Computer Support Blog

One of the main features of the Xbox and PlayStation lines have been the ability to play online, download additional content, and even digitally download games directly to the console from the Internet. These services have mostly been used by more hardcore gamers because that is the type of gamer these consoles target. Nintendo marketed the Wii, on the other hand, as a console for social gamers of all ages – basically a family gaming console. With that in mind, it did not appear to need the same services as Xbox Live and the PlayStation network provided.

. Alongside the release of the Wii U console, Nintendo is preparing to release the Nintendo Network in order to take advantage of the popularity of mobile gaming on smartphones and social network gaming. This service will function similarly to the Xbox and PlayStation networks in that it will provide extra downloadable content. Digital downloads of full games will be available in the future, but Nintendo was hesitant to say when. There were also hints that the Nintendo Network will support micropayments.

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Facebook versus Google Plus – which side are you on? It is the battle for the future of social networking and the outcome will decide the direction the Internet takes in the coming years. Google+ is still a relatively new social networking site, having only been launched last year, but it shows promise.

Some of the most basic features of Google+ were applauded by the public when first introduced. Facebook did its best to integrate similar features within its own site, but the features on Google+ are far more seamlessly incorporated. These features include the circles, hangouts, and making Google+ part of all other Google websites.

Google+ allows you to easily group your friends the way we do in real life with the circles feature. The best thing about this feature is that no one else knows in which group you have put him or her. The hangouts are the video chat feature for Google+ and this feature allows people to chat with everyone in one of their circles all at the same time.

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If you play games on Facebook, you know about Farmville. No matter your opinion on the game itself, there is no denying that Farmville is a huge success. As is Zynga, the company that created Farmville.

Zynga currently has four of the past year’s top ten games on Facebook, according to Gameinformer. These games, of which Farmville was not one, were ranked based on how highly players recommended the games.

Zynga’s Farmville remains a very popular game, even if it did not make that list. How and why is it so popular? Why do people play a game where they have to run a farm? How does Zynga make money from these free Facebook games?

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All throughout school, your English teacher taught you the correct spellings of words, how to formulate proper sentences, and the difference between a colon and a semi-colon. Then, you bought a computer and a cell phone for your children. Suddenly, you cannot understand a word of the text messages they send you.

With the rise of the Internet and text messaging, the way people communicate has changed. The young people who have grown up using these written methods of instant communication needed an faster way of typing their messages, so they developed what is known as ‘text speak’.

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Between work, school, afterschool activities, other responsibilities, and trying to have a social life, it can be easy to forget to do your laundry. Laundry tends to pile up and hardly ever get done, at least in most households, but what if there was an easy way to do your laundry while concentrating on other tasks?

The Samsung announced its new WF475 washer and dryer set at the Consumer Electronics Show this January, which feature integrated Wi-Fi. Along with the now-standard touch screen settings display, your washer and dryer will be able to connect to the Internet.

This built in Wi-Fi capability will allow users to activate the washer and dryer with a smartphone, tablet, laptop, or desktop computer. With this ability to remotely activate the system, if you forgot to turn on the washer before you left the house you can do so whenever you remember, wherever you are. You will be able to start and stop the cycles, change settings, and remotely monitor your laundry by using the SmartHome app.

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Even though YouTube is the largest and most popular video-sharing website, it is not the only one. Vimeo is one alternative for independent filmmakers. Vimeo has gained a large following but it will never be as big as YouTube because it limits the content on the site to videos that the users have made themselves.

The site is popular with musicians and independent filmmakers because it is an easy way to highlight their talents in a community of like-minded people. Users get good exposure on the site when they post their own videos. Many hope to use Vimeo as a springboard for their careers in film or music.

Vimeo announced that it would be completely redesigning its website soon. The video hosting site wants to make the experience it provides better than ever before and more easy to use. Probably the most noticeable change will be a larger video player covering most of the width of the page. Users will also discover new ways for them to share their unique content, easier navigation around the site, and more privacy features.

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If you are an artist, or simply enjoy observing art in all its forms, then you have probably been to the website deviantART. For those who have not, deviantART is a website where anyone can upload their own art and receive peer reviews. It has been a popular site for amateur artists since its launch in 2000 and currently has over 18 million registered users who can view over 180 million pieces of art.

DeviantART accepts any kind of art, with any subject, in any medium that its artists want to submit. There is even mature content, but the site is very good about blocking it for any casual observer or those who do not wish to see that kind of art.

DeviantART has become not only an art-sharing website, but also a social networking site for artists. Many users will find and subscribe to an artist whose work they enjoy and eventually become friends with these people whom they have never met. The site encourages critiques and comments about each artist’s pieces because the artists want to become better at what they do.

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Biometrics is a term used mostly in reference to fingerprints, retinal scans, and facial recognition. Biometrics is a way to identify exactly who a person is, by comparing a unique biological feature to those already in a registered database. Biometrics is nothing new; people have been using fingerprints as a means of identification for literally thousands of years. The ancient Chinese would sign a document with their handprint or fingerprint rather than a name.

The first modern uses of fingerprinting began as far back as 1877 when Sir William James Herschel used fingerprints to prevent fraud. Since that time, our methods of and uses for biometrics have advanced quite far. The government uses facial recognition software to identify immigrants, fingerprints help police catch criminals, and retinal scans are used to keep high-security buildings safe.

Already, we are seeing the use of biometrics in computers as well as these other applications. Many models of laptops come with a fingerprint scanner, and soon our other computer devices may have biometric capabilities. This is a growing field in computers because it is more secure and very easy to use.

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Zappos, an Amazon retailer that sells shoes, announced recently that hackers breached their website and stole confidential client information. The stolen information included email addresses, the last four digits of credit card numbers, phone numbers, encrypted passwords and physical addresses. Using this information, the hackers might be able to determine a client’s other passwords. For many people, their email password is also the password they use for many other websites. This dangerous practice can compromise your Internet security.

Internet security is a vital issue in this age of online-everything. When we have online banking, important private emails, online shopping, and other important private information kept online, it is essential to know that your information is safe.

It is very important to make sure that your online banking passwords, email passwords, and passwords for other websites that contain sensitive information are not passwords you use for less important websites. If remembering passwords is an issue, do not hesitate to make use of the forgotten password feature of most websites or set up a master password. Your Internet security may depend on the difficulty and variety of passwords that you use. As the lesson of Zappos should teach you, low Internet security could mean hackers get your information or even plant malware and viruses on your computer.

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Over the past few years, online social networking sites have caused more and more of our social interactions to happen online. They have also changed the way we interact with our friends, even changing the definition of the word ‘friend’, but they have not changed basic human nature.

There have always been people who do not understand that their friends and acquaintances have no interest in all the tiny things they do in a day. There have also always been people who never share huge life events with their friends. Both of these types of people are still present on the Internet. Look at your Facebook feed sometime and you will notice exactly that – some people over-share and others never share. Thankfully, there are also plenty of people in the middle range who know what and how much their friends really want to know.

Soon, Facebook will allow those over-sharing people to post everything they do on other websites onto their profiles. This new release is not as widely supported as Facebook might wish. Pandora, the hugely popular Internet radio website, is one of the sites that are hesitating to allow Facebook to automatically publish every song a user listens to, onto the user’s profile. Pandora is reacting the same way that the majority of people would react: “My friends do not need to know every song I hear.” Pandora does publish on Facebook already, but the site does not want to publish everything automatically.

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