Computer Support Blog

Have you ever tried to connect to a website and wondered if your computer is to blame or if the site you are trying to reach is down?  You might spend several minutes and switch between web browsers in the attempt to find out if the site you want to go to is actually where it is supposed to be on the World Wide Web.  As with virtually everything else, there is a solution to your problem found easily on the Internet.

There are a number of Internet sites that now offer the free service of checking to see if a website you are interested in is actually active.  That is a very cool service and arguably the best of the market are:

Down For Everyone Or Just Me.  Despite the cumbersome name, Down For Everyone Or Just Me remains one of the most simple to use websites on the entire Internet.  Arriving at the main page, users are prompted to enter the website URL they want to access.  They are then directed to an answer page with a very simple answer of “It’s just you” (when the website you are looking for is actually running fine) or “It’s not just you” if the website you are looking for is not operating.  There is space for advertisements at the bottom of each results page, but no one ever seems to buy space there.  From the results page, you may enter another URL or leave the site.  This website is a very simple, very cool tool with no frills and a distinctly helpful and uncluttered format that is refreshing to find on the Internet.

Downrightnow.  With its very easy to remember name, Downrightnow is a simple and direct resource for the major social networks.  With a very clear graphic interface, Downrightnow informs you instantly of any service disruptions to Twitter, Facebook, Gmail, YouTube and other popular websites.  The only disadvantage to Downrightnow is that it only lists the major sites, but it is an invaluable tool for checking those sites and learning about service disruptions to the major Internet players.

IsUp.  IsUp.me is an exceptionally easy name to remember when you are frustrated about Internet problems.  IsUp has as simple an interface as Down For Everybody Or Just Me and is as reliable.  The no-frills approach serves IsUp very well; many of the flashier websites that check the Internet for you came up with false positives or false negatives.  IsUp might have a simple interface, but it has great accuracy!

The above sites provide a valuable, free service of checking the Internet for the websites you want to find.  Using them can help you determine if there is a glitch somewhere out on the World Wide Web or if you actually need computer repairs for your computer.  Of course, if you cannot even connect to these sites, you probably need technical support!

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

If you have had M&M’s lately, you might be contributing to a growing problem without even knowing about it.  M&M’s has a current promotion on many of its wrappers advertising the chance to win free movie tickets.  This is very exciting; in addition to getting some candy, you have the chance to get into a movie for free!  How cool is that?  Your response might be a little different after you pull back the curtain and look at what MARS/M&M’s is actually doing (and they are not the only ones!).

When you go on the Internet to enter the code found on your wrapper of M&M’s, the site requests your birthdate and state.  This is a very odd redundancy as the M&M’s website requires you to provide your birthdate just to access the site (it reconfigures for different age groups, which is admittedly pretty cool).  After you have added your date of birth and state or territory, you may enter your game code.  When you enter your game code, you are compelled to provide your e-mail address before the site will tell you what you have won.

And lo!  The vast majority of winners who win anything from M&M’s.com have to enter their address . . . so M&M’s may mail you your movie coupon.  This may seem like a very exciting process that has you eager to go to the movie, as well as eat more candy (you could win again!).

But what has really happened?  In the space of about one minute, you have provided the MARS/M&M’s Corporation with your name, address, e-mail address and birthdate.  You have given the company everything they need to put you on a mailing list!

Virtually every company with an online presence now gets their data directly from their customers in this fashion.  Why pay for a mailing list from a competitor when you can simply have your customers furnish their contact information under the guise of winning something?  The bottom of the receipts for Taco Bell and Wal-Mart promise the chance of money each month when you call and inform the company about the service you received.  Some users online have reported spikes in e-mails from companies like Wal-Mart following filling out those surveys!

It used to be that businesses kept customers in the dark about how their names ended up on mailing lists.  With the rise of Internet contests and surveys that require you to give your contact information, the process is being redressed poorly.  But kudos to the big companies!  They have realized they do not need data miners; they just need to offer the possibility of getting something more with your seventy-five cent candy!

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 so many different games moving from the real world into the digitized realms of computer gaming, it is unsurprising that pinball games have been a staple computer game almost since personal computers became popular.  Unlike those who play video slot machines, pinball players tend to like some sense of order to their gaming.  Pinball players want their game to conform to the physical laws of the world and they play to thrill over the speed at which the game changes.  While a video slot machine player may play the same game in the home as they do in the casino, seasoned pinball players will tell you that playing a physical pinball machine and playing a computer pinball program are two very different experiences.

The line between the physical pinball machines and the computer pinball machines is getting a lot more narrow, thanks to Future Pinball.  Future Pinball is a freeware game construction program for Windows XP and subsequent editions of Windows.  The program requires only 19.2 MB of free drive space, but because you get to import many of your own graphics, you will want more space available.  Future Pinball is a construction program that has everything you need to create your own virtual pinball machine!

Future Pinball is best envisioned as a workshop for pinball machine enthusiasts.  You start with the empty frame of the pinball machine and then you select all of the elements you want to add to the virtual pinball machine.  All of the classic design elements of a physical pinball machine are present in Future Pinball, from bumpers to ramps to targets to additional flippers!  You are able to lay out a 3-D pinball machine with all of your favorite elements.

Once you have the basic “physical” elements of your personalized pinball machine loaded, you get to work on the style aspects.  Future Pinball makes it possible for you to load in any graphics you have on your computer.  You can make a personalized, unique pinball machine from your favorite media franchise or superstar or accent it with pictures and themes from your personal life!  After that, you may assign points to each component.  The game supports the addition of music files as well, so this can truly become your ultimate pinball machine.  If at that point you still have the willpower to resist playing your new creation, Future Pinball allows you to create the leveled games and challenges most pinball players have come to expect with pinball machines.

What makes Future Pinball so incredible is the already existing programming.  While there is a lot to configure within this game, Future Pinball comes programmed with the advanced laws of physics that guide pinball gameplay.  Each item you add to the machine has a specific composition and shape that comes programmed with realistic properties.  When you make your Future Pinball game, the virtual metal ball inside reacts as a real metal ball would, making this the most lifelike pinball game yet!

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

Recently, we explored the growing phenomenon of digital comic books.  One of the coolest products for digital comic books is the Comixology Guided View digital comic reader.  Available for free through Comixology.com, the Guided View digital comic book reader is an easy-to-use application that comic book readers use to buy and read digital comic books on any or all computer devices they own.

Guided View is a reader, much like the well-known Adobe readers, but to date Guided View is exclusively for digital comic books.  Guided View has two distinct advantages other digital comic book readers do not have.  The first is that because Digital View is through Comixology and not an individual publisher, readers may easily and inexpensively purchase digital comic books from various publishers with a consistent platform.  It is a huge advantage for readers who have favorite characters from DC Comics, Marvel and the independents to not have to switch platforms or create multiple accounts just to read the comic books they love.

The other serious advantage of Guided View is that the Comixology-created platform is fully transferable.  When you create an account with Comixology.com, that account is accessible from all of your computers, smartphones or other mobile devices.  That universal account access provides you with the ability to read your digital comic books with whatever device you have on you at the time.  If your laptop computer runs out of battery power, that is not a problem!  Simply continue reading your digital comic book on your tablet computer or smartphone.  That access is a convenience that allows readers to be assured they will only pay for their digital comic book once, but have the ability to read it in perpetuity.

Guided View has two reading modes: full page and guided.  The full page reading option provides the most true comic book experience, as readers are able to see the full two-pages of panels and may easily follow the movement and depth of the panels the way the artist originally intended readers to experience it.  The full page option is ideal for larger devices, like reading the digital comic books on your widescreen television through your Internet-connected game console.

The second reading mode is the guided view option from the Guided View reader.  The guided view option transforms every digital comic book into a panel by panel movie.  Readers see a panel; they click “Forward” and Guided View slides to the next panel or does a wipe into the next panel.  The guided view is ideal for smaller devices, like reading digital comics on a smartphone.  Serious readers are likely to miss the way the artwork connects, but the simple sense of motion the guided view provides will engage children.

Guided View requires no computer support to install or operate.  Comixology is doing a real service to the environment and independent comic books by advancing digital comic books.  At the forefront with their Guided View, Comixology is undeniably cool.

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

Flash drives have been transformed from useful data storage devices into fashion statements.  More than simply useful tools for keeping computer files safe or transferring files easily between different computers, USB flash drives have become another way for computer users to express themselves.  Some of the coolest USB flash drives help fans show their appreciation for their favorite films like Twilight or Harry Potter.  Now, Mimoco makes flash drives for one of the undeniably coolest franchises of all time, Star Wars!

Mimoco has a line of Star Wars MIMOBOTs (the Mimoco term for their designer USB flash drives).  Currently, there are twenty-one different Star Wars styles in their MIMOBOT line and they are very cool.  Mimoco molded each MIMOBOT flash drive with a somewhat rounded appearance, reminiscent of Weebles.  Most Star Wars MIMOBOT flash drives come in your choice of 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB or 64GB capacity.  A few, like their San Diego Comic Con exclusive Bossk MIMOBOT, come with fewer options for capacity.

Each Star Wars MIMOBOT features a different Star Wars franchise character or alien.  The stylized design of the MIMOBOT includes an elongated head on each character.  Mimoco designed the Star Wars MIMOBOTs to stand as desk ornaments when they are not in use.  The MIMOBOTS make for good decorations as each one has bright colors and distinctive markings.  The Darth Vader MIMOBOT even features an additional layer; when you remove the helmet, Anakin’s human face is underneath!

More than simply cool to look at for geeks, the Star Wars MIMOBOT flash drives are entirely functional.  Each elongated MIMOBOT head is the cap for the flash drive!  By simply pulling on the character’s head or helmet, you expose the male USB lead of the MIMOBOT!  Like any other USB flash drive, the Star Wars MIMOBOT flash drive slides easily into any female USB port.  Because of the rounded nature of the casing of the MIMOBOTs, the Star Wars MIMOBOT flash drives may not fit into a crowded USB hub.  These flash drives do not like to share space, so they must be plugged into a USB port where there are no other USB devices that might inhibit the physical connection of the MIMOBOT.

With designs like Luke Skywalker, Lando Calrissian, Darth Maul and the ever-popular Boba Fett, Mimoco has tapped into the Star Wars fans’s idea of cool with their Star Wars MIMOBOT flash drives!

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

Free speech and free access to information is absolutely vital in a capitalist democracy.  Any government that allows individuals, organizations and businesses to contribute financially to the political process owes its citizens a transparent process for auditing those contributions.  In the United States, there is no easier system for tracking money in politics than OpenSecrets.

OpenSecrets.org is a website run by the nonpartisan Center For Responsive Politics.  On OpenSecrets, you may investigate the fundraising of every political candidate registered with the Federal Election Commission.  Because the Center For Responsive Politics is not affiliated with the FEC or any political party, it provides unbiased tools that track the flow of money in politics.  Understanding how money flows to a candidate may provide voters with a realistic view of how that candidate will actually act when elected.  Because politicians are beholden to their donors, it is very easy to spot a hypocritical candidate.  OpenSecrets makes that very easy to do.  Because the website features a whole section on influence and lobbying, voters have easy tools to investigate the candidates on their ballot, whether the media does or not.  OpenSecrets shows which Political Action Committees donate money to each candidate, giving voters a more precise picture of the political landscape.

OpenSecrets.org features a very easy to use interface and a powerful search engine.  Users may find quarterly representations of a candidate’s financial standing through prominent tabs.  Clicking on the Politicians & Elections tab easily transports you to a guide for any Federally-recognized election for the current election cycle.  Clicking on a candidate or politician’s name, OpenSecrets.org provides you with the current financial status of their campaign!  The interface is so easy to use; you can be at a political rally and check the candidate’s finances on your smartphone!

Arguably the best tool that OpenSecrets.org provides is a powerful donor lookup tool.  OpenSecrets has archived all the FEC’s donor filing documents and provides you with complete, free, access to them!  By clicking on the Donor Lookup tab, you can find out if any private citizen has donated to any political campaign dating back to 1990 when the disclosure laws went into effect.  The Donor Lookup tool on OpenSecrets.org can give you a better idea of who you are voting for, what issues are important to your friends and just who puts their money where their mouth is when it comes to politics!  Moreover, the results come in fast; the typical search on OpenSecrets takes less than a second to execute.

OpenSecrets is a powerful political tool, especially in a time when the Courts frequently fail to protect access to information that should be public.  OpenSecrets is an online storage depot of information that belongs to the public and we are lucky to have such a sophisticated system watching the flow of money in politics.

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

To prevent the inevitable computer repair that a hard drive failure demands, it is essential to develop a regular, orderly method of backing up your hard drive data.  There are many services that offer data recovery once a hard drive or data storage device fails, but prevention is the best method for keeping data safe and secure.

Hard drives, like cars, light bulbs and textbooks, are designed to fail and be replaced.  The industry of data recovery, data storage, and computer repair exists because of the planned obsolescence of the hard drive and other components.  Despite leaps forward in recent years in devices for data recovery and storage, the magnetic medium of the hard drive remains the standard in computers.  With data recovery a problem for most computer operators and computer repair coming most often as a sudden, unbudgeted expense, prevention is the best way to survive the loss of your data from hard drive failure.

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As Breaking Dawn Part 1 hits theaters, it is hard to deny that for a surprisingly large population around the world, The Twilight Saga is cool. Never before has a science fiction or fantasy book or movie series so effectively marketed merchandise toward young women.  Take, for example, the Twilight Cullen Crest USB Flash Drive.  The Twilight Cullen Crest USB Flash Drive makes flash drives cool for Twi-hards.

Flash drives have, within the last five years, evolved from a secure means of storing data and media files off-site to a portable, status symbol.  Once the pride of geeks trading downloaded or pirated files, flash drives are now a ubiquitous item in American culture, flaunted in virtually every demographic.  Far from simply being a useful tool, soccer moms use them to show off their support for breast cancer research, game-players accessorize them with their favorite video games and Twi-hards of all ages can use them to choose Team Edward or Team Jacob.

Funko, known more for making trendy toys from genre films, produced the Cullen Crest USB Flash Drive to coincide with the release of New Moon, but because the Crest is timeless iconography from the entire Twilight Saga, it continues to remain popular in Twilight fan circles.  Fans of the Twilight Saga will enjoy that the USB flash drive comes pre-loaded with the soundtrack to New Moon.

The statement Twi-hards are making, though, is that they love the romantic vampires of the Twilight Saga and the crest of the Cullen family does that excellently.  The 2 1/2” tall flash drive is black with the distinctive silver-gray griffin embossed into its oval surface.  The only difference between the USB’s crest and the one shown in all of the Twilight films is that a bar below the shamrocks features the title “Twilight” on the protective cap.

Usage of the Cullen Crest USB Flash Drive is simple.  Because it features a USB port, it easily connects to any computer or USB connected device.  The 2 GB of memory the flash drive possesses makes it ideal for storing images and music, in addition to one’s data storage needs.  With the Cullen Crest USB Flash Drive, Funko’s customers have been pleased for years at how the Tymemachine Powered by Funko product makes data recovery both stylish and easy.

Far less risky than picking out jewelry for a Twilight fan – there is a lot of different jewelry for all of the specific characters – the Cullen Crest USB Flash Drive makes for a practical gift for the tech-savvy Twi-hard.

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

Don’t Suffer from the Crash: Store Data Online

Crashing computers and multiple devices create difficulties in getting documents on demand. Entire papers can be lost, or the wanted photograph is on another device.  Online data storage offers a solution to the issue. Customers can arrange for a digital file cabinet for data files and avoid lengthy processes to recover or carry wanted items.

More customers use storage websites as more people grow more mobile. The number of available websites to store information also increases with the demand. Some options include: Carbonite.com, Dropbox, and MobileMe. Remember for expert and personal computer support, RESCUECOM offers a Remote Backup solution to protect all files against human or system errors through the device’s Internet connection. RESCUECOM’s trained technicians install the Remote Backup and will help retrieve lost information24 hours a day.

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What happens to all of the pictures, music, and information you store on your computer when your system crashes or your hard drive dies?  Would data recovery even be possible?  RESCUECOM wants to remind you that data recovery can be easy, if you choose the right format for your data backup.

It’s a simple concept.  Data backup makes data recovery easier.  We’ve heard over and over again that we need to back everything up.  But how many of us heed the warnings and do anything beyond making sure we save everything?

We know that saving isn’t the same thing as a quality data backup, but we do it because it’s quick, easy, and doesn’t cost a thing.  A good data backup is complicated, time consuming, and expensive, right? Read more »