Computer Support Blog

With the media world moving more from an industry that is based in the physical world to one that is digital, there are very few businesses that remain unaffected.  One of the industries that is experiencing significant shifts in the way it creates and manufactures products is the greeting card industry.  Facing stiff competition from online card companies, traditional greeting card companies like Hallmark Cards are forced to innovate.  Hallmark Cards may have been in a better position to compete, as it had built its brand name into an award-winning multimedia company (with the Hallmark Hall of Fame movies) well before online card companies became a viable threat to their bottom line.  Even now, Hallmark has less to be concerned about because it has Paul Barker. Read more »

Security is a concern in the tech sector that only continues to grow.  The growth of security services pertaining to computers, smartphones and mobile computing devices is not a reflection on the industry’s unwillingness to adapt; technology continues to change at such a fast rate and hackers continue to adapt as well, necessitating an almost-constant development of new security-related products and services.  While many computers have been protected by the most robust anti-viral software ever created, as hackers take on smartphones and mobile computing devices, many of the major software developers have been slow to react.  Instead, consumers are discovering the benefits of mobile computing protection software, like Reliaty55. Read more »

Given how vast the tech sector is, it is very easy for workers at all levels to find themselves suddenly working in an area in which their expertise is limited.  Keeping up with the tech sector can require quite a bit of continual training and often workers who are focused on their work-related tasks do not have the time to learn about the very latest practices or developments in the tech sectors.  That is why many companies utilize professional trainers who both update workers on current events and instruct workers on how to utilize programs with which they have limited prior experience.  One of the best trainers in the business is Jennifer Page! Read more »

When the Apple iPhone 4S was released, there was much ado made over Siri, the talking virtual butler program that was integrated into the new iPhone.  Siri receives input through verbal commands and inquiries and responds in a pleasant, feminine voice.  While Apple has been lauded for the technology (and criticized for its flaws), it is not the only company diligently working on voice recognition and vocal delivery software.  In fact, compared to LumenVox – a company working in the vocal engine software industry for over a decade – Apple is a relative newcomer!  Currently pushing the envelope of all that LumenVox creates is Nigel Quinnin. Read more »

Unlike some of the clone sites of Pinterest that sprouted up when Pinterest’s meteoric rise to popularity began, most notably Shopalong, Pinterest has been stumbling through monetizing the site.  While the executives at Pinterest are not at all resistant to the idea of monetizing, like Facebook’s founders were when they were simply focused on creating something new and cool, Pinterest has been slower than some similar sites to figure out how to make money off its own popularity.  For the last month, though, Pinterest has taken steps to stop others from making money off the site, even as it figures out how to better generate revenue itself.  Some of the ways Pinterest is working, under the guise of stopping spam, to prevent other individuals and sites from utilizing Pinterest include: Read more »

Despite its many successes in the software field, it is virtually impossible to deny that in many ways, Microsoft has been chasing Apple for years.  While Microsoft was still utilizing keyboard-based DOS, Apple had a mouse-based interface that captivated its users and made life easier for them.  That Microsoft Windows largely made PC’s more like Macintosh computers is a pretty old argument.  But as more and more details are leaked from Microsoft’s forthcoming Windows 8, it is hard not to see the parallels between the new operating system from Microsoft and Apple’s iOS. Read more »

About fifteen years ago, the consumer software market was all abuzz over voice recognition technology.  You could buy programs that, after a training session that created a template of your specific voice, intonation, and speech patterns, could (supposedly) recognize vocal commands.  Between tragically slow computer processors and comparatively limited hard drive space relative to the demands of such vocal recognition training programs, many consumers discovered that voice operation of their computers was more of a boondoggle than a benefit.  Now, with applications like Siri from Apple, voice recognition has progressed to the point where it is a practical way to interact with many computer devices.  So, what is the next step; what is like voice recognition was fifteen years ago to push the envelope forward?  That would be thought recognition and it is no longer just a science fiction concept! 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 »

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 »

The software field has become an important marketing tool for other, seemingly unrelated, fields and businesses.  As a company finds profitability in one venue or medium, they often look to expand and, when it comes to software, that usually means synergizing a brand name with a new-to-market piece of software.  So, while there are many different software programs that allow you to play with home design, only HGTV Ultimate Home Design has the endorsement of a major cable network that specializes in such things as home repair and interior design.  The “HGTV” moniker adds a level of celebrity and consumer enthusiasm to the software and to get the name attached to the program, the software company Nova Design had to make a business arrangement (license)  with the company that owns HGTV.  Such licensing agreements are becoming increasingly important in the software market and that makes people like John Bartlett more important than ever! Read more »