Palette Town

Check out this local band i saw a few weeks ago at a bar in Ft.Lauderdale, Pretty groovy. 2 singers, calm chill indie rock/pop.
www.facebook.com/PaletteTownMusic

Last Dinosaurs

 Great band from australia. Check them out!

Computer Tech - How to tune up your computer for free!

The following are ways to optimize your computer and increase overall load times and memory usage. I have been doing this for several years now and have found these methods very effective on customer computers. This is the true "Free PC TuneUp"!

1. CCleaner
CCleaner is a program that will clear out your computers temp files and fix your registry. I run this program on every computer i receive regardless of what it needs.

2. Msconfig
Msconfig is a windows tool that is used to configure startup programs. Search for it on your computer or start/run/msconfig. Click the startup tab and from there you can configure what programs you actually use when you start your computer. I usually only leave the entries that relate to drivers or the computer, though you do not have to. If its an entry for a program like quicktime/skype/google/messenger/adobe/office etc. I uncheck it. You can drastically increase your startup time and overall computer performance using this tool. This is one of the most useful tools in windows.

3. Disk Defrag
Defragmenting your hard drive will increase your read/write times to your hard drive which will increase your performance. Check out Defraggler by piriform, the same company that makes CCleaner. I use it along with the standard windows defragmenter every couple of months.

4. Others
If you have a desktop computer make sure it is free of dust. Spray it out!
Reset your internet explorer to all defaults in internet options if you use it.
Check what plugins and addons you have installed in firefox! Remember everything you have added increases the amount of memory needed to run firefox. If necessary reinstall firefox or reset it to get a fresh fox with no additional addons or plugins. The difference in memory usage can be huge sometimes!
Update your computer with windows update! Stop ignoring it, I know you do!
Uninstall programs you do not use.

Computer Tech - How to remove your system of malware for free!

1. System Restore
If you have identified that your computer may have a virus, dont panic. If you are positive of when you were infected, use system restore. It will restore your computer back to a date before you got the virus. This will only work if you know when you got the virus.

2. Free Virus Removal Tools
Dont waste your money and purchase a virus removal software. There are free ones out there which many times are better. The best tools to use,

 - Malwarebytes
Malwarebytes is a virus removal program which is free to download and use. After installing, hit the update tab and update the program. Hit it again to make sure you have the latest definitions. Use quick scan! It is programmed to target the places where most virus's like to hang out in your system. This should take care of nearly all malware on your system. Restart your computer and run it again just to be safe!

 - HitmanPro 3.5
HitmanPro is a virus removal tool which is specialized in removing root kits. Its is free to download and install. Run the quick scan, the program will update, and then select use the 30 day free key. Review the list of items it marked for removal and then delete. Restart your computer. This program should be ran after malwarebytes.

 - HijackThis (Only for advanced users)
HijackThis is a tool which shows registry and file settings that are commonly manipulated by malware. It should be used with extra caution as it is a diagnostic tool, where it is up to the user to decide what is malware and what is not. I have been working on computers for several years now and can spot an infected log from a clean one with ease. If you decide to download HijackThis and are not 100% sure on what are bad entries, i suggest you just uninstall the program and don't use it.

I have been using these 3 programs together for years and have found them to be very successful at cleaning all malware and virus's from computers. When i come across a computer that is still infected after using those 3 programs i usually just reinstall windows on that computer from the recovery partition or from the windows disc. If this is not an option for you, there are a few more programs out there which are effective virus removers. I suggest you check out:

SUPERAntiSpyware
EmsiSoft Anti-Malware
GMER
F-Secure Easy Clean
Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool
ComboFix

Computer Tech - How to keep a virus free computer without antivirus software!

Having worked on hundreds of customer computers over the past 4 years i found that even with anti virus software it is possible to get virus's. I've seen computers with free versions and full subscription versions of many programs that still allowed computer virus's through. Just to name a few: Norton, McAfee, Kaspersky, Panda, Eset, Avast, AVG, Avira. Many of these programs hog resources as well and can slow down a computer tremendously from what i have seen. Check your processes in task manager, imagine if you could have the extra resources from these programs and still not get a virus. Well you can! I have now been using my computer for over a year without a antivirus program and I am still free of virus's.

How?
I have found you can get a virus by:

1. Clicking Ad's on websites
When i say this, i mean Ad's that link to pages you are unfamiliar with. Not Ad's for like google.com, target.com etc. These Ad's will link to strange websites that you have never been to before. Ex: freecashnow.com or something similar. These Ad's can appear misleading in nature as well. They will say, fill out this survey to win this, or Get 70% off Apple IPad, blah blah blah BULLSHIT! Many of these sites have computer virus's on them just waiting to infect your computer!

2. Clicking on unknown websites from search engines.
Similar to the Ad's, although somewhat harder to deal with. I understand that you are trying to find what you are looking for, but if the URL of the page looks odd, chance are it is!

3. Pornography Websites
Not all pornography websites have virus's on them but there are millions of pages that do. If you go web searching for porn sites and get all click happy, you are guaranteed to get a virus. GUARANTEED! Just dont look at porn, is that so hard?

4. Downloading Illegal/Unknown Files
Files from unknown emails, p2p programs like limewire, torrents, downloads from random ass websites. Just dont download illegal files. Stay away from limewire and torrents. You are downloading ILLEGAL material anyways. You shouldn't be doing this in the first place.

Besides staying away from these 4 virus happy places, there are a few other thing you should do..

1. Dont use Internet Explorer, Use Firefox!
The other browsers are better and safer than IE as well, but Firefox is needed for the add ons. Plus its a great browser!

2. Install the Firefox add on, Adblock Plus
Just go to tools/addons and search for it there. This add on will eliminate nearly all ads on websites and videos, and result in faster page load times.

3. Install the Firefox add on, WebOfTrust
This addon will show a rating next to search engine results. Green = page is safe, Red = Avoid.
Now the rating system is based on user reviews, it is not perfect but it is damn good. A million times safer than searching without it!

4. Use windows update
It is there for a reason! Keeps your OS up to date and secure. Should be run at least once a month or automatically.

And that is it! This is all i have been doing for over a year and guess what, No virus's! No antivirus software! Fast computer! :3

Staples - Things you may not know!

Hiring Process

They will hire nearly anyone. If you are looking for a job, call the store or show up in person. Talk to the managers about any job openings, but also talk to the associates. Many times the associates know what the store is looking for. Apply online, and keep calling the store. The only people who ever got interviews were the ones who wouldn't stop bothering the managers. No drug test.
When you fill out the questionnaire part of the application, there are wrong answers. All applications are given a rating, Green/Yellow/Red. These are all based on the questionnaire and the conviction question. Managers can only contact greens or yellows. If you are red you can not be hired. Make sure you give your name every time you contact the store. They will search by name in the application program to find your application, if they are hiring.

Pay
Staples pays most employees right around minimum wage. Raises are usually given once a year and only about 35 cents. Most department leads i knew made around $10 an hour. Most assistant managers i knew made around $40,000 annually. However, they recently switched them all to hourly pay due to complaints that GM's were making salaried payed AM's work 60+ hours a week with no overtime.

Tech Sales
Stores are required to maintain high protection plan sales. Many times they will tell you the item is not in stock if they know you will not be purchasing the warranty. Just say you will, and when they bring you your laptop and you are ready to pay, change your mind on the plan. Also if you actually want the plan, they can put a warranty that is cheaper on a more expensive item. For instance, the $99 warranty is for laptops less than $400 dollars, but it can be used on $700 laptops as well.

Easy Tech
Easy tech is a rip off just like Best Buy/CompUSA/Office Depot etc. Most services are extremely easy to do yourself if you research online enough about it. Ill have another post on how to repair your computer in a sec.
Never purchase computer hardware from an office store. If you have to purchase in store, CompUSA has the same hardware for about %30 less. Online is the cheapest place to shop for RAM/Hard Drives etc.
The "free" Pc tune up is suppose to clean/defrag/reg fix/check for virus. Most times we would just run the program to check for virus's or just tell you it needs a $40 service, and then we do what the "Free" PC Tune up is suppose to do. The store gets credited $30 every time a "Free" PC Tune up is rang up btw.

Furniture
If you want us to build you a chair that you purchased we will tell you to come back in a few hours. Quite a few times we had an extra display chair in the back that we will just wipe clean real quick and give that to you. One thing about the warranties on furniture and printers, we will seriously give you a brand new printer or chair 2 years later when you come back with your warranty receipt, even if the item works. Just say i will purchase a new warranty with the new item and we will do the exchange. Your item gets returned and exchanged for the new one. The old item gets damaged out and usually does not affect the store at all.

Ask the associates on the floor for coupons or specials, say you really need these items and you are a few bucks short. Many times there are coupons out that week like $10 off 50 or whatever.
If you want to know if a laptop is in stock, call the 1-800 number. Stores will lie.
Worked there for 2 years btw.

Xaviere Guitars

Earlier this year i decided to start a little band up with some friends, but i didn't own a guitar. See i've played bass guitar for a few years and all i had was a bass. With only $200 on me, i knew i had to find a guitar on the cheap.

I headed over to guitar center and tried nearly all guitars they had in my price range. Basically only squire and epiphone guitars. They all felt and sounded like junk. Low quality SHIT! So i took to the internet. My friend recommended i check out
this guitar company that makes replicas on the cheap, Xaviere Guitars. To my surprise, the guitars all looked really nice and were priced under $200!

However, how do they sound?
To my surprise, they compare in sound and quality to the squire guitars in the $400 price range, but for a fraction of the price. My guitar, was only $169 plus shipping! It stays in tune, sounds decent, looks and feels pretty good, and costs nothing. The best part about it is because its so cheap, im not even worried if i scratch it or drop it. Its not like im playing on a fender tele afterall! Recommended!