BobBuskirk.com

Some Awesome Sights from the Penthouse

Bob Buskirk — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 06:31:05 +0000

It’s only been about a month since I moved into the Penthouse and I’ve been able to catch quite a few really cool things. Since we are on the 23rd floor and above everything around us if there is anything going on we can get a food view of it.

The first cool thing we were able to see were some fireworks!

Then about a week later there was a fire in the distance!

Finally the sunsets have been pretty cool lately.

I’m definitely glad we decided to move into the Penthouse! More photos coming soon!

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Turning 26…

Bob Buskirk — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 06:34:15 +0000

Well this past weekend I turned 26. I guess I’m starting to get old! Saying I’m 26 now does seem a little weird but I’m ok with it. Last year when I turned 25 I talked about the past 5 years of my life and how it’s been such a great ride. The past year has also been a great ride!

It seems like so many people in my life are getting married, having kids etc., but honestly I haven’t really thought about that at all. Maybe because I have not found the right girl yet or just because I think I have so much more to do with my life before I settle down. Many people think that you should settle down around the time you turn 26, but I think I’m just getting started with things. There is so much I want to do and experience I’m not sure if I will settle down anytime soon.

I’ve lived 3 different places in the past year so that has been a little crazy. I hope I stay at this new place for a while, but my luck it will not work out that way. I always love new surroundings, but I would like to have a place I call home for more than a year.

The past year for ThinkComputers has been awesome! I finally moved the site over to Wordpress, which has made work so much easier. ThinkComputers is still my main focus and I believe still will for quite some time. We’ve worked really hard on the site and I still believe there is a lot of work to do. I have neglected this blog a little bit, but as it gets closer to fall I hope to keep this blog updated at least once a week if not more!

When you are younger and you think about when you are going to be 26 you imagine you life completely figured out and you are happy. I know I am happy, but my life if far from figured out. I think that I’ve grown up a lot in the past year and started to realize some things that I never did before. I still have many goals that I have no yet attained and I hope to reach them very soon. I can’t wait to see what year 26 of my life will bring!

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Back Home and All Moved In!

Bob Buskirk — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 19:37:48 +0000

Well I’m back from my vacation in Myrtle Beach and I’m all moved in to my new place! That’s right I’ve moved once again! Back in June I moved into my friends apartment, but that was only a temporary situation until the new place was ready. 2 days after I got back from vacation I was moving into the new place, so the past week has been quite hectic!

The new place is only 5 minutes from my old place so I’m back in the city! The big difference between this place and my old place is that this place is an actual apartment building, not an old house that has been converted into apartments. This is not only an apartment building, but a high-rise! I moved in with my friend Jeremy who I was already living with and our friend PJ. Both guys are pretty down to earth and most importantly CLEAN!

So about the new place, let’s just say it’s awesome! Its a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom 1900 Sq. Ft. penthouse! We are on the top floor which is the 23rd floor. The building is up on top of a hill so it seems like you are even up higher than what you really are! The best thing about the new place is the view. We have a patio that is on the roof of the building! The view is just amazing!

The main living room is HUGE! It is 40 feet long so we actually have 2 living rooms setup. We also have a fireplace, which is nice.

My room is the largest because I needed room for my “office”. I really like how I have things setup, but I still have a lot of unpacking and organizing to do.

It feels so good to have my office back and it is really going to help me get more work done! Also the large living room and outdoor patio are great for relaxing and getting my mind off things. Once we get everything setup I will make another post with updated photos.

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The Clique Vodka Launch Party

Bob Buskirk — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 22:26:04 +0000

Clique Vodka was recently released and it was actually started by a group of people here in Pittsburgh! A few of these guys actually happen to be friends of mine so they invited me to the launch party for the Vodka. The party was hosted at the PPG Aquarium, which was actually a very cool setting for a party.

Guests were able to check out all of the fish and other wildlife while enjoying Clique vodka cocktails. There was a great mix of people at the event. There was press, nightlife people, even the mayor showed up! Here is a video I made of some of the sights and sounds of the event.

This event was one of my favorite events that I’ve been to in the Pittsburgh area. The mix of people, networking, atmosphere and great drinks made for a really good time. Clique did a great job showing everyone they are not only a vodka company but a complete brand. I really like where they are headed and I wish them all the best luck!

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Awesome Few Days in Myrtle so Far!

Bob Buskirk — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 13:34:52 +0000

Wow these past few days here in Myrtle Beach have just been awesome! It has been so great to be able to relax and not have much to worry about. There are 13 of us here and being with that many people you are bound to have fun! During the day we are at the beach for the most part just relaxing, swimming, and having fun. At night we have gone out, the first night we went to Fat Tuesday’s were they have some awesome frozen drinks! The next night we went to Senor Frogs which is more of a club. The second we walked in there we took that place over, it was a blast!

For the most part we have eaten at places that are right around our hotel, nothing really special to write home about but we did go to Original Benjamin’s Calabash Seafood, which they claim is the largest calabash seafood restaurant in the world. Last year we went to the Giant Crab seafood buffet and Benjamins is much better! I forgot my camera when we went so I didn’t get any photos of my food, but I ate about 8 plates of seafood!

This trip has been pretty special for 2 people that are here, Nick and Erin. They have been dating for a while and he told us that he is going to pop the question sometime this week. Well last night he took her out to dinner and went to this bridge over this lake and did it! When they came back to the hotel we were waiting for them on the beach and had fireworks and champagne ready! After we set off all the fireworks we had 3 hotels cheering for them! It was really special! Here is a video of all of that!

This morning I woke up really early to watch the sun come up, it was really cool to watch! If you have never seen the sun come up at the beach it is really beautiful.

Well that is my checkin for now haha, make sure to follow me on Twitter to keep up with me on my trip!

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In Myrtle Beach!

Bob Buskirk — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 17:50:44 +0000

Wow this summer has gone by so fast it is insane! As you may have noticed I haven’t updated my blog for a while. I really have meant to, but things just have been so busy and it has really been hard to sit down at the computer unless it is for work. I’m pretty sure all of that will change when I move into my new place next week.

Anyways yesterday a big group of us arrived in Myrtle Beach, SC. If some of your remember last year I went to Myrtle Beach as well. This time we are staying in a large condo that is right on the beach! This place is awesome, it’s called the Grand Atlantic. Our place is a 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom condo on the 17th floor. Here are some pictures…

We have 12 people in our group and we all drove down, which was about a 10 hour drive. It’s great to be with so many people and just be able to relax and have fun. I definitely needed to get away! Here is a quick video I took from the balcony of the hotel.

I will keep everyone updated on my trip make sure to follow me on Twitter for updates as well!

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Connecting with People in Your Area

Bob Buskirk — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 20:36:49 +0000

One thing that I’ve always stressed to people when going to conferences is that you should always meet new people and network. I have met some great business partners and good friends at conferences and I would have never met them if I didn’t take the initiative and go up to them and introduce myself. You should always try and meet new people whether you are at a conference or if you are at a local event. Over the past few years I have really been able to connect with a lot of people in the Pittsburgh Area. This has not only done good things for my business, but I’ve met a lot of friends in the process. Here are the some of the people / groups I’ve been able to connect with lately.

Pittsburgh Podcamp
Pittsburgh Podcamp is a community UnConference for people who create, enjoy or are interested in learning more about blogs, vlogs, audio podcasts, web video, content networks and new media monetization. Last year was actually the first year that I went and it was a great experience. I met a lot of people and really was able to get people in the Pittsburgh area to know about ThinkComputers and this blog. Podcamps are held all over so you should really see if there is one in your area.

MidnightGuru
MidnightGuru is a website that a few of my friends started that is all about nightlife in Pittsburgh. It lists events, hotspots, bartenders, etc. It is basically like a facebook for nightlife in Pittsburgh. I have been to many of the MidnightGuru events over the past few months and have met some great people.

Pittsburgh Tweetup
If you have a Twitter account and are not part of a Tweetup group you really should be. A Tweetup is a meeting of Twitter users who are interested in the same things. The Pittsburgh Tweetup group has a simple ning website that lists events and anyone can create an event. I’ve got to go to quite a few of them and they are a lot of fun! I think the best was the NHL Tweetup.

Faded Industry
Faded Industry Entertainment is a Pittsburgh based company that that capitalizes on all aspects of the growing Entertainment Industry. Faded Industry’s culture of social networking through positive interaction fuses people together to achieve their entertainment needs by developing successful relationships and connections in a primarily divided industry. Faded throws very large events around Pittsburgh and I’ve been to quite a few of them. I have met many of the people who are part of Faded and they are great people. My favorite Faded event so far was the white party over memorial day weekend!

Pittco
Pittco or Pittsburgh LAN Coalition is a group I actually helped start. They are an organization that hosts Local Area Network gaming parties (‘computer and console gaming convention’). They are comprised of several long-standing local LAN gaming organizations working cooperatively as one entity. They offer Pittsburgh’s premier LAN party experience and have had several large events over the past few years. If you like gaming and computers you should definitely check out one of their events. I’ve actually found some ThinkComputers staff members there!

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The Wait Is Over! Blog Profit Camp Opens!

Bob Buskirk — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 22:48:55 +0000

The wait if over! John Chow has open his Blog Profit Camp coaching program for registration. However, it’s only open for 4 days so you need to sign up now to ensure you get a seat!

Blog Profit Camp is a 12-week interactive course that will show you step by step how to make big money with blogging. John started blogging in December 2005 and within two years, took his blog from making zero to making over $40,000 per month!

Today, he runs one of the biggest and most profitable blogs in the world, with over 100,000 RSS readers and over 56,000 people following him on Twitter.

In this new course, John will detail everything you need to do in order to achieve the same level of success. You will be given every tool needed and most important, you’ll have direct access to John and his team to answer any questions you may have.

Blogging has allowed John to have time, money and location freedom. To most people. this is just a dream. But it’s a dream that you can achieve if you put your mind to it and be willing learn.

Limited To 150 Students
The first round of registration is limited to 150 students. The program will sell out so the sooner you sign up, the better your chance of getting in.

Blog Profit Camp is covered by a 30 days no questions asked money back guarantee. Try Blog Profit Camp for a full 30 days and if it’s not all that you hope for, send John an email and he’ll give your money back, no questions asked.

Free $500 Review To The First 50 Students
To make this a can’t lose deal, John is giving $500 reviews to the first 50 students. Companies pay $500 for a review on John’s blog. However, if you’re among the first 50 to order Blog Profit Camp, you’ll get the review for FREE!

This is truly a can’t lose deal! However, you must order now to take advantage of this offer. Don’t wait until the last minute because you will lose out! Go get it now!

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1 Day Left in the CyberPower and ThinkComputers System Giveaway!

Bob Buskirk — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 15:00:40 +0000

I should have really announced this sooner on the blog, but I guess I just have been busy! As you all know I own and run ThinkComputers and we are holding one of the best Giveaways ever! We are giving away an entire gaming computer! That’s right a full computer! The good people over at CyberPower PC were nice enough to donate the system for the giveaway! Here are the specs…

System Specs
Intel 875K CPU
Intel SSD 40G
ASUS P7P55D-E PRO Motherboard.
CoolerMaster 690II Advance
4GB DDR3 1600 Kingston Hyper-X
1TB Hitachi Hard Drive.
Samsung 8X Blu Ray Combo Drive
GTS 250 1GB
800 Watt Power Supply
Windows 7 HP 64 bit
Card Readers, Keyboard and Mouse

It’s quite a beefy system! So how can you win it? Well head on over to the contest page at ThinkComputers and read the rules. All you have to do is submit a story about how you will use the system and the best story will win! We will be announcing the winner tomorrow afternoon so get your entries in!

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Easy Ways to Bring People Back to Your Website

Bob Buskirk — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 14:00:03 +0000

One thing that I end up doing a lot is going to a website and really liking the content, but then totally forgetting about the website and never being able to find it again. While this is annoying to me, it can’t be a good thing for the site owner. With any website I’ve ever worked on or ran I always made sure there were options for the user to get updates about new posts on the site or alert them when there is something going on with the site. You don’t want someone going to your site and really enjoying it, but them never coming back. So here are 3 really easy things you can add to your site to bring people back and let them know what’s going on with the site.

RSS Feed
This is one thing every website should have. Most publishing platforms these days have RSS feeds built right in so you don’t even have to worry about anything. An RSS feed easily lists your latest posts on your website and user’s can read them in their favorite RSS reader. Even if you are not using something like Wordpress you can use RSS feeds. I was writing the RSS feed for ThinkComputers by hand up until we moved it over to Wordpress, it really isn’t hard at all.

E-mail Newsletter
E-mail newsletters have been around for as long as I remember, even before RSS feeds became really popular. An e-mail newsletter allows you to e-mail your readers the latest updated on your site and if you have something going on with your site you can e-mail them and let them know about it. Right now for ThinkComputers I have FeedBurner automatically running the e-mail newsletter, but there are quite a few other options out there. One of the best that I have seen is AWeber, so check them out!

Twitter
If you don’t know what Twitter is by now you must be living under a rock! If you have a website you really should have a Twitter account for that website. That way when people follow that account on Twitter you can let them know about new updates to your site and when you have something big going on. Twitter is so simple to use and setup there is no reason not to have a Twitter account for your website. Whenever a new post gets published on ThinkComputers I always post a tweet about it on the ThinkComputers twitter account.

So those are some easy ways to get people to come back to your site. Have any others? Let me know in the comments!

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