The other day, I met with Kyle Graham of Ambidupdate.com. We were meeting to talk a little business, but he had asked me ahead of time if he could do a quick interview. Of course I said yes. He used his new Flip Video to record this interview of me outside of a Chili’s in Tampa, FL.

Now, Kyle’s service allows people with little to no experience editing their own website to make edits to their website. His audience is made up of people who own and run their own sites, so in this interview I am giving some inside knowledge on how I have managed to build up PCMech to the point that it is today.

Continued

People see PCMech.com and sometimes wonder what is the “engine” behind the magic, so to speak. Well, it’s no secret that PCMech uses WordPress. If you were thinking about trying WordPress for yourself there are completely free ways to do it (as in without the requirement of a domain and web host). See video below for details. Also remember that there is a course on WordPress at PCMech University!

Per the last survey we sent out, one of the courses people wanted in the PCMech University system was a digital photography course. One is coming very soon. See video below for details.

This is an exclusive RSS-feed-only wallpaper download. Click the image below to view, right-click (or command-click on Mac) and set as your wallpaper.

Note: A new PCMU course will be offered soon so you can learn how to take photos like this even with the most inexpensive digital camera!

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This is an exclusive RSS-feed-only wallpaper download. Click the image below to view, right-click (or command-click on Mac) and set as your wallpaper.

Note: A new PCMU course will be offered soon so you can learn how to take photos like this even with the most inexpensive digital camera!

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This is an exclusive RSS-feed-only wallpaper download. Click the image below to view, right-click (or command-click on Mac) and set as your wallpaper.

Note: A new PCMU course will be offered soon so you can learn how to take photos like this even with the most inexpensive digital camera!

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Widescreen

This is an exclusive RSS-feed-only wallpaper download. Click the image below to view, right-click (or command-click on Mac) and set as your wallpaper.

Note: A new PCMU course will be offered soon so you can learn how to take photos like this even with the most inexpensive digital camera!

Standard

Widescreen

This is an exclusive RSS-feed-only wallpaper download. Click the image below to view, right-click (or command-click on Mac) and set as your wallpaper.

Note: A new PCMU course will be offered soon so you can learn how to take photos like this even with the most inexpensive digital camera!

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Have you heard of Twitter? Are you on Twitter?

The opinions on Twitter vary a lot. And the reactions I get range from “What is it?” to “It is frickin’ awesome!”

I do use Twitter and today I just wanted to take a moment to ask you to follow me on Twitter. My reason is below.

For those in the dark on it, here are some links to articles I’ve done on PCMech about Twitter:

• What is Twitter?
• 25 Twitter Clients To Choose From

If you do not have an account, you can get one for free. Then, I recommend you get a Twitter client because it does help you get the most out of Twitter with minimal hassle. All of it is free, but it will help you get plugged into the world of social media.

OK, so here I am on Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/davidrisley

Now, why follow me?

Twitter is a direct way to be in contact with me. Not everything I say on Twitter is business-related. Sometimes you’ll see me having conversations with others on Twitter. Also, I will be making announcements regarding PCMech.com on Twitter. So, you will have to follow me to get those updates (unless you want to wait to get them through other means).

I’m also going to try to have some fun with you guys - just over Twitter. I may even select a weekly featured Twitter follower and highlight you guys to my other followers.

Trust me, for some of the future things I will do around PCMech, there will be reasons to be in touch with me on Twitter.

But, let’s make this more interesting. I want to be able to more easily communicate with my readers, so I have an interest in asking you to follow me on Twitter. So, what I’m going to do is give away a FREE YEAR of access to PCMech University (http://www.pcmechuniversity.com). The way this is going to work is that you have to follow me on Twitter. I will then pick one random follower on Twitter and I will direct message that person over Twitter. If they respond, we’ll get in touch via email and I will set you up with a free membership.

BTW, I will follow you back that way I can also see what you guys are saying. This is all a big conversation and I’d love to have you onboard.

All you have to do is get a free Twitter account (if you don’t have one yet), then go to www.twitter.com/davidrisley and hit the “Follow” button. That is all. Then, you’ll want to get involved with Twitter and start using it.

See ya on Twitter. Have a good evening.

This is an exclusive RSS-feed-only wallpaper download. Click the image below to view, right-click (or command-click on Mac) and set as your wallpaper.

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Disclaimer: This is entirely in the idea phase at this point. Nothing has yet been done to organize this.

OK, we had an idea. And the more we think about it, it seems like a really good idea. That idea is to have PCMech be behind the organization of a cool tech conference that will take place on the East coast, likely right here in the Tampa Bay area.

Now, I have had some of the regulars at PCMech suggest this a few times. I simply haven’t done anything about it. Organizing a tech conference isn’t exactly easy. I’ll probably go gray in the process, but if I find the right help I can pull it off.

So many tech conferences take place on the other side of the country. For some reason, the field of tech seems to just LOVE California. Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay area are really popular areas for tech. You also have some big companies up in Washington State and the Seattle area. As a result, we see a lot of tech conferences get organized on the West coast.

Well, us East coast people then are compelled to fly all the way across the country. I’ve done it and I’ll do it again (perhaps even soon), but it sucks. There are techies over here in the East, too.

So, the idea is to set up a tech conference. Rich and I even had the idea of trying to do it at the Hard Rock hotel and Casino here in Tampa. That would kick ass, but I haven’t even made the first phone call and don’t even know if the venue would work.

Here Is The Question

I want to hold an informal survey. Here is what I want to know:

1. What kinds of things and/or subject matter would you be interested in at a tech conference?
2. Would you be willing to travel to Florida for it?
3. Would you be willing to pay an admission fee? (I would most definitely have costs to cover here)

I know many of PCMech’s readers would need to travel far to get to Florida. Some worse than others. But, let me tell you one thing: The Tampa Bay area beats the pants off some of the cities I have gone to for conferences. We’ve got sun, beaches, palm trees, lots of night life, you name it.

Alright, so post a comment on this post and let me know your thoughts.

Hopefully this post made sense. I’m typing this after a really long day recording videos for PCMech University (coming early next week).

This is an exclusive RSS-feed-only wallpaper download. Click the image below to view, right-click (or command-click on Mac) and set as your wallpaper.

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This is an exclusive RSS-feed-only wallpaper download. Click the image below to view, right-click (or command-click on Mac) and set as your wallpaper.

Standard

 
Widescreen

This is an exclusive RSS-feed-only wallpaper download. Click the image below to view, right-click (or command-click on Mac) and set as your wallpaper.

Standard

Widescreen

This is an exclusive RSS-feed-only wallpaper download. Click the image below to view, right-click (or command-click on Mac) and set as your wallpaper.

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I recently started an afternoon version of PCMech Live for our UK visitors so it wouldn’t be so late for them. It worked out well. The video below shows the first 20 minutes of the show and how things normally fare out.

Things to note:

We also have a standard Wednesday night @ 8PM show as well.

If you are signed up to the PCMech Newsletter you will be notified of shows before they go on-air for live interaction.

The #1 complaint we get on our live show is that it’s way too late for UK visitors (of which we get quite a few), so… I (me being Rich) am going to try out a show @ 2pm EST which should be 7pm GMT; a much more reasonable hour for UK folk.

I will be trying this out today if you want to stop by.

http://www.pcmech.com/live

REMEMBER: If you want a username besides ustreamer-12345 as your name, register your name with www.ustream.tv first, then go ahead to pcmech.com/live.

See you there!

This is an exclusive RSS-feed-only wallpaper download. Click the image below to view, right-click (or command-click on Mac) and set as your wallpaper.

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This is an exclusive RSS-feed-only wallpaper download. Click the image below to view, right-click (or command-click on Mac) and set as your wallpaper.

Standard

 
Widescreen

This is an exclusive RSS-feed-only wallpaper download. Click the image below to view, right-click (or command-click on Mac) and set as your wallpaper.

Standard

Widescreen