Publisher 2010 for Free!
Posted by Brian Gallutia on Jan 27, 2012
A Farewell to Phoenix
Posted by Brian Gallutia on Jan 2, 2012
It’s a new year, and a new year is a perfect time to make changes.
On this day in 1996, four friends from a failing Middle Tennessee computer retailer came together to provide technical solutions and services to the small business. They named their company Phoenix Computer Services, a nod to the mythical bird who “rises from the ashes” to burn bright once again.
On the anniversary of our seventeenth year, we felt it was time to retire the name Phoenix Computer Services and usher in a new name, new services and new skill sets to better serve our long-time friends and customers. The new name, PCSDesk, is a reference to our company’s past (PCS) and an acknowledgement of what we are to our customers: a technology help desk.
Even though the name has changed, our commitment to your company’s success (and up-time) remains the same. We thank you for your continued business and as always, let us know how we can help.
Happy New Year!
Brian Gallutia
PCSDesk, LLC
Tech Purchases Before Dec 31
Posted by Brian Gallutia on Dec 20, 2011
In 2010, President Obama signed into the law the “Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010,” H.R. 4853, that will provide 100 percent bonus depreciation for investments placed in service after September 8, 2010 and through December 31, 2011. IPC and its members worked all year to accomplish the enactment of this important tax provision to assist electronics manufacturers compete globally.
The enhanced bonus depreciation benefit enacted into law is greater than the current benefit. Before enactment of the new bonus depreciation law, businesses were allowed to recover 50 percent of the cost of capital expenditures over time according to a depreciation schedule. The bill extends and temporarily increases the bonus depreciation to 100 percent for investments placed in service after September 8, 2010 and through December 31, 2011. For investments placed in service after December 31, 2011 and through December 31, 2012, the bill provides for the current 50 percent bonus depreciation.
If you are considering technology purchases for yourself or your company and would like to take advantage of this Act, please give us a call at 866.976.9136 or drop us a line through our contact form. We’re ready to help!
Last Minute Christmas Idea
Posted by Brian Gallutia on Dec 18, 2011
Merry Christmas!
A long-time customer of PCS’s, Alexander Metals, experienced a tragedy last month with one of their employees, Kara Maynard. Please read the following email from a friend and co-worker and give where you can, even if the giving is in prayers and well-wishes…
—–
Hello everyone!
During this holiday season most people are more generous and giving and I’d like to share a story with you. Several weeks ago a friend of ours was driving home after enjoying watching a game with friends. It was late, dark and the roads were damp and she lost control of her vehicle and it flipped into a ditch several times. When she arrived at Vanderbilt it was determined that her spine was severed and she was paralyzed from the breast line down.
In the blink of an eye, her whole life changed. She is now in an aggressive rehabilitation center and is trying to regain her health. Doctors do not believe that she will walk again but there is always hope. She is 35 years old, has a beautiful ten year old daughter and currently resides with her mother.
Unfortunately her mother’s home cannot be converted for wheel chair access but many people are coming together to convert her mother’s unattached garage into a studio apartment. A wonderful kindness to be sure, but as most of you know insurance never covers everything and the cost of obtaining a vehicle to drive, all the other necessities, and physician’s bills are going to be considerable.
Her employers are collecting donations in her name this holiday season to help her and her family with the coming expenses. If you were planning on giving to any cause or organization during this time of year, the Maynard family will certainly need it. You don’t have to send much but even if you can spare five, ten, or twenty dollars, please send it to:
Kara Maynard
C/O Alexander Metals, Inc.
497 Cave Road
Nashville TN 37210
I know that any donation will be appreciated by her and her family.
Hard Drive Relief Q1 2012
Posted by Brian Gallutia on Dec 7, 2011
Instead of receiving news of more hard drive shortages and prices going up and up, DigiTimes expects hard drive shipments to jump from 110-120 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011 to 140 million units in the first quarter of 2012, for a total difference of up to 30 million units.
Western Digital last week said it made “substantial progress” in restoring their hard drive operation in Thailand after severe flooding that hit the area last month. WD has been working tirelessly to remove submerged equipment from certain facilities and begin the process of restoring buildings and facilities and getting operations back on track.
Mail Performance Tweaking
Posted by Brian Gallutia on Oct 31, 2011
This afternoon our PCSDesk Mail Server was running slowly due to a large amount of data that was being indexed. The larger accounts were taking away server resources and the lack of resources caused the server’s overall performance to slow down.
Since finding the problem, the indexing settings have been tweaked and now it would appear there is a healthy balance between performance and indexing. As always, if you are a customer that uses our mail service and you run into a slow-down problem again, please inform us through our Contact Form or give us a call at 866.976.9136.
Thank you -
Hard Drive Prices Going Up
Posted by Brian Gallutia on Oct 25, 2011
Recent flooding in Thailand has shut down 14,000 factories, some of which supply hard drive components to manufacturers and PC / Server makers. This unfortunate condition will drive up the cost of hard drives sharply, which will negatively impact tech budgets for the next few months.
To compensate for this eventuality, PCS recommends not putting off any technology purchases to the end of the year and commit to buying sooner rather than later. If sooner isn’t an option, then the impact of this natural disaster should minimize by the middle of Q1 2012 when pricing levels return to normal.
PCS will keep our friends and customers updated on pricing changes as events unfold.
Email Upgrade Complete
Posted by Brian Gallutia on Oct 3, 2011
On Sunday October 2nd, the email server upgrade was completed successfully. There were times throughout the day that the mail services were not available to some users, but ultimately the conversion was a huge success and the new software is running splendidly.
Over the course of the next few weeks PCS will be highlighting the new features available to our customers. Stay tuned!
Lenovo Partnership
Posted by Brian Gallutia on Oct 2, 2011
PCS is proud to announce that we are now an authorized Lenovo Solution Partner-Reseller.
What this means is that PCS will be sharing pricing and availability on Lenovo’s Desktop and ThinkPad laptop solutions as well as moving forward in providing Tablet Computing to our home and business customers.
Check back often for more information and product offerings as our new relationship with Lenovo grows!
Email Server Upgrade
Posted by Brian Gallutia on Oct 1, 2011
PCS will be initiating a mail server software upgrade on Sunday, October 2nd. All mail services are expected to be interrupted for no more than 40 minutes while the upgrade takes place.
When the upgrade it is complete, our users will be given a spiffy new interface, updated spam protection, greater compatibility with mobile devices (iPhones, tablet computers) and enhancements to contact management and calendaring.
Stay tuned for updates after the install on Sunday!