Computer Support Blog

Finding healthcare can be a serious pain for those who fall sick when traveling. When away from home, an ill person has no access to his or her usual physician, which can be even more of a problem if someone has a specific medical condition.  Worst of all, however, is when people fall ill in foreign countries and can’t even be sure if they are going to find a doctor that speaks their language.  Marcel Muenster, cool person in technology and CEO of TraveDoc, wants to get rid of the uncertainty and anxiety that comes with needing medical care while out of the country.  That’s why his startup connects people with foreign doctors who speak their language quickly and conveniently. Read more »

Imagine walking into your neighborhood pharmacy and having your body’s calcium, cholesterol, and sodium levels tested by a lab technician on the spot. Then imagine receiving a total medical bill of $9.85, covered by your insurance, with tests results in a matter of hours. Sounds like science fiction, but it’s already happening at select Walgreen’s stores. The Theranos Wellness Center is an innovative new CLIA-certified lab, partnered with Walgreen’s, and offering nearly 200 lab tests with no hospitals, no waiting rooms, and no needles! Read more »

Speech recognition and voice control are quickly turning from a fringe concept into a new standard for user interfaces.  Innovations such as Apple’s Siri, Google Now, and other voice control systems have shown the public how convenient speech recognition can be to control your devices.  However, all these voice recognition systems are platform specific and limited to consumer use.  There are situations where one might want a voice recognition system that works with multiple platforms.  Businesses may also need a system that doesn’t report data back to other companies, such as Google or Apple.  Cool product Verbble addresses these needs.  Verbble uses a platform agnostic system so users can incorporate voice recognition into their technology no matter what devices they use.  Verbble claims that it can work with any established system currently on the market. While it will take efficient business computer services to guarantee the Verbble system works properly, the technology would be a major benefit to many businesses.  Using voice as an input device is not only more convenient, but also more efficient. People speak faster than they type.  This cool product could seriously improve a business’s productivity if used properly. Read more »

It’s probably safe to say that given the chance, most people would donate more to charity.  However, lack of resources, lack of time to do proper research, and general difficulty get in the way very often. Because of this difficulty, people overlook philanthropy in their busy lives.  Cool person in technology Theresa Preston-Werner has founded a new startup that aims to take all the potential hassle out of charitable giving.  Preston-Werner wants to make it so anyone can donate to well-run, effective charitable organizations without having to give it much thought.  Her organization, Omakase, does all the research on charities for its users.  Omakase researches to find the most effective and helpful charities so that donors never have to worry that a poorly run organization will waste the money they give.  Omakase works on a monthly basis, meaning that all donors pledge a certain amount of money to give every month automatically.  Preston-Werner likely believes this model will appeal to those looking for convenience, as it creates a “set it and forget it” mentality once someone pledges.  Users sign up for Omakase’s curated charities through the web.  Anyone who wants to donate but has Internet connection problems should call for home computer support.  Read more »

Solar power can potentially save homeowners significant amounts of money on electricity every year.  However, installing solar panels into a home can be extremely costly.  It also requires significant amounts of time and effort many working people simply don’t have.  Cool product Sunrun is a service that makes these issues irrelevant by repackaging solar power as a cheap, fixed-rate service to consumers.  Rather than having to purchase solar panels for a high price and install the technology themselves, consumers who sign up for Sunrun receive free panels and installation in return for signing a contract that requires a monthly fee. Sunrun says on their site that they offer locked-in rates for twenty years, so a customer’s electric bill remains static over long periods of time.  Sunrun proposes that it can still save homeowners money with its solar power as a service model, while offering lower fixed rates compared to traditional electricity’s unstable month-to-month prices.  With Sunrun’s fixed monthly fees, consumers shouldn’t have to worry about electricity-hogging activity like air conditioning or keeping the computer on for long periods during remote computer support sessions. Read more »

The healthcare industry is constantly a controversial topic and many believe it is an industry ripe for disruption.  GoGoHealth is a cool product in tech that is trying to shift the way people think about healthcare and technology.  GoGoHealth targets individuals who have experienced and had to pay for unnecessary doctor visits.  Going to a doctor’s office for an appointment over a simple health issue can have serious costs attached to it.  Cancelling work costs you productivity and probably money as well.  You waste gas by having to drive yourself to the office, and the visit itself costs you a certain amount of money out of pocket depending on your insurance provider.  This may not seem worth it when all you have is an ear infection and all you need is a simple prescription.  Small health issues like these take up many people’s time and money and the company behind GoGoHealth wants to eliminate that from happening.  GoGoHealth provides consumers with an online connection to health professionals that they can consult over the Internet to determine whether it is worth it to pay an actual visit to the office.  If you have trouble connecting with GoGoHealth online, you should find a home tech support service that can help you connect once more. Read more »

Startups often hit a snag when trying to find quality beta testers or early adopters to try their young products.  Cool product Erli Bird offers startups their services to help solve this problem.  Erli Bird uses their community of enthusiastic early adopters to give startups a pre-collected group of consumers to try early release and beta versions of their mobile apps and websites.  Erli Bird advertises startups that sign up on the front page of their website for a given period.  Users can sign up to test services and software that they find interesting and then give the startups direct, focused feedback.  This can save the startup time by preventing it from having to go out and look for quality groups of testers.  It can also potentially give startups a large dose of useful feedback for the next iteration of the product.  This process lets new companies find out which parts of their product require tech support to use and which parts work seamlessly.  Erli Bird wants to offer new companies an easier way to get customer feedback early on the product development process so startups can have a chance to optimize products before wide, public release.  Read more »

It is hard to gauge just how hyped the public is for certain products.  Whether it’s in tech or entertainment, advertising and press coverage can often be misleading indicators of how much people anticipate an upcoming product.  Cool person in technology Grant Yim founded HypeJar to garner more accurate ideas about how much the public is looking forward to different product releases.  HypeJar does this by aggregating the opinions of everyday consumers itself for insight.  Yim’s website invites users to vote, comment, and tag upcoming products to share their opinions on them.  HypeJar then takes this data and uses it to measure how much “hype” a product actually has.  In theory, one can gain a more accurate idea of the buzz surrounding a product by seeing what users think on HypeJar, rather than what journalists, critics, or advertisers think in their respective bubbles.  For example, while a tech blog may be hyping an upcoming phone release, users may actually be unexcited by it because it seems confusing and would require smartphone tech support just to complete simple tasks. Read more »

Working on a single project with someone else can be a logistically difficult process.  It often requires constantly sending files back and forth and providing commentary on each other’s work with each step of the process.  Cool person in technology Jahanzeb Sherwani wants to remove the obstacles of this process with his company ScreenHero.  ScreenHero develops a real-time collaborative program that enables two users to share a computer screen when working on projects together.  This could potentially allow for more efficient collaboration and save users’ time when they need to work together to get something done.  Sherwani wants to enable screen sharing across multiple platforms as well.  That’s why he and his team developed ScreenHero to be compatible with both Mac OS and Windows and work cross-platform.  Even if your partner is using a Mac while you’re on a Windows machine, ScreenHero can help you collaborate on the same project simultaneously. Sherwani also recently integrated voice chat into ScreenHero so users don’t have to use a third-party program to speak to each other while working on a project together.  If you have any issues using ScreenHero’s features, you should seek PC tech support for help. Read more »

People often need extra motivation or encouragement to achieve the goals that they set for themselves.  Without keeping track of their progress or setting a deadline, many people will forget about their goals altogether and never complete the necessary tasks to accomplish them.  Wishbomb is a cool product on the web that’s aim to prevent this from happening.  The website acts as persona l progress tracker for your goals.  Users create a profile on the site, add goals, create deadlines, and track every step of the process through the site.  Wishbomb users have “wishblogs” in which they write about their efforts to complete their goals and the challenges they personally face.  The site also offers specially tailored online resources for your specific goal when you need help knowing what to do next.  The site encourages users to join for goals as varied as starting your own business, losing weight, running a marathon, learning more about computer repair or redecorating your home.  Read more »