Computer Support Blog

For anyone who grew up watching Knight Rider, the idea of a talking car is nothing new.  In recent years, of course, talking cars have become more of a reality than a fantasy, thanks to GPS systems that deliver turn by turn directions out loud.  But, for those who still pine for a Knight Rider-style talking car, the car with an artificial personality is still several years away.  TomTom, though, now has the next best thing with voice upgrades for your GPS system! 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 »

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 »

One of the nice things about having so many forms of audio and visual media in a standard-style format is that eventually, someone comes along and creates a single device that reads many different media.  Compact discs, DVDs, and Blu-Ray discs are all essentially the same size and shape, but run on very different hardware. Purely digital media files only need the proper CODECs to render them, regardless of whether they are audio or visual files.  The future of the home entertainment system is starting to look far less bulky.  Instead of having several independent devices, you might be able to convert everything to a single media player, like the TVIX HD M-7000. Read more »

It is hard not to love food.  In addition to being fuel for our bodies, food can be delicious, artistic, and promote a sense of community.  Whether you are on a diet or enjoy cooking for family and friends, so long as you are cooking food, there is no more essential tool than a good cookbook.  In recent years, the tech sector has contributed to reducing kitchen clutter by developing online cookbooks and cooking software.  One of the more useful pieces of software for cooking is MasterCook 11. Read more »

As computer programs change, the demands consumers put on their computers change as well.  A few years ago, the idea of having multiple monitors connected to your computer was a concept embraced only by people in design, digital photography and few other businesses.  Now, however, in the era of massively multiplayer online role-playing games, consumers are finding increasing benefits to having many monitors attached to a single computer.  In addition to enhancing the full perspective afforded by current video games, working with multiple monitors can be useful in many businesses for offering the ability to make complex comparisons side-by-side, as opposed to switching between windows.  For hooking three monitors up to your computer, the TripleHead2Go Digital is a real asset! Read more »

With so many incredible products and services that may easily be found on the Internet, it is amazing that there is still room for innovation there.  Yet, every year entrepreneurs come up with brand new ways to utilize the Internet.  Those entrepreneurs are clever, imaginative people; the successful ones find a niche that has been neglected before they pioneer the new product or service.  Perhaps that level of imagination explains why so many entrepreneurs in the tech sector are so young!  Youth and imagination are characteristics Furqan Rydhan benefitted from when he became CEO of LiveServe Technologies, Inc. Read more »

For those who still use personal computers and who enjoy full-screen high-definition televisions, it is hard not to see your monitor as a significant expense.  The money you spend on a monitor or high-definition television is not a small amount and, odds are, you want to protect that investment.  Unlike mobile computing devices like smartphones and tablet computers, no one has yet innovated a screen protector for full-sized screens that has captured the interest of consumers.  As a result, you have to clean your high definition monitor and that is where ScreenDr comes in! Read more »

With recent advances in computer technology – both industrial and personal computers – it has never been easier to use your computer to produce musical compositions.  The best musical tools for digital music production are flexible, versatile and have hardware that helps to eliminate noise.  It is a boon to find a system that has all of the important attributes of a great digital music recording tool that also is portable.  The Fast Track Ultra is one of the few audio interfaces that is portable and powerful! Read more »

Learning to speak a foreign language can be especially difficult for adults.  After all, adults have years, decades, of word associations to overcome when learning a foreign language.  With many other languages having different word orders and verb tenses that are not used in English, adult learners are not only tasked with learning a new language, but with thinking an entirely new way.  Fortunately, not every language is as difficult as learning Chinese and there are some great programs for those who want to rise to the challenge of learning a foreign language.  For learning German, there is arguably no better resource than Fluenz German 1+2+3. Read more »