Computer Support Blog

One of the things that very few people consider when they talk about the economic downturn in the world today is how it affects emerging technologies.  When consumers do not have the financial resources to continue spending on luxuries, developing technologies stall.  Unfortunately, technological development does not occur in an economic vacuum; the reality of financing demands that great ideas be developed into potentially profitable products.  Few people know how an amazing idea may be crushed by the demands of sweeping economic movements the way Michael Schuette does. Read more »

The bane of laptop computers is overheating.  No matter how laptop computer manufacturers work, they have not created a laptop computer that keeps the internal components cool enough to allow them optimal functioning conditions.  While laptop computer fans have been manufactured to run quieter than they used to, often laptop computers need an additional cooling device.  One of the most stylish laptop computer coolers is the Cryo LX aluminum notebook cooler. Read more »

It is hard to play down the significance of the transistor in modern technology.  The transistor makes so many electronic devices operate and so many emerging technologies possible.  A single smartphone or laptop computer might have billions of transistors.  The transistor is integrated in virtually every major technology in the world and new developments in transistor technology may transform the tech sector yet again. Read more »

GitHub has become the primary website for democratic open source coding. Open source coding, simply put, is the principle that many programmers work under in which they freely give away their programs and source code (basic programming language) to anyone who wants to use it. Open source software is quite common, though you may not know a program is open source if you are user, as opposed to a programmer.  The Android operating system is a well-known open source program. Google allows programmers to access the root code and write new programs for Android, which makes it open source.  By contrast, programmers who want to write applications for Windows must to access the source code and sign a contract for the right to use the proprietary code.

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It is a rare thing for a company to have a loyal worker who has risen through the ranks of the established corporate structure only to redefine the company when they get to the top.  Far more often, those who start low on the corporate ladder and work their way up become concerned with preserving the corporate identity of the organization of which they have been a part.  But more often than not in the rapidly changing tech sector, survival in business requires flexibility.  The companies in the technology industry that cling to rigidly to a set corporate structure, product line or idea often find themselves hemorrhaging capital when the market changes abruptly.  Belkin was in danger of suffering that type of horrible corporate downturn when Mark Reynoso turned the company around!

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If you use your computer solely for business purposes and look for the most efficient and inexpensive tool possible, the odds are you do not truly understand the idea of a premium keyboard.  There are keyboards that cost consumers hundreds of dollars because they are specialized to niche demographics that have unique demands for how they interface with their computers.  Most of these premium keyboards are marketed to the antithesis of business computer users: gamers.  Arguably the coolest, most powerful premium keyboard is the SteelSeries Merc Stealth keyboard and it is a gamer’s best friend when it comes to interface devices.

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If you are a serious audiophile, or just love music and live in a noisy house or apartment building, there is one essential tool for you: noise cancelling headphones.  For those unfamiliar with the product, nose cancelling headphones operate on a principle much like earplugs.  Noise cancelling headphones eliminate overt loud noises as well as background white noise.  The theory behind the headphones – as opposed to earplugs – is that using noise cancelling headphones creates a clean auditory palate which will leave the music you play sounding extra clear, crisp, and unhindered by other auditory distractions.  For a long time, noise cancelling headphones were a Grail for audiophiles, now they are fairly common.  But arguably the best noise cancelling headphones are the new ones from AKG.

AKG’s new K 495 NC noise cancelling headphones represent the highest-quality headphone for listening to music from portable music devices.  With its 121 decibel sensitivity, you are much more likely to notice flaws in your digital music files than you are with the sound quality from the K 495 NC headphones.  To make that clear, most digital music is compressed and does not contain as much audio information as music does when you play it from a compact disc or over the radio.  With a basic pair of earbuds, though, you might never notice how much is missing from your favorite songs.  The K 495 NC headphones, though, are not a pair of cheap earbuds!  As a result, you will hear the full depth of sound that is in your music files.  When you hear how much is missing from your digital music files, you may feel compelled to upgrade your digital music service and player, just to keep up with your awesome new headphones!

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It is a tough thing for a company when the chief product that business creates is past its peak in the marketplace.  Many companies actively attempt to keep the truth about their product’s chances of survival in the market concealed from investors in order to continue the struggle for market dominance.  Not so at TomTom, the satellite navigation company.  Impaired by cheaper hardware flooding the market and similar, free, software offered by Google, TomTom has experienced a few rough years.  Fortunately, TomTom has Marina Wyatt.

Marina Wyatt is the Chief Financial Officer of TomTom.  Wyatt was hired as CFO immediately before TomTom made its initial public offering for stock in 2005 and she has remained with the company ever since.  Marina Wyatt came to TomTom with an impressive resume.  As a graduate of Cambridge University and a first job as a chartered accountant, one might assume Wyatt’s education was strongly rooted in finance.  Actually, her degree was in geography and it was not until she joined the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales that her interests turned to economics.  Her accounting jobs led her to positions at Psion, Symbian, and finally COLT Telcom Group.  As CFO of COLT Telecom Group, Wyatt gained the real-world experience she needed to be a vital hire for TomTom.

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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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Apple Computers, employs an elegantly simple strategy to dominate the mobile computing marketplace.  Apple’s strategy is built largely on a hope that you will buy their entire product line, not just one or two of their devices.  That is to say, products from Apple, more than any other company in the technology sector, are designed to interact easily with one another.  For example, Apple makes it very easy to connect an iPad to an iTV or a MacBook Pro.  But, as many people have discovered, there are more affordable high definition televisions with more options than the iTV.  But why should you be inconvenienced for wanting a great HDTV and an iPhone and wanting them to interact?  Scosche does not think you should be inconvenienced!  That is why Scosche made the sneakPEAK HD Cable!

Scosche’s sneakPEAK High Definition Audio/Video Cable for iPad, iPhone & iPod is a fairly simple cable that allows you to connect virtually any Apple i-product that has a screen on it to a high definition television.  By connecting your Apple products’ output port to the HDTV’s input ports, you are transforming your Apple product into a media player, like a DVD or Blu-Ray player.  This will allow you to play media from your iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad on your high definition television, even if you are streaming it from the Cloud!

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