INews Newsletter - Jan 27, 2006
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* * * I N e w s * * *
A publication of Internet Nebraska, your homestate broadband provider
* * * by manager@inebraska.com * * *
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Volume 9, Number 1 January 27, 2006
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 Broadband
Email For the Masses
Mr Internet
*** Internet Nebraska Broadband ***
We at Internet Nebraska are in our twelfth year of providing high-speed
connectivity to businesses and individuals across the state. If you're
finding your Web pages come too slowly, or are maybe considering some
exciting new activity on the 'Net that will require faster access, we're
ready to help. We offer LOTS of broadband, and here are a few of the
kinds. With any of these faster access plans you get at least five free
e-mail addresses (excluding IN Speed Dial), a free personal Web site,
unlimited toll-free tech support, and free access to our hotspot network
(including access at the Lincoln Airport) for when you're on the go.
DSL
---
We offer DSL everywhere in Alltel or Qwest territories where the phone
company facilities make it possible. From a very affordable 256 kbps
download all the way to 3.0 Mbps and beyond, our DSL is competitively
priced and always offered at an introductory $9.95/month to new customers,
and to existing customers upgrading from dial-up. If you need static
addresses or other special features, we can do that, too. For more
information on our DSL, see http://www.inebraska.com/dsl/ .
Cable
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We also offer cable Internet access to individuals anywhere in the
Time-Warner Nebraska service area. Our introductory rate is only
$29.95/month, and our regular rate is great, too! For more information on
our cable Internet access, see http://www.inebraska.com/cable/ .
Wireless
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If you live in or near Valentine, O'Neill, Tilden, or Norfolk, we can offer
you wireless Internet access. We even have available a free basic
installation package with no equipment to buy! Take a look at
http://www.inebraska.com/wireless/ for a high-speed solution where DSL and
cable may not be available.
TLS / T1s / DS3s / Server Colocation / Web Site Hosting
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If your business needs a more direct, "broaderband" connection to the
Internet, we offer it. Our customer base includes health care
organizations, libraries, phone companies, and manufacturing plants across
the state. If you'd like to visit about what we can do for you, give us a
call at 434-8680 in Lincoln, or 800-438-4638 anywhere else. For
information on our standard Web hosting packages, see
http://www.inebraska.com/webhostpricing.html .
Dial-Up Acceleration
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Perhaps none of these ways to increase your speed looks right for you,
and dial-up is how you expect to continue connecting. For only $2/month,
our Internet Nebraska Speed Dial can make a great difference in how
quickly you surf the 'Net. It's easy to install, too. See
http://www.inebraska.com/speeddial/ for details.
We're proud of these services, but what makes us feel best is taking
friendly, reliable care of the other folks in our state. We're locally
owned and operated, so our business relationships are special to us.
*** Using Email Effectively ***
Email, used by millions of people every day, is something we take for
granted, but this wasn't always so. Email has existed in one form or
another since the days of the earliest time-sharing computers in the
1960's. Email as we know it pre-dates the Internet by several years, and
was one of the driving forces in the creation and adoption of the network
we use so often today.
Since email was created so long ago, it is limited to text-based
messages. "I send pictures in email all the time," you say, but it's
only half true. Any time you send a picture or any non-text information
via e-mail, your e-mail client first converts it to a series of letters
and numbers in a process called "encoding." This text encoding increases
the size of your file by as much as 50%.
For example, when you send a 500kb picture through email, it is increased
to as much as 750kb before it ever leaves your computer. A 2MB video
becomes 3, and a 10MB presentation because as large as 15MB! The email
system was made to handle text-based documents of no more than tens of
kilobytes, so you can see why you might have trouble sending large
attachments through email at times.
What can be done?
The trick is to reduce the size of the file you are sending, or to find
other ways to send it, such as putting it on your Web site. We offer
free personal web hosting for most of our accounts, and you can find out
more about them at http://www.inebraska.com/help/webpage/guide/ .
If you're sending pictures, you can reduce their size. How to do this
varies among photo suite software packages, but the menu options are
usually labeled "Scale" or "Resize". You can also change the picture
into a more efficient (smaller) file format such as JPEG (.jpg) or PNG
(.png) format. These formats can cut the file size down to as little as
10% of the size of a Bitmap (.bmp) picture.
If you don't have any other photo software, You can use Microsoft Paint
to resize pictures. Look for Paint by clicking on the Start menu, going
to Programs, Accessories and then clicking on Paint. Once there,
click on file and open. Find your file and click OK. Now that you have
the picture up on the screen, select "Image" on the menu-bar. Then go to
"Stretch/Skew". From there, you can resize the image. Put 25% in both
Horizontal and Vertical. Both numbers must match, or the image will look
funny. Once you have that done, press OK. Your image has been re-sized
and can be saved. To save click on "File" and "Save". Note that this
will replace your original picture.
You can now email the picture knowing that it will be smaller and not
take nearly as long for you to send and for the recipient to download.
The same can't be done for video. In general we suggest you do not
send videos in email.
*** Mr Internet ***
Q: Why do Cable and DSL connections require another modem? My computer
already has a modem!
A: Cable and DSL need a specialized modem because they transmit a
digital signal. The modem changes the long-distance digital signal into
a signal that can be used by your computer. The modem in your computer
is an analog modem, and can only send sounds over a phone line. If
you've ever picked up the phone while you're dialed up, you've heard the
sound (which is similar to a fax machine.)
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.
*** 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