We’re going to one up ourselves! (and give you a free node)

Last week we ran a promotion for our Twitter only followers, allowing them to get a VPS.NET robot free of charge. The promotion was overwhelmingly positive and we found ourselves completely out of stock of robots, yet wanting to run another promotion. They're fun!

With a little motivation from our Twitter mafia, we decided we'd go all out this time. We're going to give you a FREE node FOR LIFE! Even better, there's no limit to the amount of participants. This means everyone is eligible, and able to win. It's like at the carnival; a winner every time!

We couldn't make this too easy - we do have to somehow fund future contests. That's not to say we made it hard. To get a free lifetime node, you simply need to make a post about your experience with VPS.NET. It can be good, bad, or even ugly -- we'll appreciate all, and we're happy to give away a free node as a thank you for the work you put into it. Of course, there are a few more requirements.

  1. Each review must be at least 300 words. While we love one-liners, we prefer those be kept at the comedy club. Thoughtful and thorough reviews are much better for us.
  2. In order to get the free node, a link to the review must be posted to either a Twitter account or Facebook profile, with VPS.NET notified. You just have to make sure you CC us on Twitter or tag us on the Facebook post.
  3. The reviews must be posted between October 27th, and November 15th in order to qualify for the free node offer.
  4. That's all!
I know you're a better writer than me, so get to it. We want to hear about your experiences; lets get the VPS.NET buzz roaring!
Fine Print: This offer is open to existing customers only. The free node is only active for the life of the account. If your account is cancelled, the free node will be removed.

Our Favorite iPad Apps

There's something that can be said for all of the VPS.NET staff - we're addicted to Apple products. Perhaps it's their oh so sexy design, the superior build quality or their ease of use; whatever it is, if it's Apple, we have to have it. We also know that some of our customers fall into the same boat us, being addicted to Apple, and requiring constant access to monitor their business. So, why not share some of our favorite apps?

iSSH - Definitely the favorite SSH client for use on the iPad, though it does come with a price tag of $9.99. The best part about it, is the easy to use cut and paste option. It sounds a little funny to be doing cut and pasting in SSH, but we've found it to be quite useful.

NiceTrace - Diagnosing network issues is a breeze with NiceTrace. It gives you constantly updating trace route information, allowing you see where any delays might be.

CamCard - We often find ourselves being the spotlight of conferences, having business cards literally thrown our way. It sometimes can get a little overwhelming. CamCard definitely makes it easy to keep track of business cards, having an easy to use scan utility, and it also exports to Excel files which is a big help. Things like the LinkedIn integration are very cool too.

Data Usage - The app doesn't do much besides monitor your data usage, but lets not downplay the importance of that. Going above your monthly limits can be quite expensive. It has a number of notification methods that can be used to alert you when you reach pre-defined thresholds and if you go over your monthly limit.

ShoeBoxed - We've recommended this app before, but I can't recommend it enough. I'm terrible at keeping track of receipts, making it quite difficult to get reimbursed for business expenses when away for conferences and meetings. ShoeBoxed is awesome, as all you need to do is scan in the receipt and it does the rest for you. It can even export to an excel spreadsheet, if you need it to. Fear Accounting no more!

Smart Keyboard - The biggest complaint we hear in the office on the iPad is the keyboard especially when being compared to Android. Smart Keyboard has the same great predictive text tools as Android, and at $1.99, it isn't too much of a risk if the default keyboard annoys you.

Fuze Meeting - On the run yet have a meeting scheduled? Fuze Meeting is by far the best meeting app for the iPad. Not only are you able to attend meetings, but you can even contribute outside documents, like keynote presentations. If you're real sly, you might be able to get way with attending a meeting while at the beach, without the boss knowing you're not even at your desk.

Pulse - Burnout is awful; one of the easiest ways we avoid it is by scheduling a few breaks to read the news, rejuvenating ourselves a bit. Pulse is definitely the favorite reading tool, allowing you to bring any news source necessary, as long as they have a RSS feed. With sharing capabilities on Twitter and Facebook, and allowing you to save articles to Instapaper, it's the office favorite.

There are many other great tools out there - feel free to share your own! You might even see us using them at the next opportunity.

Salt Lake City Datacenter Tour

The VPS.NET team has been in Utah, the location of our corporate office, this week. Yesterday we were able to tour the datacenter hosting our SLC A-F clouds, and for your viewing pleasure, we snapped a few quick photos.

Remembering Steve Jobs

"The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come. For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it's been an insanely great honor. I will miss Steve immensely."
—   Bill Gates

All of us here at VPS.NET have been inspired by the work of Steve Jobs; he was a true visionary with exemplary leadership skills -- traits which all of us hope to acquire throughout life. While the world mourns his untimely death, looking back at some of his most memorable reveals a man who was determined to change the world for the better. Steve Jobs will not only be missed as a innovator but also for the great person he was.

Our friends at UK2Group put together a compilation shortly after his resignation in August, starting with the demo of the Apple Macintosh in 1984 and ending with the Apple iPad keynote in January 2010. It's a beautiful tribute for a man who touched us all, and especially for those who had the pleasure of using an Apple product.

May his vision continue to inspire us all.

Announcements and thoughts from the town hall

This morning we held our first ever formal town hall chat, which was completely open public. We went into not really knowing what to expect -- was anyone even going to show up? We knew there were inherent risks, especially making it completely open to the public, but we also believe in complete transparency. Thankfully the town hall went off nearly without a hitch; in fact, the biggest struggle we faced was that the chat room was entirely filled before the town hall was even scheduled to start.

Out of this town hall, the biggest story was the announcement of USA based phone sales and support, which will be available to all customers free of charge later this month. Some of our technicians have already jumped into the ticket queues, so it's possible you've already had a quick chat with them. We will have toll free numbers for both USA and UK based customers when the system goes live. We hope that our customers find that phone support to be a pleasant and helpful experience and we anticipate hearing feedback from our customers.

Looking back at the town hall, it should be considered a great success, drawing in over 100 guests, only limited to that due to the chat room. Taking away the experience, there's a few things we can do it in the future... and there will be future town halls!

  • Utilize a chat software for our town halls that allows for an unlimited amount of guests.
  • While we love openness, and aren't easily offended, we know that some customers don't share those same traits. Future chats will need to use additional moderation tools.
  • Do not allow images. Perhaps we were a bit naive when we failed to notice that the chat software allowed anyone to upload images. While our guests all behaved themselves for the most part, we know that won't always be the case.
All in all, it was a great experience for us, where we were able to connect with our customers, and also learn a few things for future town halls. We hope that everyone enjoyed the ability to speak with fellow customers and the VPS.NET staff in an open environment. We'll be announcing future town halls as we come up with a firm schedule, and we hope to have the same success as we did with our first!

10/4 Town hall transcript

Rus F.
Hi Thanks for coming to our first town hall. I'm Rus and I'm the Managing Director of VPS.net and responsible for handling the day to day running of the company.

Gordon
OK LETS GOOOOOOOOOO

Kamen G.
Hey Rus

Tigran N.
Hello, Rus

Terry M.
Hi Everyone, I'm Terry Myers, the Chief Evangelist for VPS.NET. I've been working here for about the past year, so I suspect I've spoke with many of you. If not, my inbox is always open at terry@vps.net.

Tyler
Hi Rus.

anthonysomerset
Barry Sacks: S: yes so was i

Jeff N.
hey

Happy H.
Hi Rus and Terry

Boffolow
Hello.

Jason
Hi Rus and Terry.

Kody R.
I'm Kody. I've been with UK2 Group for a little over 2 years. I started with VPS.NET an
d have worked here for almost a year and a half. I'm the Customer Evangelist of VPS.NET. As well, my email is always open for comments regarding service too -- kody@vps.net

 

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