Computer Support Blog

As technology and communications systems improve, all levels of society feel the effects.  In the case of young women growing up, the world is nowhere near as limited as it once was.  Now, instead of dreaming of being a happy homemaker or a teacher, girls are learning that virtually any career path is open to them.  Now, girls dream of growing up to become scientists, CEOs and President.  One girl who grew up believing that the sky was the limit for her future was Catherine Coleman; she became an astronaut!

Catherine Coleman is an American astronaut who had one of the most prestigious tours of duty aboard the International Space Station.  In her 159 days in space, most of which were aboard the International Space Station, she served with distinction during the most traffic the International Space Station encountered since its creation.  As the lead robotic arm operator for the International Space Station, Coleman was indispensible with docking the supply ships, space shuttles and other vehicles when they came close to the Station!

How did Catherine Coleman get to the position where she could become such an important astronaut?  After getting her B.S. in chemistry from M.I.T., Coleman worked hard and pursued her Doctorate in Polymer Science and Engineering.  She received her PhD in 1991.  While pursuing her higher education, she joined the Air Force.  While volunteering for centrifuge experiments for the Air Force, Coleman set new endurance and tolerance records that brought her to the attention of NASA.  She was hired by NASA shortly after receiving her Ph.D.

Initially, Coleman’s position at NASA was intended to be one of support, aiding in the technical development of systems that would be used in space by other astronauts.  When she illustrated real aptitude with manipulating the robotic arm and other robotic systems, NASA prepared her for spaceflight.  After waiting as a standby for a few missions, Coleman went into space as part of one of the Microgravity Laboratory missions and later as the lead specialist for deploying the Chandra X-Ray Observatory.  Her successful execution of those missions, in combination with continually developing her expertise in robotics and other sciences, made her an ideal choice to serve on the International Space Station.

As chief science officer during her mission to the International Space Station, Catherine Coleman conducted important experiments in physics, biology, chemistry, and robotics.  While in space, she even had time to practice her flute, which she played for a performance on National Public Radio!  With her well-rounded career, scientific and artistic interests, and determination to excel, Catherine Coleman is a great role model for girls and young women everywhere!

About RESCUECOM:

RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.

For More Information, Contact:

David Milman, CEO

315-882-1100

david@rescuecom.com

If you own a Saturn automobile, you know just how terrible it can be when a company goes belly up without ever releasing their proprietary information to the general public or others within their industry.  Those who still drive their beloved Saturn cars are discovering that as problems arise, especially with the Saturn’s onboard computer, they are completely at the mercy of GM.  General Motors, which owned Saturn, may very well charge more than your local mechanic, but your local mechanic cannot access a Saturn’s onboard computer.  The reason for that is simple: before Saturn went bust, the company held very tightly to its trade secrets and the Saturn onboard computer program remained a protected property.  GM, as the parent company of Saturn, retained the coding and now uses it to compel the remaining Saturn owners to use their service centers.  Hewlett-Packard is taking the exact opposite approach with their webOS.  By making webOS into an open source program, anyone with computer programming ability will be able to acquire, alter and write applications for webOS.

HP had a pretty bad 2011 on the tablet computer front.  After having their tablet computer, the Touchpad, crushed by the sales numbers of the Apple iPad 2, the Kindle Fire arrived to metaphorically bulldoze a small mountain of dirt into the grave.  Hewlett-Packard gave the tablet computer market the old college try and the company lost obscene amounts of money in the process.  HP liquidated the last of the Touchpads for $100 and $149 when the Touchpads bore a $500 and $600 MSRP earlier in the year.  HP had a bad year on the tablet computer front.

So, HP announced they were no longer competing for that market.  In washing their hands of the tablet computer market, HP could have divorced itself from the customers who had invested in their product and moved on to their next big project.  Instead, HP executives announced that webOS, the operating system that runs the Touchpad tablet computer, would be released as open source software.

By making webOS open source, computer programmers may write applications of their own for their Touchpads.  They can use webOS to run other hardware, like smartphones, digital cameras or gaming devices.  If you become annoyed with how your electronic device is operating, you could write an app in webOS to reprogram it!

In addition to being consumer-friendly, making webOS into open source software, HP is giving a psychological pat on the back to its programmers.  Because the enthusiasm exists for webOS, in spite of poor Touchpad sales, HP is essentially telling its programmers and researchers, “You had a good product; it just didn’t sell.”  That kind of encouragement is remarkably cool from a multibillion dollar company.

About RESCUECOM:

RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.

For More Information, Contact:

David Milman, CEO

315-882-1100

david@rescuecom.com

If you spend time going through the corporate biographies of executives in the tech sector, it is very easy to get bored.  The story with so many executives is a familiar one: they went to business school, they took a business job, and they became a business leader.  Wow, someone started on a career path and they ended up at the end position of their chosen career path!  This is a pretty predictable story and one that plagues so many corporate biographies.  So, it is the atypical executive who stands out.  Gurdeep Singh Pall is just one such executive!

Gurdeep Singh Pall is the Vice President of Information Platform And Experience at the Microsoft Corporation.  In that role, Pall developed and promoted the Microsoft Lync system which has made video telecommunication more of a reality than ever before.  Pall is responsible for many important aspects of Microsoft’s Bing platform as well, including its research and development and promotion.  His real passion seems to be for working on the Bing platform’s speech recognition, mapping and mobile applications.

Part of what makes Gurdeep Singh Pall’s story so interesting is how he ascended to the position of Vice President, Information Platform & Experience.  He began at Microsoft as a software engineer, like so many people do.  Like visionaries in the field like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates before him, Pall had a vision to solve a complicated computer problem and he helped to design the LAN Manager Remote Access Service.  With that heady accomplishment, he moved to the Windows NT development team where he made several valuable contributions to the emerging OS through several of its incarnations.  In 1996, Pall was recognized for his achievements in pioneering VPN, the virtual private network.

After that, the software engineer became more of an executive.  Microsoft promoted Pall to the general manager of Windows Real-Time Communications and he served as the Vice President of the Office Lync And Speech Group.  There, he continued to use his engineering experience as he guided the team to the release of Lync.  Pall holds over twenty patents for technology he developed, most of which is in the emerging field of voice over internet protocol.  He helped pioneer the computer telecommunications field; when we have actual video phones, no doubt they will be based upon programming Pall developed!

Gurdeep Singh Pall has had an interesting career with Microsoft rising fast in the company because of his innovative ideas and technical acumen.  It is hard to imagine what he will come up with next!

About RESCUECOM:

RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.

For More Information, Contact:

David Milman, CEO

315-882-1100

david@rescuecom.com

With the holidays behind us and the new year nicely underway, many of us are looking for a way to take off the holiday pounds.  Technology exists to aid you in weight loss.  There are specialized computer devices that help you count calories as well as smartphone applications designed to help you plan your diet and exercise regimen.  Arguably the best is Calorie Count.

Calorie Count is a comprehensive website that helps you to lose weight in a healthy fashion.  The site functions as an informative tool, an online journal and a social network.  The three primary functions of the site come together for the user to provide a powerful weight loss tool that offers you the best chance for a healthier lifestyle.  Calorie Count helps users lose weight by keeping you focused on your specific weight loss goals while rewarding your accomplishments.

The informative nature of Calorie Count is unparalleled on the Internet.  Calorie Count offers you over 231,000 foods with their entire nutritional breakdown so you may see the exact impact of every food you eat.  The truly valuable aspect of Calorie Count’s extensive database of nutritional information is that it allows you to log and chart each day along every possible vector.  In simpler terms, the Calorie Count tool allows you research every meal, drink and snack you want to put into your body and the program provides you with custom graphs exactly what you are consuming.  If you need to eat more protein, for example, you can tweak your meals until you find the right balanced food that will provide you with the protein you are lacking without pushing you above the recommended daily allowance of other nutritional elements.  Because users are able to add information, this database is constantly expanding!

The nutritional breakdown tool is a powerful one, but it works best when synergized with Calorie Count’s online journal.  When you create a Calorie Count account, you have the option to start an online journal.  Take that opportunity!  You can keep your journal private, but Calorie Count’s online journal is a day by day, meal by meal record of your journey to weight loss.  After you enter all of your medical data, Calorie Count uses your journal to calculate not only all you take in, but how many calories you burn through every activity you perform throughout the day.  Using the journal function, Calorie Count provides you with recommendations on how best to exercise for your body type and health concerns!

Finally, at least for the space we have here, there is a social network function to Calorie Count.  Calorie Count connects you with other people who are trying to lose weight, so you may provide support, ask questions and share your triumphs for positive reinforcement.  Even better, nutritional experts are available on the site to help you meet your goals.

Losing weight is never easy; Calorie Count is a powerful weight loss tool that requires diligence, but provides all you need to lose weight!

About RESCUECOM:

RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.

For More Information, Contact:

David Milman, CEO

315-882-1100

david@rescuecom.com

Marketing used to be a far more limited industry before the Internet.  With the rise of viral videos, the release of a movie trailer on the Internet can become a phenomenon in and of itself.  Viral marketing campaigns on the Internet have been known to make obscure movies with little potential appeal into cultural phenomena.  No one seems to understand the role of changing technologies in promoting films than Sue Kroll.

Sue Kroll is the President of Worldwide Marketing for Warner Bros. Pictures.  She has held the role since January 2008, when the position was created for her.  Prior to 2008, Sue Kroll served as Warner Bros. President of the International Marketing Division, a post she assumed in 2000.  The change in title is hardly just a semantic one; Kroll’s successes at promoting Warner Bros. films internationally led to the breakdown in barriers between the domestic and international divisions at Warner Bros!  By combining the domestic and international divisions into a worldwide marketing team, Kroll has rebranded Warner Bros. movies throughout the world.  That new, consistent, message has resonated with moviegoers around the world as her efforts made international phenomena out of the Harry Potter film saga, The Matrix sequels and the Oceans franchise!

Kroll rose through the ranks at Warner Bros. after working for Viacom and Turner Broadcasting.  While working for Turner Broadcasting, she was responsible for bringing TNT and the Cartoon Network to Europe.  One need only consider EuroDisney to know that not every American idea takes root overseas, but with Kroll’s guidance and market savvy, she literally built the Turner Broadcasting network in Europe!

At Warner Bros, Susan Kroll has refined her position and strengthened Warner Bros. position by being responsive to new technologies.  A key part of Susan Kroll’s international strategy to promote films is to respond to the market and adapt.  For example, when the first trailer for Green Lantern did not spark the enthusiasm and viral status on the Internet that Warner Bros. hoped, Kroll altered the marketing approach.  She waited until all of the special effects for Green Lantern were completed and released the new trailers a comparatively short time before the film was theatrically released.  By promoting the special effects right before the movie came out, Kroll created a type of “impulse item” demand for the movie that made it enough of a success at the box-office for Warner Bros. to consider building the film into a franchise.

Susan Kroll is one of the most powerful women in media today and she retains her authority in the marketplace, in part, by using the fantastic technological tools now available to her!

About RESCUECOM:

RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.

For More Information, Contact:

David Milman, CEO

315-882-1100

david@rescuecom.com

Tax season is officially upon us!  Sure, you could procrastinate and wait until April 15 to get your taxes in at the last minute or you could make a change this year for the better!  Maybe you are waiting a few weeks to earn enough money to pay a tax service to prepare and file your taxes for you.  Whatever your excuse for not filing your taxes the same day you get your last W-2 in the mail, you are out of excuses!  For those who make less than $58,000 in adjusted gross income, the IRS now has a surprisingly cool product that makes procrastination seem utterly passé.  The program is called Free File and it is part of the federal government’s attempt to make paying taxes easier and more hip.

Free File allows you to use your computer to pay your taxes and it boasts the fastest speed for a return for any free service, which makes sense as the program is directly through the IRS!  Free File may get you your tax refund within ten days when you select direct deposit as your refund option.  Fear not!  If you use the Free File software and determine you actually owe the federal government money, you still have until April 15 to pay your taxes!

Off your computer, you need your W-2, 1099 and other tax forms ready and organized.  It helps if you have your prior year’s tax return as well.  On your prior year’s tax return, you will be able to see what your adjusted gross income was.  If you have not gotten a significant raise or taken on more jobs, your adjusted gross income is likely to be in the ballpark for this year.  If your adjusted gross income is less than $58,000, you may use the Internal Revenue Service’s Free File.

If you qualify for the income threshold, you must establish an account for Free File directly through the IRS website.  While the usual concerns about Internet security persist, Free File is more secure than most tax filing systems as the IRS is cutting out the middleman.  Because you are transmitting your data directly to the IRS, there are fewer opportunities for data thieves to access your personal financial information.

More than just a means for filling out tax forms, Free File brings the power of reputable tax calculation software to bear.  The IRS teamed with twenty tax computing companies to offer tax calculation software free to citizens using Free File.  As a result, you no longer have to pay to use software that helps you calculate your tax debt and refund.  Free File calculates your taxes and files your taxes, ensuring accuracy, speed and efficiency.

It is a weird system of government that expects citizens to pay taxes but then makes paying taxes such a complicated process that only a paid professional would understand it.  The IRS makes the process simple again with powerful, free software through Free File.

About RESCUECOM:

RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.

For More Information, Contact:

David Milman, CEO

315-882-1100

david@rescuecom.com

Entering a new year is traditionally a time of introspection, which is why so many of us make New Year’s resolutions to try to change parts of ourselves and our lives with which we are unhappy.  One of the most common New Year’s resolutions that people fail to achieve is to lose weight and keep it off.  Lose It! may help you lose weight and stick to a program if you have found it challenging to lose weight in the past.

Lose It! is an interactive weight loss website and now an application for smartphones.  Lose It! helps you monitor your diet and exercise and achieve specific weight loss goals that you set for yourself.  Unlike specialized computer devices designed for weight loss, Lose It! is a comprehensive software application that includes both personal weight loss plans and a community component.

Lose It! is a blend of a computerized weight loss journal and a social network centered on losing weight.  You may access Lose It! through the Internet or through the LoseIt! app on your Apple iPhone or iPod Touch.  Once there, you will discover that LoseIt! is an all-encompassing weight loss solution.

First, LoseIt! helps you manage your weight by creating specific weight loss goals that you record within your profile.  Your profile is more like a medical file than like a profile on other social networking sites.  As a result, your profile through your LoseIt! account includes your weight loss goals, any medical conditions you need the program to take into account and your journal.  The journal function of LoseIt! is the cornerstone to using LoseIt! to lose weight.  There, you record each and every item you eat, ideally right before you consume it.  LoseIt! then factors the caloric intake of what you are eating and calculates the amount of calories you may consume for the remainder of the day.

To get the most out of LoseIt!, you have to be very vigilant with your journal records and you have to not be shamed by your computer.  Interfacing with a computer program instead of a human being may prompt you to be more realistic about both your achievements and your progress if you are serious about your weight loss goal.  Each time you exercise, you must update your LoseIt! journal as well.  By keeping accurate records and following the suggestions LoseIt makes – like “stop eating for the day!” – you have a much better chance of achieving your weight loss goal.

LoseIt! also maximizes your chance of weight loss success through its social network capability.  Because weight loss goals are so common and the challenges to losing weight are shared by so many people, LoseIt! helps dieters to network.  Through LoseIt!’s chat functions and bulletin boards, you may exchange recipes, discuss issues and make goals with other dieters.

LoseIt! truly incorporates computers and smartphones into your plan to lose weight.

About RESCUECOM:

RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.

For More Information, Contact:

David Milman, CEO

315-882-1100

david@rescuecom.com

One of the greatest aspects of the United States is that the United States allows its citizens unrestricted social mobility.  There is no caste system in the United States and potential exists for every person in the United States to develop their talents and lives as they see fit.  However, because of the vast disparities in economic conditions, some citizens are born into circumstances where they cannot easily reach their potential.  In the poorest parts of the United States, Americans remain impoverished due to their poor education, especially when they have an inability to read.  Fortunately, computers may now help combat illiteracy, which is one of the leading challenges in adult education.  Merit Software is a leader in computerized literacy programs and their Reading Skill Builder is a program designed to aid adults who want to learn how to read.

The Reading Skill Builder is a web-based program for Windows, Mac, and Linux computers, making it ideal for any educational institution or home.  Merit Software created an easy-to-monitor curriculum for adult education and continues to refine it with the Reading Skill Builder.

It might seem odd to teach people to read using a computer; after all, if the student can type or read on a computer monitor, they should be able to read a book, right?  Part of the theory behind the Reading Skill Builder is that most adults, by simple virtue of having lived in the world for a few decades, will have a basic knowledge of English characters.  Because most adults will recognize most letters and numbers, the graphic interface on the Reading Skill Builder focuses on combining the letters into words.  In addition to teaching basic reading skills, the Reading Skill Builder strengthens vocabulary through easy word exercises.

The Reading Skill Builder prioritizes reading comprehension.  Because the focus of this literacy program is teaching adults to read, it comes with a very stark interface.  Unlike literacy programs that promote reading for children, the Reading Skill Builder is not cluttered with a lot of imagery.  The stories the Reading Skill Builder presents are not computer-based picture books.  As a result, students must focus on the words and what they mean, as opposed to simply recognizing or inferring based on pictures associated with the story.

For teachers working with adult students, the Reading Skill Builder provides a number of tools for monitoring your students’ progress.  The Reading Skill Builder easily informs you of what your students’ problem areas are, which allows you to adapt your lessons to better educate them.  All of the tests and tools are part of the basic Reading Skill Builder.

Educators who want to use computers to help their students overcome basic literacy deficiencies will find the Reading Skill Builder invaluable.  The Reading Skill Builder from Merit Software educates adults with a mature interface that respects their dignity and desire to learn.

About RESCUECOM:

RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.

For More Information, Contact:

David Milman, CEO

315-882-1100

david@rescuecom.com

The process of driving has become more difficult with the proliferation of new technologies and the distractions those technologies represent.  With the rise of the cell phone, drivers suddenly had phone calls to distract them from driving safely.  While the utterly ineffectual laws requiring hands free devices sought to curb that problem, legislators had no idea how fast the smartphone would take over.  With the smartphone beginning to dominate the mobile phone market, drivers have even more to be distracted by.  Ford Motors, however, has come up with a solution, through their SYNC system!

The Synch AppLink is a new function of the Microsoft-powered Synch platform.  Synch is essentially the operating system for the computers aboard cars from Ford Motors.  Just as Windows may run your PC, Synch runs the onboard computer on Ford vehicles.  Synch monitors your Ford’s status and provides you – and your mechanic – with clear alerts when there is a malfunction within the car.  Synch also assists you in adjusting the frills in your car, like adjusting the radio station or volume.

Now, Microsoft has enhanced the Synch system with Synch AppLink.  Synch AppLink acts as a bridge between the Synch system and your smartphone.  Because Windows occupies such a small market share of the smartphone OS market, it was impractical to create a system for Ford that exclusively interfaced with only Windows-driven smartphones.  So, Microsoft created the Synch AppLink.

The Synch AppLink allows you to access compatible applications on your smartphone through the Synch system.  After docking your smartphone with your Ford, you may give Synch voice commands.  By activating the Synch AppLink, you will be able to give voice commands to activate compatible applications on your smartphone.  If, for example, you subscribe to the Internet radio station Pandora through your smartphone, you would be able to command the Synch AppLink to open the Pandora app.  Within seconds, you would be listening to Internet-based radio streaming from your smartphone to your Ford’s speakers all using the Synch AppLink!

The Synch AppLink is adding compatibility to new programs daily.  In addition to music apps like Pandora and Stitcher, the Synch AppLink has some compatibility with Twitter.  While hands free typing may not yet be available through Synch AppLink, you may now check your Twitterfeed through the Synch AppLink!  Even as you drive away from home, you may remain connected to your friends!

With the Synch AppLink, hands free usage of smartphones is becoming easier and that should make everyone on the road happier!

About RESCUECOM:

RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.

For More Information, Contact:

David Milman, CEO

315-882-1100

david@rescuecom.com

Not every technology company had a great 2011.  For sure, not every CEO can be a Steve Jobs, Gee-Sung Choi, or Steve Ballmer.  For every success in big business, there has to be a company that is losing its market share and usually the person blamed when that happens is the CEO.  2011 was just that kind of year for Stephen Elop.

Stephen Elop is the CEO and President of Nokia.  Just as in politics, where a current President might well be blamed for a problem they did not cause and are not able to solve fast enough, Stephen Elop assumed the mantle of leadership at Nokia when the company was rapidly losing its market dominance in the mobile phone market.  In fact, Elop acknowledged just how bad Nokia’s position in the global smartphone market was in a now-legendary “Burning Platform” memo.  But the Board of Directors of Nokia did not put Elop in charge to simply critique the company’s problems!  Instead, Nokia, which accounts for a sizable portion of Finland’s economy, chose Stephen Elop to save the company.

Stephen Elop came to Nokia fresh from leading Microsoft’s Business Division.  During his tenure at the head of the Business Division, Elop ushered the Microsoft Office 2010 product line to market.  Before working for Microsoft, Elop worked in business executive positions for software companies Macromedia and Juniper Networks.  That Elop was attracted to those companies makes a great deal of sense.  When Stephen Elop was studying at McMaster University, he helped to lay the Ethernet cable that created one of Canada’s first Internet networks!  He graduated from McMaster University in 1986.

With all of that experience behind him, Stephen Elop leaped at the chance to run Nokia.  Despite the criticism of Nokia in his “Burning Platform” memo, Elop has worked hard in his first year as Nokia’s CEO to stop Nokia’s downslide in the international smartphone market.  As one of his first concrete acts, Elop dumped Nokia’s longtime operating system, Symbian.  In his mandate for the company, Symbian was discontinued as the operating system for Nokia smartphones.  Elop quickly partnered Nokia with Microsoft to adopt the Windows Phone 7 as the new operating system.

While it is too early to tell if Elop’s gambit will pay off for Nokia, one thing is clear.  Nokia’s former CEO, Olli–Pekka Kallasvuo, acted paralyzed while Samsung and Apple clobbered Nokia in mobile phone production and Apple and Google (with their Android OS) eroded Nokia’s smartphone OS market share.  Stephen Elop is a man of action and he represents the best chance to save Nokia!

About RESCUECOM:

RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.

For More Information, Contact:

David Milman, CEO

315-882-1100

david@rescuecom.com