If I could turn back the clock a few years, I would have built my own computer myself piece by piece instead of buying this HP Pavilion I have. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad computer. It does the job and with added memory and a better video card, it’s a nice machine.

But with a brand name computer there’s a very good chance you do not get a Windows OS disk with it, and you instead have to create system recovery disks. That’s what I have with this HP: 3 HP PC Recovery disks. And on June 20th, my worst nightmare happened. I had a horrible computer crash. I had to format my hard drive and start over from scratch using the HP Recovery disks. What an ordeal! No wonder a lot of businesses are switching over to Cloud Computing with Trend Micro, and other virtual providers.

First of all, it means all the bloatware that HP loads on a factory default computer was re-installed and I had to remove all of it. Then my computer still had lots of problems and the HP recovery disks failed several times, until I did a ton of research from my friend’s computer and discovered that I was not alone in my frustration. I finally ditched the HP recovery disks and got another OS disk. But, after all my HP recovery troubles, my hard drive got a lot of errors on it and so I had to run chkdsk a few times to fix it from within the Recovery console in Windows.

However, I did learn an important lesson: do regular backups. Not just Windows stuff, but full backups. I lost quite a bit of data and a ton of software that I now have to reinstall and it will take me quite some time to do. All because I didn’t do full backups on a regular basis. I’m now using an external hard drive to house my backups. I was using CD’s and DVDs before and that is why I started getting lazy. I paid for my laziness and carelessness. Mea culpa. Don’t make the same mistake I did.

And if you’re thinking of buying a new computer anytime soon, insist on getting an operating system disk with it. If they don’t give it to you, I would seriously re-consider that purchase. Have a custom clone PC built for you or build it yourself and buy the OS if you have to. If your computer fails, it is so much better to have the OS disk so that you do a clean re-install if you have to. Now, I have to get back to installing software so that I can do my work. I’m going to be at this for a while, I think.

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No, I’m not a traitor to my country. I am proud to be Canadian and normally I would cheer for a Canadian team to win the Stanley Cup. Now, I know those jerks who started all the nonsense last night, are not how most Vancouver citizens behave, but I remember first hand how unsportsman-like some Vancouver fans can be.

You see, I lived in Vancouver from 1975 to 1977. Vancouver was, and probably still is, I believe, a very transient city. Many eastern Canadians travel to Vancouver. The lure of the mountains and the ocean beckons all of us at one point in our lives.

Well, while I lived there, Vancouver-ites weren’t too friendly to the “Easterners”. And, unfortunately for me, I was, and still am, a Montreal Canadiens fan. Oh, the horror! Yeah, I’m the target of much abuse during hockey season as my son and most of my friends hate the “Habs”. But I digress…

Back in the 70′s, I attended a live hockey game between Vancouver and Montreal. Some of the fans were horrid and prone to violence then, too. For my own safety, I was escorted out of the game there for the simple reason that I was cheering for my beloved Habs, albeit a bit too loudly – just being a bold twenty-something passionate hockey fan – and someone wanted to kill me. Seriously!

So folks, no, not every Vancouver citizen acts like those who caused the riots last night, but there are certainly some who are really poor sports and that is why last night I cheered for Boston, one of the original 6 hockey teams, who, in my opinion, deserved to win. Congrats, Boston Bruins!

I’d love to know what you think, so please feel free to join in the discussion. Were you happy or upset about last night’s game results and what do you think about the riots in Vancouver?

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I don’t have to tell you how great WordPress is. Most of you already know about it and use it. Perhaps you’re building a blog network of sites all making money and perhaps you’d like to cut some corners, and save on development time and money.

I just took a look at a cool combination with the Site to WP/WP Twin Bundle Special Discount and I wanted to let you all know about it.

The first part of this bundle is a course called “Turn Any Static Site Into WordPress” and just like the title says, it does just that.
You’ll learn:

• Slick strategies to ensure your visitors don’t know you’re on WordPress
• How to use your existing graphics on your new WordPress site
• Super-simple ways to add in your content without stressing

The second part of this special combo is a great plugin that will clone any WordPress theme or plugin so when you’re installing multiple WordPress sites you don’t have to install all your themes and plugins, because the plugin called “WP Twin” does the job for you. And you can use it on any number of sites!

As a WordPress consultant who loves to help people save time and money by implementing inexpensive solutions to achieve results, I recommend the Site to WP/WP Twin Bundle Special Discount as a worthy investment for your WordPress empire.

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