Computer Support Blog

There are few job sectors where women are overlooked for hiring, promotion, and leadership roles compared to their male counterparts as in the technology sector.  Despite intense gains in social equality in the legislative arena, concerted efforts to provide computers specifically to impoverished girls, and rising test scores for girls in math and science, jobs in the technology sector have remained scarce for women.  But because the Internet has helped women to network, the barriers to women in the technology sector may be broken down.  If they are, it will be in no small part thanks to Carolyn Leighton.

Carolyn Leighton earned her bachelor’s degree in human development at Pacific Oaks College.  In her studies there, she became passionate about women’s rights, specifically in the workplace.  An expert on the gender gap and the glass ceiling, Leighton’s studies revealed to her a profound inequity in the treatment of women in the technology sector.  As a businesswoman, Leighton was baffled at how slowly women were making progress in companies responsible for computer development and electronics manufacturing.  Having had several successful businesses since college, Leighton was building Criterion Research when she conceived of the International Network of Women in Technology.

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Internet social networks are still a relatively new phenomenon and as a result, programmers, businesspeople and the public do not yet fully understand the nature and impact of them.  For sure, Myspace, Facebook, and Google+ have all grown and attracted people to them, but there are few people who understand why.  To unravel this great mystery of why people use Internet social networks and how to retain users, there is Paul Adams.

Paul Adams is fascinated by sociology and studied social media on the Internet as it developed.  Adams holds a Bachelor’s degree in Design in Industrial Design and he earned his M.S. in Interactive Media.  Armed with those credentials, he initially entered the workforce as an industrial designer.  As a free agent, Paul Adams designed car interiors for Faurecia and he designed the vacuum that became Dyson’s best-selling vacuum in Japan!

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Ever since Twiggy and the rise of the supermodel, the fashion industry has conditioned women to hate their bodies.  While the philosophy of the 1970s was one of love, acceptance and self-improvement, with the proliferation of size 0 in modeling, the “you must always be thinner” philosophy has replaced the “love your body” mindset.  Fortunately, computers are finally coming to the rescue in the area of women’s body image!  From designing clothes to modeling them, computers are making ultra-thin models obsolete.

Computers have become integral to the fashion industry.  More than simply being used for inventory control and online shopping, the fashion industry relies heavily on computers.  While computer aided design and computer modeling are the most important computer-related innovations in the fashion industry, computers have made easier much more mundane tasks like materials procurement.  The Internet is a wealth of resources for fashion designers and manufacturers, as they are able to find all sorts of textiles and designs through the Internet that are not available to them in the capitals of the fashion industry.

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If you have seen The Social Network, you know the Hollywood version of the history of the creation of Facebook.  In the movie, Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook for the programming challenge and the status of creating the “next big thing.”  When Sean Parker comes into the mix, the priority with “The Facebook” is keeping the site cool and hip, as opposed to monetizing it.  This is actually one of the details from the film that jives with reality.  However, there came a time for Facebook to monetize and when it did, it was Sheryl Sandberg who made the cool Facebook into a multibillion dollar advertising platform.

Sheryl Sandberg is the Chief Operating Officer of Facebook.  Sandberg arrived at Facebook in 2008 after being wooed away from a potential job at Google.  That hiring was seen as a real coup for the Facebook team and shortly after joining the company, Sandberg initiated the advertising program that changed Facebook from a potential cash cow into a multibillion dollar moneymaker.  By 2010, Facebook was showing a profit, which was virtually unheard of in Internet social networks.

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Serious photographers who live on the cheap and use computers for their digital photography are feeling the squeeze.  One of the best sites for altering digital photographs is closing down on April 19, 2012 and the virtual world of the Internet will be a little worse off for it.  The site is called Picnik and is has announced that it will be ending service soon, sending many photographers scrambling.

Picnik is, at least for the next few weeks, a free website where you could alter photographs you took.  The site was simple.  You uploaded a picture to their site, where Picnik provided tools to crop, resize, alter lighting and color settings, reduce red eye and do several other alterations to your photograph.  When you had the picture looking the way you liked it, you could download your altered picture and move on to more pictures.  This was a wonderful alternative to expensive, licensed programs like Adobe Photoshop or Photo Explosion.  Through Picnik, you could transform the photo you actually took into the photo you wanted it to be.

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When you are not a member of a certain subculture, you may be entirely ignorant of its existence, much less what the principles and beliefs are for that culture or group.  As the Internet has effectively made the world smaller by connecting people from obscure subcultures, it has made learning about different groups of people much easier.  One of the most intriguing subcultures that has a surprising interest in computers and technology is the steampunk movement.

The steampunk subculture is preoccupied with reimagining the modern world as if steam power was still the dominant form of power.  The steampunk movement glorifies the sense of style of the Victorian Era and redesigns our modern conveniences to fit that style.  One of the very best resources on the Internet for those looking to understand steampunk is The Steampunk Workshop.

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Google+ has some real challenges to overcome as it becomes the new kid on the block of social networking sites.  Even so, Google has shown resiliency in its corporate history, so there is every reason to believe that Google+ could become the next Facebook at the top of the social network food chain.  Here is why Google+ may well succeed:

1. The social network market is dynamic.  Google+ enters the social network race exceptionally late.  Even so, the rise of Facebook and Twitter over Myspace illustrates that users have remarkably little brand loyalty to their social network.  Users have Facebook for friends and family contact, Picasa for online photo storage, and LinkedIn for professional networking.  Google+ combines all of those aspects, especially the data storage options for photo albums, all on one platform.  With over 40% of social network users belonging to 3-5 social networks, it is clear that social network enthusiasts enjoy the process of exploring new networks.

2. The Google+ interface.  The Google+ social network is based on the idea that people have several different groups or cliques to which they belong.  You make your own groups and associate your friends and acquaintances with whatever group you want.  You can watch as people move you between different groups.  The advantage is that you have the ability to compartmentalize the different people in your life and that is a clever way to run a single profile over many different interests.  The ever-changing nature of the Google+ relationship model encourages you to check in frequently.

3. The advertising.  Google+ advertising constantly during prime time this holiday season hits all of its key demographics fast, making it seem like it is an already established phenomenon.

4. A solid revenue model.  Google+ arrives on the social networking scene with its fundamental advertising revenue model in place.  Because Google’s AdSense is already in place and integrated with the Google+ platform, Google does not need to devote nearly as many resources to courting advertisers.

Google wants a piece of the social networking business, but they are coming very late with Google+.  Even so, it seems the platform has everything needed for Google to have another success in its portfolio.  Because social network users are fickle enough to constantly change their relationships, Google+ seems to have an interface that speaks directly to its target demographic.  Just as Google+ allows users to move friends among different groups the user creates, Google hopes to woo users from the other social networks.  Hopefully, it has a model to keep them there once they land on Google+!

About RESCUECOM:

RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.

For More Information, Contact:

David Milman, CEO

315-882-1100

david@rescuecom.com

As the publishing industry changes with technology, it is no surprise that digital comics are becoming an important part of the lives of comic book readers everywhere.  Comic book fans have often been maligned as either being oddly illiterate (requiring pictures to actually read books) or obsessive compulsive collectors who do not even read their mint-condition books.  Digital comics confound those prejudices by giving the collectors a virtual product that allows them to enjoy the stories they love and illustrating that most comic readers are not only literate but tech savvy.  While digital comic book programs like the one from Comixology have their benefits, for readers of Marvel Comics comic books, there is no substitute for Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited.

Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited is a comprehensive premium subscription digital comic reader that has been around longer than any other mainstream digital comics program.  The Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited service is both a first-run digital publication service and the most incredible archive a Marvel Comics fan could hope for.  For $9.99/month or $59.88/year, you have access to the incredible Marvel Comics vault as well as all new comics in a digital form.

When you subscribe to the Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited, you get unrestricted access to the Marvel Comics vault.  Every day, Marvel adds many vintage comics to the Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited collection and the stated goal from Marvel is to have every single issue of every single book Marvel Comics ever published available in a digital form in the vault.  Already, there are tens of thousands of Marvel Comics available from the service.  Each comic book in the collection is rendered as a Flash program.  As a subscriber, you may open any available comic book on your computer, smartphone or tablet computer to access read the book.  The Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited format guides you from panel to panel of each book, so you read at your own pace, but in the order the author intended you to read the book.  This format is especially helpful when reading comic books where the illustrators awkwardly arranged the panels of the book on the page; the Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited format eliminates that issue!

Marvel releases new comics in the same format, so there is consistency between old and new comic books.  Marvel publishes each new comic to the Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited program a few months after their initial print publication.  This, they argue, keeps the print medium relevant while still encouraging subscribers to the Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited program.

With the rising costs of graphic novels and comic books, a subscription to Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited may be the most cost-effective way to keep reading comic books old and new!

About RESCUECOM:

RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.

For More Information, Contact:

David Milman, CEO

315-882-1100

david@rescuecom.com

Back in the day, Myspace.com was the dominant social network on the Internet.  MySpace was cool and it was fun and it introduced most of the United States to the very concept of Internet social networks.  While everyone who ever visited MySpace might have a different perception of it or vastly different experiences on it, MySpace had one essential constant.  That constant was Tom.

Tom – Tom from MySpace, MySpace Tom, everybody’s friend Tom – is Thomas Anderson.  Thomas Anderson appeared as Tom on every single person’s MySpace page when they first signed up for an account from the creation of the site through 2010.  You remember Tom, right?  He was the one in the white shirt, smiling looking over his shoulder.  He was your first “friend” on MySpace.  He was everyone’s first friend on MySpace because Tom was the default friend.

Did you ever wonder just who Tom was, though?

Thomas Anderson was a bored genius as a child.  Deeply interested in computers, Thomas learned to hack at a young age and when he was a teenager, he was known in the hacking community by his online moniker Lord Flathead.  As Lord Flathead, Thomas hacked into Chase Manhattan Bank’s security system, which brought him to the attention of the F.B.I.  After studying at the University of California at Berkeley, he drifted for a while.  Thomas Anderson was the lead singer of the band Swank before spending an extended period in Taiwan.  When Thomas returned to the United States, he began Master’s studies in Critical Film Studies before becoming a product tester and copywriter for XDrive.

It was at XDrive that Thomas met Chris DeWolfe.  Within four years of meeting, Thomas Anderson and Chris DeWolfe would create MySpace.  While DeWolfe focused on the business end of MySpace and the pair programmed together, it was Thomas Anderson who was primarily responsible for the development of MySpace.  As a result, it was Thomas who fixed bugs and also made MySpace cool.  Promoting MySpace in the programming world, Thomas encouraged computer programmers to develop applications for the MySpace platform.  Under Thomas Anderson, MySpace became one of the most profitable Internet start-ups of all time.

Thomas Anderson remained one of the key executives of MySpace through the website’s sale to News Corp.  Thomas remained with the company until 2009, when he stepped down as President of MySpace.  Shortly thereafter, MySpace underwent massive layoffs and lost millions of users.  Without Tom, MySpace just couldn’t survive!

Now, Thomas Anderson is retired (at age 41!), though he is a prominent presence on Facebook and the emerging Google+.  You know a social network is promising when Tom shows up on it!

About RESCUECOM:

RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.

For More Information, Contact:

David Milman, CEO

315-882-1100

david@rescuecom.com

The name “Emily Post” is synonymous with “etiquette” the whole world around.  But few people stop to consider that Emily Post was the name in etiquette for most of our grandparents . . . how is it she still dictates the rules of society after almost ninety years?  The answer, of course, is that Emily Post, the original author of Etiquette: The Blue Book of Social Usage, does not; others continue to use her name.  Since 1946, etiquette has been dictated in Emily Post’s name from The Emily Post Institute.  The great-grand and great-great-grandchildren of Emily Post currently run The Emily Post Institute.  The member of the Emily Post Institute that is making etiquette most accessible to the current generation is Daniel Post Senning.

Daniel Post Senning is the great-great-grandson of Emily Post and he carries on her legacy still at the Emily Post Institute.  As the Manager of Web Development and Online Content, Daniel Post Senning is responsible for bringing the Emily Post Institute into the 21^st Century.  While being born into the Post Dynasty might have gotten Daniel Post Senning his start, it was his ambition and technical acumen that made him into such a great asset for the Institute.  As a graduate of Pomona College with a B.S. in Molecular Biology, Daniel Post Senning had many doors open up to him.  He chose to return to the Emily Post Institute to ensure that the Institute would remain relevant in these turbulent times.

As Manager of Web Development and Online Content, Daniel Post Senning designed and brought online the Emily Post Institute’s robust website.  The cornerstone of the new website is the etipedia, which is an encyclopedia of etiquette articles available for free on the Internet.  Daniel Post Senning designed the etipedia with a robust search engine so that users could find articles fast and easily.  The ease-of-use of the etipedia has made it an indispensible online tool for journalists as well as citizens searching for etiquette information.

Not content to simply design the website and establish the Emily Post Institute as the leading online source for etiquette articles, Daniel Post Senning is also a significant content contributor to the website.  Daniel Post Senning writes extensively about etiquette on the Internet and he is responsible for the Facebook and Twitter content from the Emily Post Institute.  As a content provider for the Emily Post Institute website, Daniel Post Senning hosts one of the most dynamic features on the site; his video blog!  With his performer’s personality and wit, Daniel Post Senning frequently updates the Institute’s website with interviews and presentations that are as entertaining as they are informative.

Proper etiquette is never passé and Daniel Post Senning is ensuring that the Emily Post Institute remains relevant to teach etiquette lessons to the next generation!

About RESCUECOM:

RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.

For More Information, Contact:

David Milman, CEO

315-882-1100

david@rescuecom.com