thank you PC Support Page ...

       ...mikey{:-)

now, it's chris' turn...

The PC Support Page       Web Master : Chris Cruickshank
old address was : http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/avenue/rcm01/

A lot of my friends, both in real life and those I have met over the Internet have 
asked me the question "Why do I help people with their technical support and for nothing!"

I guess there are a number of reasons why I do this. Probably first and foremost is the fact
that I can help people. Personally I have great difficulty in learning something new at the
very beginning. Once I start to get the basic ideas then I am off and running but the initial
learning curve is very difficult for me. I doubt that I am alone in this, so if I can help
someone else get to grips with their PC during their initial learning curve then I will.
I always appreciate it when someone takes time out to help me when I get stuck so I am more
than happy to try and help someone when they get stuck.

I have spent countless years in front of a computer trying to figure out how to get things to
work and get the machine to do what I want. It's fun, it's an escape from the day to day grind
that is Life today. I do appreciate though that not everyone is lucky enough to have a
wonderful wife like I do who doesn't mind me spending time in front of a PC and especially
when they want to get on as quickly as possible. That's one reason why I help.

Another is the fact that I have been a trainer for a good number of years. Trying to provide
technical support to people the world over certainly opens your eyes as to what people are
doing and of course, you DO get the language problems too. I only speak English (lazy I know,
but we Brits are famous for not learning other languages!), so trying to explain something
technical in simple language is a challenge. The 'simplicity' helps me when I have to explain
things to others so I think it makes me a better trainer!

As for the awards...

Well I started out seeking awards for my site almost a year ago. At first I thought it a
rather vain thing to do, but the first awards I applied for were from sites that give you
feedback on what they think of your site. This to me was most useful. A one man site always
suffers from what I call "one-ness", that is one person's perspective of things. Having other
webmasters/mistresses view my site and getting feedback has meant that I have things on my
site that I would never have thought of myself. This helps my site become not only useful to
people but also, I hope, a 'good web site'.

Getting awards does give you a chance to see and hear what people think of your site and I
have been lucky in that I usually receive an award of some kind from sites rather than drawing
a blank. A LOT of work goes into the pages, design etc and it IS a never ending task!

Just applying for awards seemed a bit selfish to me so I began to offer my own award. Graded
into 3 levels I wanted to be able to recognise work done by other webmasters as other had done
for me. I also wanted to be able to 'review' sites and I always offer suggestions on things I
find (which include the things I liked - not just "I didn't like this or that". I always
provide a reason too. That's very important. Who gives a damn what I like or dislike, but if
you say something like "That page is hard to read because I use a very high resolution" or "
try putting a standard navigation control on your pages to make it easier to move around your
web site" is much more useful to the webmaster.

There are quite a few "rules" to winning my award and I know this can put people off, but what
I want to award a site for is hard work. I know myself, a web page IS hard work (and a lot of
fun too!), and to be honest, some web pages look like they were completed in about 5 seconds
with no thought about the visitor. Sorry - but to me a page about "me and my cat" holds little
interest and why should it get an award for work done in a fraction of the time of some sites.

Another reason for offering an award is to get to see some of the best pages on the Internet.
I'm not talking about the big corporate sites, but sites run by individuals (which are often
better than the corporates anyway!). I never cease to be amazed at the diversity of subjects
covered and the way people convey things over the Internet. It is interesting and satisfying!
You bet to see fresh ways of doing things (and often how NOT to do things!), so it all adds to
one's experience and knowledge.

Chris Cruickshank
The PC Support Page

award e-sweet april's place design world tweeter's  
eva betty p. market-tek passion for parrots  
glue girl cricketmoon personal connections ravi  
pixbo debra aka wings jenifer9 approved mary beth  
luuk's AoE cal-guide weird wall patty's place  
mopsicle king of the jungle critical mass quatec solutions  
pandora pc support page nervous rat mildly interesting  
Carl J. Lauri Derek and Denise Thursby