Computer Support Blog

Other than flying, what is one aspect of a ‘future car’ that most people would want? Self-driving, of course! In this hypothetical future, we would only have to tell the car where to go, sit back, and enjoy the ride. But is that really just a hypothetical far-off future?

Not if Google gets its way. According to the New York Times, Google is looking to have the first driverless vans or taxis available in 2013 or 2014. The search engine company has been working with car manufacturers for a few years now on autonomous, driverless cars. Several working prototypes have even been test-driving around on some California roads.

When this technology gets the bugs worked out and becomes available on the open market, there will be some major changes in the way driving works. There will not be as many accidents since most accidents occur because of human error. Speed limits and traffic laws will no longer be the ‘suggestions’ most people perceive them to be because the car will be a law-abiding driver.

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With so many people investing heavily in better and better high definition television sets, it is getting hard to recommend new computer monitors.  For sure, if you keep your PC segregated from your HDTV, a new computer monitor is necessary.  But, if you are spending a lot of money on a fancy high definition television, many of your peripherals will interact with it.  In other words, you can get the most for your money out of both your computer and electronic devices and your high definition television by connecting your gadgets to your HDTV.  For those who have a Sony Cyber-shot digital camera, that means getting a VMC-MHC1 High Definition Output Cable.

The VMC-MHC1 High Definition Output Cable serves as an adapter for the Cyber-shot digital camera.  Designed for high definition video signals, the Sony VMC-MHC1 converts the images on your Cyber-shot digital camera into a format that your high definition television may recognize.  Because of its simple configuration, the VMC-MHC1 cable is exceptionally easy to use and requires no software to reconfigure your images.  This is a true plug and play device and it allows you to see all of your photographs on a giant, high definition screen!

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ABC’s Once Upon A Time has captivated millions of viewers.  Once Upon A Time bounces viewers between a mythical fairy tale past and a somewhat surreal present day to tell its story.  While the series may appear to be set in a folksy New England town or an ancient nature setting, there is an extensive amount of technology from Zoic Studios involved in making Once Upon A Time come alive for viewers.

Zoic Studios is responsible for the most important special effects on Once Upon A Time.  It is the artists and computer programmers of Zoic Studios that create the virtual sets needed to bring the fantasy kingdom in Once Upon A Time to life.  ABC Studios had what appeared to be a cost-prohibitive series to produce when the writers first pitched Once Upon A Time.  The show requires two vastly different settings for every episode.  While the producers could not cheat some of the elements for those settings, most notably costumes, Zoic Studios made the project feasible through their pioneering work in virtual sets.

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The rise of the personal computer has not been accompanied by any profound change in the human animal.  As a result, humans frequently suffer pain from prolonged computer use.  Between computer eye strain and sore neck muscles from improper monitor/screen placement, the effects on your health may undo the convenience of a laptop computer.  While scientists for years have worked on ways to combat computer eye strain, there have been fewer efforts to reduce muscle fatigue specifically caused by computer use.  Osim changes that with the creation of the uPixie!

The uPixie by Osim is the world’s first laptop massager.  More than a simple massager, the uPixie connects to your laptop computer.  The uPixie interacts with your digital music player and offers you a safe, convenient way to relax your muscles even when you are still working on your laptop!  The scientists at Osim created a functional, fun and unique product with the uPixie.

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Internet humor is, arguably, an acquired taste and it is certainly dominated by youth!  Because young people tend to be fickle, staying with something only so long as it is trendy, many Internet humor sites and Internet humor phenomena are not enduring.  They rise up, the novelty of their form of humor captivates an audience and then the audience dissipates and the contributors go on to the next big thing.  One of the real exceptions to that cycle came from the creative mind of Sherrod DeGrippo.

Sherrod DeGrippo is the creator of Encyclopaedia Dramatica and, before you go looking for it, don’t bother; Encyclopaedia Dramatica is no longer on the Internet.  The site closed down in 2011, but what makes Sherrod DeGrippo so impressive is that she almost singlehandedly held together the perverse, edgy and often disturbing Encyclopaedia Dramatica for seven years.  That makes Encyclopaedia Dramatica one of the biggest successes in Internet free speech and Internet humor yet.

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In the rapidly-changing world of consumer electronics, there is one undeniable fact: without power, your gadget is worthless.  It’s true.  No matter how fast your smartphone, tablet computer, e-reader, laptop computer or PC is, when it’s out of juice, it’s just an expensive decoration or fashion accessory!  While virtually every major company is in a race to create better batteries, one company is preoccupied with making a better charger.  That company is the Swedish company myFC.  The breakout product for myFC is the Powertrekk fuel cell charger.

The Powertrekk fuel cell charger represents a significant leap forward in recharging technology and myFC deserves a lot of credit for pioneering the technology.  Just as creating gold from another element is the alchemist’s dream, the holy grail for power supply generation is the ability to use water to generate electricity.  MyFC now offers a hydrogen cell charger that powers USB devices simply by adding water to the cell.  You may use the Powertrekk fuel cell charger to recharge electronic devices or power them.  The Powertrekk fuel cell charger can keep a smartphone like the iPhone powered for days, regardless of the weather.  That makes the Powertrekk fuel charger an asset to those who want to use renewable energy sources, but cannot depend upon the sun.

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In the current economic climate, it is hard to imagine that the profession of “inventor” still actually exists.  There are so few companies that invest in pure discovery and so few tinkerers who can afford to devote their time to projects that may take decades to pan out.  But inventors still exist independent of any corporate structure and one of the coolest contemporary inventors is Stephen Kurtin.

Stephen Kurtin is a bona fide inventor who has spent almost forty years puttering around.  In the process, he has made some significant inventions and improvements on other people’s work.  Kurtin graduated from MIT in 1966 with concurrent S.M. and S.B. degrees in Physics.  After receiving a Howard Hughes Doctoral Fellowship to Caltech, Stephen Kurtin studied Applied Physics in California, amid the boom in transistor and microchip discovery.  After earning his doctorate in Applied Physics, a world of opportunities opened up to Kurtin.

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Power.  Power is what every company wants, on one level or another, and it is the defining factor of success in the technology sector.  The computer that is the most powerful, as defined by speed, computing ability and consistency, is considered the very best one on the market.  But more and more, the computing ability of smartphones, laptop computers and consumer electronics at all levels are at the mercy of battery power.

Battery power, or the failures of it, nearly sunk the release of the Apple iPhone 4S.  Apple worked quickly to solve the battery problems in the new release and even revealed a battery problem with first-generation iPod Nanos to prevent future customer service problems.  Batteries store energy to keep electronic devices going and right now, it is one of the hottest industries in which to be.  Three of the most significant battery projects are:

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With all of the rapidly-changing aspects of computer technology, it can be very hard to keep up.  Indeed, for those who are casual computer users without real investment in the computer hardware industry, it was not so long ago that the USB port became the dominant interface port.  Suddenly, when you upgraded your computer and wanted to use your favorite old keyboard or mouse, you discovered there were no ports in the back of your new computer for it!  Like compact discs to records, the USB port has pretty much eliminated most specialized ports on computers.  In the world of USB ports, USB 3.0 is slowly creeping up in popularity.

But, you might be wondering, just what is USB 3.0?

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There is a strange irony to the way technology develops independent of how humans will actually interface with technology.  Take, for example, recent high definition televisions and computer monitors.  They create incredible images that are vibrant, bright and interesting . . . and using them for prolonged periods of time can create an all new form of eye strain!  The irony comes in the fact that the manufacturers do not change their technology to prevent this sort of strain, but rather companies emerge to create even more gadgets to compensate for the problem.  So, for those of you suffering from computer eye strain, suffer no longer!  Now there are computer glasses.

Computer glasses are custom-made glasses that are designed to reduce eye strain and prevent headaches associated with using a computer monitor for long periods of time.  While traditional models for eye care treat vision as a function of nearsighted or farsighted, eye care professionals developed computer glasses based on a middle distance.  Because most computer operators have their monitors further away than they would traditionally have a book, yet perform many of the same mental and optical functions they do when reading, their eyes strain to read what is on the screen.  Computer glasses adjust the eye’s focus for this extended range!

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