Computer Support Blog

Well before the rise of Angry Birds, there was a puzzle game that filled the niche left by Tetris finally waning in popularity.  But while Angry Birds might have captured the public’s attention because of its fun (and merchandisable) animation, many serious gamers who love puzzle games remain enchanted by the game that preceded Angry Birds.  That game is Hexic and it remains as cool as it ever was. Read more »

As streaming videos from the Internet becomes an increasingly legitimate entertainment channel, major companies in the entertainment industry are working to find their niche there.  Some of the most powerful production companies are rapidly expanding their Online division in order to use the Internet as an effective medium.  FremantleMedia is one such company that is devoting considerable resources to producing material for the Internet, including programming tailored to the mobile computing market.  All of their efforts, however, would be for naught if it were not for Mary Jones. Read more »

In the tech sector, there does not appear to be any belief in the adage, “Can’t we all just get along.”  Competition is fierce and the biggest players in the tech sector are fighting one another over every niche.  Two of the biggest companies, Apple Computers and Google, have had a recent series of spats that illustrates just how high the stakes are and how hard both companies are working to dominate the tech sector.  Google remains the world’s most-used search engine and smartphones powered by Google’s Android operating system still have the largest market share in the United States.  Apple is anything but complacent now that it is the world’s most profitable company.  In order to keep its place at the top, Apple is working to weaken Google. Read more »

With all of the major computer brands that consistently make headlines in the United States, it is sometimes easy to forget that there are smaller computer companies with worthwhile products in their own right.  Moreover, there are computer companies whose market penetration other places in the world is greater than in the United States.  Averatec, the computer brand imprint of TriGem, is one of the most popular computer lines in South Korea.  The Averatec All-In-One has what is needed to be successful in the United States as well. Read more »

In most companies, within the tech sector and without, there is usually a pretty distinctive difference between the marketing and public relations divisions.  Marketing, historically, is all about selling your potential customers on your product.  Public relations is the division that promotes a positive view of your company by dealing with customer service issues, as well as corporate outreach.  So, it is fascinating to find a manager at a major company who is in Marketing, yet functions as a public relations specialist.  Tony Ou, of Silverstone Technology, is one such fascinating individual. Read more »

StumbleUpon recently made some changes.  Guided by focus groups, StumbleUpon’s CEO authorized alterations to StumbleUpon with the stated purpose of making the site easier to use.  While not entirely eliminating the fun, random nature of StumbleUpon’s interface – which took you to websites that conformed to your stated interests – CEO Garrett Camp made a number of changes to the popular site.  In addition to putting graphic representations of interests on the front page and adding a search engine to the site, StumbleUpon now features Channels. Read more »

More and more consumers are discovering solid-state drives, it seems manufacturers continue to find new ways to utilize the technology.  Solid-state drives have shown far greater resiliency than traditional magnetic hard drives, which have moving parts that break down.  Some of the newer, more sophisticated, devices that employ solid-state drives do more than simply store your files.  One card with solid-state storage capacity that does a bit more is the WarpDrive SLP-300 Acceleration Card. Read more »

With the rise of Zynga, a video game developer that has effectively utilized Facebook as a platform for social gaming, traditional video game companies seem to have a lot to worry about.  After all, as Zynga’s market share grows, that company diminishes the market share of other video game companies.  But Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello is not sweating the completion; he has an ace in the hole.  That ace is Gabrielle Toledano. Read more »

There is a somewhat ugly trend in the tech sector right now where the corporate philosophy seems to be “be everything to everyone.”  The behemoths of the tech sector – Apple, Google, Microsoft, etc. – are each struggling to capture the market share of virtually every division and idea within the tech sector.  When one company branches into mobile OS development, the others leap into mobile OS development and start developing their own search engines.  The result is that consumers are forced to ally themselves with one company’s many product lines or scatter their allegiance on a product by product basis, often ending up with incompatible technologies causing additional headaches.  One of the latest fronts is online mapping programs.  Looking to shore up their position in the market, Google is launching improvements to Google Maps in advance of Apple unveiling its new mapping service. Read more »

Along with all the other forms of media available on the Internet, comics have made quite an impact for those who enjoy finding humor online. Webcomics have become a very popular Internet phenomenon and they vary in content and style as much as any other form of entertainment does. There are a few very popular webcomics online, one of the most popular of which is xkcd. Read more »