Computer Support Blog

Thanks to sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, many small businesses have made their first products with the help of crowdfunding.  However, due to these popular crowdfunding sites’ openness to the public, those who fund a business’s project cannot get equity from their investment.  Backers can only receive rewards such as products or free services for their contributions.  This practice often discourages backers from offering larger amounts of money to startups since their contribution is more akin to a gift than an investment.  Cool product RockThePost changes the crowdfunding model by applying it to a group of accredited investors rather than the public at large.  On RockThePost, startups that are looking for funding and seed capital can post company profiles and short pitch videos.  RockThePost’s community of investors can then browse through different startup pitches and make funding offers through the website.  This also allows a startup to pitch their company to multiple investors at once conveniently.  This process saves the business important resources in its early stages. The money and time a company saves from finding investors and developing individualized pitches can go into other needs such as office IT support and product development.  Read more »

Passwords are the bane of many people’s Internet existence.  This is especially true in recent years as the number of websites, online services, and mobile apps people commonly use that require usernames and passwords has increased.  That’s why cool person in technology Daniel Robichaud founded PasswordBox.  Robichaud believes there should be an easier way to deal with someone’s numerous usernames and passwords.  His product integrates with users’ browsers so that it automatically stores each password they create.  When a user wants to log in or out of any specific website or service, they open PasswordBox and find themselves presented with an organized list of their accounts.  Users simply click on the accounts they want to sign in or out of, and they can avoid login screens on all the websites they visit.  Robichaud’s solution avoids memorization and record keeping.  It might also save users a significant amount of time while they’re browsing the web.  For those worried about Internet security, Robichaud states on PasswordBox’s website that the encryption he uses for his program is high-level and similar to encryption used for military software.  Read more »

The more employees a company has, the harder it is to keep track of the details of a business.  Many bosses can attest to how important facts or issues don’t make it up the grapevine to them because they get lost somewhere between a regular employee and a company’s owner.  It’s often not even a middle manager’s direct fault, but a series of miscommunications.  15Five is a cool product that looks to minimize these problems in an organization.  15Five essentially acts as a communication tool in the workplace that coordinates designated time for CEOs and owners to learn what’s happening in different departments.  15Five claims they have an effective system that increases the communication up and down a company’s chain of command based on a simple idea.  15Five works off the concept that If every manager can take fifteen minutes a week to report exactly what’s happening in their department and a business owner can take five minutes to read each report, communication and productivity will improve in a company.  15Five’s software lets managers report their bosses and presents those reports in an organized format for the company head.  Businesses that utilize 15Five will want to have strong office computer support service in case certain managers struggle to adjust to the program. Read more »

The video games industry has been experimenting with new business models over the last several years.  These models have included downloadable content to add to already released games as well as “freemium” models where a game is free but users can purchase items or upgrades within a game. However, these models are not foolproof and many game companies have had trouble optimizing their product to get the most out of their market.  Cool person in technology Dr. Dmitri Williams founded his startup NinjaMetrics to give game companies analytic tools that allow them to get the best return on investment for their social games. Read more »

Small companies that require design work but don’t have a graphic artist on staff often struggle to come up with funds to get projects completed by a professional.  Cool product DesignCrowd wants to change that situation for small businesses by using the Internet to help them crowdsource designs for many different types of projects.  With DesignCrowd, companies post projects they need completed with a brief description of the reason for the job and what type of design they are looking to use.  DesignCrowd’s community of graphic artists can then make different designs based on a company’s brief.  The situation turns into a contest of sorts, where different designers post ideas and concepts for a company and eventually the user chooses a winning design.  Companies pay an initial fee to DesignCrowd to post their projects on the site.  DesignCrowd itself pays out money to artists for each winning design.  This system potentially gives companies an affordable option that lets them choose from many different designs when they need work done.  Any company who has trouble posting projects on DesignCrowd will need computer tech support for assistance. Read more »

For many professional careers, including ones in the IT support industry, professional certification and additional training are becoming a requirement to get ahead.  Unfortunately, many working adults cannot find time in their schedules to dedicate to training and additional education, especially if they’re taking care of family as well as working full time.  Cool technology product Simplilearn is utilizing the Internet’s flexibility to offer working professionals training and certification options that they can actually fit into their schedule.  Simplilearn offers users a wide range of courses in multiple fields that adults can take both online and in classroom settings.  They even offer courses that use a combination of the two methods to attempt to fit the needs of as many adults as possible.  Simplilearn also offers a slew of online practice tests for users so they can prepare accordingly for their certifications.  Each Simplilearn course comes coupled with a set of online resources specific to that certain class.  These resources often include online forums for students to interact in and ask questions before their certification exam.  Read more »

Email has the unique distinction of being both an essential resource and incredible problem in the workplace.  While it is an essential communication tool for any professional, email often piles up and leads to disorganization.  It’s all too easy to lose an important message when you’re digging through thousands of messages in your inbox.  Cool person in tech Matthew Bellows founded his startup Yesware to help sales professionals not only navigate and handle their emails more efficiently, but also actually leverage email to increase sales conversions.  Bellows and his team have created a Gmail add-on that attempts to tailor the email experience to sales professionals’ needs.  Bellows has Yesware track emails so it can alert salespeople when clients open their messages.  Bellows means for this feature to help keep all active leads fresh in a salesperson’s mind when they utilize email.  It also helps users estimate when clients check and read their email.  This could help users optimize follow-up emails based on when their customers are most likely to see them.  Anyone who has trouble integrating Yesware into their Gmail service can contact office tech support for assistance. Read more »

The cyber-criminals behind a threatening malware called CryptoLocker have infected computers around the world – from large company systems to home use computers.  The virus has been hitting hard for the past six weeks or so, and, due to state-of-the-art encryption used, the only ones who have the key to unlock the files are the criminals themselves. Read more »

Underage drinking is a serious epidemic and many bars have run into trouble due to sophisticated fake identification card schemes.  The best way to handle fake IDs is to use an ID scanner, which can read digital signatures attached to specific driver’s licenses and ID cards to determine their legitimacy.  However, investing in an expensive and unwieldy ID scanner that is not only very expensive but also requires upkeep from time to time is not something many bar and club owners are enthusiastic about.  Cool person in technology Benjamin Sibert founded his company Bar and Club Stats to come up with a solution this problem.  Sibert and his team have created a functioning ID scanner for bars and clubs using iPhones, iPods, and iPads.  Sibert hopes that with such a device will appeal to club and restaurant owners who want a cleaner, more streamlined solution to checking identification at the door.  Each of Sibert’s company’s scanners attach themselves around the outside of their respective iDevices like a case.  Any restaurant owner with an unused or broken iPad could easily repurpose their device with one of Sibert’s scanner cases after getting iPad repair. Read more »

A slew of startups have popped up over the past few years that offer technology-based solutions for large events and professional conferences.  BusyEvent, one such startup based out of St. Louis, is trying to set itself apart with a cool product that leverages mobile technology for event organizers.  While many other companies design individual apps for events, costing an event’s host significant amounts of time and money, BusyEvent offers a way for event organizers to create their own mobile apps.  BusyEvent produces, in their own words, an “app that builds apps” for event organizers and marketers.  BusyEvent claims that their mobile application allows their customers to create event-specific apps “in five minutes”.  Organizers can then personalize their event’s app with different styles, themes, layouts and of course, content.  Users can view and edit the apps they make with BusyEvent through the web, on Android or on iPhone.  Anyone who needs help navigating or working through BusyEvent’s features can get help from a mobile tech support provider. Read more »