Computer Support Blog

The concept of a social network is actually a very simple one: you log into a network, provide information about yourself and develop a channel to share interests and information with other people in your life.  As well, you may use a social network to expand your circle of friends by starting conversations with likeminded people who share some of the same interests as you.  One of the coolest products on the Internet, is expanding the perception of what a social network can be by offering options that make for a very real photo network!  The service is the Ceiva PicturePlan Photo Delivery Service and it is innovative, fresh, and very cool. Read more »

The tech sector seems to embrace different roles played by different people based upon their interests and experiences.  Just as cops do not make for the best marriage counselors and poets are not traditionally called upon to rewire your house, many brilliant technical minds simply are not good at, or interested in, business.  Many of the biggest tech sector companies, like Facebook, only reached their business potential when the tech-focused creator hired a brilliant business-oriented individual (like Mark Zuckerberg did when he hired Sheryl Sandberg).  No other major industry seems to respect just how well specialized people may work when they are allowed to focus on their specialization (instead of treating all employees and executives as interchangeable) than the tech sector.  Ryan Rouland has long recognized the benefits of letting tech leaders focus on the ideas and products, while he has built many successful tech companies for those innovators! Read more »

With the rise of digital photography, people have a vastly easier ability to take pictures and store them than ever before.  Taking photographs is no longer a costly or time-consuming process and with today’s digital storage methods, you can create a virtually limitless repository of images from your life and experiences.  What has not kept pace with the ability to take digital photographs is a normalization of technology used to display digital photographs.  In many offices and even at home, people have prints of pictures or they will furtively look through the images stored on their smartphone when they need to feel connected, but while digital picture frames have existed for years, the market has not grown nearly as fast as the technology by which you take digital photographs has improved.  Aiptek aims to change that and with their P8i26 Portable 3D Display, they make it easy to display and enjoy digital photographs! Read more »

As Cloud-based streaming services become more prevalent and popular, the major producers of movies, music, and television programming have become more anxious about the new services.  After early Internet sites like Napster gave away their content, major studios got wise (and litigious) and have been more vigorously fighting piracy.  The new strategy that both streaming services and the major studios have begun taking is creating alliances and agreements as Internet companies develop their platform.  That requires the streaming start-ups, or established sites that are looking to diversify into media distribution, to have great lawyers.  For Roku, the manufacturer of streaming media players, the legal team is headed by Kim Funk. Read more »

With so many digital photography services online, it can be very hard for a new, emerging, or revamped service to effectively sell itself to its target demographic.  Digital photographers have a lot of choices these days, but with the rapidly changing nature of the Internet, recently several online photo editors and storage sites have been shut down, while new ones have sprouted up.  Making your online digital photo service seem fresh, new, and vital can be as much a marketing challenge as it is an issue of programming your service the right way.  For Shutterfly, the challenge of marketing the website and its many services falls to Katelyn Watson. Read more »

Just as USB flash drives have become, Bluetooth headsets are rapidly becoming an accessories you use as a form of self-expression.  While there have been some recent improvements in Bluetooth technology, the fundamental differences in most Bluetooth headsets released to market now are stylistic or with selling points that target a certain niche audience.  One of the demographics that could use a change to the standard Bluetooth is enthusiasts of outdoors activities.  Many Bluetooth headsets transmit noise from wind, rain, and other elements and lack the durability needed by those who want to get away, but need to stay in touch.  The Endure Rugged Bluetooth Earpiece substantially eliminates those issues! Read more »

Virtually anyone with a real talent not directly related to their field of employment who has friends will be told “you should do that professionally!”  While friends mean well by such compliments, they seldom realize that starting a business is a huge task, often involves a skill set entirely different from the skill or product that their friends love, and they are asking their friend to take something they love doing and become dependent upon it for income.  Very few people have the wherewithal to go through with such an endeavor.  However, Julie Degnan not only made a business out of her hobby, she had all the business skills to make it a success! Read more »

The smartphone is becomes a more vital piece of technology with each upgrade that manufacturers make.  What was once a basic communication device has transformed into a personal assistant, post office, shopping mall, video camera/camera, art studio and entertainment center!  The power of smartphones is impressive, but for all of their great qualities, each smartphone is limited by the size of its screen.  Smartphone screens are compact and no matter how good the resolution is on your smartphone screen, there are some things – like special effects-driven movies – that lose incredible amounts of detail simply by virtue of the screen size.  While you cannot make your smartphone screen bigger, you can make the images you see there bigger and for those who truly rely upon their smartphones for entertainment and storing business information, the BenQ Joybee GP2 may solve many issues with your small smartphone screen. Read more »

Style and fashion can be a tough sell using the Internet.  The Internet is great for presenting images of cutting-edge styles and connecting users to sales points, but many style shoppers have discovered that products hardly seem as glamorous as the digitally touched-up images they saw online make them look.  Fashion shoppers frequently find that colors are not as precisely rendered on their computer monitors, resulting in negative shopping experiences that can leave them out of the current trend.  But one woman has found a very effective way to synergize online shopping, social networks and the in-person shopping experience.  That business visionary is Jessica Herrin! Read more »

This year will see some exciting new sites and developments on the Internet and in the world of mobile computing.  As Microsoft prepares to return to the tablet computer market, Apple leaks rumors of its iPhone 5 and the giants of technology sue one another repeatedly over alleged patent violations, many exciting new start-ups are readying for public launch.  One of the applications that is generating a great deal of buzz already is Vizify, a service that will cull your social networking information to allow you to create an uber-profile that puts the best of you at the forefront of the Internet.  Vizify is nearing completion and taking it the last steps to launch is what Eli Tucker is entirely focused on these days! Read more »