Computer Support Blog

With all of the leaps forward in the way entertainment is presented, from enhanced audio standards to 3-D Blu-Ray players, it is almost surprising to learn that microprocessor production has been occurring on a two-dimensional scale for so very long.  Even the current generation of microprocessors, in stores now, runs on transistors that are two dimensional.  While they are faster and more intricate than the earliest transistors from 1947, they are essentially the same design.  Until now, the transistor has been refined by improved manufacturing methods and changes in the materials used to manufacture them.  All of that is about to change, though.  Intel is releasing computers based on their Ivy Bridge technology, the world’s first transistors designed with three dimensional pathways!

The Ivy Bridge processor is a 3-D Tri-Gate transistor and what that means to consumers is that it is fast!  The Ivy Bridge processor advances the Sandy Bridge microarchitecture that Intel pioneered and released in 2011.  While the Sandy Bridge used circuit pathways that were 32 nanometers wide, the Ivy Bridge improved the pathway to 22 nanometers!  With that improvement in the die, Intel’s new Panther Point (Series 7) chips will have more transistors per chip . . . by several orders of magnitude!  The change in ten nanometers allows Intel to use a vastly greater number of transistors in their new chips.

What does this change mean for you?

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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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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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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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With the recent underwhelming performance of Siri, it is clear that no matter how many “smart” devices technology companies create, the keyboard is not in danger of becoming obsolete just yet.  The keyboard remains an essential tool for interfacing with your computer.  As a result, typing skills are still an invaluable skill to have.  Adults, especially, may be reluctant to take a typing class for fear of feeling embarrassed at not knowing such an important skill.  For teenagers and adults who want to learn to type on their own, there is Typing Instructor Platinum software!

Typing Instructor Platinum is a comprehensive typing program that helps users master typing by breaking the process up.  Users learn to type in an academic section for part of the program, but move on to games that involve typing as they become more proficient.  In this fashion, the software guarantees that you will retain the lessons that the software initially teaches.  Typing is a more complicated skill to learn than some people understand.  While typing may be taught in an absolute sense (key positions and hand placements), the act of typing requires a higher level of abstract thinking.  Typing words and sentences is very different than typing individual characters.

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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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Windows 8 is just around the corner. Microsoft released its new operating system for the developer’s pre-beta testing phase in September and a beta version will come out in February. The reviews so far from the pre-beta phase are extremely encouraging about Windows 8.

According to developers who are already using the pre-beta version, Windows 8 is a very different operating system from its predecessors. The entire operating system is a rethought and redesigned product to fulfill the needs of users better on all platforms.

That is right, all platforms. Instead of using a different operating system for smartphones and tablets than they use for computers, Windows 8 will be available for all devices. It will to work the same on every device, as well as be able to synchronize your trusted devices so that you can pull up the same programs when moving from one device to another. This should simplify computer support for any of your devices.

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Ever since Twiggy and the rise of the supermodel, the fashion industry has conditioned women to hate their bodies.  While the philosophy of the 1970s was one of love, acceptance and self-improvement, with the proliferation of size 0 in modeling, the “you must always be thinner” philosophy has replaced the “love your body” mindset.  Fortunately, computers are finally coming to the rescue in the area of women’s body image!  From designing clothes to modeling them, computers are making ultra-thin models obsolete.

Computers have become integral to the fashion industry.  More than simply being used for inventory control and online shopping, the fashion industry relies heavily on computers.  While computer aided design and computer modeling are the most important computer-related innovations in the fashion industry, computers have made easier much more mundane tasks like materials procurement.  The Internet is a wealth of resources for fashion designers and manufacturers, as they are able to find all sorts of textiles and designs through the Internet that are not available to them in the capitals of the fashion industry.

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If you have been around an Apple store lately, you may have heard a lot of jargon shot at you.  Apple has such a pervasive subculture that those who are in it seem to find it inconceivable that anyone could not be a part of their subculture.  As a result, Apple salespeople often rattle off specifications and jargon at such a speed at to appear daunting to those who are not technically inclined.  One of the most frequent words Apple salespeople toss out with the expectation that you know what they are talking about is “FireWire.”

You may have been too afraid to ask, but you are not foolish for not knowing what FireWire is.

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