Excitement through Affliliation

Fairfield County CT - RIOT TEK has teamed up with several businesses in the local area.  We have found that teaming up with other businesses allows us to cover a broader area in terms of support and sales to businesses and customers while actively exchanging ideas and developing relationships between the two entities!

Google's entry into the wireless market

Charlie Stross has a blog post up that tries to make sense of the mobile phone market and where it's going: where Apple, Google, and the cellcos fit in, and what the point of Google's Nexus One may be."Becoming a pure bandwidth provider is every cellco's nightmare: it levels the playing field and puts them in direct competition with their peers, a competition that can only be won by throwing huge amounts of capital infrastructure at their backbone network. So for the past five years or more, they've been doing their best not to get dragged into a game of beggar-my-neighbor, by expedients such as exclusive handset deals... [Google intends] to turn 3G data service (and subsequently, LTE) into a commodity, like Wi-Fi hotspot service only more widespread and cheaper to get at. They want to get consumers to buy unlocked SIM-free handsets and pick cheap data SIMs. They'd love to move everyone to cheap data SIMs rather than the hideously convoluted legacy voice stacks maintained by the telcos; then they could piggyback Google Voice on it, and ultimately do the Google thing to all your voice messages as well as your email and web access. (This is, needless to say, going to bring them into conflict with Apple. ... Apple are an implicit threat to Google because Google can't slap their ads all over [the App and iTunes stores]. So it's going to end in handbags at dawn... eventually.)"

Serendipity of Discovering Twitter Opportunity

Serendipity of Discovering Twitter Opportunity

The DROID by Motorola

There's not much to say about the Droid except for the fact that, in our opinion, it is probably one of the best, if not THE best PDA/Smartphones on the market today. It may be the new "computer" of the future in a small form factor. Picture this: an HDMI connection from your Droid. How about a keyboard attachment from the Droid (and mouse of course).

Being the fact that it is such a great device, we wonder why is it such a great device out of the starting gate.

The answer is simple: The OS (operating system) is written by GOOGLE!! From what we've seen there are some pretty clever software produced by GOOGLE, and, if Chrome does make its debut as a true OS as it is supposed to, it would not be surprising that future updates and new generations of the Droid will have a light version or a full version of Google Chrome. Bravo GOOGLE!

Pairing DROID with Jawbone Prime earpiece

For those of you who are having troubles pairing the new Jawbone Prime with your new Motorola DROID, here are the steps to take in order to pair one with the other. Please note that, because there is no passphrase, they will automatically pair once you select pair on your Bluetooth settings of the Motorola DROID.

1 - Turn the Jawbone Prime OFF.
2 - Press the power and noise assassin buttons at the same time for a few seconds.
3 - You should receive a red/white blinking pattern on the Jawbone Prime.
4 - You will have approximately 3 minutes to pair your device with the DROID.
5 - Select the device with which to pair on your new DROID.

That's it! The Jawbone should blink white/white and repeat when paired!

Fixing a computer in its own environment

New Sr. Level Technician

RIOT Computer Technology, LLC has brought on a new Senior Level Technician with project management and technical abilities in Macintosh, PC, Networks, and Web Design!

RIOT Computer Technology, LLC is still looking for a technician with basic troubleshooting skills for as needed repairs of PCs, minimal Macintosh and network support and/or administration! please send us an email info -at- riottech -dot- com !

Google Wave

The Search Engine Giant DOES IT AGAIN!

Let's see what their new "Social Medium" will bring by providing it to the public.

It's called: GOOGLE WAVE

It may give Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace a run for its money.
At the moment the only way to obtain GOOGLE WAVE is by invitation only.

Stay tuned..

Windows 7 installation

Windows 7 installation: Each Toshiba laptop recently purchased from us may be eligible for the update by submitting information to Toshiba directly. For more information please let us know.


Windows 7 installation (hopefully) will fix the glitches, quirks, errors, UFO sightings, and rare, but other paranormal activities.

Based on reports of how to install..

PCs with XP Operating System - A completely fresh installation must take place. Ensure that you backup the data on your computer. Any application software (programs) that you wish to use on the new Windows 7 platform will be lost, so ensure that you have the Installation CDs or DVDs that you will need after the installation of Windows 7.

PCs with Vista Operating System - An upgrade to Windows 7 from Vista may work. Ensure that you backup the data on your computer. Any application software (programs) that you wish to use on the new Windows 7 platform may be affected by the upgrade, so ensure that you have the Installation CDs or DVDs handy in case you need them after the installation of Windows 7.

As in the past, a complete, fresh installation of a new operating system always works best, from what we have experienced. In this case, we suggest that you may wish to perform a completely fresh installation.

If you feel more comfortable with an Information Technology professional performing this task, please contact our offices on 203/908-3155 or via our website at http://www.riotcomputertechnology.com

PLEASE NOTE: We are not responsible in any way for the loss of your any and all data on any and all of your computer(s). Please backup your data prior the installation of Windows 7.

***PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT TO INSTALL WINDOWS 7 ON A NEW OR EXISTING FILE SERVER AS IT IS NOT MEANT FOR FILE SERVER INSTALLATION***

Speed of laptop CPU (chip) & Warranties

SPEED OF LAPTOPS

When we spoke about laptops, retail versus professional (computing), we did not mention the fact that when you look at a laptop to purchase, you should keep in mind that the lower-priced laptops have slower processors. Even with a less expensive laptop, you may even be getting a PENTIUM chip, not even a Core chip!

Our advice is this; look at the price. Look at the chipset. If you see a Core 2 Duo Centrino, check the speed of the Core 2 Duo.

Many laptops are sold with slow speeds. I personally have a Toshiba and wanted to remain conservative on price without skimping on quality or the fact that it is a professional PC. It is a fairly new model, and I suggest it to my clients. Mine has a T6670 processor. That's ok! It's fast enough. Now, Toshiba makes one that is approximately P8400 and inexpensive (under $1000.00) but it is so heavy, it really could be used as a desktop replacement. We have sold them but, again, they are so heavy.

High end laptops have P8400 and P9400 speed processors. These are great, and you barely need to hit the key and the computer knows what you are typing!

For further information send an email to info@riottech.com

Warranties
Many laptops come with only one year warranties. What drives the price of the computer up is the length of the warranty. You may want to look carefully and choose the best warranty for you. Sometime manufacturers offer 3 years as a promotion. I would say it is almost worth the price in purchasing the extra warranty!

The Search Engine Google is taking over something we never imagined..

Recently, Google, "the Search Engine Giant," has been ramping up a new offering. Google voice; that's right VOICE! Think about it - no charges within North America, and a robust configuration for customizing rings, location of rings, and more!

Check out Google Voice here!

Questions about sharing an unsecured wifi network: a potential debate

Some might debate whether sharing open wireless networks (aka unsecured) with someone totally unknowing of this act is a crime.

Here are two questions that might be asked and debated about.

1 - Some software developers create applications that actually find and locate a wireless network in the vicinity in where a computer is located. Once this wireless network is found, is it a crime to connect to it if it is unsecured?

2 - Wireless signals are merely radio waves, most of which travel at 2.4Ghz. Many people are aware of the term "freedom of the airwaves." Does this mean that using another unsecured wireless network is legal?

...and the debate continues...

Personally, we, at RIOTTech suggest, recommend, and promote the security of a wireless network; both for performance reasons, for anti-hacking, anti-viral, and potentially loss or compromise of the data on the computer network.

Changing Service Providers for Phone (especially)

There is so much competition that everyone has been experiencing regarding the companies that offer service for TV, phone/voice, and Internet/data.

Here's something you really need to know when porting lines.

There is (I believe it's a Federal) law which says that if you request a change between phone service providers, the phone service providers must comply with the request.

I have had two experiences, one that I have experienced myself and another that one of my clients has experienced. Here is how it went.

In a perfect world, this is how it is supposed to work - so that the date that you were provided for proper phone service porting.

1 - Call Phone Service Provider (henceforth PSP) that you are porting FROM

2 - Contact the PSP that you are porting TO

3 - You will be given a date of installation. Between the time you order the porting of the line(s) and the time of the given installation date, between the two service providers, the lines themselves need to be released by the PSP you are porting FROM and allow access to the PSP you are porting TO

4 - If the action mentioned in #3 is not completed, then the installation cannot properly proceed, resulting in the delay of the installation. At that point, the PSP that you are porting TO will need to set up a new date of installation.

This can go on and on until the client pushes hard enough for a resolution. If the client chooses to push hard enough, s/he should contact the PSP FROM which the lines are being ported. The PSP of the lines that the lines are being ported TO cannot complete the installation until the lines are released.

One resolution is to establish brand new phone numbers with the PSP that the client wanted to port TO. This is fine, but businesses cannot change phone numbers, and this resolution is not viable because of that fact.

Another resolution might be litigation. I have not actually seen this in action, but this is where I would head with the matter if it does not get resolved properly.

Google Chrome

Google Chrome and Google Desktop are appearing more and more on the desktops of computers everywhere.

Google Chrome

Today I really got a lot of use of my new Toshiba L300, a professional laptop, and I love the way Chrome works. The thing I have to wonder and monitor is how compatible it is with other websites on the Internet. I have to use it a bit more to see the robust nature of the browser and its "quirks" if any.

Google Desktop

Google Desktop itself has come a long way. I recall it being a desktop search engine, but I have noticed it becoming a functional add-on to the desktop environment.

FREE GILAD SHALIT

riottech.com dedicates this day, the day that three years ago terrorist Hamas captured Gilad Shalit. Then 19, today 23, he must be released!! Twitter.com trend #GiladShalit campaign is up there in the rankings. Please join the cause. Login to Twitter.com and go to #GiladShalit - you will get it when you are there. #Tweet4Shalit #GiladShalit