Computer Support Blog

Sometimes, the best ideas on the Internet are some of the simplest ones.  In the case of Internet humor, the evolution from simple shared comics e-mailed to friends to websites that collected memes to full-on Internet comedy channels is an intriguing one.  Too often, Internet users take for granted all of the work that goes into forming a humor-based website and making it successful.  For Ricky Van Veen, the challenges of establishing a viable Internet-based humor site are familiar; he runs CollegeHumor.com. Read more »

Well before the rise of Angry Birds, there was a puzzle game that filled the niche left by Tetris finally waning in popularity.  But while Angry Birds might have captured the public’s attention because of its fun (and merchandisable) animation, many serious gamers who love puzzle games remain enchanted by the game that preceded Angry Birds.  That game is Hexic and it remains as cool as it ever was. Read more »

Along with all the other forms of media available on the Internet, comics have made quite an impact for those who enjoy finding humor online. Webcomics have become a very popular Internet phenomenon and they vary in content and style as much as any other form of entertainment does. There are a few very popular webcomics online, one of the most popular of which is xkcd. Read more »

Have you ever wondered just what kind of person it takes to design a puzzle game?  Who comes up with things like Rubik’s Cubes and Tetris and Angry Birds?  It takes an incredible, special mind to create a puzzle game that becomes a phenomenon.  Alexey Pajitnov is that exact type of imaginative thinker who can make a brilliant puzzle using only his imagination. Read more »

For anyone who grew up watching Knight Rider, the idea of a talking car is nothing new.  In recent years, of course, talking cars have become more of a reality than a fantasy, thanks to GPS systems that deliver turn by turn directions out loud.  But, for those who still pine for a Knight Rider-style talking car, the car with an artificial personality is still several years away.  TomTom, though, now has the next best thing with voice upgrades for your GPS system! Read more »

Every city has something unique to offer its residents or visitors, but nothing truly defines a location as its small businesses – especially restaurants – do.  So, to get the real flavor of a city’s unique benefits, it helps to have a site where small businesses may promote their deals and customers may be exposed to all that locale has to offer.  That is the concept behind the LivingSocial website. Read more »

One of the most important aspects of a sales-driven business is the ability to reach out to your customers.  Having an interface for customers and vendors is especially important on Internet sales sites, notably online sites that are essentially a platform for vendors who are not directly connected to the site, like eBay and Amazon Stores.  For the art sales website Etsy, the community aspect is exceptionally important.  Artists and those who buy art tend to naturally form communities to discuss art – both the creation and acquisition of art.  That makes Vanessa Bertozzi’s role at Etsy a very important one. Read more »

In the late 1980s, there was a popular game called Laser Tag.  Despite the controversies about it at the time, Laser Tag was remarkably popular with young adults who enjoyed the technology and the physical activity the game required.  As a precursor to paintball, Laser Tag was a safe way for young people to run around shooting one another for live-action play.  Players had a laser sensor and a laser gun.  The object of the game was to shoot your opponent three times (as registered by changing lights on their sensor each time they were “hit”) with the laser gun . . . before they shot you!  Young people played Laser Tag in buildings, woods, and fields, both during the day and at night.   Now, Metalcompass, Ltd. is updating Laser Tag with some new twists with their XAPPR Gun! Read more »

One of the truly wonderful things about computers today is that they have enough power and programming to allow you to do just about anything, provided you have the right programs.  No longer are consumers limited by highly-pixelated monitors, graphics cards that lack power or processors that keep you waiting hours to render a single image or program.  With today’s fast-running computers, you can accurately envision almost any task, including home and landscaping alterations.  When you purchase HGTV Ultimate Home Design, you can see how any home and garden project should come out before you ever purchase supplies or reach for your tool belt! Read more »

One of the nice things about having so many forms of audio and visual media in a standard-style format is that eventually, someone comes along and creates a single device that reads many different media.  Compact discs, DVDs, and Blu-Ray discs are all essentially the same size and shape, but run on very different hardware. Purely digital media files only need the proper CODECs to render them, regardless of whether they are audio or visual files.  The future of the home entertainment system is starting to look far less bulky.  Instead of having several independent devices, you might be able to convert everything to a single media player, like the TVIX HD M-7000. Read more »