Getting started

My name is Steve, I am the Author of Runescapeblog I am also Director of Marked For Life Limited.

Before starting my Own business I was a Server Engineer for Specialist Computer Centres, these were at time of leaving the largest independent computer company in the UK and possibly Europe.

I was repairing the larger most important computer for their top customers, Companies such as Zurich, Alliance and Leicester, Next etc.

The computers I was repairing may have been similar to the servers that Runescape run on, they often had thousands of people all retrieving data from them.

I had many bouts of Tonsillitis that made it impossible for me to work, In fact I had so many I learnt how to spell tonsillitis for the sick notes, people who haven't had tonsillitis think its a sore throat, the version I had made me immobile for weeks at a time, in fact in the early stages the doctor was called to my house because I could not possibly walk to the health centre, I was confined to bed for week at a time only moving to answer the call of nature and to hurl.

Pressure at work about my illness and personal problems forced me to leave my job, I then started to use Marked For Life Limited as my main form of income.

I later found that my tonsillitis was caused by a preventative inhaler I used for my asthma, after using the brown inhaler I developed Flu type symptoms within hours and the following day the severe headaches, sore throat and nausea symptoms took effect.

I continued to run my business as my main source of income, I started this blog as a way of sharing my Runescape experiences with others with the intention of having it funded by Google by adds placed on it. As my first payment was due Google decided that I had generated invalid click traffic and refused to pay me, they had no evidence to show me, there is no way they could have showed me because I would never have generated invalid click activity, but Google own the Internet and their decision is law.

You may be aware that I had a serious system crash and my main business computer went down, all my data was backed up but I had to build a new computer just to be able to use the latest supported Microsoft Window operating system "Vista", minimum advertised memory spec for Vista is 500m.

I was looking around and studying all the systems available on the Internet, I found 3 suitable systems and comparing the 3 prices and specifications they all had benefits and drawbacks, one of the 3 I was looking at was one of the companies I have advertised on this blog here
And just for the hell of it this is a link to the other

Although the systems were very good the advertised service was exceptional there was something lacking in all of them that I wanted, either not enough memory, not a big enough hard disk or other little things, I did find a company who did exactly what I wanted at slightly over the price I wanted, I went through the motions of ordering it then found out it would be 19 days before it would be ready for delivery.

Because of this I decided to have a look at my trade suppliers that I had from my previous business building computers, "Bristol Clone Centre", I made a note of everything I needed and bought the components, the price came to a lot less than the other comparable systems.

The parts came the next day and I assembled them, the system was up and running in no time, then came the problem of installing the software that I use, this is ongoing and I don't anticipate ever getting everything I used as it used to be but it is nice to have a clean install.

Although the other companies did their best deal they could and this would be ideal for most people who use the internet, for a little less I got the best value system available, I ended up with a duel core processor, 2 gb memory, 500gb hard disk.

The problems with Dabs Direct and MD Components is that they need to show you what you are getting up front, you want to see what your getting for your money, this is quite right but by demanding information you may well be losing out on great deals, to advertise they must have enough of the product to supply them for a set amount of time (as long as the system is advertised), this may result in the system being obsolete by the time they have exhausted their stock, what may have been a good deal at the time they bought the components may not be the best deal at the time you want to buy.

This had me thinking what do people want from their new computer purchase, this is a checklist that I put together that I was interested in, look at the list and see if your values are the same as mine.

1/ Do you want the best value system at the time of purchase
2/ Do you want the highest spec machine available at the time of purchase
3/ Do you want the latest technologies available at the time of purchase
4/ Would you like to spend a little extra money for a system with greatly increased performance.
5/ Would you like me to stop this list and give you what you want

I have decided to start up my computer business again building bespoke systems for individuals, I will not be using the name Bristol Clone Centre as I was before I will be starting a brand new company.

The way I can deliver the above check list is the way I source my products and conduct the business.

1/ I will purchase the components to order, our supplier supply many companies and stock turnaround is almost daily so guaranteed the latest components available.

2/ I will source the best (Highest spec) products that are economical to buy, If the next level of performance is a lot higher I will purchase that if the price is comparatively small, if there is a great increase in price for the next specification increase I will not purchase it.

3/ See number 1 above

4/ See number 2 above

5/ I will promise to give you the best value product available at a price the other suppliers charge for the minimal systems, your system will be built by an engineer that was qualified to work on IBM and Compaq servers for some of the major players in the UK (My hourly rate was £60 to £120 to these major companies (I wish they paid me that much)), your system will be built at a static sensitive workstation ensuring maximum lifetime of your computer system.

I will be working through the purchasing/ordering system shortly if you are interested please contact us through our current business Marked For Life Limited, our contact details can be found here.

We have hunted around for the best PC deals to play Runescape on, this is one of the leading brands that look like a good deal with all round excellent service, before starting my business I spent 15 years as a computer engineer, I still have trade contacts but the money you save building your own is not worth the trouble.

I built all the computers I use, but at the prices on this site I won't be building any more.

Again let me know if you agree with a comment.

There are a lot of people out there scamming, cracking and tricking you with the sole intention of getting your Runescape account, you have worked hard to get your levels and your dragon chain body, to get home from school or work and find your password changed, you then get your account back (If you are lucky) and all you have left is a rubber chicken and your skeleton clothes.

To keep your Runescape account as safe as possible set up your recovery questions as soon as you set up your account, set an easy to remember but difficult to forget password, more information can be found on password security on our game play blog.

Set a bank pin don't make it 1111 or 3333 or 1234 select a random set of numbers, it is also a good idea to visit the stronghold of security and complete the mini game to give you some important security advice.

Visit the Runescape knowledge base for more security related information.

Keep your computer clear of key loggers by not visiting sites offering free cheats and cracks, cheats and cracks do not exist in Runescape visiting these sites may upload a key logger without your knowledge, if you are using internet explorer they can be uploaded and installed automatically, using Firefox will give you a fighting chance of maintaining your security.

To guarantee the security of your computer install the McAfee total protection suite of programs, this is all you need to make the internet a safer place to browse.

McAfee VirusScan, Personal Firewall Plus, SpamKiller, Web Essentials bundle, Privacy Services, Anti Spyware, Quickclean,