Computer Support Blog

As companies rise and fall in Silicon Valley, it is no surprise that the big tech companies frequently see employees migrate from one popular company to the next big thing.  While some of the big tech companies actively poach employees from their competitors, other tech companies seem to just attract a lot of employees from the companies with greater name recognition.  In the case of StumbleUpon, the comparatively small Internet company has a surprisingly high number of employees formerly employed at Google.  One of the most significant ex-Google workers who is now vital to StumbleUpon is Japjit Tulsi.

Japjit Tulsi made a lateral move in 2011 when he became StumbleUpon’s Vice President of Engineering from being Google’s Director of Engineering.  While at Google, Tulsi was responsible for creating Google Analytics, which is one of the standard-bearers of online traffic analysis.  That level of programming genius made him very attractive to StumbleUpon.  Prior to Google, Japjit Tulsi was a part of Microsoft’s executive development program.  At Microsoft, Tulsi served as a group manager in the engineering department.  Prior to Microsoft, Tulsi studied at Punjab University where he abandoned a law career in favor of the tech sector.

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Demand Media had a pretty rough 2011, though its Fourth Quarter earnings were actually better than expected.  A provider of videos, blogs, and other media over the Internet, Demand Media has been working to transform the way people use the Internet for education and entertainment.  While the company has been growing, Demand Media’s Board has been buying back its stock and the company is not quite where the executives and analysts thought it would be.  Dave Panos is the man who will change the direction of Demand Media!

Dave Panos is the Chief Strategy Officer of Demand Media and his plans for the company are ambitious.  Because Demand Media is known for delivering original Internet video content the company is in competition with many distribution channels, like YouTube.  Panos organized a strategic partnership with competitor CoverItLive.  By pairing Demand Media and CoverItLive, Panos helped increase the video base of Demand Media dramatically, which allows Demand Media to reach a much wider audience.  Having the vision to partner with potentially vulnerable competitors is part of what makes Panos a truly great Chief Strategy Officer.

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The Internet truly has made the world smaller in many ways.  With communications over the Internet happening virtually instantaneously, the people of the world are more interconnected than ever.  This interconnection between geographically and culturally different people is especially evident on Internet social networks.  Just because the connectivity between people exists in the Internet does not necessarily mean that it is well-understood.  To understand the real impact of online activity, one needs impressive analytical tools like those offered by Gnip.  Gnip needs Chris Moody.

Chris Moody joined Gnip in the middle of 2011.  Hired by CEO Jud Valeski, Moody assumed the dual roles of President of Gnip and Chief Operating Officer.  In the two executive positions, Moody essentially runs day-to-day operations of Gnip.  Chris Moody is directly responsible for the company’s development and while Valeski and the Board of Directors determine the overall direction of Gnip, it is Moody who is responsible for managing the company to get it there!

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Puzzle games are exceptionally popular among casual computer game players.  The rise of smartphones has made video games accessible to a much larger audience. Puzzle games like Hexic and Angry Birds have effectively captivated smartphone users and opened entirely new markets up in the video game industry.  But while Angry Birds has remained comparatively static – Rovio has effectively merchandised Angry Birds beyond the popular game, but not released any new expansions for some time – a new game has come to dominate the puzzle game niche.  That game is Cut The Rope.

Cut The Rope is a physics-based puzzle game similar in several ways to Angry Birds, which might be why it so easily took over the same niche.  Developed by Chillingo, Cut The Rope features bright colors and simple animation that makes it ideal for playing on a smartphone or tablet computer, where one does not need the most advanced monitor to get the most out of the game.  When Chillingo released Cut The Rope to the Apple App Store during the fourth quarter of 2010, it sold three million downloads before the end of that year!  Since its initial release, Chillingo has continued to release Cut The Rope for different video game platforms, as well as a new expansion, Cut The Rope: Experiments.

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Regardless of what one may think of 3-D movies, 3-D technology is undeniably cool.  Visual effects may only be one component of popular movies and television works, but it is an increasingly important component.  Visual effects are also created more and more through the use of computers.  A significant number of the computers used to create special effects for blockbuster movies and popular television shows run Autodesk.  Carl Bass is the CEO of Autodesk.

As CEO of Autodesk, Carl Bass is responsible for developing and marketing the Autodesk tools to keep them the industry standard for special effects.  Infatuated by 3-D effects, Bass recently made many Autodesk 3-D applications free to Autodesk users.  By increasing the availability of the 3-D tools, Bass hopes to keep Autodesk dominant in the market.  So far, his plan is working quite well.

Bass came to Autodesk when Autodesk bought his first company, Ithaca Software, in 1993.  Having marketed HOOPS, an important 3-D software, for Ithaca Software, Carl Bass was a great asset to Autodesk and was part of their interest in the smaller software company.  Carl Bass ascended from Executive Vice President of product development to Chief Technology Officer of Autodesk.  When Autodesk promoted Carl Bass to Chief Operating Officer, Bass developed his abilities at worldwide marketing and marketing.  From there, he was the natural choice when the Board started looking for a new CEO.

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Internet humor is, arguably, an acquired taste and it is certainly dominated by youth!  Because young people tend to be fickle, staying with something only so long as it is trendy, many Internet humor sites and Internet humor phenomena are not enduring.  They rise up, the novelty of their form of humor captivates an audience and then the audience dissipates and the contributors go on to the next big thing.  One of the real exceptions to that cycle came from the creative mind of Sherrod DeGrippo.

Sherrod DeGrippo is the creator of Encyclopaedia Dramatica and, before you go looking for it, don’t bother; Encyclopaedia Dramatica is no longer on the Internet.  The site closed down in 2011, but what makes Sherrod DeGrippo so impressive is that she almost singlehandedly held together the perverse, edgy and often disturbing Encyclopaedia Dramatica for seven years.  That makes Encyclopaedia Dramatica one of the biggest successes in Internet free speech and Internet humor yet.

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When it comes to creative building, most people think of Legos.  But the virtual worlds created by computers actually have far fewer limits than the block toy that most people associate with construction play.  If Legos have an entire adult subculture, it is easy to postulate that someday, a subculture will exist built around Crazy Machines.

Crazy Machines is part puzzle game, part free play building platform.  Viva Media created Crazy Machines for computer enthusiasts ages eight and above.  The single CD-ROM easily installs onto any personal computer that is running Windows Vista or XP or any Macintosh computer running OS X.  Because of how graphics-intensive and color-rich Crazy Machines is, it is highly recommended that you have a good computer monitor hooked up to get the most out of the game.

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With the recent underwhelming performance of Siri, it is clear that no matter how many “smart” devices technology companies create, the keyboard is not in danger of becoming obsolete just yet.  The keyboard remains an essential tool for interfacing with your computer.  As a result, typing skills are still an invaluable skill to have.  Adults, especially, may be reluctant to take a typing class for fear of feeling embarrassed at not knowing such an important skill.  For teenagers and adults who want to learn to type on their own, there is Typing Instructor Platinum software!

Typing Instructor Platinum is a comprehensive typing program that helps users master typing by breaking the process up.  Users learn to type in an academic section for part of the program, but move on to games that involve typing as they become more proficient.  In this fashion, the software guarantees that you will retain the lessons that the software initially teaches.  Typing is a more complicated skill to learn than some people understand.  While typing may be taught in an absolute sense (key positions and hand placements), the act of typing requires a higher level of abstract thinking.  Typing words and sentences is very different than typing individual characters.

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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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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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