Computer Support Blog

Right now, the United States economy is at an intriguing place that it has never been at before.  As the country continues to emerge from its recession, the housing market remains understandably depressed (understandable because financial issues in the housing market precipitated much of the current economic malaise).  While a shaky economy and even more problematic housing market are nothing new, this is the first time since the Internet became a household tool that these conditions have existed.  This means unprecedented opportunities for fast access to information about real estate.  Rather than searching the totality of the Internet or allying yourself with one realtor, you might want to check out Zillow. Read more »

With the proliferation of digital photograph editing programs, a number of new companies have sprouted up.  In order to make these emerging businesses successful, most of the new companies are staffing from established, successful technology companies.  The opportunity to trade the steady, reliable position that a large company offers for the excitement of a small start-up is surprisingly appealing to a number of people in the tech sector.  One person who enthusiastically transitioned from a major firm to a small IT company was Paul Murphy. Read more »

Virtually every business journal has weighed in on the decline in Facebook’s stock.  After years of playing coy about it, Facebook had its initial public offering in May at $38 per share.  When the stock fell below $30 on May 29, every pundit in the business world weighed in on the decline.  The prevailing wisdom was that Facebook’s stock was overvalued and investors did not have a good-faith belief in the long-term profitability of the company.  That makes perfect sense from a business perspective.  The problem, however, with that view, is that it completely neglects the consumer perspective and there is an excellent chance that the consumer perspective is what is affecting Facebook’s stock. Read more »

One of the truly wonderful things about computers today is that they have enough power and programming to allow you to do just about anything, provided you have the right programs.  No longer are consumers limited by highly-pixelated monitors, graphics cards that lack power or processors that keep you waiting hours to render a single image or program.  With today’s fast-running computers, you can accurately envision almost any task, including home and landscaping alterations.  When you purchase HGTV Ultimate Home Design, you can see how any home and garden project should come out before you ever purchase supplies or reach for your tool belt! Read more »

With so much of the Earth’s surface area exposed to sunlight at any given moment, solar power seems like it would be a no-brainer as a renewable energy source.  Especially in already-developed areas of the world – cities, along highways, etc. – there are plenty of surfaces that could conceivably be covered in solar panels to generate electricity for industrial or residential use.  Actually, the problems of the solar energy industry are far more complicated than that.  As a result, every major renewable energy company employs a corporate officer who is responsible for developing a strategy for improving the distribution of products, educating the public, and guiding the product development within the company.  For Slunce Solar Technology, that executive is Debbie Varga. Read more »

Different corporate philosophies lead companies in different directions when it comes to growth.  In the tech sector, research and development has often been an important component of growth.  Even with cutting-edge tech companies, though, rather than invest in R&D, sometimes a bigger company will simply buy a successfully-developed product from the smaller company that innovated it.  Some of the companies that are cash-heavy, but development-light, have taken to buying up entire companies.  That is the tactic Groupon has been using and for the past four months, it has been rather aggressively buying up smaller businesses. Read more »

One of the nice things about having so many forms of audio and visual media in a standard-style format is that eventually, someone comes along and creates a single device that reads many different media.  Compact discs, DVDs, and Blu-Ray discs are all essentially the same size and shape, but run on very different hardware. Purely digital media files only need the proper CODECs to render them, regardless of whether they are audio or visual files.  The future of the home entertainment system is starting to look far less bulky.  Instead of having several independent devices, you might be able to convert everything to a single media player, like the TVIX HD M-7000. Read more »

The search for reliable, renewable, alternative energy sources is a pursuit of companies and individuals all around the world.  While the United States has been slow to adopt alternative energy sources that would wean the country from a dependency on fossil fuels, many other nations – especially the European countries – have been developing, utilizing, and marketing alternative energy products for businesses and consumers for years.  One of the leading companies presenting solar power options to the world is SMA Solar Technologies AG.  Recently, SMA Solar Technologies AG hired Emanuele Arpini. Read more »

In January, activists from all across the political spectrum came together to inform Congress that they did not want the Stop Online Piracy Act to pass.  Through actions like a coordinated blackout on January 18 to businesses lobbying heavily in favor of the bill, the defeat of SOPA stands as a great example of how representative democracy can truly work.  Despite the defeat of the bill, there have been lasting reverberations from Congresses attempt to legislate the Internet.  One of the changes that will become more evident when Congress reconvenes is an active presence of concerned citizens and companies.  The presence is the Internet Defense League. Read more »

With so much to do in the real world and on the Internet, it can be hard to find enough time to watch television these days!  For those who are paying for a satellite service or cable – especially premium cable channels – this can mean the loss of money, as you are paying for a service you are not enjoying.  Fortunately, with improved mobile computing devices and less expensive laptop computers, you now have additional options for getting the most out of your television service.  All you need to take advantage of all your television and portable device have to offer is the Slingbox SOLO! Read more »