Computer Support Blog

Hotels often live and die by their reputation.  The famous star rating system and referrals from previous travelers are what bring most people to the lobbies of hotels all around the world.  Reputation is key in the hospitality business and the opinion of a hotel’s guests dictates its reputation.  Now, there is a cool product in technology that helps hotels connect better with their customers.  GuestDriven gives hotels the tools to engage and provide for their guests to gain insight into what they need to improve their experience.  GuestDriven then also encourages guests to become brand ambassadors, spreading the good word about particular locations to other potential customers and improving overall business for the hotel.  GuestDriven accomplishes all of these goals through mobile technology.  Read more »

While many creative professionals have benefitted immensely from cloud-based services, product designers and concept artists who render their work in 3D have been stuck using the same complicated and expensive software that would require extensive tech support for any non-professional to use.  Products like Google Docs and Adobe’s Cloud Suite have allowed writers and designers, respectively, to do all their work without even needing a native program at times.  While dedicated programs like Microsoft Word and Adobe Photoshop are more robust and provide more overall options, many writers and designers take advantage of cloud alternatives every year.  Creative workers who use software that requires more computing power, such as product designers who create 3D rendering of prototypes, have had to deal without such convenient alternatives.  However, that does not appear to be the case any longer.  Cool person in technology Thiago Costa founded his company to provide photo-realistic 3D rendering in the cloud.  Finally, product designers and 3D artists can experience the same conveniences enjoyed by other creative professionals. Read more »

Before the Internet, people’s only real option for finding a respectable quality babysitter or nanny was most often simple word-of-mouth.  Times have certainly changed, as babysitters and nannies often advertise their services on sites like Craigslist.  However, the results from these general posting sites come out mixed at best.  Families are just as likely to get an awful sitter as a great one.  However, cool product UrbanSitter may be able to change the situation for families that seek babysitting help on the Internet.  Read more »

Outplacement for employees after layoffs is never easy for anyone.  It means a period of frustrating uncertainty for the unlucky worker and potential public relations or legal problems for an employer if handled poorly.  The difficulty surrounding the state of the U.S. job market only exacerbates this situation.  Whether someone works in the office computer repair, healthcare, sales or anything else, the difficulty of finding new jobs can seem insurmountable.  Fortunately, cool person in technology Sanjay Sathe doesn’t believe that it has to be that way and he has created a product that helps both companies performing layoffs and laid-off employees during the outplacement process. Read more »

RESCUECOM has just released the 2014 Computer Reliability Report, and it contains a shocking change in the status quo regarding reliability statistics. Up until now, it had become commonplace to see Samsung and Apple in the top positions in technology reliability.  However, that is no longer the case as a new player has come from nowhere to dominate the field.  Amazon’s line of Kindle Fire tablets have not only sold excessively well and taken a sizeable chunk of the overall market, but also managed to provide extremely reliable products.  Despite Amazon’s impressive market share, the company’s tablets accounted for a nearly insignificant amount of tech support calls to RESCUECOM’s Certified Level-3 technicians.  With so few people calling in for tablet computer support help with their Kindle Fires, Amazon’s reliability score came out to be 7590, nearly ten times the score of their nearest competitor, Samsung!  Read more »

The percentage of Internet traffic that comes from mobile users steadily increases every business quarter and every year.  People engage with the web on their phones and tablets just as much as they do through a standard desktop or laptop.  In many cases, people use their mobile devices even more than their PCs or Macs. Companies need to do as much as possible to accommodate the growing mobile marketplace if they want to advertise their products, services or content successfully.  While major corporations have the resources to develop mobile applications  for themselves and their subsidiaries, privately owned small businesses find themselves at a disadvantage in the age of mobile technology These smaller companies often don’t have the internal business computer services and resources to easily develop mobile versions of their website.  However, thanks to cool product PadSquad, these companies have another option. Read more »

In many editorials, news articles, and other media, writers cast the Internet as a well of knowledge for people in the modern age.  However, many people’s experiences with the web have been anything but informative or educational.  The Internet is currently a place primarily full of media consumption sites such as Netflix and Hulu, social networks focused on self-promotion and communication such as Facebook and Twitter, and ecommerce sites where people can buy whatever their heart desires and have it conveniently shipped to them.  There are cool people in technology still making companies and websites to make the Internet a destination for knowledge and education.  One of these cool people is Justin Kitch, the founder and CEO of Curious.com. Read more »

Storage can be a serious pain.  Whether it’s because someone is a college student and constantly moving back and forth between school and home, or because someone has recently moved to a smaller home in a new city on temporary basis, finding adequate storage options that are affordable and convenient is often difficult.  Storage centers often end up in remote areas due to the required space, and it is not always simple to retrieve stored material from them.  This reality is why so many people choose to have friends or relatives hold items for them if they live close by to the area.  It’s easy to pick something up stored in a garage.  Now, there is a cool product named StowThat that depends on a business model where anyone with convenient, extra storage space can rent that space to those who want to avoid traditional storage units. Read more »

Product reviews have been a staple of the Internet for a very long time, especially since Amazon popularized them as an ecommerce giant over the last decade.  Journalistic product reviews have also increased both in quantity and significance, as different technology blogs and news publications dedicate time and page space to them.  With more people having access to these types of reviews thanks to the Internet, the demand for them also increases.  This situation has led to review aggregator sites like Rotten Tomatoes, which aggregates movie reviews, and Metacritic, which aggregates reviews for forms of media.  Users frequent these review aggregator sites to get a good sense of what the public opinion is on certain media such a  movies, games, and music.  Now there is also a cool product that aggregates reviews of consumer electronics for the tech geeks who keep up with the newest devices.  This product is Reviewsor. Read more »

Dealing taxes and tax law compliance is a nightmare and a headache for small businesses everywhere.  Every state and county has different sales tax regulations.  It can become even more complicated when one starts to consider issues such as tax-exempt customers.  Just as companies hire business IT support services to help with complicated computer issues, they also have to hire special consultants to deal with sales tax compliance quite often.  Cool person in technology Scott McFarlane believes that there is a better way to handle sales tax compliance when running a small business.  He founded Avalara to help companies who sell products nationally to handle tax issues without headaches or unnecessary difficulties. Read more »