chengrob

Identity Theft – Be Scared

chengrob / December 10, 2008

identity

Are you worried about having your identity stolen? I am. It
has happened to two people that I know. My mother and a friend
of mine in in Myrtle Beach. Once your identity is stolen, your

life is forever changed. Even after you spend weeks upon weeks

squaring everything away with your credit card company, things

will never be right. You begin to dread answering the phone

because it may be someone that erroneously thinks you owe them

money. My mother was close to tears still getting phone calls 5

years after the alleged deed took place. It certainly wears on you.

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Welcome to the Ultimate Guide to keeping your PC running fast and great. As I discussed in a prior article, the more you use your PC, the more your PC requires maintenance. Every email you read, every web site you visit, and every document you create, leaves little bread crumbs on the hard drive. Over the space of the days, weeks and months, these thousands and thousands of bread crumbs ultimately slow down your PC. Fortunately, there are ways to keep your PC like new, and in some cases better than new. Let’s get started.

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PC Pitstop – Working in a Virtual World

chengrob / September 29, 2008

virtual

Hello from Rio de Janeiro Brazil. I ran into an old friend on Ipanema beach and he asked me how we do it. In case anyone was wondering, PC Pitstop is a virtual company. Our company is comprised of 15 full time employees, 2 part time employees, and 2 contract employees, all run in a virtual manner from our homes. The answer to my buddy’s question is two basic things. Communication and technology. Or perhaps, better put, technology that enables communication. These are the key technologies that are the glue that keeps us running as a cohesive company.

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Obsolescence

chengrob / September 15, 2008

Obsolescence. It is almost a given in the high paced PC industry. The word always gives a bitter sweet feeling in the gut. On one hand, there is a certain frustration that your current PC is getting out of date. But this is coupled with the excitement of knowing that you will soon be in the market for a new one. I think we’ve all been through it.

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Your PC is NOT Old

chengrob / August 19, 2008

I just finished doing the math. I began computing in 1983 and during that time, I have owned exactly 10 different computers. That means, the average life of one of my PC’s is 2.5 years. That certainly is an eye opener. 2.5 years is not that long a time in PC years. When I purchased each one, my anticipation was a lot more than a couple of years, so why is that?

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Vista Does Not Suck

chengrob / July 14, 2008

The debate.

I bought Vista in March 2007, and after 16 months, I am happy to say that Vista does not suck. Yes you read that right. VISTA DOES NOT SUCK. Like many people, my history with Microsoft and operating systems goes back to the early 80’s with DOS 2.0. When I compare the two, there is literally no comparison. Vista is the clear winner.

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Using Erase as a Profiler (Cartoon)

chengrob / June 24, 2008

Most people don’t know it, but our product Erase is a very useful tool as a Data Profiler. That is, you can learn a lot about a person from analyzing their activity on their PC. Erase was originally designed to help one erase their tracks from snooping eyes, but we have learned that the free scan portion of Erase has been used by law enforcement agencies to determine quickly the recent activity of a computer at a crime scene. I made this cartoon at Toondoo to highlight this capability of Erase.

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Google and the Price of Oil

chengrob / June 16, 2008

We spend a lot of money on advertising and a lot of money in search. Just got off the line with our advertising guru, and in rough numbers, we burn over 6 times as much money with Google than we burn with Microsoft and Yahoo COMBINED. That’s an astronomical difference between Google and the rest. Furthermore, we have tried to spend more money with both Yahoo and Microsoft, and neither has enough relevant search results to allow us to increase our spend.

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The PC Pitstop Notebook 500

chengrob / June 12, 2008

I am very excited and proud to present a brand new report from PC Pitstop. Given the outrageous traffic on our web site, we are able to see the absolute fastest PC’s in the world, what technologies they use, and why they fall into an elite performance standing. It took a lot of culling of the data, but I am pleased to announced the PC Pitstop Notebook 500. This month we will look at the fastest portables that money can buy. So let’s get to the results.

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Notepad Tips and Tricks

chengrob / May 14, 2008

A day does not go by that I do not use Notepad. As a heavy Notepad user, here’s some quick Notepad tips and suggestions.

Note taking – We are now in the digital age. When talking on the phone, if someone says “Got a pen?”. I say “Yes”, and I open Notepad. One problem that I have is that I don’t save all my notes. Then when Windows reboots without asking, I lose my notes. Wouldn’t it be cool if Notepad had an autosave feature like Word?

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