Computer Support Blog

Have you had enough with portable technology devices?  If you said ”yes,” it can hardly be considered a surprise.  More than any other time in history, the consumer electronics market is overflowing with options . . . so many that it is easy to fail to see what the point of it all is.  Media players alone have become a market where the options seem to be designed more for competition between products than actually filing a niche that is desperately yearning to be filled.

For small-screen devices, you have your smartphones.  While many of the smartphones have screens that are less than 2” for the diagonal screen measurement, the iPod Touch changed the nature of such devices when Apple released it with a 3.5” screen.  This created a niche of handheld devices that could surf the Internet and perform all sorts of media functions, including playing movies and music.  The Apple iPhone added telephone communication to that and with that, Apple firmly entered the smartphone wars.

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Every generation hopes the future will be better for their children than it was for them.  Even with that hope, the first generation that was banking on the flying car ended up with the personal computer and the second generation raised to think the flying car was coming developed the Internet.  As two generations lament the lack of flying cars, the future is looking a little brighter for the next generation.  The hope that robots might make life easier and better for the next generation is becoming more of a real possibility because of the DragonBot.

The DragonBot is a robot, though some have diminished it by simply referring to it as a toy.  The researchers at MIT, Northeastern and Harvard who worked together to design and manufacture the DragonBot have called it an educational tool.  With a $1000 price tag, those who are likely to buy the DragonBot would probably prefer to consider it an educational tool as opposed to a toy as well!  While there have been several robotic toys or educational tools on the market in recent years, none is quite like the DragonBot.

The DragonBot is a furry, feathery robot that is over a foot tall.  It looks like a cross between an owl and a cocker spaniel.  The DragonBot is a robot that has two arms, two legs and a tail that has a limited range of motion.  In published tests so far, the DragonBot is able to move up and down and flail its arms.  So far, the little robot is also able to shake its torso.

One of the distinctive aspects of the DragonBot is that it does not have a face.  While initially this might seem horrible, the designers of the DragonBot seemed to think it was time Android lived up to its name and they designed the DragonBot to use an Android-powered smartphone as a controller.  Your Android-smartphone utilizes a special graphics program when you install the DragonBot app.   By activating the app and plugging it into the DragonBot’s head, your smartphone becomes the DragonBot’s face!  The faceplate is fully animated, so when your DragonBot emotes with eye movements or speaks, the face graphic moves!

What is most remarkable about the DragonBot is that it learns from the experience it has and from the experience of every other operating DragonBot.  The DragonBot runs using a Cloud-based program through the Android network.  As a result, when one DragonBot learns not to smack a dog in the eye, every DragonBot everywhere learns the exact same lesson!  While this might have vastly different results – one need only consider the neighbor child in Toy Story to posit that an entire generation of DragonBots might be raised to rightly fear children – the idea is a very cool one.

For those who love expensive gadgets, toys that learn and their Android smartphones, the DragonBot provides a must-have toy for children and adults alike!

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

As the new year blossoms and you consider your New Year’s resolution, you may find that you have, metaphorically, bit off more than you can chew.  Two of the most popular New Year’s resolutions are to lose weight and to quit smoking.  While technology can be used to help you lose weight, what you might not know is that there are now ways to use technology to help you quit smoking.  Livestrong, the marketing and merchandising arm of the Lance Armstrong Foundation, helped to develop the MyQuit Coach application for the Apple iPhone and it may help you to quit smoking!

MyQuit Coach is available through iTunes for all variations of the Apple iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch running iOS 4.0 or above.  The application runs as a blend of a motivational program and journal function designed to help you rid your body of nicotine!  The MyQuit Coach app will help you quit smoking if you do not want to use medicines or other smoking cessation methods and no data yet exists on how effective the program is.  However, for those who believe in the power of mind over matter – but just need a partner in the process – the MyQuit Coach application may be just the ticket you need to quit smoking this year.

The motivational aspect of the MyQuit Coach application comes in the form of screenshots and slogans.  Each time you access the MyQuit Coach application, you are greeted with a statement, like “Smoking affects me and my loved ones,” to help keep you aware of the consequences of your actions.  The application also includes videos that help detail the consequences of smoking.  The MyQuit Coach acts as a “good-cop, bad-cop” routine on your iPhone encouraging you and warning you of the consequences of slipping from your plan.

Perhaps the more useful function of the MyQuit Coach is the journal function.  Using the MyQuit Coach, you may program your iPhone to detail specific benchmarks in your goal to quit smoking.  If you have tried and failed in the past as quitting smoking cold turkey, you may use MyQuit Coach to wean you from cigarettes incrementally.  Under such a plan, you use MyQuit Coach to keep track of how many cigarettes you have had in a day and the application warns you when you are about to pass the goal number you have set for yourself.

The MyQuit Coach application is actually a very smart use of smartphone technology.  Because one of the common complaints smokers have when the relapse and smoke again is that they did not know what to do with their hands when they were not smoking, the MyQuit Coach comes up with an elegant solution.  By keeping the smoker’s fingers busy on an iPhone, the application helps break the physiological connection to smoking that seasoned smokers might have.  That is a clever idea and makes the MyQuit Coach application a very cool app!

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

Virtually anyone can manipulate statistics in so many different ways that it is sometimes funny what passes for news using statistics.  As the annual Consumer Electronics Show launched in Las Vegas this year, the NPD Group (formerly National Purchase Diary Group) came out with what appeared to be ominous financial statistics for the technology sector.  This was treated as potentially devastating news among many members of the technology press, most of whom were off covering the Consumer Electronics Show.

Is it possible the technology reporters and bloggers did not actually read the NPD report?  Is it possible that the mainstream media that picked up the story did not understand it?  Either way, the tech sector ought not to be reeling from the NPD Group’s assertion that holiday consumer electronics spending dropped six percent during the holiday shopping season in 2011.

This would actually be news . . . if it were true.

The NPD Group’s methodology in determining that consumer electronics sales dropped is a flawed one.  In fact, they use methodology so flawed as to make the results meaningless.  The NPD report states that total consumer technology sales “excluding cell phones, tablets, e-readers, and video games” dropped.  What?!  Why is anyone taking the report seriously when it excludes some of the biggest consumer spending items of the holiday season?!  Every major poll in every single respectable publication put the Amazon Kindle Fire at the top of both “most wanted” and “most purchased” gift lists.  The Apple iPad was also a highly sought-after and delivered gift.

Saying that consumer electronic spending is down without including tablets, e-readers and video games, is like saying that cars are being pulled over less by police . . . when red and black cars are excluded.  Given that red and black cars comprise the greatest number of cars on the road in the United States, any statistic correlating cars and car color is worthless without including them.  So, too, is a statistic about holiday spending on consumer electronics that omits the most popular consumer electronics of the holiday season!

Why did the NPD release such a worthless statistic?  To be fair, the data is virtually impossible to come by.  Amazon is notoriously tight-lipped about how many of its e-readers have sold, and, with the Kindle Fire, they have been characteristically opaque.  Apple is also less eager to release its sales figures on tablet computers, though it is widely predicted that when you consider tablets a personal computers, Apple is now the largest PC manufacturer on Earth.

Regardless of what the NPD wants consumers to think, ten days in the 2011 holiday shopping season saw billion dollar sales, which is more than any other holiday season ever before.  To think that consumer electronics like tablets, e-readers and video games did not contribute tremendously to that is naïve.

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 United States comes into another election year, political activism is once more on the rise.  But for those for whom politics is more than just an every-four-year event, new technologies are making their political activism more effective.  One of the relatively new technologies used by activists is the Short Message Service.  Among the various Short Message Services, Mobile Commons stands out for its effectiveness.

Mobile Commons is a marketing platform designed for smartphone users.  The Internet-based application acts as a social network that allows you to connect your smartphone to the smartphones of all of your friends.  Then, when you have an important issue that you need transmitted through your networks, the Mobile Commons application acts as a Short Message Service.  As an SMS, Mobile Commons helps transmit both messages – via the phone portion of your smartphone – and text documents to everyone with whom you have a relationship.

The benefit of the Mobile Commons application to political activists is almost self-evident.  As soon as you learn of an issue that affects the people in your network, you may inform them all simultaneously using Mobile Commons.  But as important, as a leader of a group, you may help guide the group to a specific course of action using Mobile Commons.  Using Mobile Commons, you may draft a form letter to your Representative or Senator (or any person you need to get a message to) and send it with your voice message.  As a result, within minutes of learning of a bill, news event or other political controversy, you and your entire network can spread the word and tell those people in power exactly what you want them to do!

Mobile Commons is not limited to just political activism in its usefulness as an application.  Large families may benefit from using Mobile Commons.  For example, if your large family is in the process of becoming even larger, Mobile Commons can be an invaluable tool.  You may use Mobile Commons to send everyone in your family network announcements about new births or other vital family events and attach photos of the new baby.  Using Mobile Commons, members of your family network may then spread the good news and pictures with people in their lives.

There are many applications that allow networking and sharing, but Mobile Commons puts it together in a very effective, easy-to-use platform that has a proven record of success.  That makes Mobile Connect very cool for activists and genuinely social people.

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

With more and more states adopting hands free laws and the National Traffic Safety Board issuing an advisory to Congress that no electronic devices should be used while driving, Bluetooth technology is becoming more important than ever.  With so many different Bluetooth headsets on the market, it can be difficult to determine which Bluetooth headset is the right one for you.  One of the best on the market, especially for those who are environmentally conscientious, is the Iqua 603 Sun Bluetooth headset.

The Iqua Sun is a discrete Bluetooth headset that does not call much attention to itself.  With its muted black shell and earbud-style design, the Iqua Sun is not as flashy as many Bluetooth headsets.  The fact that the Iqua Sun does not sparkle or try to impress users with its simple appearance is not a good reason to disregard this very cool Bluetooth headset.  This Bluetooth has substance and it comes in the form of its solar powered battery.

The Iqua Sun is solar powered, which makes it one of the most environmentally-responsible Bluetooth headsets on the market.  Whenever you are outside walking with your Iqua Sun in your ear, it will charge off direct and indirect sunlight!  This makes the Iqua Sun an ideal Bluetooth headset for active outdoors enthusiasts who need to remain connected even when they are out in the elements.  For use at night, inside, or other dark environments, the Iqua Sun falls back on a Lithium Polymer battery that has a 9 hour talk capacity.  By the time you exhaust the battery, the sun will be back up to recharge it!

Because Iqua designed the Sun for substance more than style, the Iqua Sun Bluetooth Headset has very easy-to-use controls.  Outfitted with only a volume control toggle and call button, the Iqua Sun is one of the least complicated to operate Bluetooth headsets on the market.  At only twelve grams, the Sun is very light in your ear, making it one of the most comfortable Bluetooth headsets as well.

The Iqua Sun operates on any Bluetooth-compatible device that uses Handsfree 1.5 and Headset 1.1.  In addition to having the impressive solar power function, the Iqua Sun has a decent range.  You may pair the Iqua Sun with up to eight different hands-free, one at a time. The Sun remains connected to its device even when your phone, smartphone or other hands-free device is up to ten meters away.

The Iqua Sun Bluetooth Headset is a very cool Bluetooth headset that is ideal for those who like both being outdoors and having access to their gadgets.

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

The process of driving has become more difficult with the proliferation of new technologies and the distractions those technologies represent.  With the rise of the cell phone, drivers suddenly had phone calls to distract them from driving safely.  While the utterly ineffectual laws requiring hands free devices sought to curb that problem, legislators had no idea how fast the smartphone would take over.  With the smartphone beginning to dominate the mobile phone market, drivers have even more to be distracted by.  Ford Motors, however, has come up with a solution, through their SYNC system!

The Synch AppLink is a new function of the Microsoft-powered Synch platform.  Synch is essentially the operating system for the computers aboard cars from Ford Motors.  Just as Windows may run your PC, Synch runs the onboard computer on Ford vehicles.  Synch monitors your Ford’s status and provides you – and your mechanic – with clear alerts when there is a malfunction within the car.  Synch also assists you in adjusting the frills in your car, like adjusting the radio station or volume.

Now, Microsoft has enhanced the Synch system with Synch AppLink.  Synch AppLink acts as a bridge between the Synch system and your smartphone.  Because Windows occupies such a small market share of the smartphone OS market, it was impractical to create a system for Ford that exclusively interfaced with only Windows-driven smartphones.  So, Microsoft created the Synch AppLink.

The Synch AppLink allows you to access compatible applications on your smartphone through the Synch system.  After docking your smartphone with your Ford, you may give Synch voice commands.  By activating the Synch AppLink, you will be able to give voice commands to activate compatible applications on your smartphone.  If, for example, you subscribe to the Internet radio station Pandora through your smartphone, you would be able to command the Synch AppLink to open the Pandora app.  Within seconds, you would be listening to Internet-based radio streaming from your smartphone to your Ford’s speakers all using the Synch AppLink!

The Synch AppLink is adding compatibility to new programs daily.  In addition to music apps like Pandora and Stitcher, the Synch AppLink has some compatibility with Twitter.  While hands free typing may not yet be available through Synch AppLink, you may now check your Twitterfeed through the Synch AppLink!  Even as you drive away from home, you may remain connected to your friends!

With the Synch AppLink, hands free usage of smartphones is becoming easier and that should make everyone on the road happier!

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