Who are these people?!?!

What is Petra'sTech?  What's up with the whole Petra'sTech/Petra's Tech Shop/PTS thing?  Who are you guys and what are you trying to do here?

All perfectly valid questions, really...  Now, let's see how many we can answer before you start thinking that we're a little crazy. 

Launched in late 2005, Petra'sTech and Petra's Tech Shop are really a kind of experiment in the fusion of a tech site, R&D house, manufacturer, and online store.  The overall goal of which is to provide a one-stop source for interesting, informative product reviews, industry commentary, gaming and gaming-related events (LAN Parties!), as well as a growing online community of modders, overclockers, and other computer enthusiasts through our forums.  Petra's Tech Shop exists as a means for us to provide the enthusiast community with a unique, fast, and reliable way to purchase the parts they're looking for, at reasonable prices, and with an unparalleled level of service & support.  Put the two together and you end up with a very customer-centric store that is focused almost entirely on the enthusiast community and a top-notch tech site to back it.  ...we're getting there 

The PTS Crew:

Alex "Petra" Venz - Born speaking only binary and raised by a pack of wild, vengeful, uncannily intelligent lawn gnomes, Alex is the 3v1l genius behind the scenes who makes sure that everything keeps working....or fails spectacularly.  Tech site, store, graphics, photos, water cooling, coding, crazy projects, forums, blog--you name it, he...uhh..."works"...on it.  Due to the many years spent with his adoptive gnome parents, Alex is surprisingly skilled when it comes to staying in one place and not moving for hours, or even days on end (a basic survival technique for any lawn gnome).  As a result, he isn't exactly the most productive person you'll ever encounter; however, he has managed to overcome enough of his gnomish behavior to function decently well within human society.  He has also made it his personal mission to blast holes in various companies' PR propaganda, help rid the world of stupidity, and test system components 'till they burn.  Most frequently found prancing about within the [H]ard|Forum or the Xtreme Systems forum masquerading as "Petra", Alex eats, sleeps, and breaths technology 24/7/365.

Quoc - T3h business d00d.  Quoc takes care of a majority of the "business" end of PTS along with the usual shared customer support and warehouse duties.  Though, his real job is to make sure that Alex doesn't get too carried away with whatever he happens to be working on--which, not surprisingly, happens quite often.  Having dabbled in gaming and system building, Quoc definitely knows his way around the inside of a computer and thoroughly enjoys admiring the mods of others.  Aside from that, he prefers to maintain a low-profile around here, providing a much needed contrast to Alex's eccentricity.

w00t! Photos!