Computer Support Blog

Traditional television service, like any other service, has both positive and negative attributes.   Lately, though, it can be difficult to find the benefits of traditional broadcast television service when the detractions to it are so easy to spot (like weather-related outages).  Even cable television no longer seems as impressive a service, especially when compared to emerging Internet-based television options. Users of Internet television services have discovered that they can pay a fraction of the price to subscribe to Hulu Plus or HBO Go and get a more customized service. Read more »

Sometimes, an individual’s association with a company can make all the difference in establishing a business venture.  John F. Kennedy Jr.’s decision to make a political magazine at a time when the market was pretty much strangled with political print magazines did not stop him from making George a success.  In a similar way, one of the new tech sector startups benefits greatly from the celebrity of one of the members of its management team.  Numecent is an emerging Cloudpaging company and it would be just another Internet startup if it was not for Hildy Shandell.

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Wilmington, North Carolina is the first town in America to implement a newly approved method of wireless Internet access. The White Space network will eventually allow Internet access to be available everywhere, such as rural towns in which broadband Internet companies will not lay wire. Claudville, Virginia had a White Space network during an experimental phase of testing a few years ago, because no companies would provide the area with high-speed Internet, but the Wilmington network is the first to use the new FCC-approved devices after testing.

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If you have seen The Social Network, you know the Hollywood version of the history of the creation of Facebook.  In the movie, Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook for the programming challenge and the status of creating the “next big thing.”  When Sean Parker comes into the mix, the priority with “The Facebook” is keeping the site cool and hip, as opposed to monetizing it.  This is actually one of the details from the film that jives with reality.  However, there came a time for Facebook to monetize and when it did, it was Sheryl Sandberg who made the cool Facebook into a multibillion dollar advertising platform.

Sheryl Sandberg is the Chief Operating Officer of Facebook.  Sandberg arrived at Facebook in 2008 after being wooed away from a potential job at Google.  That hiring was seen as a real coup for the Facebook team and shortly after joining the company, Sandberg initiated the advertising program that changed Facebook from a potential cash cow into a multibillion dollar moneymaker.  By 2010, Facebook was showing a profit, which was virtually unheard of in Internet social networks.

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Google+ has some real challenges to overcome as it becomes the new kid on the block of social networking sites.  Even so, Google has shown resiliency in its corporate history, so there is every reason to believe that Google+ could become the next Facebook at the top of the social network food chain.  Here is why Google+ may well succeed:

1. The social network market is dynamic.  Google+ enters the social network race exceptionally late.  Even so, the rise of Facebook and Twitter over Myspace illustrates that users have remarkably little brand loyalty to their social network.  Users have Facebook for friends and family contact, Picasa for online photo storage, and LinkedIn for professional networking.  Google+ combines all of those aspects, especially the data storage options for photo albums, all on one platform.  With over 40% of social network users belonging to 3-5 social networks, it is clear that social network enthusiasts enjoy the process of exploring new networks.

2. The Google+ interface.  The Google+ social network is based on the idea that people have several different groups or cliques to which they belong.  You make your own groups and associate your friends and acquaintances with whatever group you want.  You can watch as people move you between different groups.  The advantage is that you have the ability to compartmentalize the different people in your life and that is a clever way to run a single profile over many different interests.  The ever-changing nature of the Google+ relationship model encourages you to check in frequently.

3. The advertising.  Google+ advertising constantly during prime time this holiday season hits all of its key demographics fast, making it seem like it is an already established phenomenon.

4. A solid revenue model.  Google+ arrives on the social networking scene with its fundamental advertising revenue model in place.  Because Google’s AdSense is already in place and integrated with the Google+ platform, Google does not need to devote nearly as many resources to courting advertisers.

Google wants a piece of the social networking business, but they are coming very late with Google+.  Even so, it seems the platform has everything needed for Google to have another success in its portfolio.  Because social network users are fickle enough to constantly change their relationships, Google+ seems to have an interface that speaks directly to its target demographic.  Just as Google+ allows users to move friends among different groups the user creates, Google hopes to woo users from the other social networks.  Hopefully, it has a model to keep them there once they land on Google+!

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

As the publishing industry changes with technology, it is no surprise that digital comics are becoming an important part of the lives of comic book readers everywhere.  Comic book fans have often been maligned as either being oddly illiterate (requiring pictures to actually read books) or obsessive compulsive collectors who do not even read their mint-condition books.  Digital comics confound those prejudices by giving the collectors a virtual product that allows them to enjoy the stories they love and illustrating that most comic readers are not only literate but tech savvy.  While digital comic book programs like the one from Comixology have their benefits, for readers of Marvel Comics comic books, there is no substitute for Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited.

Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited is a comprehensive premium subscription digital comic reader that has been around longer than any other mainstream digital comics program.  The Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited service is both a first-run digital publication service and the most incredible archive a Marvel Comics fan could hope for.  For $9.99/month or $59.88/year, you have access to the incredible Marvel Comics vault as well as all new comics in a digital form.

When you subscribe to the Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited, you get unrestricted access to the Marvel Comics vault.  Every day, Marvel adds many vintage comics to the Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited collection and the stated goal from Marvel is to have every single issue of every single book Marvel Comics ever published available in a digital form in the vault.  Already, there are tens of thousands of Marvel Comics available from the service.  Each comic book in the collection is rendered as a Flash program.  As a subscriber, you may open any available comic book on your computer, smartphone or tablet computer to access read the book.  The Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited format guides you from panel to panel of each book, so you read at your own pace, but in the order the author intended you to read the book.  This format is especially helpful when reading comic books where the illustrators awkwardly arranged the panels of the book on the page; the Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited format eliminates that issue!

Marvel releases new comics in the same format, so there is consistency between old and new comic books.  Marvel publishes each new comic to the Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited program a few months after their initial print publication.  This, they argue, keeps the print medium relevant while still encouraging subscribers to the Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited program.

With the rising costs of graphic novels and comic books, a subscription to Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited may be the most cost-effective way to keep reading comic books old and new!

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 odds are good that if you have done any sort of financial transaction on the Internet, you have a PayPal account.  The spin-off of eBay has helped make eBay even more money than the auction site was making on its own.  By charging anyone who received money through PayPal, the financial company has generated enough revenue for itself to make PayPal a multi-billion dollar company.  PayPal has become the online financial powerhouse it has by taking money out of small businesses – like independent vendors who sell on eBay – and from the multi-billion dollar banking and credit card industries.  Now, Dwolla is entering the market to take a bite out of the credit card companies and PayPal.

It is about time.

Dwolla is using new technologies to provide its users with direct access to their bank accounts while protecting their private information.  The stated goal of Dwolla is to provide the flexibility of cash for the virtual world of the Internet.  Your Dwolla account is intended to give you a common source of payment online and in the real world without ever having to touch cash again.

What makes Dwolla different is its security and transparency.  Dwolla has unprecedented security controls that prevent identity theft by keeping your account numbers from ever getting to identity thieves.  In this way, Dwolla is very much like PayPal.  Unlike PayPal, Dwolla’s privacy controls allow users to restrict how much information is available to those they pay through the service.  With PayPal, you have access to quite a bit of information – at the very least e-mail address, name and address – of the person with whom you are doing business.  While that makes sense for virtual transactions that involve physical items shipped between two people, it makes less sense for charity donations and person-to-person transactions.

The real difference with Dwolla is in its fee structure.  Users pay $3.00 a month for their Dwolla account, which gives them access to a $500 line of credit and instant access to their own bank account.  If you use credit money and you do not pay it off by the end of the month, there are fees.  However, Dwolla encourages the small sales.  By eliminating transaction fees on all purchases less than $10, Dwolla fosters support for the small transactions that have been becoming more costly with each passing year.  The CEO of Dwolla argues that transactions like paying for a cup of coffee with your credit card are forcing vendors to charge more for their products and services.

Dwolla wants to turn that tide and help users get the most out of the money that should, by rights, be theirs.  The $.25 transaction fee on all charges above $10 is minimal when compared to PayPal’s oppressive fee scheme.  That is probably why eBay will resist incorporating Dwolla for as long as it legally can.

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

In revamping the aviation industry to revolutionize air travel, many new products and technologies are being developed.  One of the Federal Aviation Administration’s highest priorities is to replace outdated systems that have been in place since the 1950s.  To that end, the FAA has developed products like the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast and it is working on revolutionizing the communications systems between air traffic controllers and support workers at airplane terminals.  Another product integral to the NextGen program for changing the airline industry is the System Wide Information Management system.

The System Wide Information Management system is a new software system for the airline industry.  Created as a new, uniform operating system, SWIM is responsible for correlating data in the new vision of the aviation industry.  SWIM has essentially created a National Airspace System intranet and it is one of the NextGen programs that is already up and running.

The aviation industry employs a ridiculous number of computer systems to gather and correlate data.  In addition to plane movements, weather patterns and atmospheric conditions, the FAA receives data from the military, the government and small civilian airports.  Many of those organizations have their own intranets and when they provide data to the FAA, it is not in a form that is easily usable by the FAA.  For the past fifty years, there have been many jobs in the military and civilian sectors manually re-entering data from those disparate sources for the FAA.  Remedying the problems that come from trying to mediate between all of the systems aviation computers is why the FAA developed SWIM.

SWIM eliminates the need for manually re-entering data into an FAA-based program.  The innovative System Wide Information Management software collects data from the National Airspace System affiliates and correlates it into a standardized database.  SWIM provides a new, uniform interface, which will make jobs in the aviation industry much more portable.  With SWIM fully realized, a technician working for the Air Force would not need to retrain on a new system when they re-entered the civilian work force!

The System Wide Information Management system stands to make the aviation industry much safer by providing all of the information collected by members of the National Airspace System and presenting the data to all members in a universal interface.  SWIM will make flying easier and safer and software that can do that is undeniably cool!

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 coolest products in the world is not one that will be available directly to consumers, but it will benefit everyone who travels by plane.  The Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast is that cool product and it is making air travel much safer than it ever has been.

Following the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, the woeful state of air traffic technology became public knowledge.  For the first time, most people in the United States learned that most of the computer systems that monitored and regulated air traffic control were from the 1950s!  The last vacuum tube computers were mass produced in 1962, yet the airline industry continued to use those outdated computers.  In 2003, the United States Congress established the Joint Planning and Development Office to revamp the outdated technologies the air traffic industry has been using.  The JPDO proposed NextGen and the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast system is an integral part of that initiative.

The Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast system is an innovative tool that works much like GPS.  The ADS-B system keeps track of each and every plane outfitted with the system.  One impressive leap forward that the ADS-B system makes is that the display for the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast includes images of both planes in the air and on the ground.  Because the ADS-B system monitors planes still in the terminal, it will help prevent runway conflicts.  The other important leap forward that ADS-B includes is an interface that is universal.  Unlike previous, radar-based systems that showed air traffic controllers only the airspace around their terminal, with plane positions relative to them, the ADS-B provides universal displays.  This means that your departure airport, your destination airport and every airport in between has access to the exact same images and the same training to know how to properly interpret it! The ADS-B comes in two parts, the ADS-B In and the ADS-B Out.

The ADS-B In is a receiver.  The Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast system is a satellite-based network that monitors weather information, geographical locations on the ground and ADS-B Out transmitters.  In many ways, the ADS-B system is an airborne computer network, specifically designed for aviation.  The ADS-B In system is what pilots use to access the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast system.  Using ADS-B In, the pilot receives weather information, telemetry on other planes and guidance information.

The ADS-B Out is the transmitter.  The ADS-B Out is like a combination of GPS and the plane’s black box.  The Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast Out system transmits all data about the plane and flight from the equipped plane to the ADS-B satellite network.

Australia is, to date, the only nation that has fully upgraded entirely to ADS-B technology.  The United States is overhauling its aviation industry and by 2020, the intent is that the United States will be entirely on the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast system.  Finally, the aviation industry is getting out of the 1950s and into the 21rst Century!

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