Computer Support Blog

Online reviews are extremely important to small businesses that don’t have the massive advertising resources of large corporations.  In the days before the Internet, restaurants and local service providers would depend heavily on word of mouth and hope that customers would tell others of their positive experiences.  Now, with online review sites, it’s easier than ever for customers to relay their experiences with a company to as many people as possible all at once.   That means that each online review, positive or negative, can have a major impact on a small business trying to grow.  Cool product in technology Review Trackers is helping these businesses keep track of all the reviews they receive online and manage them accordingly.  Read more »

For many people, one of the greatest advantages of mobile technology is the ability to find whatever they need when they are out in the physical world.  The ability to look up the closest gas station when someone’s car is running low or finding the nearest ATM when a person’s wallet is thin are some of the greatest advantages of mobile computing.  Cool person in technology Jim Brady founded Earthcomber to push these advantages even further and make it even easier for people to find what they need with their smartphones and tablets.  Earthcomber finds the services and locations that users want to know about automatically.  Brady’s technology uses GPS to detect where people are when using their phones.  Earthcomber then finds the places closest to a user that will be most helpful to them based on their profile.  If users indicate they like to know where the nearest banks are whenever traveling, Earthcomber will automatically find them without them having to search for it.  Users can also set the app to detect things like restaurants, gas stations, hotels or even locations with free Wi-Fi.  If Earthcomber isn’t detecting locations properly for a user, that person should consult a smartphone computer repair professional about the phone’s GPS. Read more »

Even when people don’t have the money to donate to nonprofits and other causes, they are often willing to do anything they can to help.  Cool person in technology Mike Tang founded Raise5 in order to give people an outlet where they can use their skills to raise money for specific nonprofits and charity organizations.  On Tang’s website, people offer services for a price, but with a twist.  Rather than pay the person who provides a service directly, all money goes instead to a charitable organization of the worker’s choosing.  Users can offer services that cost anywhere between $5 and $50 on Raise5.  “Freelance fundraisers”, as Tang’s website calls them, post whatever service they want to perform on Raise5’s online marketplace.  These service providers advertise what charity they are supporting on each posting so buyers know what cause they are donating money to with each purchase.  Anyone who wants to offer services on the site, but has technical issues while creating a profile or posting, can get help from a professional cloud computer support service. Read more »

Making meals for a large number of people is never easy or even viable for people without strong cooking skills.  Still, using catering services or take-out orders to feed guests at one’s home often seems impersonal and uninteresting.  Cool person Chris Muscarella founded his startup Kitchensurfing to provide people with a third option: bring a professional chef into your home to cook for you and your guests.  Kitchensurfing users can book professional chefs for one-night occasions where they will cook a dinner for your gathering using your kitchen.  Essentially, Muscarella lets people turn their houses into ad hoc restaurants for an evening by letting people hire chefs for their home the same way they would for a larger event at a fancier venue.  Chefs purchase all the food ahead of time when a user books their services and the grocery costs become part of the overall price to the customer.  Users can search for different chefs on Kitchensurfing by filtering for availability, cuisine type, and price range.  Once a user selects the chef they want, Muscarella’s website puts them in direct contact with that chef to work out the details.  Anyone who experiences problems with the website while trying to find a chef should contact tech support for help. Read more »

Making products into services has been a common theme among technology startups over the last few years.  Companies like Spotify have taken music, which people once sold like a product in album and single form, and allowed people to pay a monthly subscription for unlimited access to it.  Netflix, Crackle, Hulu and other video streaming companies have made film and television a subscription service for millions of people as well.  Even computer repair companies now offer subscription-based plans as opposed to one-time service.  Now, a cool person in technology wants to transform another product into a service for consumers.  TurningArt founder Jason Gracilieri wants to make professional art subscription-based for admirers.  Read more »