Computer Support Blog

So far, 2012 has been a particularly brutal year for patent fights within the tech sector.  It is almost as if every software giant and major manufacturer of electronic devices, tiring of having to produce new products, equipment, and programs, collectively decided that they were just going to try to sue their way to continued financial growth!  All of the major tech companies – Apple, Google, Microsoft, etc. – have been going to court the last few months to menace one another with lawsuits over violations to patent laws with huge dollar figures attached to the motions.  Apple Computers, seeing the Samsung Galaxy Nexus as a genuine threat to its iPad, sued Samsung and won an injunction to have the device (temporarily) removed from Google Play.  This was a significant move as Google is counting on the Galaxy Nexus, which utilizes the Android Ice Cream Sandwich operating system, to boost end-of-Quarter sales.  While many of the fights over patents have been convoluted, mean, and ultimately unprofitable, two companies have decided to suspend hostilities over patents.  Yahoo! and Facebook announced late last Friday that they have declared peace on the patent front. Read more »

Personal computers may no longer be incredibly expensive, but the truth is that – especially in a recession – people are looking for any reasonable way to save money.  Certainly, one good option can be to upgrade components of your computer as opposed to buying a new computer outright.  Now, it is possible to save money and time by upgrading your hard drive(s) in such a way that you do not have to stop using your old hard drive.  By swapping out your current hard drive with a new hard drive (or drives) you can continue to use a single computer with multiple configurations.  To make it work, though, you need an easy way to swap out your hard drives.  For that, there is the Genica 5.25” IDE Mobile Rack Removable Tray! Read more »

Despite the current recession, the tech sector continues to have a strong need for professionals.  Start-ups, especially, need highly-skilled, technical minded employees in order to translate the Founders’ vision into an actual product.  However, the process of hiring good people can be a time consuming one and it falls outside the skill set of many people who are focused on hardware, software, coding, and other non-people-related tasks.  As a result, one of the smartest early hires in a start-up can be to hire a brilliant recruiter.  Raquel Atkinson is one such recruiter in the tech sector. Read more »

It is almost surprising how very much product diversity there can be in a simple piece of computer hardware.  Take, for example, external hard drives.  External hard drives all do the same thing; they store your data.  But, there are a multitude of different variations based upon your individual data storage needs.  If you need space, there are now 1 TB external hard drives.  For those who need speed, there are USB 3.0 external hard drives and for those who need long-term storage, there are solid-state drives that appear to last indefinitely.  One of the most intriguing combinations of security and speed comes in the Aegis Padlock DT. Read more »

Jargon, words specific to an industry, profession, or setting, tends to pop up with what a layperson might find to be an alarming frequency in articles that pertain to developments within the tech sector.  As a result, readers are bombarded with numbers and terms that many writers simply assume their readers are familiar with: USB, FireWire, Ivy Bridge, etc.  To help demystify the tech sector and make technical jargon more accessible to non-tech readers, we occasionally explore a common jargon term.  Today’s exploration is API. Read more »

Sometimes, if you are not a part of a subculture or community, the devices utilized by that group of people might seem alien.  Even so, if there is a niche market and a device that might benefit that group, you can pretty much bet that there is a company within the tech sector that will try to market to that niche.  For those who want to get the most out of their golf game, there is no longer a need to carry around your tablet computer or use multiple devices on the golf course.  Garmin has devised the ultimate golf watch, the Approach S3. Read more »

Talent finds a way of finding its niche; people who are extraordinary seldom remain in positions that could be filled by virtually anyone with similar training.  As a result, it is largely unsurprising when a talented person leaves a good-paying, even prestigious, position to strike out on their own with a vision that is unique.  That is exactly what Carly Bellis did when she co-founded Impaktu. Read more »

If you are going to pay money for a streaming video service, like Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Hulu Plus, you might as well invest in the equipment that allows you to get the most out of it.  While some might be content to watch movies and television on their tablet computer or smartphone, those who truly love cinema will want to watch their programs on the best system they own.  For most people, that is a home theater consisting of a high-definition television and a stereo system.  To connect your streaming service to such a system you need either a dedicated computer or a streaming player, like the Roku 2 XS Streaming Player. Read more »

Google has become known throughout the tech sector as one of the biggest companies from which engineers with good ideas may launch a business of their own.  Perhaps that perception developed because as Google defined itself in the early days of its company, its leadership did not want to be distracted by side projects.  Google did not start out as a company that was trying to be everything to everyone.  As such, the creative engineers that Google hired to build its revolutionary search engine often had ideas that they could only act upon when no longer with Google.  Sean Knapp was one of those engineers with a vision that did not quite fit Google’s plans. Read more »

Late last year, there was a news story that was anything but real news, despite how the technology and business press covered it: Verizon had outages.  Treated as huge news, because Verizon claims to have the “most reliable network,” Verizon was virtually tarred and feathered for having a few bad days last year, wherein the weather contributed to Verizon services going off-line.  What the sensationalists in the media and business sectors neglected to consider was that Verizon’s claim to be the “most reliable network” did not mean that the service would not fail; it is a claim that their network will fail less than its other major competitors!  Verizon, of course, got service back up and running, but there were weeks of analysis – i.e. how did this failure of service happen, who’s to blame for the failure, etc.  Now, it looks like tech sector enthusiasts are likely to endure a series of similar article. Read more »