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01/02/2002 After emails and phone calls from many of the PuterGeek Sponsors I have decided to keep the site up and online as long as the hosting fees are paid by the users of this website. So it's kind of up to you guys as to whether this website shuts down or not. Please feel free to click on the PayPal link at the bottom of any page on the site if you'd like to help keep PuterGeek.Com online...it's safe, secure, and easy to use.
Many of you have emailed me to say that the site should not disappear, that it's a valuable resource, and that I should continue to work on the site. I do thank you for all of your kind words! While I read every email I receive, I simply do not have the time to answer them all individually. As for continuing to work on the site...well, at this time I have no desire to use any of my free time on it. Hopefully that will change in time...you'll have to wait and see what happens.
I've started to kill some of the pages on the site. If you find any dead links please bear with me, This is kind of a rush job right now. Some of the pages have little or no value, while other pages have be abused by some of the viewers of this site.
If the bills are not met, I'll try to give some notice before I take the site offline, but no promises...
10/27/2001 THE END OF PUTERGEEK.COM! It is with a heavy heart that I tell you that PuterGeek.Com is closing it's doors forever.
I simply no longer have the time, inclination, or funds to keep the site going. While I am still a geek (at least in my own mind), I find that I wish to use my limited free time for purposes other than maintaining this website. I wish to thank all of you for your kind offers of webspace and/or funds to help keep the site going, but in all fairness...I really don't know when I'll feel like devoting the time and energy the site needs and deserves.
The site will go offline sometime in the next 30-45 days. All of you are welcome to grab all the files on the download page just in case you may need them at a later date. While I have been looking for someone to take over the entire site, I have yet to get any offers. If any of you wish to purchase PuterGeek.Com and the entire contents please email me at webmaster@putergeek.com . If you wish to setup a mirror or simply put some of my pages on your website please do. All that I ask is that you leave the page(s) intact and give credit for their content.
I am working on making a PDF file of the website. It *may* be put on the download page if I have time prior to the site going down....warning, the PDF will be in excess of 16 megs in size. As an alterative, you may wish to download the entire site to your 'puter. There are many fine shareware and freeware programs that can do this for you.
The following is not sour grapes on my part. It is simply stuff that I have learned/noticed over the 2+ years maintaining this website. I hope that future webmasters will read the following so that they may have some ideas of what they can expect from the viewers of their website.
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When I started this website, I pictured myself giving to the internet which would then accept me with open arms and give back to me in the same fashion...I was WRONG!
I have found most users of my website to be very selfish people who can not be bothered with pushing a button, voting in a poll, or simply saying a quick thank you. Case in point... I have some basic boot disks available for download free of charge. I can't even count then number of times they have been downloaded. Yet, only 37 people ever bothered to email me with thanks (or other comments).
Let's talk about the Helpme requests: From the beginning, I have offered to answer email requests for help, sometimes even offering free phone help. For every one thousand helpme requests I've answered not even 50 people have even bothered to reply...whether to thank me, tell me I didn't help, or whatever...how RUDE! My mother taught me to always thank people for trying to help me. Yes, while many of you think of this as normal, or acceptable...I do NOT! I have had people demand that I call them on my own dime, people get mad at me for not answering their email quickly enough, and have even been accused of trying to trash people's 'puters with my "lame" advice.
Let's talk about the PuterGeek.Com Newsletter (PGCN): This started out as an email to friends with info that I had gathered from many sources on the web. Then I decided to offer it to the public. I would then spend anywhere from 5 hours to 8 or 9 hours creating an issue of the newsletter. Yet, if I asked subscribers of this FREE newsletter to do ANYTHING...usually less than 5% would ever respond. Again, people have tried to tell me that it was OK, normal, acceptable....but not to me...doesn't this all sound just a bit one-sided to you? And again, I received complaints, flames and even a couple of threats for my efforts. Out of the 1700+ subscribers, there was a core of about 150 loyal people that would take the time to give me feedback, thanks, suggestions, and take the time to click an occasional link or three.
I can not even be bothered to count the number of people who have complained about my website. What it doesn't have, what is wrong with it, what it needs, what it has too much of, and more crap along those lines. The fact is...PuterGeek.Com is MY website...I decide what it does and does not have, or how it's laid out, or what colors it uses.
After re-reading the above...I find that it does sound like sour grapes...so be it. The above is just a small part of the reasons for killing the newsletter and the website. A number of wise visitors have told me ... "Do it as long as it's fun, then quit" and "Either accept it the way it is or get out." So, I'm getting out! The is no such thing as a free ride, and while my website, the newsletter, and my help has always been free ($$$-wise) there has always been an expectation of a thank you, an atta-boy, a smile....and 8 times out of 10, I NEVER got them.
I'm not talking about thanking the webmaster of every site you visit or anything stupid, simply that if you find anything on the web that really helps you, brightens your day, or solves a problem...I feel that taking 30-90 seconds of your valuable time to email a thank you is reasonable. I do it, my wife does it, and you who read this should do it as well.
All of the email addresses on this website will be killed within the next couple of weeks. I have saved the email addresses of those people whom have ever subscribed to one of my lists. If I ever start a new website I will send out a mailing advising you of such.
To all of you who have thanked me (in so many ways), I tip my hat to you. To those of you who have helped me to create this website, I thank you. I wish to give a special thanks to the following people:
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07/25/2001 I'm having knee surgery number 4 on 07/26/2001. At this time I simply can't focus on the website. After my health finally settles down a bit I promise to get back to work on new content.
07/01/01 After 2+ years the PuterGeek.Com News (PGCN) has come to an end! I simply do not have enough free time to devote to the website and the newsletter. At this time in my life I just don't have enough free time so something had to give. If the truth be told...I derive more pleasure from working on the website than working on the newsletter.
At the time of closing, the PGCN newsletter had just over 1600 subscribers, had been the number one rated computer E-zine at Infojump.com for the last seven months, and was one of the top 25 E-zines at E-Zine Universe.
I want to thank all the people who subscribed and watched it grow from a simple email to full-fledged E-zine, and a special thanks to the core 100+ people who were with me from the beginning and gave me many great suggestions along the way (you all know who you are).
I have also turned over the running of the Message Board to my good friend Steve Weise! He has many years of experience running bulletin boards from the old days and will do a great job with it.
Do to lack of interest I have closed the Chat room. Since so many people use various forms of instant messaging, there really is no need for it any more. When I am online my AIM username is RPC1962, please feel free to contact me.
06/13/01 I'm on the mend! I will be taking "helpme" requests now, and will be starting to work on the website. I have quite a bit of email to go through so bear with me. It's nice to be back!
05/08/01 PuterGeek.Com now has an official Link Button! I'm sure you'll be able to see it scattered all over the entire website :-) Just click on a PuterGeek Link Button to get a popup window with the code. Please feel free to put it on any website you work on.
My thanks to all the folks that took the time to submit buttons, as well to those of you who placed your vote. Subscriber Thomas Hohler of VS Web Designs is the creator of the PuterGeek Link Button. A close second came from PGCN subscriber NY Sara.
04/20/01 I have a new White Paper! It's written by guest author (and PGCN subscriber) Bob "Wiz" Feinberg. It's called "Outlook Express Relaying Tip". If you like this, be sure to check out "Wizcrafts Computer Services" for many other great how-to articles!
There's another new page in Howie's Corner! Actually, Howie sent it to me about a day after his last one, but I've been to lazy...er...busy...ya, that's it...to put it up:-) Anyhow, it's called Bytes And Pieces Part 2 He's still ranting, kind of like the everready bunny...he keeps going, and going...
04/08/01 There is a new story in the Horror section. It's called "Do Modems Need A Driver?". This is a classic 'puter horror story!
Howie's Corner has a new page called "Bytes And Pieces". You have no idea how often I feel this way :-)
I've decided to close the Button page to new buttons and start the voting! Please take a moment and take a look and vote for your favorite button. PuterGeek.Com needs a 88X31 link button. Since I'm totally lame when it comes to art work, I've asked the PGCN subscribers to create a button for the site. Now it's time for the vote! Here's your chance to help, please take a moment and vote!
The PuterGeek.Com Message Board is now available! Here is another place you can post your request for help. This will give others the chance to answer your question as well as to possibly get a different answer (maybe better, maybe worse) than you'll get from me. Since I may be on the road when you send me your request for help it could take some time for me to answer you. If you're like me, you want your question answered now! Well, try the message board. Since about 5000 people come to PuterGeek.Com every month you never know, you might get it answered right away.
03/31/01 The Button page has more buttons on it! You only have one more week to submit your button. Here's your chance to have your artistic talent forever recognized on PuterGeek.Com!
The Current News page has more info on it now. You can now read Lockergnome's Tip Of The Day, as well as read the Joke Of The Day.
03/21/01 There's a lot going on! First, Amy has a new page in Amy's Corner! It's called Help!! I'm A Geek. It's quite funny...Hint to all you husbands out there, you could do worse than following in my footsteps...getting your wife addicted to 'puters (wink)!
Drumroll...The NEW Life On The Road section is now open for business! Please NOTE: This section is for adults only due to mild profanity. You asked for it, so you got it. Amy and Peter will tell you what it's like to drive a Big Rig all over the country.
As a surprise to all of you, we've decided to create a new e-mail list...called Life On The Road of course! It's free like the other PuterGeek.Com lists. If you'd like to read about this new casual mini-newsletter that will feel like a soap opera, or a short take of EDTV, please take look!
03/05/01 There's a new page up. It's called PuterGeek Button test. Here's the deal. I need a button (image) that is exactly 88x31 for a link for other websites to use to link to PuterGeek.Com. Since I'm not an artist, I asked all my newsletter subscribers to make me a button. This page shows all the buttons made to date.
Please take a moment to take a look and vote on your favorite button. I really need your help! If you'd like, you can also create and send me a button. This is very important to me so please vote and if you're gifted, send me a button!
02/27/01 Howie's been quite busy, there are two new pages in Howie's Corner! The first one is My Kingdom For Reliable Software. The second is Help Desk, May I Help You? Howie uses his great sense of humor and slightly skewed writing style to show us more reasons why we love to hate our 'puters.
Amy has added a new page to Amy's Corner. It's called Hate/love. Need another reason to get mad at your 'puter? Take a look, Amy has listed some of her ..err.. favorite reasons to hate her 'puter :-)
I'm working on a new issue of the newsletter, but it may not go out for a while since I'm having some problems with my mail-list script. Hopefully it will be resolved soon. If not, I'll start looking into some other method to use.
I've started work on a new section called Life On The Road. Since Amy and I drive truck long-haul (over the road) many people have expressed interest on what driving an 18 wheeler is like, how life is on the road, what we think of four-wheelers (car drivers), and stuff like that. Depending on my work schedule, I hope to get this new section up by mid March.
02/03/01 PuterGeek.Com is proud to announce a new section to the website. It's called Howie's Corner! From the creator of The Funnies comes this new funny, interesting, and slightly skewed section! Please take a look and see what you think!
01/25/01 PuterGeek.Com is now a PayPal website. If you wish to Sponsor PuterGeek.Com come to the Fan page to find out how you can, and why you might want to.
I created a new page called PuterGeek.Com Sponsors. Here is where you'll find out about who has chosen to Sponsor PuterGeek.Com, where they're from, and when they became a Sponsor.
01/23/01 We have a new page up in the Horror section of the website! It's called Invalid Page Fault Anyone?, and it's written by Howard Merrill the author of The Funnies, my favorite fun newsletter.
01/16/01 PuterGeek.Com is the "Reader Web Site of the Week" on "Mike's List"! So now PuterGeek.Com is really getting slammed! Here is what Mr. Elgan wrote:
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Reader Web Site of the Week
PuterGeek is dedicated to PC how-to information. Click here
to send me YOUR URL.
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01/15/01 My Home Networking Part Two how-to was mentioned in the Langalist today! Thanks Mr. Langa! So if the site seems kind of slow, blame the Langalist :-) Here is what Mr. Langa wrote:
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Peter Crockett, the webmaster at PuterGeek, is at it again, and has produced another lively, useful resource page aimed at helping novice and intermediate users get up to speed on some of the arcana of computing. He writes:
Since you found my "ScanRegW" page to be helpful to your readers, I thought I'd tell you about my new webpage on PuterGeek.Com. It's called "Home Networking Part Two".
http://www.putergeek.com/home_network_2/
This is a step-by-step guide that covers the parts needed, the pros and cons of using a hub, and a detailed description of how to set up the network protocols, sharing drives, as well as sharing printers. This page is rather large in size (lots of screen shots), but it caters to the novice user.
This web page is also available for download in PDF format from my download page: http://www.putergeek.com/downloads/
The page "Home Networking" http://www.putergeek.com/home_network/ simply discusses why people would want a home network, and how easy and inexpensive it is to set up.
Thanks, Peter. If you're a novice yourself, or if you know a novice who could use some coaching, Peter's site is definitely worth a click.
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Click here to see the newsletter it was in.
01/11/01 I just put out a new Newsletter. PuterGeek.Com News is now official! :-) I now have my ISSN number! ISSN: 1533-1938 Go here to learn what an ISSN number is for.
Do you want me to write about being a truck driver? Please vote in the current Poll and let me know!
01/08/01 In the wee hours of the morning I decided to join the SETI@home program! After getting some sleep I started the PuterGeek.Com SETI@home Group and wrote this webpage. Take a look to find out more about the project, the software, and how to join our group.
01/05/01 Great news! The Home Networking Part Two page is finished at last! Hehe, it took me a little over nine hours to complete it, but I think it'll be worth it. I'm sorry so many of you had to wait so long for it. It is a rather large webpage, so please be patient while it loads (it has lots of screenshots). It is also available for download as a PDF (Adobe Acrobat file) document from my download page.
I've added a new rant page to my personal section of the website. It's called Buying VS Building a 'Puter. Take a look and see if you agree with me or not. This is another topic that I feel very strongly about!
12/30/00 I hope you all have a happy and safe new year! Amy and I will be home until the 6th or 7th of January, so feel free to drop in for a chat if you see me on the PeterCam!
PuterGeek has grown quite a bit in the last year. I've changed the look of the whole site twice, I've added more than 20 new pages to the site, and we went from some 18,000 visitors last year to an average of 4,000 - 5,000 visitors per month. The subscriber base has more than tripled in the last year. PuterGeek.Com News just sent out it's 50th issue today!
12/25/00 Merry Christmas everybody! I'm home until around the 4th or 5th of January. Want to chat with me live? Want to see what I'm doing? Want to see what people are saying about PuterGeek.Com? Check out our FREE email! Want to read or add to my never-ending-story? It's fun!
12/11/00 On Nov. 28, 2000 PuterGeek.Com ran out of disk space. This issue was resolved that same day. Unknown to me, the message board was automatically locked (shut down)! I just found out today and the board is now unlocked. I'm sorry if this caused any problems. Any posts to the board between then and now have been lost, including any email replies.
11/07/00 I have some new pages in the WinME section of the White Papers. From making a WinME bootdisk to how to re-install WinME. Plus I have a new Performance section for WinME as well. Don't forget to check out our free email or our Never Ending Story!
11/09/00 I have an Awards page now. Here you can see the awards PuterGeek.Com has won, as well as read comments written either about myself or the website. Of course, you'll only find the good stuff here :-)
10/27/00 Welcome to the new look for PuterGeek.Com! Hopefully, this will be the last major change I'll have to make to the website. The pages should look almost identical regardless of the web browser you use, or whether you're on a Mac or a PC. Please take some time and go through the whole website. There have been many small changes, plus a few big one too. Remember, the Site Map is your friend...hehe, you'll only be one click from any page on the whole site!
Here's another new page in Amy's Corner. It's called SCSI Burner Part 2. If you want a real-world example of why a SCSI burner is better than an IDE one take a look here.
I've created an easy way for you to recommend either the newsletter or the website to your friends and family. Towards the bottom of every page you'll see a couple of buttons that'll take to the correct form. Please check them out (and use them) and tell me what you think.
The PuterGeek.Com free web-based email is really starting to take off! I've made a new page that explains in greater detail all the advantages of our new service. Come see what you think.
The PuterGeek.Com News newsletter is doing pretty good over at Infojump.com, would you please take a moment to rate my newsletter? Click here to give me the highest rating or look at the top of almost any page to choose the score you wish to give me.
10/15/00 The PuterGeek.Com Message Board now has the ability to email new posts to any registered user! Plus you can reply to any post via email and it'll be posted on the board. If you want to become a registered user on the message board just send me an email, it's free! All I need to know is the following:
username (one word, lower case)
full name (will be on posts)
email address (will be on posts)
Of course, no one wants to give out the primary email address to everybody, so why not sign up for one of PuterGeek.Com's free web-based email accounts?
10/07/00 Well we've got a few new pages in Amy's Corner.
I've added a "Never Ending Story" to my personal section. It's really cool! You can read the story to date, then you can add to the story yourself! It's quite funny, check it out!
Now you can add a link to PuterGeek.Com! This page is available to you so you can add links to your personal homepage, a business website, or your favorite website. It's free, so come take a look!
Amy (my wife) has added a page to the horror section. It's really funny!
I'm trying to get my rating up at Infojump.com. Please take a moment to rate my newsletter. You'll find the rating button on the navbar about half way down the page, or just click here to give me the top rating :-)
09/22/00 PuterGeek.Com now offers FREE web-based email! (I know, so does a lot of sites) But I want to encourage you to check it out. You know I wouldn't suggest something lame!
Your new mail box has some great features:
6 megs of disk space
ability to add attachments
mail is delivered quickly
you can check your "regular" email as well
You can be notified at any email address of your choice when you have mail waiting, so you don't have to bother checking it often.
We all need a "throw-away email address....do you really want a "hotmail" account? Be unusual, plus help me get the PuterGeek.Com name out where
everyone can see it!
There are SPAM/JUNK mail filters available
Compared to other sites, there is very little "ads" to bother you.
Ever need to send an email but your ISP is down? That's happened to me! Here's a easy to use backup system.
Your email will be "yourname@putergeek.every1.net
The only stuff put at the bottom of outgoing emails is my offer of "free 'puter help" and the website address. I think it's much better than some of the other free email services, plus you'll be helping those you email by letting them know where they can go for free 'puter help :-)
So when you get a moment, come take a look...
http://www.freemail.putergeek.com or come to any page at PuterGeek.Com and log in!
09/16/00 Well the first couple of WinME pages are up! You can read about my first install of WinME as well as find answers to some of your questions in my first ever FAQ!
We've got a couple of new horror stories in the horror section. If you've got a story please email it to me and be sure to let me know if I can use your name and city, state, and country.
09/02/00 The Downloads section is now open. I have two different bootdisk images available with generic CD-ROM support! Come take a look !
08/24/00 Well, here's the new look for the website. Do you like it? It loads about 20% faster on almost all the pages. I've been working about 15 hours a day for the last 5 days to design and convert the whole website (some 105+ pages) over to the new style. A special thanks goes to Thomas Hohler of VS Web Design (long time PuterGeek.Com News subscriber) for all of his help in getting my design template to work with Netscrape (not a typo), as well as the CGI work for all my forms. Thanks Thomas!
Of course Andy was quite involved in helping as well! Answering my dumb questions, fixing many of my mistakes, and so on. Thank you Andy!
08/08/00 The PuterGeek.Com message board is fully functional now! Come on in and take a look. Feel free to email me if you wish to suggest topics.
08/06/00 Drum roll please! I'm proud to announce the creation of the PuterGeek.Com Message Board! Now all you guys have a place to post questions for others to answer, state opinions, and just about anything else you'd care to talk about. This board is not moderated...however, I will remove any posts that I deem too tacky. I'm still learning and working on the board so please check back often to see the new features as I add them. Right now all you can do is play around in the "test messages" topic. Please take a look and post a message :-)
08/05/2000 Since this is my busiest time of year on the road, there won't be too many changes to the website, or many newsletters until September or October.
I have a new rant in the My Thoughts section called "You Want Fries With That?". Click here to take a look.
Amy has a couple of new pages in the Amy's Corner section. The first one is called "Get Your Drivers Here!". Click here to take a look. The second is called "Picking Good....Hardware". Click here to see it.
06/18/00 Want to read about my new puppy Milo and see his first photos?
06/12/2000 We have a brand new section Called Amy's Corner! Please take a look and see what you think of it.
I've got a new page up called Email Etiquette. This white paper covers such issues as plain text vs. HTML, CC vs. BCC, and much more. Take a look and see what you think.
05/29/2000 PuterGeek.Com was mentioned in the Langalist on May 25th! Thanks again Mr. Langa!
Also I have a new page up called Installing Software Correctly. Take a look and see what you think of it.
05/12/2000 Well, I was a HotSpot of the day on Fred Langa's BrowserTune website! If you have never been there it's worth the time to check out and bookmark. Also you should seriously consider his email newsletter as well, It's mandatory reading for me. Thanks Mr. Langa!!
04/25/00 Click here to see the latest newsletter.
04/12/00 Click here to take a look at a very cool Real Audio slide show of "The PC weenies"! I think I'll make some white papers in this format. You can add voice to various slides and it's quite a bit smaller then a Power Point presentation.
04/12/00 Click here to take a look at a very cool Real Audio slide show of "The PC weenies"! I think I'll make some white papers in this format. You can add voice to various slides and it's quite a bit smaller then a Power Point presentation.
04/02/00 There have been many changes to the navigation structure here at PuterGeek.Com. I apologize for any problems this may cause. Since the site has been growing I've found the need to become more organized. Hopefully the new structure will make the site easier to move around in. Both the Site Map and the Search page will help you find any page on the website. Please give them a try.
03/13/000
Welcome Langalist Subscribers!
Go here to read about my newsletter.
Go here to be one click from anywhere on my site.
Go here to search my site.
01/03/00
This site came into being on 03/03/1999. It started out simply as my "home page". Thanks to all the visitors and suggestions/ideas the site has grown quite a bit! Because of all the kind people who have added links to my site on their own site, as well as the mentions in various news groups and email newsletters, the website has seen much more traffic than I expected!
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Visitors from 03/08/1999 to 01/01/2000 |
18,017 |
| Emails to "helpme". (separate threads only) | 579 |
| First time emails to "helpme". (separate threads only) | 419 |
| Phone calls to "helpme" (only long distance calls tracked) | 71 |
| Emails to "webmaster". (separate threads only) | 241 |
| New "chat" visitors (only tracked since 10/99) | 21 |
So, for year 2000 I plan to create at least (hopefully) 25 new pages, as well as add to the existing content. Feedback still remains an issue to me. While I understand that a large percentage of the site traffic is casual web surfers, if you find my website useful/helpful then please drop me an email saying so.
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