Computer Support Blog

The technology sector is filled with people who appear to never have heard the adage “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”  In the case of websites, especially social networks, programmers who originally design the site tend to strive for functionality over style.  One need only recall the iconic scene from The Social Network wherein Sean Parker and Mark Zuckerberg discuss monetizing The Facebook and come to the conclusion that it was too soon for that.  Cool things aren’t about monetizing.  The people who use websites at their inception and stick with the site do so because there is something enduringly interesting about the site that they cannot find elsewhere on the Internet. Read more »

StumbleUpon recently made some changes.  Guided by focus groups, StumbleUpon’s CEO authorized alterations to StumbleUpon with the stated purpose of making the site easier to use.  While not entirely eliminating the fun, random nature of StumbleUpon’s interface – which took you to websites that conformed to your stated interests – CEO Garrett Camp made a number of changes to the popular site.  In addition to putting graphic representations of interests on the front page and adding a search engine to the site, StumbleUpon now features Channels. Read more »

There is a somewhat ugly trend in the tech sector right now where the corporate philosophy seems to be “be everything to everyone.”  The behemoths of the tech sector – Apple, Google, Microsoft, etc. – are each struggling to capture the market share of virtually every division and idea within the tech sector.  When one company branches into mobile OS development, the others leap into mobile OS development and start developing their own search engines.  The result is that consumers are forced to ally themselves with one company’s many product lines or scatter their allegiance on a product by product basis, often ending up with incompatible technologies causing additional headaches.  One of the latest fronts is online mapping programs.  Looking to shore up their position in the market, Google is launching improvements to Google Maps in advance of Apple unveiling its new mapping service. Read more »

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 »

If “people who need people are the luckiest people,” what does it make people who need to find out all they can about people?  Perhaps a better question would be, what does it make people who make the tools for people to find out about other people?  Perhaps that question could be best answered by Saad Zniber, co-founder of Yatedo. Read more »

Google is the “King of Search”.  Now, it has another, less flattering title: “King of Malware.”  Google search results have become an Internet security threat.

The Barracuda Labs 2010 Midyear Security Report studied search engine results for ‘trending’ topics, and showed significant flaws in Google’s Internet security.

According to Barracuda, Google searches resulted in far more malware infected links – 69% – than results for Yahoo, Bing, and Twitter combined.  Read more »