Computer Support Blog

Internet videos have made overnight celebrities.  Most of the viral videos that have launched obscure people into the collective consciousness of popular culture have resulted in a very fast rise and fall for the subject of the video.  In fact, there are very few subjects of Internet viral videos who have had real success following their peak popularity in a viral video.  One of the few to actually have a successful career following their viral video’s inevitable flameout is Amber Lee Ettinger.

Amber Lee Ettinger grew up as a dedicated student who was deeply interested in fashion.  After high school, she was accepted to New York City’s prestigious Fashion Institute of Technology, where she began to study fashion and clothing design.  At that point in her life, she wanted to be an entrepreneur and design her own clothing line.  After a brief stint on the beauty pageant circuit – she was Miss NYC in the Miss Hawaiian Tropic pageant – she set her sights on the performance arts.  Ettinger appeared in a music video for the John Popper Project and appeared on a very popular segment for the Internet show The Onion News Network.

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Windows 8 is just around the corner. Microsoft released its new operating system for the developer’s pre-beta testing phase in September and a beta version will come out in February. The reviews so far from the pre-beta phase are extremely encouraging about Windows 8.

According to developers who are already using the pre-beta version, Windows 8 is a very different operating system from its predecessors. The entire operating system is a rethought and redesigned product to fulfill the needs of users better on all platforms.

That is right, all platforms. Instead of using a different operating system for smartphones and tablets than they use for computers, Windows 8 will be available for all devices. It will to work the same on every device, as well as be able to synchronize your trusted devices so that you can pull up the same programs when moving from one device to another. This should simplify computer support for any of your devices.

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Given that there are so many specialized computer products for everything from weight loss to animal control, it might not surprise you to learn that there is a booming industry of computer devices for nautical use.  Watersports and boat travel have become increasingly sophisticated through the use of specialized computer hardware.  Working near water has unique risks that other occupations do not necessarily have and as a result, professions that work on waterfronts and waterways require specialized equipment.  One of the key pieces of equipment boating enthusiasts require is a specialized monitor.  For that, there are KEPM Marine Displays.

The KEPM Marine Displays come in six different screen sizes, from twelve to twenty-four inches (diagonal measurement).  No matter the screen size, the KEPM Marine Displays share some very important attributes that make them ideal for nautical use.  The first aspect is that all of the monitors come with aluminum frames that are powder coated to resist wear.  Because a computer screen on a moving boat will encounter more dust, debris and other environmental wear from both air and water, the frame of a nautical display must be sturdy and weather-resistant.  KEPM Marine Displays resist the elements as well as sudden shocks, like dropping limited distances.

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The rise of video games on smartphones and tablet computers has led to many changes in perception about video gaming.  People who used to despise video games now make Gardenville and Angry Birds exceptionally popular.  With the change in both attitudes toward video games and the rise of untraditional video game platforms comes the need for new business models.  One of the new attempts to make money off these new forms of gaming comes from Roy Liu.

Roy Liu is a co-founder of the new company GimmieWorld.  Liu is also the company’s Chief Technology Officer.  GimmieWorld is the innovative new site that rewards video game enthusiasts for trying new games on their mobile computing device or smartphone.  Liu’s idea for the platform was to have incentives for trying new games and GimmieWorld provides points to users for trying new games.  Those points may be redeemed for freebies both within the games and on the emerging GimmieWorld site.  To lure more developers to GimmieWorld, Roy Liu has illustrated a strong connection between mobile computing customers and giveaways that gives developers a real incentive to try the new service.  As a developer himself, Roy Liu recognizes the importance of getting your product in front of the intended consumers and his GimmieWorld provides that service for emerging mobile video game developers!

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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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It is still early in the new year, so advertising on television still contains reminders to drink responsibly.  That type of advertising virtually disappears right after the Super Bowl until the winter holidays (I suppose the beer manufacturers know that many people consume alcoholic beverages when confronted with either football or family), despite alcohol-related drinking deaths being a year-round problem.  And while there are numerous forms of technology that may help you find where the trendy places to drink are or what the best new alcoholic beverages are, there are few products that can help prevent drinking and driving.  Outside outright prevention, the best weapon against drunk or buzzed driving is education.  For that, HDE has a portable breathalyzer!

HDE’s Digital Breathalyzer is a blood alcohol level tester that is available for consumer use.  The specialized electronic device is very simple to use and runs on 3 AAA batteries (which HDE does not provide).  The Digital Breathalyzer runs on the same principles that the breathalyzers used by law enforcement personnel operate on.  The small black device has a tube into which you breathe and the Digital Breathalyzer determines your blood alcohol content.  Registering from 0.00% BAC up to the almost-lethal .19% BAC, the Digital Breathalyzer is an exceptional tool for preventing the operation a motor vehicle while impaired or influenced by alcohol.

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A few years back, Microsoft had some legal troubles.  The U.S. government decided to aggressively pursue the Microsoft Corporation for antitrust violations.  This resulted in a restructuring of much of the way Microsoft does business and as Microsoft progresses past that dark chapter in its corporate history, it is once more growing steadily.  The results of the government probes and prosecution would have been much worse, had it not been for Mary E. Snapp.

Mary E. Snapp is the Corporate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel in the Law and Corporate Affairs branch of Microsoft.  She specializes in providing legal advice for the Products and Services Division of Microsoft.  As Corporate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of the vital Products and Services division, Snapp oversees 150 lawyers working to protect Microsoft’s legal claims for some of the most widely-used Microsoft products.

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The biggest problem in the tech sector is not supply chain problems, environmental regulations, lack of creativity or even limited battery life.  The biggest problem in the tech sector, like so many industries, is hubris.  Hubris, the pride that leads one to believe that they are invincible, flawless, destined for greatness/market dominance/perfection, is the true scourge of the tech sector.  Why?  Quite simply it is the vainest form of hubris wherein the largest technology companies come to believe that because they have hired the absolute best and brightest tech school graduates, that the pool is empty, no other geniuses exist.  Virtually every major tech company believes that they have the individuals and teams who are the most skilled and most creative.  That belief makes them blind to the creative programming geniuses who work outside the corporate structure.

Symantec was so blinded when hackers cracked into their servers and downloaded the source code for Symantec’s pcAnywhere and Norton Antivirus.

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After the federal government took down the file-sharing website MegaUpload, many people have renewed the copyright debate. MegaUpload, and the associated site MegaVideo, were some of the most popular websites on the Internet, with millions of page views a day. The Justice Department’s quick and efficient takedown of MegaUpload has scared many of the other major file-sharing websites.

FileSonic and FileServe have both suspended users’ ability to download any content that the users did not upload themselves. This reaction, immediately after the MegaUpload takedown happened, is meant to save them from the same criminal charges the owners of MegaUpload are facing.

Other than file-sharing sites changing the way they function, there have been many mixed reactions to the Justice Department’s actions. Some say that it was unconstitutional, as users who had legal files on MegaUpload cannot access those files anymore. Others praise the decision and swift action for stopping online piracy.

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With all of the emphasis on USB flash drives for portable storage, it is easy to forget that portable hard drives are even a viable option for consumers any more.  Portable hard drives, however, offer you more stable digital storage and, usually, greater capacity than can be found on the less-stable flash drives.  LaCia makes it impossible to deny the power and coolness of portable hard drives, though, with the Rugged Triple USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive!

The Rugged Triple Portable Hard Drive is a state-of-the-art portable hard drive from LaCia, one of the leading computer hardware manufacturers concerned with computer security.  LaCia is synonymous with data protection the world round and the Rugged Triple may well be their masterpiece product.

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