TaskFreak! Alternative Uses

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Mitchell

With the Spring term coming to an end, preperation for the Fall term is beginning.  The search for a place to live was grulling but I finally found a place.  Now the preperation has to begin with everything that I need to remember and everything that I need to purchase.  This is were TaskFreak has again helped me.  The normal use of TaskFreak is for prioritizing tasks.  I have decided instead to use it for prioritizing items that I need to either purchase or find for my appartment.

Prioritizing Items

Items depending on how esential they are can be ranked as to the imprtance of them.  This can help to make purchasing decisions based on which items are higher on the list and making sure to purchase the most important items before the lower ranked items in case financial means becomes an issue.  TaskFreak also allows comments to be placed on the items in order to document deals that you find on the item or styles and designs that you like.  This works best if you have more people living in the place then just yourself.  An example is, I am living with a roommate and if I add an item to the list, my roommate can look at the items but also make comments if you like the idea of purchasing that item but also of any deals that they find on the item.

Purchasing Items

TaskFreak also allows you to mark off items that have been purchased.  This works by marking the item as 100% done and then it will be removed from the list.  This also allows your roommates to see what items are still needed and which items have been purchased.  If you view the complete list of items you are able to see everything that has been purchased for the apartment and also who purchased it (if you have everyone leave a comment about who purchased each item).

Preparing for moving into a new apartment or house can be a large, daunting task but staying organized with what items you need and which items you have already purchased can help to remove some of the stress by making yourself more organized.

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TaskFreak!

Posted on April 28, 2011 by Mitchell

TaskFreak ScreenshotKeeping my business organized and making sure not to forget customer requested updates or billing issues has always been a problem.  I started using a notepad and pen but it was never along with me when I needed it.  Then I started using my to make notes for myself.  This worked well for somethings but it was impossible to try to prioritize tasks and also remind myself of any due dates associated with the tasks.  After all the hassle I decided that I need a web application to keep track of my tasks.  This is when I came across a program called TaskFreak! After looking at the TaskFreak! website I decided that it had all the features and functions that I was looking for.  The features I was looking for where:

  • Web Based – By having the task management system web based, it is able to be accessed from any location where there is an internet connection.  This means that you always have your tasks with you and can add a task anytime it comes to mind.
  • Uses PHP and Mysql – The biggest reason that this was a criteria is because both of these are already installed on the server and I didn’t want to bog the server down with any other languages that would only be used for task management.
  • Ability to Prioritize Tasks – Prioritization of tasks allows the ability to specify what tasks need to be done as soon as possible but also the tasks that can be done later on when time permits.  This is important because I wanted the ability to enter project ideas that I did not have the time to complete now but might in the future.
  • Fast Navigation – The purpose of this task management system for me was to have the ability to enter tasks that I needed to remember at anytime from any location. The fast navigation will allow me to enter the task and supporting information without wasting a lot of time with complicated menus or slow load times.
  • User Login – This requirement has to do with security.  Some of the tasks that I may be entering will have to do with clients information which I do not want to be available to the world.  This also allows me to give access to specific people if they need to have access to tasks.
  • Price –Since this is going to be used for personal use I wanted the price to be as cheap as possible or free.

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RimuHosting

Posted on April 19, 2011 by Mitchell

RimuHosting is a dedicated and VPS (Virtual Private Server) hosting company based out of New Zealand. Not only do they have servers available in New Zealand but they also have many other hosting options around the world including Dallas, New York and London. RimuHosting has always been known for there customer service, reliability and flexibility of hosting plans. Each of these will be discussed along with why it may be a good business decision to move to a company such as RimuHosting for your business hosting needs.

Whats “Rimu”?

To start with you may be wondering what a “Rimu” is.  Rimu (Ree-moo) is a tree that is native to New Zealand.

Customer Service

Customer service has been what RimuHosting is best known for.  Them use a support system in which if you have an issue you can login to there website and send them an email from your account.  This email is then reviewed within a few minutes and then is assigned to a support person.  The response times can very depending on the number of support tickets that they have at that time but is normally very quick.  The support ticket system that they use is called InboxHarmony.  InboxHarmony was created by RimuHosting in order to make there support as efficient as possible and also gave them the ability to sort tickets based on severity and which needs to be done first.  If someone submits a ticket saying that there server is down, this would be a higher priority then someone with a general question.

Customer service also means that they are willing to help you out if your not sure how to do something.  One example of this is when setting up Spam Assassin for email spam filtering.  With your permission they will login to your server and add Spam Assassin to your email service and test it to make sure everything is working.  This is very helpful when you run into issues that you can not solve.  Most of the time this service is free but for larger problems such as completely installing an email server, they may charge for that service but that rates are very competitive and they will let you know if there is going to be a charge before they start.

Reliability

When it comes to website hosting server up time is an important factor.  Your website being down can cause customers to not revisit your website.  Since I have started with RimuHosting about 6 months ago, I have had very minimal downtime, most of which was caused by a misconfiguration on my part.  Even when the problem was with a configuration I made, RimuHosting was willing to assist me if needed in order to get my website back online.  When it comes to network outages, RimuHosting offers the ability to receive emails and text messages when there is a network outage that would affect your server along with updates and when to expect the service to be back up.  This helps to relieve a lot of the frustration from not knowing what is going on and when it will be fixed.

Flexible Hosting Plans

The goal of most websites is to grow over time.  This means that at some point you will have to go through a process of migrating your site to a new server or hosting provider when you outgrow the current environment.  This is not an issue with RimuHosting.  At RimuHosting you have the flexibility to upgrade your memory, disk space or bandwidth with a few clicks and a server restart.  This allows your site to grow and your server will grow with it.  If at some point you outgrow your VPS or need the power of a dedicated server, RimuHosting has an automated system that can move your site, programs and configurations to a new server automatically.  The price for upgrading memory, disk space and bandwidth is very reasonable and at times you will receive free upgrades as RimuHosting upgrades to larger servers with more memory available.

Conclusion

RimuHosting has high reliability and also gives you the flexibility to upgrade your server with a few clicks but the most important part is the people behind the company that are there to help when you are having issues configuring a program or you’ve been hacked and need to recover your important data.

 

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