INews Newsletter - Aug 16, 2002
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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 5, Number 4 August 16, 2002
Welcome to another issue of INews. This 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: Internet Nebraska Access by CABLE Is Here!
An Alternative Format to MP3
Keeping an Online Journal or Diary
Shell Account Access
A Virus Protection Alternative - F Prot
Reminder from the Beancounters
Mr. Internet
*** Internet Nebraska Cable Modem Access Arrives ***
We are very excited to announce that, beginning in September, Internet
Nebraska will offer high-speed cable access to customers in Lincoln,
Seward, York, Denton, Auburn, Crete, Nebraska City, Falls City, David
City, Superior, Fremont, Fairbury, Columbus, Pawnee City, Humboldt,
Tecumseh, and Table Rock.
For only $39.95 -- this is our actual price, not just a temporary or
introductory special -- you can enjoy the same kind of rip-roaring speeds
that DSL subscribers and other broadband users have.
Tell your friends who perhaps have already signed up for cable service
with Roadrunner or another provider that they can come home to
Nebraska-owned IN, and at a terrific price. No setup, no installation
fees.
Unfortunately, these are the only cities in which we expect to offer this
service for the time being. As we can arrange it other places, we sure
will.
To sign up for information about switching to cable Internet service as it
becomes available, visit http://www.inebraska.com/cable/ or mail
manager@inebraska.com.
*** An Alternative Format to MP3 ***
After years of research and coding, Ogg Vorbis has finally been released.
A new form of audio compression that is similar to the MP3 standard, Ogg
Vorbis gives similar sound quality while using around 30 percent less disk
space.
The real public benefit to this compression format is not just that it
saves hard drive space, but that Ogg Vorbis is an open source project,
non-proprietary, and completely free of patents and royalties. To put
this into perspective, America Online was forced to recall all of its
version 6.0 CDs due to copyright infringement associated with MP3s in its
AOL 6.0 Media Player. Most licensing of MP3s is aimed at developers and
manufacturers of MP3-related applications or web sites that would stream
MP3 audio off of their page.
Due to the fairly high royalties (
http://www.mp3licensing.com/royalty/index.html ), most web sites have
chosen to use the proprietary formats of Microsoft's Media Player (.WMA)
or Real Player's RealOne player (.RM). Both of these formats cost less
than MP3 and work well for streaming audio, but they sound worse. Enter
Ogg Vorbis. Being non-proprietary, it can be implemented into any player
and will not cost the developers or sites that use it. So far, it already
has support in Winamp versions 2.80 and above (http://www.winamp.com) and
Real Player has made an announcement that in the next release of their
player, Ogg Vorbis support will be included.
A bit of warning: if you do have MP3s on your computer and you want to try
out Ogg Vorbis (.OGG) you will not want to convert them from .MP3 to .OGG.
It would be like sending the same fax twice in terms of quality
degradation. You would want to encode directly from your CD collection
into .OGG to backup your music collection digitally. Ogg Vorbis is still
an infant technology and it seems unlikely to completely replace the MP3
standard, but most likely users will end up using it whether they realize
it now or not. It's also likely to be used for streaming audio off
web pages and in video games. To hear the difference for yourself the
developers at Ogg Vorbis have set up a comparison page at
http://www.xiph.org/ogg/vorbis/listen.html .
*** Keeping an Online Journal or Diary ***
Do you ever want to rant? Or maybe just organize your thoughts somewhere
you can see them? Once, you might have used a normal diary or -- gasp! --
a sheet of paper and a pencil for such a thing. The digital age allows
nothing should be private (unless the government is concerned), and you
can now express your thoughts and feelings online without having to
develop a web page. Online diaries require almost no technical skills,
and some people swear they're fun.
Diaryland (www.diaryland.com) is one such digital diary, and it's a free
service provided to anyone who wants to start an account. Once you have
an account with them, your diary will be viewable at
yourname.diaryland.com. You can also get a diaryland email address for
people to comment on your entries. Diaryland advertises no pop-ups and
has no banner ads. Another great feature is the ability to customize the
look of your diary. You can select from some pre-made templates, or
customize its look yourself.
LiveJournal (www.livejournal.com) is a community oriented site. Users
maintain a list of friends and belong to groups of people with similar
interests. Because of its focus on a community environment, you have to
have an existing user refer you to get a free account. You can also pay
a small fee to get your own journal. Paid accounts get access to more
features and have more versatility. LiveJournal is different from
DiaryLand in that you do not have to update it from their page.
LiveJournal provides you with some software that allows you to manage and
update your journal on your own computer. You can type up your update
offline and then connect up and transmit it. LiveJournal also allows
other LiveJournal users to leave comments and feedback on your entries.
Keeping an online journal can be a very rewarding experience, and easy to
do, too.
*** Integrated Computer Systems - Advertisement ***
ICS, an A+ Authorized Service Center serving western
Nebraska for over 14 years, is ready with over 40 years
of combined experience to professionally and expertly meet
your computer needs. From large networks to stand alone
PC's, ICS proudly offers their knowledge and expertise to
work for you. Whether it be Windows (95, 98, 2000, NT, ME),
Novell or Unix, new installations, trouble shooting,
networking, print sharing or repair, ICS will be there to
assist you or your personnel on arriving at the best
possible solution to fulfill your needs.
Located in North Platte, Integrated Computer Systems serves
over a 100-mile radius reaching communities such as Kearney,
Valentine, Thedford, Mullen, Sidney, Ogallala, McCook, Grant,
Imperial, Gothenburg, Lexington, Chappell, Sutherland, and
Hershey, to just name a few. So give us a call at 534-1500,
toll free 800-400-1527, or stop in and see us at 101 South
Chestnut.
*** Shell Account Access ***
1. The shell? What's that?
Shell access is a set of text-based tools you can use to interact with
your Internet Nebraska account and the Internet. If you plan on building
a personal web page, shell access is very valuable. Even the casual
user can get great use out of this often-overlooked feature. Among
many things, you can read your mail, browse the web, change your password,
view your disk utilization, manipulate files, and interact with the
powerful Unix shell, none of which has to wait for bulky graphics to load.
2. Can I use the shell?
All users have shell access, with the exception of metered accounts
and network user plans. If you can't remember which plan you have,
you can find out by sending an email to manager@inebraska.com.
3. How do I get connected?
Getting hooked up to the shell is usually very simple, but depends on the
operating system you use. For most Windows users:
- Connect to Internet Nebraska,
- Click on the Start button,
- Click on 'Run',
- Type the following, and click 'OK':
telnet shell.inebraska.com
If these instructions don't work for you, or if your computer does not
have a telnet client installed, you will need to download one.
Additionally, if you need shell access while you're not using your
Internet Nebraska dialup or DSL connection, we require you to connect
with a safer type of program, called an "SSH client". The Internet
Nebraska web site has SSH and telnet clients available for our customers
to sample. Just paste the following link into your web browser,
select your operating system, and select the program you would like to
install:
http://www.inebraska.com/software/
4. I'm connected. Now what?
Hopefully, you have a screen like this:
SunOS 5.6
login:
Type your username and press Enter.
Type your password and press Enter.
If you do not know your terminal type, it is probably 'vt100'.
Press Enter if you are prompted for your terminal type.
You are now at the text-based menu system, which gives you numbered
options from which to select. Just type the number of the option you
would like to "do" and press Enter. Pressing 'h' will show a help
screen, while 'q' will quit, and 'u' will take you back to the previous
menu screen. Tools well worth experimenting with include the Pine email
program (Applications->Electronic Mail), the Lynx textual browser
(Applications->WWW), and the UNIX shell.
Note: If you decide to give the UNIX shell a try, type 'exit' and press
Enter to get back to the menu system.
5. Where I can learn more?
The IN Menu Tutorial
http://www.inebraska.com/help/tutorials/inmenu.html
A Pine Tutorial
http://www.hcc.hawaii.edu/help_desk/pine/pine_tutorial.html
Link to Lynx Information
http://lynx.browser.org/
A Gentle Introduction to Unix
http://people.msoe.edu/~taylor/4ltrwrd/
*** 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
and see for yourself.
-- http://www.schaeferstv.com/index2.htm
*** 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/
*** A Virus Protection Program Alternative -- F Prot ***
Worried that your computer has a virus, but don't have the software to
check? Not sure you want to buy a commercially packaged anti-virus
program such as Norton or McCafee?
Fear not: there is an option for you. It's called F-prot, one of the
oldest and more reliable virus scanners around. Best of all, a free
version is available. Visit the web site at http://www.f-prot.com where
you will find three choices:
* F-Prot Antivirus(TM) for Windows
Comes with a 30 day trial.
* F-Prot Linux for Small Business and F-Prot Linux for Enterprise Business
The small business version is free for personal use.
* F-Prot Antivirus(TM) for DOS
Totally free!
Every F-prot product can find most known viruses, and disinfects almost
all of them. If you download any of these, you will have an option to be
sent e-mails about updates.
On the web site, they even explain some of the effects and inner workings
of some of the more common bugs floating around the Net. It is a good way
to stay informed about the nasty surprises that can be lurking around the
cybercorner.
No matter which program you use, Internet Nebraska strongly recommends
that you get some kind of virus protection on your computer. Be sure
that once you have it installed, you update it at least once a week.
*** Accounts Receivable Asks . . . ***
. . . that you please remember to use the correct amount of postage -- 37
cents -- when mailing payment to us to ensure its prompt arrival. If
incorrect postage is used, payment processing may be delayed.
Thanks!
*** Mr. Internet ***
Q: Mr Internet. How do I add an attachment such as a picture to my
emails?
Answer:
Adding a file such as a picture is easy and the process only varies
slightly between Outlook Express and Netscape Mail.
Using Outlook Express:
1. Start by creating a new message. You can do this by selecting the
'New Mail' button or File --> New --> Mail Message.
2. Enter the email address you want to send to, the subject, and any
message in the main body of the email.
3. Next click the 'Attach' button, or click on Insert --> File
Attachment so
4. At this point, a dialog box will appear asking you what file you
want to attach. Simply select the file you want and click the
'Attach' button. Your file will now show up in the "Attach" field
of your message.
5. For multiple files, repeat steps 3 and 4.
6. To send your email, just click the 'Send' button.
Using Netscape:
1. Select the 'New Msg' button or File --> New --> Message to start a
new message.
2. Enter the email address of the recipient, the subject, and any
message in the main body of the email.
3. Now click the 'Attach' button and select "File".
4. A dialog box will open asking you what file to attach. Select the
one you want and then click the 'Open' button to add it.
5. To view what files are attached, just click on the paper-clip tab
towards the top of the email, or click View --> Attachments (you
can also select Address and Options).
6. To attach multiple files, follow steps 3 and 4.
7. Press the 'Send' button when you are ready to send your email.
*** 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
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
manager@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.