, and social networking in one place.  In fact, its creators have dubbed it the “social network for people who like to eat.”  They advertise Menuism as a place where you can share both where to eat and what to order.  After eating out, you can rate and review the restaurant and the dish you ate as well as sharing pictures, and the key is being able to not only review where you ate but exactly what you ate to give a broader picture than most review sites allow. Read more »

The number of websites dedicated to providing users with recipes is vast, and another food recipe site would require something different to set it apart.  KitchenPC is a unique app offering services not typically found on similar sites.  It is not merely a recipe search engine, but it offers a distinctive collaboration feature that lets you search what its creators claim add up to hundreds of thousands of other such websites across the Internet.  The real key is that it works to combine the work of several different types of websites into one so that you can view and collect recipes, create customized menus, create your own shopping list based upon your needs, and more, all in one place.  It then offers a few options that are particular to the app for a more innovative way to quickly and easily create exactly what you want to eat. Read more »

There are many websites and apps dedicated to user reviews for businesses and services, and many of them indicate to potential customers whether they offer child-friendly amenities.  Unfortunately, very few if any apps or products exist that offer rating services specifically to assess and inform users of how welcoming and accommodating an establishment is for children.  Kidscore works by providing a collaborative database with ratings that quickly let you see how a community of parents measures how friendly a place is to children.  The app’s rating system aims to help busy parents determine how kid-friendly a variety of places are using an array of criteria. Read more »