INews Newsletter - Oct 08, 1999
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* * * I N e w s * * *
A publication of Internet Nebraska, composed and distributed by
* * * manager@inebraska.com * * *
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Volume 2, Number 20 October 8, 1999
Welcome to another issue of INews, Internet Nebraska's customer newsletter.
This biweekly newsletter communicates service bulletins, announcements and
other useful information to our customers. Please let us know what you think
of it. Archives of INews are located at http://www.inebraska.com/inews
In this issue: REFERRAL BONUS
Hastings ADSL Here!
DSL Surge Suppression
Elm Error
Free StarOffice
Mr. Internet
*** Referral Bonus!!! ***
We've been asked frequently over the years by our customers to give an
incentive for referring new users to us, and we're ready to try it this
next few weeks. For the indefinite future, referrals are worth a whopping
$19.95 CREDIT to the balance of your account.
Just get someone to sign up for any account whose first payment is $19.95
or greater, and as soon as we've received that payment, we'll credit your
account $19.95! This applies to all our 3-month plans, Web pages,
12-month metered accounts, and -- best of all -- the 3-for-1 special we've
been running since August. This means that if you get a friend to sign up
for the 3-for-1 offer, he'll get his first 3 flat-rate months for $19.95,
and you'll get $19.95 knocked off your balance.
Or maybe you'd like to give someone 3 flat-rate months of access. Sign
him or her up with us for the $19.95 3-for-1 special, and we'll turn
around and credit $19.95 to your account. You come out ahead one very
happy friend or family member!
As with all things, some restrictions apply, among which: This offer
applies only to referrals of new accounts, and does not extend to entities
with other promotional incentives. The credit may not be converted to
cash.
*** ADSL Now Available in Hastings! ***
ADSL service is now available in Hastings. ADSL provides Internet access
at speeds ranging from 384K to 1024K.
Users signing up now for ADSL in Hastings get to take advantage of a very
special promotional offer. Sign up now and get a free ADSL router (a $330
value) and no activation fee (a $100 value) with a one year contact.
That's a $430 savings if you sign up for ADSL in Hastings during this
promotion.
We do not know how long this promotion will run, so sign up now!
For more information about ADSL, to sign up for ADSL in Hastings, Lincoln,
or Omaha, or to pre-order ADSL in Beatrice, York, Seward, or Plattsmouth
see our web page at http://www.inebraska.com/dsl/ .
*** Schaefer's TV & Appliance Center - Advertisement ***
Schaefer's is an independently owned and
operated television, appliance, and home
theater retailer in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Born out of a small corner drugstore four
decades ago, Schaefer's TV & Appliance is a
22,000 square-foot "superstore" today,
specializing in commercial/professional-grade
appliances, whole house sound systems, home
theater and central vacuum systems. The
success of Schaefer's is key to repeat
business. If a customer happens to have a
problem with a product, Schaefer's will bend
over backwards to get it solved. Our service
center is the largest in the city, and has been
voted Lincoln's #1 servicer for 10 years in a
row! A knowledgeable sales staff, express
delivery, easy financing, and our customer
service representatives are just a few of the
ways in which we at Schaefer's distinguish
ourselves from the rest. Stop by our showroom
at 48th and R in Lincoln, or call us at
402-464-8888, and see for yourself.
-- http://www.schaeferstv.com/index2.htm
*** DSL Surge Suppression ***
Andrew Duey of Duey's Computer Service (www.dueycs.com) is our guest
columnist this week. --Ed.
Got Computer? Check. Got Internet? Check. Got Surge Suppression?
No?!? Seems like surge suppression for a DSL line would be a no-brainer,
but all too often it's overlooked. In general, people who spend more time
on their computer (and so, more money) have DSL, yet they also stand to
lose the most from dangerous surges! When I first got my DSL router, I
was so excited to start using my new blazing fast DSL line that I
completely ignored connecting it to the surge suppressor. Since my DSL
seemed to work great, I never thought anymore about how it was connected,
even though it opened my entire computer system to surges not only from
the power lines, but the phones lines, too!
Several months later, I realized that my entire computer system was wide
open to these dangerous surges and when I installed a surge suppressor, my
DSL line went down and I started looking for answers. Here's what I
found: After spending hours on end talking to both Aliant engineers and
APC engineers (APC is one of the largest providers of surge suppression
and UPS equipment in the world) I found that many surge suppressors will
NOT work with DSL lines.
The engineers informed me that any surge suppressor worth the plastic it's
made out of, provides EMI/RFI filtering. EMI/RFI filtering helps to
decrease the amount of noise on the line, but it also filters out DSL.
In other words, if it will protect your computer well against surges, then
it won't work with DSL. The creates a large problem in that if you don't
purchase quality equipment, it won't do its job; but when you do purchase
high quality equipment, it stops your DSL line from working. I spend over
two weeks researching how in the world to protect my equipment given the
fact that nobody had previously addressed the issue. When I talked to the
Aliant technicians and engineers they said they had never thought about
the issue, and didn't have any answers. When I called the manufacturers
of the surge suppression equipment, the technical support technicians
didn't have any answers either. I ended up working the engineers from
several companies to find a good solution.
Here's what you need to do in order to protect your equipment:
1) Purchase a "Professional SurgeStation, Pro8T2" from APC. You can get
these for around $40 from on-line retailers such as warehouse.com.
2) Purchase a quality surge suppressor, (or if you already have a surge
suppressor which doesn't work with DSL, use it) and get the Ptel2
ProtectNet telephone line surge suppressor from APC (about $20 and
available at the same places as the Pro8T2 above).
3) Purchase a cheap surge suppressor (although often they don't do a great
job, and many times don't come with the equipment insurance that most
quality surge suppressors do).
Remember that your computer isn't protected from dangerous surges unless
every wire connected to your computer from the outside world (such as
power, telephone, even connections to other computer) is connected to some
sort of surge suppression device. Surges can be caused by anything from
nearby lightning strikes to electrical problems in your own house. I hope
that this information is of use to you, and I encourage your feedback to
me. I can be reached via the Web site below.
--Contributed by Andrew Duey, Duey's Computer Service (www.dueycs.com)
*** Elm Erratum ***
Uh, *blush*, last week we carried on about how the UNIX mail reader Elm
will never be Y2K-compliant, and encouraged users of Elm to learn Pine.
Several gung-ho folks went right out and found a newer version of Elm
which we promptly installed. We thank them and feel kind of cool for
having wrought two INews articles out of an issue only about half of one
percent of our user base cares about.
*** StarOffice Suite ***
Until recently, computer users needing an integrated suite of office
applications (word processor, database, spreadsheet, etc) had to purchase
an expensive suite of applications like Microsoft Office or Word Perfect
Suite.
Sun Microsystems has recently made available for free its newly acquired
office productivity suite, StarOffice 5.1. StarOffice contains the
following components:
StarWriter 5.1 - Word Processor
StarCalc 5.1 - Spreadsheet
StarImpress 5.1 - Presentation Creator (like PowerPoint)
StarDraw 5.1 - Drawing program
StarMath 5.1 - Formula Editor
StarChart 5.1 - Business Graphics (charts and graphs)
StarImage 5.1 - Image and Photo Editor
StarSchedule 5.1 - Event Planner and schedule
These packages are integrated into a single interface, with emphasis on
the document itself, not which program you use to create it. For example,
to create a text document with a spreadsheet on it, you create a new
document, add text, and then add a spreadsheet, rather than running a
separate spreadsheet program and importing the results.
To obtain StarOffice, go to http://www.sun.com/staroffice . You can
either download the software directly from there (about 65MB), or you can
order a CD containing the StarOffice software for $9.95 plus shipping and
handling.
*** Mr. Internet ***
Q: I use you guys for my access, but I still like my Hotmail account. How
can I configure Outlook Express to read Hotmail?
A: Good question. Wish I could take credit for this answer, but I found
it at http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q220/8/51.ASP
In summary, these are the steps:
On the Tools menu, click Accounts, click Add, and then click Mail.
Type your name, and then click Next.
Click "I already have an e-mail address that I'd like to use." Type the
e-mail address of your HotMail account -- for example, myname@hotmail.com,
where myname is your HotMail user name -- and then click Next.
In the "My incoming mail server is" box, click HTTP.
In the "My http mail service provider is" box, click HotMail, and then
click Next.
In the "Account name" box, type your HotMail account name, in the Password
box, type your HotMail password, and then click Next.
Click Finish.
Mr. Internet is a regular feature of the INews, and he welcomes questions
of any kind. Just mail them to mrinternet@inebraska.com, and he'll answer
one or two each issue. Those he doesn't use will not necessarily be
answered, and you should still use 'manager' and 'accounts' for regular
business.
*** The Capital Soccer Association - Advertisement ***
Capital Soccer Association specializes in
teaching soccer. However we recognize that
soccer, or any other youth sport is merely
one tool in the development of a young
child. Teamwork and sportsmanship through
knowledge and proficiency of the game are
our main goals.
-- http://www.capitalsoccer.com/
*** Advertise on Our Home Pages ***
What better way to advertise your business than on a Web page that is seen
tens of thousands of time every month? None, if you're paying as little
as we charge for it!
We are now offering banner advertising that rotates on all our pages, and
which is priced based on the number of impressions (viewings) per month.
Your banner can reach thousands of Nebraska residents, and this is a
unique way to advertise your Nebraska business to residents in the area.
Prices for banner advertisement can be found at:
http://www.inebraska.com/ad.html
We will also be selling links from our main page. Please contact
erikw@inebraska.com, or give us a give us a call at our office,
402-434-8680, and ask how you can reserve banner spots on some of the
hottest URL's in the state. The advertisers in this issue did, and we
recommend them highly.