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The CES 2012 Parties

Bob Buskirk — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:51:58 +0000

One of the best things about CES is the parties that companies throw. Las Vegas has some of the craziest and most over the top hotel rooms and suites. Many companies rent these suites out for private parties. This year there were 3 parties that were pretty memorable this year.

The first party was the “Night Before CES” party that has been going on for quite sometime. This party is put on by FutureLooks.com and Redux. This is one of the best parties not only because it is at the Palms Place Penthouse, which has one of the best views of Vegas, but this is the party where most site owners show up so it is one big party for all of us.

Photo my buddy Shawn took of me on the balcony, notice the awesome view of Vegas!

The next party was put on by Zotac, NZXT, iBUYPOWER and ADATA. This party was held at the Palms 2-Story Sky Villa.

This is one cool suite. Not only is it 2 stories it has a pretty large pool on the balcony! This also makes for a great view of Vegas as well. Did I mention this suite has beds that are shaped like circles and they have a remote to make them rotate!

The last party was at the Hardwood Suite at the Palms and was put on by Patriot, MSI and Intel.

The Hardwood Suite as you can guess from the photo above is a basketball themed suite. It has a basketball court inside the suite itself! This was the first time I’ve been in this suite and it is probably the craziest suite that I have been in, in Las Vegas. It definitely made the party different than the normal CES party.

The CES 2012 Swag Haul!

Bob Buskirk — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:00:30 +0000

One of the best things about going to CES is getting swag, free stuff companies give out as they lure you to come check out their booth. I mean what better way for companies to get your attention then with free stuff! Also rumor has it that on the last day of the show if you stick around long enough many companies will just give away stuff so they don’t have to pack it up and take it back with them. Anyways here is what I was able to snag this year at CES.

Some of the more noteworthy things are a tablet, Thermaltake headset, Corsair solid state drive, and a Kingston Wi-Drive. My favorite thing would have to be the backpack from Rosewill (the black one on the right). It is actually a really nice backpack, much better than the one CES gives press. It is more or less a camera bag with a bunch of protective compartments in it. I used it on my way back from Vegas as my carry-on and I plan to use it in the future, so thanks Rosewill!

Stay tuned for a contest on ThinkComputers where I will be giving a lot of this stuff away!

What a Vegas Trip!

Bob Buskirk — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 09:26:09 +0000

Well as I said I was heading to Vegas for CES and I have just got back. All I have to say is what a trip! This trip seemed different than all other trips to CES. I am really not sure what it was, but it was a good feeling for sure. This year was definitely more relaxed, less stressful and just a lot of fun! So why was this year so different from others?

First we stayed at a condo this year, not a hotel room. The place we stayed at was called The Jockey Club and it was right in the middle of the strip. Having a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom condo was much more comfortable than having everyone in a single hotel room. The condo also had a full kitchen, which definitely was a plus. Having the extra room of a condo made it possible for CyberPower to provide us with a desktop system to do video editing on. This not only saved us time, but make working much, much easier.

Second, the ThinkComputers coverage was all video this year. This meant we did not have to write as much. Coming home after a long day on the show floor, press events and industry parties the last thing you want to do is sit down for 2-3 hours and write articles. Having video meant that we really only needed to write intros for the articles. This definitely elevated a lot of stress. To give you an idea of the videos we shot check out my interview with Bill Owen of MNPCTECH!

Third, things were much more relaxed. It seemed in the past I really got stressed out over things at CES, but this year things were just chill, even down to our “dress code”. I decided this year that myself and staff could wear jeans and a simple dress shirt or something similar, most importantly everyone could wear sneakers instead of dress shoes. Besides just our dress code I scheduled most of my meetings so I was not running all over the place.

Finally I have gone to CES so many times I knew exactly what I needed to do and what I needed to get done. I don’t think there was one time during the week where I was super stressed or pissed off. Another great thing was my staff, not only are these guys great at what they do they are great friends and who better to spend a week in Vegas with! Stay tuned for many different posts about the trip. You can also check out all the coverage over on ThinkComputers!

Headed to Vegas for CES 2012!

Bob Buskirk — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:00:05 +0000

As you are reading this I am most likely on a plane from Pittsburgh to Las Vegas (gotta love being able to schedule posts with WordPress). I am on my way to Vegas for this years Consumer Electronics Show or CES as we all call it. If I am counting this right this will be my 6th year at the show! I can’t believe 6 years ago I made the plunge and went to CES and Vegas for the first time ever. A lot has changed in those 6 years that is for sure! Luckily since I have been blogging since 2005 you can go back and see my blog posts about previous shows.

Obviously I am going to CES for ThinkComputers. We hope this year is going to be a huge year for us and we will be doing mostly video coverage. To give you an idea of what to expect check out the video below.

To follow all of the coverage on ThinkComputers you can bookmark this URL: http://www.thinkcomputers.org/tag/ces-2012/ or follow myself or ThinkComputers on the social networks below.

ThinkComputers
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/thinkcomps
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThinkComputers
Google+: https://plus.google.com/b/101097389100489939399/101097389100489939399/posts
Instagram: http://followgram.me/thinkcomputers

Bob Buskirk
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/bobtv
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BobBuskirk
Google+: https://plus.google.com/103093986391371376749/posts
Instagram: http://followgram.me/bobtv

See everyone in Vegas!

New Year, New Blog Design

Bob Buskirk — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 03:48:10 +0000

Well as you can see I have a new layout here on my blog! The old layout was on the site for around 3 years, which is quite a long time. Over time it had got cluttered and just seemed boring and out dated to me. Also for a time I had thought about making money on the blog, but I never really got into that so some of the things on there were just pointless. After the 3 years of looking at the cluttered blog I knew I needed to change it. After doing some searching I found a great layout and that is what you see now.

The layout is called Beauty & Clean and it is actually a free layout! The whole point of my blog now is to keep friends and family updated on my life and to express thoughts that I cannot do on ThinkComputers. So I did not need a very complicated layout, just something simple and clean. So this layout was the perfect fit!

I really did not have to do that much editing to the theme either, just add what I wanted to the sidebar, and make a few custom menu’s and I was done. I really like the way everything came out. What do you think of the new blog layout?

Into 2012…

Bob Buskirk — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 02:54:02 +0000

Wow can you believe it is already 2012!?! It seems like 2011 flew by! 2011 was an ok year for me, I know it had its ups and downs, but the good times definitely outweighed the bad times. This yeah has been a learning year for me, by that I mean I have learned from my mistakes and I’m doing things to not make those mistakes again. Case in point would be that over the past 3-4 months I have completely eliminated all of the drama from my life and cut out fake friends. By doing this I have been happier than ever! So what does 2012 have in store for me? Well let’s talk about things I want to do, I hate calling them resolutions.

Time Management – This is something that I have really been horrible at lately. I need to work smarter and stop wasting time on things that do not matter. I also need to stop being so lazy and just get things done!
Being more active – I always say I need to get in shape, but honestly I do. I am going to try to work out at least 3 times a week starting this week.
Blog More – Yeah yeah I know I haven’t really blogged that much at all but I really want to. Blogging is a great way to not only share experiences with friends and family but also save those memories.

Only 3 things? Well I think if I accomplish both of these goals I will be much happier and stress free. So what are my plans for 2012?

ThinkComputers – As always I will be doing ThinkComputers full time. This year I really want to make a big push a get the site to where it needs to be. Also with us doing video now I really want to gain a good following on YouTube.
COB – COB has been a great experience and learning process as it is the second company that I have started since ThinkComputers. I definitely want to gain more clients and really put more time into it as I do enjoy working with social media.
Other Endeavors – Well there is a possibility that I may be starting a 3rd company, but that is quite a ways away right now. I also am becoming more involved in the Pittsburgh startup scene and I will definitely continue that in 2012.

Thanks to my friends and family for always being there in 2011, here is to 2012!!

Not Blogging as Much…

Bob Buskirk — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 20:40:24 +0000

Well as you may have noticed my blogging has been a little dry lately. I mean the main reasons really is that I have been super busy, but after thinking about it there are a few different reasons why my blogging has slowed down. I think the biggest reasons is all of the micro-blogging platforms that I use. This blog is to keep people updated on my life, but with all those micro-blogging platforms I can do that very easily and with less work. As well as right from the event or place I am at.

Some of you may already follow me on these platforms, but I am going to list them so you can be up to date with what I am doing. The biggest one is twitter. Everything I do I post on twitter so that is the main one if you want to follow me on there.

I post many pictures and videos. Those all go through twitter as well as Posterous and Tumblr. These photo blogs I have really show you what I’m up to.

Don’t worry I will still be keeping this blog up for longer posts and things I want to talk about. I just wanted to let you know about the other ways you can stay in touch with what I am doing.

Tim Ferris is back with the 4-Hour Chef!

Bob Buskirk — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 20:49:31 +0000

If you follow me on twitter or Instagram you know I love food and I love cooking, that is why I am super excited for Tim Ferris’s new book the 4-Hour Chef! Tim’s book the 4-Hour Workweek really changed how I thought about time management and made all of my businesses more successful. I really like Tim’s writing style and the way he is straight forward with things. Here is what the 4-Hour Chef is all about…

The tagline for the book is, “The Simple Path to Cooking Like a Pro, Learning Anything, and Living the Good Life”. Time says, “The book is intended to be “the cookbook for people who don’t buy cookbooks,” The 4-Hour Chef will use food as a vehicle to teach the art and science of meta-learning–the skill of learning skills. Whether you want to learn a new instrument or a new sport (or anything in between), you’ll have a field-tested and research-backed blueprint. In addition to insight from world-class chefs, we’ll have an unreal cast of characters helping you to multiply your learning potential.”

For a limited time, to celebrate the announcement, you can pre-order The 4-Hour Chef for 50-80% off. Instead of $30 for print, you can reserve a copy for $15. Instead of $22 for Kindle, you can get it for $9.99.

If you have read any of Tim’s books you know this one is going to be just as good. I can’t wait to get it and learn so much more about cooking and food!

Instagram Update 11-9-11

Bob Buskirk — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 01:24:10 +0000

Well I really am enjoying these Instagram updates, but I think instead of 1 week intervals I will be doing them every 2 weeks. It makes it easier and I can show you more photos in more of a gallery. So here is the Instagram update for 11-9-11!

Some New Shows…Late 2011 Edition

Bob Buskirk — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 15:00:42 +0000

Since I have been really working my a** off gearing up for the holiday season I really have not gone out that much. Usually at the end of a long day I try to wind down and relax by watch some TV…well Hulu mostly. Through Hulu I have discovered some great new shows, going through their Popular Shows page there really is a lot. Let’s take a look at few shows I am really enjoying right now. Instead of writing about them.

Terra Nova – (Hulu Link)

Pan Am – (Hulu Link)

Revenge – (Hulu Link)

Misfits – (Hulu Link)
Although this show is older, I’ve just discovered it!