[CCC News] Assorted News 46 - New Web Hosting and Remote Assistance options, Val update.

Sat Aug 25 13:34:28 AEST 2012

*In this edition:
**
*New Web Hosting and Remote assistance options, plus an update on what's 
happening with Val.
*
Assorted News:*
     New Web Hosting plans
     Get a Web Site?
*
Availability News**:
*    When and Where can you get help?
      The WA Wildflower Holiday: 5th to 19th September

*Shop
*     Office 2010 Home and Student.
     Donortec - cheap stuff for Not for Profit businesses.

*Other Stuff:
*Val's Current Condition

*
*
------------------------------------------------------------------------

*New Web Hosting Plans.

*I'm pleased to announce some new web hosting plans, much cheaper than 
the existing ones. These new 'economy' plans are on a different server 
that is cheaper for me to provide but has a lower service level 
guarantee, so I can pass these savings on to you.

Web site space 	0.5GB 	1GB 	2GB 	3GB 	4GB 	5GB 	10GB
Traffic 	unlimited 	<-- 	<-- 	<-- 	<-- 	<-- 	<--
Price per Month 	*$4* 	*$5* 	*$8* 	*$10* 	*$12* 	*$14* 	*$20*

If you have an existing hosting plan with CCC, you are entitled to a 
free 1GB on this new server as well. This can be useful for things like 
hosting larger files or mailing lists, etc, and would be set up as a 
subdomain off your existing site. If you want to move your entire 
existing site, there will be costs involved since there's no automated 
approach to move between servers. I can quote you on that however :)

I have moved my website http://coolhelp.com.au/ to this new server so 
you can check the speed. Unlike many cheap hosting providers this server 
is in Australia - important for speed when you have more complex websites.

*Get a Web Site?

*If you haven't already got a website, I can help with that. Costs are 
typically $15 per year for a site name, $4 a month for hosting, and 
construction costs typically start at around $50. The sites I build 
these days are ones that you can edit yourself online, without needing 
extra programs on your computer - and of course you can also email the 
updates to me and I'll do them for you.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

*When and Where can you get help?

*Due to my partner's current condition I am spending quite a bit of my 
time as a home help / handyman / chauffeur. As a result, it's difficult 
for me to get away and provide the on-site assistance that I used to 
provide. Unfortunately this has meant passing on some work to Armidale 
Computers 67712712 or Lorraine's Computer Services (Uralla based) 
0429600064 since I only have about 2-3 hours a week for site visits in 
Guyra and Armidale.

The good news is I can still help with some issues remotely using my 
Remote Assistance options - that 'magical' process where I can operate 
your computer from anywhere. I've updated these options on my "Remote 
Assistance" 
<http://coolhelp.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3&Itemid=4> 
page. I've also added an icon there that shows if I'm available to help 
/ chat with right now, since I have some bizarre hours! (The chat 
feature uses Skype, or you can just call / text 0427644825.)

------------------------------------------------------------------------

*The WA Wildflower Holiday.*

Before Val became sick, she and a friend had signed up for a two week 
guided tour of the wildflowers of Western Australia. We feared she'd 
have to cancel it, but our oncology nurse seems quite happy with the 
idea of her going on it despite her ills. As a result, I've been added 
to the booking so it looks like I too will be getting to see the other 
side of Oz!  This is from 5th to 19th September.

Of course, there is some concern about how well Val will cope with this, 
given that she often has very limited physical energy; but we've planned 
for that. One of her sons has rustled up a posh-looking wheelchair 
(along with some other handy gear such as 'spiderchair' - a swivel chair 
that sits on the bath tub for those combo shower-baths that some of us 
have) care of his Coffs Harbour contacts; and we can take that with us - 
so looks like I'll get to push /her/ around for a change! Some of the 
legs have multi-night stays in the same hotel too so if we need to take 
a day off that's easy enough; or worst case I can hire a car.

And yes, we do have cancellation insurance just in case - but I remember 
when my Aunt who suffered a similar condition traveled here for a couple 
of weeks from Sydney despite protests from the local A&E when she had an 
issue with a sore throat - she had a great couple of weeks nonetheless.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Shop

Office 2010 Home and Student Edition:

*A customer thought he needed it, so I picked it up at DSE for him. But 
after I opened the packaging we discovered that he already had what he 
needed. So, if you want a genuine copy of Office 2010 Home and Student - 
CD version (which means you can stick it on up to three computers) you 
can have it for the discounted price of $129

*Donortec - Cheap Stuff for Not for Profits.

*Heh - well, while my income has taken a bit of a hit; I'm still a 
for-profit business. I still have my income streams from Exetel, web 
hosting, website updates, offsite backups and other remote assistance 
tasks; and no longer need to pay off the house. But I digress...

A few times I've stumbled on customers who use Donortec - and they get 
some incredibly cheap prices. The last one needed Microsoft Access, and 
turned out they could get Office 2010 Pro for just $30. So if you're a 
legitimate NFP, check them out. Much cheaper than retail. 
http://www.connectingup.org/donortec/

------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Val's Current Condition:

*Just a quick update. She has just started her second round of Chemo. 
The results of this should be known in the next couple of weeks. She has 
the classic lethargy that Chemo brings, plus some weight gain care of 
the steroids used to control inflammation associated with the brain 
tumour. She sleeps well at night, plus an hour or two in the middle of 
the day; and eats enthusiastically. She still does some of the things 
she enjoys such as attending occasional Monday and Wednesday night 
painting classes in Armidale; visiting and being visited by friends; and 
of course gardening. Hooray for the sunny weather!

My own condition is pretty reasonable. While it's of course concerning 
and at times painful watching Val's condition, I find some enjoyment in 
helping her out with the gardening, the chauffeuring, the household 
defragging. There's always something to do. I'm getting enough sleep and 
food most days and am in reasonable health as far as I can tell :) After 
7 weeks Centrelink finally got her pension organised, which helps a 
little too.

Thank you all for your support during this time!
*
*
------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Old Editions
*You can find old editions of this newsletter on  the CCC Blog. 
http://auzzie.net/cccblog/

You can also subscribe or unsubscribe at 
http://auzzie.net/mailman/listinfo/ccc-news_auzzie.net
*
*
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Michael Kean
*Proprietor, Cool Country Consulting.*
Trading Hours: 10am to 8pm weekdays.
http://coolhelp.com.au/
Tel: 02 6775 0239 Fax: 02 8212 9582 Mob: 0427 644 825
Chat contacts: WLM: michael at auzzie.net Skype: cccons

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://auzzie.net/pipermail/ccc-news_auzzie.net/attachments/20120825/4b68058f/attachment.html>