Blog Posts

Like a Spoiler on a Honda Civic

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On my way in to work today, I was passed by a small blue Honda Civic. It raced and weaved through traffic, sporting a bolt-on spoiler, and an exhaut pipe that made it sound more like a go-cart than a legitimate driving machine. I allowed myself my moment of sarcstic thoughts. “Really? Your Honda Civic gets around with such great velocity that you need a spoiler to keep your rear axle firmly planted??” Maybe I’m just getting old, but I looked at that vehicle and I didn’t see the style and power the installer may have intended. I saw immaturity and insecurity. This driver self-identified with performance and power. He didn’t have the right tool for the job, so he bolted on the parts.

Surviving CES

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Attending the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas reminds me of the years my grandfather took me to see the Ringling Bros. & Barnum Bailey Circus as a young boy. There was so much going on that it was difficult to concentrate on one display. It was also loud and crowded and occasionally didn’t smell quite right. But every now and then I saw something magical that I couldn’t wait to tell my friends about.

Money Alone Can Not Buy You PC Happiness

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At Puget Systems, we build extremely high end PCs each and every day. Some of our PCs are used as high powered workstations, where they are pushed to their limits every hour of every day. Others might be the expensive play-things for those of whom price is no object. Is there a such thing as a PC that is TOO high end?

How to Select a Traverse Laptop

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Unlike desktop computers that sport large cases, ample power, and generally remain stationary, laptops can be confusing to contrast and compare. Desktop computers are typically much easier to upgrade than laptops so when you’re selecting a laptop, it’s a good idea to ensure it includes the level of performance you require from day one.

For example, the graphics card that’s used to power games or render complex 3D objects can be simple to upgrade in a desktop computer, whereas you may not have many, if any options to upgrade the graphical performance on your laptop. Swapping out CPUs and drives can be done, but again, you usually have fewer options than with a desktop PC.

A Small Issue

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Most of my career has been spent working for large companies where employee manuals fill a 3-ring binder, policies number into the hundreds and metrics are used to measure the worth and effectiveness of employees.

Puget Systems hasn’t been around long enough nor have we grown so large that every issue can be solved by creating a new policy. When employees don’t have dozens of policies and procedures governing how they get their work done, their actions might not always been predictable.

The Time Has Come For Windows 8.1

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The time has come. The time is now. And with apologies to Marvin K. Mooney, it’s time to consider running Windows 8 on your desktop or laptop computer.

Although there’s no shortage of opinion surrounding Microsoft’s latest operating system, Windows 8 remains somewhat of an enigma. I’ve spoken to people who have told me the following:

1. Windows 8 is for touchscreens only.
2. Windows 8 is worthless for desktop users.
3. Microsoft is forcing a tablet OS on us.
4. Windows 8 is nothing more than Windows 7 with spiffy skin.

Speaking G(r)eek

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I’ve seen it happen a hundred times. I’ll be having a great conversation with a customer about computer needs, what the computer is currently used for, and what it might be used for in the future – but as soon as I ask something like “What type of wireless network compatibility do you need this laptop to support?”, everything screeches to a halt. I might as well be speaking Greek.

Technology in the School

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While taking an accounting course in college, I often wondered why the professor demanded we manually tally columns of numbers instead of using a calculator or computer. During her office hours, I finally decided to express my frustration. My professor calmly agreed that using a calculator or computer would be a much more efficient solution.

Can you submerge a hard drive in mineral oil?

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Ever since we started developing oil-submersion aquarium kits in 2007, we’ve been repeatedly asked if you can submerge the hard drive in the oil along with the rest of the components. Our answer has always been a yes for SSDs and a no for traditional platter hard drives. While we are very confident in our answer, we have never actually tested to see exactly what happens. So, to finally set the record straight we decided to take the plunge and dunk a hard drive into mineral oil.