Degen's Blog

Hello All,
Well, I’ve built a few custom machines now and everyone has been happy with them…but let me tell you it has been quite a challenge to get to this point. I’m taking down my ecommerce site for now as I just don’t have time for the IT support that I’ve now come to realize is necessary. This does not mean FramedPC’s days of building / selling custom HTPCs are over. I’m going to re-launch this idea in a few months after I hire some help and my life settles down a bit.

Thanks,

Degen

Hello world, I would like to introduce you to my newest creation…FramedPC.      To my surprise there is already interest!!! People are emailing me about building computers.     As a result, I am currently setting up a forum and will release it soon (probably this weekend).   I hope everyone begins to use it as a place to discuss mods, custom pc builds, new computer technology, etc.   I know there are many other sites out there like this…but which one can you go to that will build the custom computer for you?

Below is a copy of the About us page on www.framedpc.com.

Welcome to FramedPC!

I have worked in IT support for over 6 years and I’ve been a computer programmer for much longer.   As a result, I know hardware and software very well.   Recently, I started my own medical billing company  Autimis LLC.  During the startup I realized no one could build a better computer for cheaper than I could using parts available all over the web.   Dell was way overpriced for subpar hardware….HP…was even worse.   The computers always came with tons of bloatware (extra programs that are pretty much useless) and many times they would die within a few years use.   If you have ever supported Dell SX270 or SX280 PCs you know exactly what I mean…

After building 13 computers for my company, I realized the only reason people have to use Dell, HP, or others is because they do not have the skills or time to build computers themselves.  This is where FramedPC can help.   My site can assist you in two very distinct ways; we can build the machine for you or you can see the list of compatible parts to build it for yourself.   I believe in being fair and as such I show exactly how much it costs for my services.   On each product you will see the “Build it yourself” and “We Build it” prices.  The difference number is the amount you are paying me to build the computer and install / configure windows.    My price is $110 for basic builds and $160 for the more complex builds.   Does it take me longer on the more complex builds…yes…but not much.  So why the extra $50?   Mainly because I have to pay 2.75% each time you use a credit card and on the more expensive machines it can equate to a lot of money.    I build all of my machines out of high quality parts from Newegg.com (sometimes Tigerdirect…but mostly Newegg because they simply rule the comptuer parts market).

Do I keep any rebates?

-You bet.   On most I can only get one per househould and even then only about 50% of them ever reach my door…

Do I keep any of the other perks like the free flash drives or PC games Newegg sometimes gives out free?

-Nope, these are all yours and I’ll ship them right along side your brand new computer.

What if Newegg raises the price on an item in the build after you have placed the order?

-If it is a minor increase I will eat the cost and simply make less this time.   If it is significant I will search elsewhere on the net for a cheaper price on the same product.   If I cannot find a cheaper solution I will email you with other options for the part or for increased payment (choice is yours).

How long does the process take?

-You will see three types of items on my site; Build to Order, Pre-Built, and Artistic

Build to Order: items will take up to two weeks for me to get them on your doorstep.   This is because I do not have any of the parts in stock.  I order them after you pay and your payment clears.  It takes a few days for them to get to me and a few hours after that for me to build and test.  Then it takes a few days for the PC to hit your doorstep.

Pre-Built:  Occasionally I will see parts that are such an amazing deal that I will buy in bulk.   I then build computers out of these parts and sell them here on this site.  These machines will be shipped within one or two business days of receiving your cleared payment.

Artistic: These computers are unique creations (For example, keep an eye out for my ToasterPC or my FishPC.  I number and sign all of my work and will give you all the details within the product listing.  These computers ship within one or two days of your cleared payment.

Can I handle large orders?

Depends on what you consider large.  I have help and can build aproximately 70 computers per week.   If you want to place an order for your business that is over 10 units please contact me in advance by using the contact us page.   I will work with you directly to coordinate the process.  The only payment method accepted for large orders will be old fashioned checks sent via USPS.  Why?  Because I don’t feel like giving the credit card companies hundreds of my hard earned dollars…

Do I take custom build requests?

Absolutely!  Send me your list of parts (with links) via the contact us page.  I will create a custom product listing for you and you can simply purchase as usual from there.

What is an HTPC?

Only the coolest geek toy ever.  It stands for Home Theatre PC and it is exactly that.   It is a computer that looks like an audio receiver and it turns your TV into an even greater source of entertainment.   Want to surf the web or watch streamed Netflix vidoes on that 50″ high def?  Get an HTPC.  You can also watch Blu-Ray movies, backup your home videos, store hundreds of thousands of MP3’s, backup your other computers, and so much more.

Anything else you should know?

Tons.  To start, check out my blog or visit the community forums.

I recently switched my business over to stamps.com and I have to say I am very impressed with the savings. I no longer have to rent a postage machine, pay for extremely expensive red ink, and I can use my solid ink printer to print the postage, return address, and destination address directly onto envelopes… The one thing stamps.com needs to get their act together on is how they support various printers. This post will show you how to properly line up a stamps.com printed envelope using a Xerox phaser 8560N (this is just for the N, the same concept is not needed on the 8560MFP…I know b/c I configured one of those too).

The problem: Postage is cut off when using a Xerox Phaser 8560N

The Solution:

Step one –> Go to the printing preferences screen (Devices and Prnters in Win 7, then right click on the phaser, click printing preferences)

Step two: Click on the down black arrow to the right of the “Paper” textbox and pick Advanced Paper Selection from the drop down

Step three: Click on the “…” to the right of the Paper Size text box

Step four: Set “Scale Options” to “Manually Scale” and set the percentage to 89% as shown in the screen shot below

Step five: Click OK and you are ready to print envelopes…only drawback here is that you are no longer ready to print anything else… We have a dedicated printer for postage so this doesn’t bother us…you may not have the same situation. I would suggest installing the printer twice (one with the envelope settings and one with default settings) This way you don’t need to change your printing settings each time you switch from envelopes to regular printing.

Feel free to post here if you have found a better method to solving this problem.

Thanks,

Degen

Yea Mafia wars is one of my life “time sinks” (we’ll discuss this topic later)…after a lot of playing I have compiled a list of all of the currently available job mastery items for New York, Cuba, Moscow, and Bangkok. I have to admit though the end ones in Moscow and Bangkok I found on the web…I’m not quite through mastering those cities…

City/Lvl	Image	Attack	Defense	Special
New York / Street Thug		NA	NA	+4% Dmg dealt in fights
New York / Associate		NA	NA	-7% Dmg received in fights
New York / Soldier		NA	NA	Health Regen timer reduced by 30 seconds
New York / Enforcer		NA	NA	-5% Cost of Properties
New York / Hitman		NA	NA	Stamina Timer reduced by 30 seconds
New York / Capo		NA	NA	-5% Property Repair Cost
New York / Consigliere		NA	NA	Energy Regen Timer reduced by 30 seconds
New York / Underboss		NA	NA	+5% Experience from jobs
New York / Boss		NA	NA	2x Energy Points per regen period
Cuba / El Soldado		40	30	NA
Cuba / El Capitan		38	35	NA
Cuba / El Jefe		54	24	NA
Cuba / El Patron		46	34	NA
Cuba / El Padrino		42	56	NA
Cuba / El Cacique		40	30	NA
Moscow / Baklany		36	52	NA
Moscow / Boets		50	38	NA
Moscow / Brigadir		48	30	NA
Moscow / Avtoritety		18	48	NA
Moscow / Vor		28	65	NA
Moscow / Pakhan		54	22	NA
Bangkok / Brawler		65	42	NA
Bangkok / Criminal		58	74	NA
Bangkok / Pirate		88	51	NA
Bangkok / Commandant		96	69	NA
Bangkok / Oyabun		72	111	NA
Bangkok / Dragon Head		70	112	NA

I recently had to reinstall my copy of Xcelsius Engage 2008 onto a new computer. By doing this I lost all of my custom color themes. There is an extremely easy way to transfer the themes to the new computer.

First, go to C:Program Files (x86)Business ObjectsXcelsiusassetsthemescustom on the old computer (remove (x86) if your are running a 32bit machine) Copy all xml files from this directory to the same directory on your new computer. Start up your new Xcelsius install and voila all of your color themes are back!!!

Instead of buying pre-built machines and spending twice what is necessary, we built our own Core i7 rigs. Here is a picture of the 5 newest additons to the Autimis family. Meet 40 cores (20 physical, 20 hyper threads) of computing madness!!!
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If you are having problems signing up via the form here
http://www.bcbstx.com/provider/ec/ndas.htm

You are not alone….their form has been broken for awhile now. The correct place to go to sign up for NEBO/NDAS is via the ecare website at:
http://www.ecare.com/signup.html

Send an email to their info address and they will reply with an enrollment packet. This is well worth the minimal monthly cost as you can check all the BCBSTX claim status you want…no more waiting on the phone! Please reply here if you have found an easier or cheaper way to check Blue Cross claim status.

So this post is not exactly relevant to the rest of the content on my blog…yet you still managed to find your way here. Everyone has to eat and my wife and I love to eat SUSHI!
We use the below ingredients for our Sushi vinegar sauce.
Rice Vinegar x 2 Tbsp
Sugar x 2 Tbsp
1/4 lemon’s juice
Salt x 1 tsp

Procedure:
Cook 2 cups of short grain sushi rice.

To make your Sushi vinegar: Mix rice vinegar, sugar, 1/4 of a lemon’s juice, and salt into a sauce pan. Heat only until the sugar and salt dissolves completely. Let your rice cool a bit after it is done cooking. Then slowly pour your sushi vinegar over the rice and fold it in gently. Do this until the rice is a shiny.

Use a sushi rolling mat to tightly roll your rice, seaweed, and other ingredients together. VERY IMPORTANT (unless you want mutant pieces of sushi that look like they were pulled apart by hand) clean your knife in between cutting rolls and do not worry about drying the knife completely. A little moisture on it makes it all the easier to cut beautiful pieces of sushi.

That’s it…good luck. Making your own sushi is a great experience and it sure does beat paying $6-$15 per roll

Well…I was bored and debating whether or not to host exchange for my new company or begin to purchase equipment to do it in house. So I decided to start crunching numbers and research via google. What I found was that many sources for this information is extremely bias or simply obsolete. I put together a quick flash calculator to help you crunch your own numbers and see which model works better for you. Remember, this is simply to determine if the monetary side of the equation works for you…there are MANY other issues to consider before jumping into either pool.

For example, Healthcare ogranizations must follow HIPAA rules which will put a large damper on the hosted exchange side of the equation. Bottom line, use this tool at your own risk, let me know if you find mathmatical errors in my formulas, and do your OWN research

Here is the tool:
InHouseVsHostedCalculator

I just started using an HTC Touch Pro as my mobile work environment and I have to say I love it! The full keyboard is fantastic…I can type full emails with ease. Windows mobile blows away the iphone any day (especially for those that use their phone for work and not just screwing around). The one issue that until today I had not been able to fix is that all of my Outlook sub folders were not syncing. I found a blog post that solved the problem here:

http://www.geardiary.com/2008/08/19/how-to-synchronize-multiple-mail-folders-in-windows-mobile-61/

To summarize his post:

On windows mobile outlook, go to Inbox –> Menu –> Tools –> Manage Folders –> Check each folder you want to sync.