Taskos: A To-Do List App for Android Users

For the month of August, we'll be discussing free and paid software to help you save time and money.

MY STORY:

One would think that since I work in the field of technology, that I'd utilize software installed on my computer that would help me manage my time. Ha Ha - not so! At work, I have Microsoft Outlook, but that's about it.

On a personal note, I spent more time with my Android-based smartphone then anytime else. Therefore, when I needed a way to track my to-do items for work or play, I decided to visit the Google Marketplace - now known as the Google Play store - in search of an app.

For the past year or so, I've been using a free app called TaskOS (http://www.taskos.com).

Learn more at http://www.taskos.com/ 

ABOUT TaskOS:

TaskOS is a free to-do list, which allows its user you to:

• Create your own to-do list categories. My categories are Work, Home, and Business.
• Set color-coded, priorities list for each task - high (red), normal (yellow), or low (green).
• Set a deadline to indicate when this task needs to be completed.
• Share a to-do list item with one of your contacts, which helps in keeping you accountable for completing that task.
• Adds notes - type a note or use the speaker icon to record notes for a particular task.
• Set a alert. The alert settings are off, one-time, or recurring.

You can even add a widget to one of your screens. There it will display at least one of your current to-do list item. Once you have completed a task, open the app, click the box next to that item, and the app literally crosses it off of your to-do list.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

If you're a TaskOS user, tell us about your experience with this app. Or if you're a iPhone or Blackberry user, tell us about a free or paid app that you have found helpful in better managing your time.

In our next article, we'll discuss both free and paid software for maintaining the health and functionality of your Windows-based PC. Thanks for you tuning in!

One or Two Easy Ways to Save on Printer Ink

Image Source: computershopper.com

Unless you've been living under a rock, everyone knows that printer ink cartridges are expensive!

Most people give little thought to this when buying a printer. Usually, we're more consumed with what features our printers offer - monochrome vs. color, media slots, photo or two-side printing, etc. So we find ourselves falling in love with a particular printer, only to learn that the ink cartridges are going to cost an arm and a leg.

For this reason, many people simply won't buy additional ink for their home printers, but that defeats the purpose for having it in the first place. So, here are a few tips for how to preserve your printer ink and no using refillable ink cartridges is not on our list.

Before you begin, make sure your most used printer is set as your default printer then proceed.

First, printing in draft and/or grayscale (black/white) mode. Sometimes we just want to print something simple like a To-Do list or an email, but we really don't need to it to use up a lot of ink, since we'll likely throw it soon anyway. So, the best way to handle this is to change your printer settings to save on how much ink is printed onto the page.  

To use this feature, whether you're in Internet Explorer or Microsoft Word, when you get ready to print and the print dialog box opens, look for a button called Properties... or Preferences.... Clicking on it should open another window.

Now look at each tab because you need to find two options, which are usually together and they are Print Quality, which has choices like Best, Normal, or Draft and Color Mode, which has choices like Color, Grayscale or Black & White.

Once you have found those settings, you will want to change the Print Quality to Draft and maybe even the Color Mode to Grayscale or Black and White. After doing so, click OK to close out the Print Properties (or Print Preferences) box and then click OK to print your document. Please note that you will need to change this setting every time you print. But its worth it since it will save you money in the long run.

Second, print more than one page on a page. No, I'm not talking about reusing old printer paper and printing on both sides. I'm talking about setting your print to print multiple pages on the same page. Think in terms of a BINGO card, where there are multiple options to win and its easy to work with because you have multiple cards on a single page. 

For example, if you have a four page document, instead of printing four separate pages, you can set your print to print all four pages on the same page. Or you could have it print that entire document on only two pages. To use this feature within your favorite software, click on File | Print and when the print dialog box opens, click on the Properties or Preferences....

But this time we are looking for a feature called Layout or Layout Options.... This feature will likely have more than one component. For example, in one box you need to set it to "Multiple pages per sheet" and in the next box, you will need to tell it how many pages you want printed on a sheet. After doing so, click OK to close out the Properties box and then click OK to print your document. Just like the draft settings, you will also need to turn off this settings, when you are ready to print normally.

That's it! Do you know of additional printer settings for saving on ink? If so, let us know by posting a comment below.