INews Newsletter - Mar 19, 2007
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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 10, Number 1 March 19, 2007
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: Tax Man Cometh
Added Services Tips and Tricks
Windows Vista
Mr. Internet
*** Taxes and the Internet ***
Tax season is upon us. There is a wealth of knowledge and information
available online, and here are pointers to some of it that may be useful
when you're filing your taxes.
The first and most important tax site to visit is the IRS website,
http://www.irs.gov . You can get information about the various
companies that offer e-filing, and you can even track the status of your
refund. There are thousands of IRS forms and help documents
available. Most forms are in PDF format, which can be viewed with the
free Adobe Acrobat Reader available for download at
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html .
Nebraska residents, or anyone who worked in Nebraska last year, will
want to visit the Nebraska Department of Revenue's website at
http://www.revenue.state.ne.us . You can download Nebraska tax forms
and other help documents. And you can track the status of your
Nebraska state tax refund there as well.
Online options exist for those who file their own taxes. There are
several companies who allow you to file your taxes online, using only a
web browser. Some of the more popular sites include H&R Block at
http://www.hrblock.com , TurboTax at http://turbotax.intuit.com , and
Tax Act at http://www.taxact.com . These sites and others will
simplify the process of filing your taxes, and will make the necessary
calculations for you. You can electronically file your taxes, which
can reduce the amount of time it takes for your refund to arrive. You
may even be able to e-file for free if you meet certain criteria. You
can also e-file your Nebraska taxes online with Nebraska's NebFile.
All of these sites use secure SSL encryption to ensure your personal
information is safe.
These are just a few of the many places available online designed to help
you during tax season. Whether you just need to look up a tax law or want
to file your taxes, everything you need is just a few clicks away.
*** GC Image -- Advertisement ***
Software Engineers
Scientific Programmers
Computer Programmer Interns
GC Image, LLC has immediate openings for software engineers, scientific
programmers, and computer programmer interns. For information about
these positions, visit:
http://www.gcimage.com
We look forward to applications from qualified individuals who are
motivated to help establish a startup company with exciting growth
potential.
GC Image, LLC, is a high-technology, spin-off of the University of
Nebraska - Lincoln. GC Image is creating informatics for a powerful
new technology for chemical separations with funding from the National
Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
GC Image software is used at some of the world's leading laboratories.
GC Image, LLC, has offices in downtown Lincoln, Nebraska. The company
offers competitive salary and benefits and full-time employees are
eligible for stock ownership.
Applicants should send:
* a letter of application,
* resume, and
* names and contact information for three references
by email to info@gcimage.com or by mail to:
GC Image, LLC
PO Box 57403
Lincoln NE 68505-7403
*** Tips and Tricks for Internet Nebraska's Added Services ***
Many you have seen, heard of, or even subscribed to the added services
Internet Nebraska offers to its customers. These include both Postini
and MailAgent, our spam fighting tools, as well as SpeedDial for
dial-up users. We thought it was about time we shared a few tips to
get the most out of these services.
Let's start out with our most effective spam filter -- MailAgent.
http://www.inebraska.com/mailagent
As you may already know, MailAgent uses two lists of e-mail addresses to block
mail from getting to you, or or to allow mail to be delivered to you.
Normally, these lists are populated automatically with the help of the people
who are sending you e-mail. Some people find it incredibly useful to edit
these lists directly, however.
To do this, login to the MailAgent Management page, located at
https://www.inetnebr.com/customer/mailagent . To look at the messages
waiting in your pending folder, click on View Pending. From here you
can choose to deliver these to your inbox, and even permanently approve
that sender's address at the same time. Otherwise, to view or edit the
allowed and disallowed sender lists, click on View and Edit lists.
This way, if you need to receive mail from a sender who can't reply to
your approval message (an on-line reseller who automatically sends
status updates, for example), you can add them right in.
Next, let's look at the Internet Nebraska MailFilter service provided by
Postini. http://www.inebraska.com/postini
Right off of the bat, Postini is equipped with powerful spam-fighting
capabilities. For many people, nothing ever needs to be changed to
keep it working effectively. But what if it's not blocking everything,
or it's blocking too much? Here are a couple things to try.
First you'll need to go to your Postini Message Center by going to
http://login.postini.com . Once logged in, you'll be greeted with a
page displaying all the junk mail and virus-infected messages that
have been captured. From here you can deliver any messages blocked by
accident, and you'll be given the opportunity to allow mail from their
e-mail address from now on. But that's not the end of it!
If you look to the top of the page, you'll find a link for Junk E-mail
Settings. Clicking this link takes you to a page with several useful
features Postini offers. You can turn the spam filtering on or off,
set the aggressiveness of the filter overall, and view your approved
and blocked senders. If Postini isn't blocking enough spam, turn the
aggressiveness up. If Postini is blocking too much, turn it down.
Let's say an acquaintance sends you nothing but forwards and chain
letters you've seen six times already, or scores of pictures and video
your dialup connection just can't handle. You can use Postini to block
their e-mail address and they'll never know! If they actually type an
e-mail to you might want to read once in a great while, you might think
twice before using this option, though.
The best thing you can do to help Postini keep tabs on all the spam out
there is to send what junk mail does sneak through to spam@postini.com
with the headers for that e-mail. Postini uses any messages sent to
that address to constantly update their filtering system.
And finally, there's SpeedDial
http://www.inebraska.com/speeddial/speeddial.html
We'll start by showing you how to get to the meat and potatoes of
SpeedDial. Microsoft Windows users will have an icon for SpeedDial in
the system tray (lower right-hand corner of the screen). To get to
SpeedDial's extra settings, right click on the icon, and then left-click
on Options. Here you'll find four tabs. We'll go through each one here
with what you can accomplish on that tab.
Graphics and Ads - You have five main settings here, from low to
maximum acceleration. Low means you'll have the best picture quality
available on each website you visit. Maximum makes the images much
smaller, but at the expense of picture quality. Most times, you don't
need the images to look pristine, and each website will load much more
quickly. Your best bet is a setting in the middle somewhere. The last
box on the page allows you to block banner ads and in-page
advertisements. We're talking about the ads that appear at the top,
side, middle or bottom of countless websites out there. We recommend you
check this box, if it hasn't already been. Ads often take just
too long to download over a dial-up connection.
Pop-up Windows - The Block Pop-Up windows check box is self-
explanatory. This page will allow you to make exceptions for websites
at which you want to allow pop-ups. You can even specify whether or
not you want a sound to play, and which sound you want to hear, every
time a pop-up is blocked.
Temporary Files - Here you can specify the amount of disk space used by
SpeedDial. From 20MB to 2GB (2040MB). The more space you allow, the
less frequently common images will need to be downloaded. For example,
if you visit eBay once a month or so, a 20MB cache might not be large
enough for the eBay logo to stay in cache, so it will need to be
re-downloaded each time you visit. Increase the cache size to have a
better chance that images are still around the next time you visit.
Advanced - Most of the settings on this page you'll want to leave at
their default settings. One nice feature on this page allows you to
determine how often SpeedDial displays a performance summary when you
disconnect.
There you have it. Remember, if you need help or have questions about
any of these added services, feel free to write to
manager@inebraska.com, or call to speak with one of our friendly
helpdesk staff.
*** Microsoft's New Windows Vista ***
Many people find themselves asking if they are ready for Windows
Vista. Unfortunately, many of the 'Vista trained' personnel that are
available to answer yours questions will probably leave you with more
questions than answers. With any luck, we will be able to answer all
your questions and leave you with enough information to make your own
decision.
The first thing you need to ask yourself is, "Why do I want to upgrade
to Vista?" It's a simple question but a good one to start with. Your
answer may be that you're looking for a new machine, or that you like
to stay on the cutting edge of technology, or simply that you like the
way it looks. If you really don't know why you'd want to upgrade,
chances are that you don't need to upgrade at this time. While Vista
offers the latest and greatest from Microsoft in the areas of security
and graphical interfaces, there are still quite a few things that will
need to be addressed before many people will find the need or want to
upgrade. One of the reasons for not upgrading is lack of driver
support for many of your peripherals such as printers, scanners and web
cams. Other reasons include program support and the cost of the
upgrade. We will talk about these in more detail later in this
article.
If you are considering upgrading to Vista, you should know a little
about the hardware requirements. Vista will support and run on a
wide variety of hardware configurations. Vista's minimum requirements
for hardware are an 800MHz processor, 512MB of RAM, and at least 15 GB
of free space on a 20GB hard drive. While the minimum will get Vista
running on your machine, a lot of the features such as the Aero
Interface (an advanced graphical interface) will be disabled and your
machine overall will run slowly. Microsoft recommends a slight
increase in certain areas to get an enjoyable experience from Vista.
These recommended minimum requirements are at least a 1GHz processor, a
video card with 32MB of RAM, audio connections, and speakers. Even with
this configuration, a lot of features are disabled and you will only be
able to run the Home Basic edition. To get one of the Premium editions
to run on your machine with all the bells and whistles, Microsoft
requires an upgrade from the previously stated upgrades to 1 GB of RAM,
a DVD-ROM, a high-end graphics card and Internet access. What does all
of this mean? Well, if you're upgrading because your job requires it
or because you need just a basic machine, Microsoft recommends the
following:
1GHz Processor
20 GB Hard drive
512MB of RAM
A Video Card with 32MB of ram and support for DirectX 9
DVD-ROM Drive
Audio outputs with Speakers
Internet Access
You may already have this in your machine or you may need a small
upgrade. We'll talk about how to find out later on in the article.
The configuration listed above will only allow you to run Vista Home
Basic. A lot of the extra graphical goodies are disabled in this
edition, as well as some extra games, and added features.
If you're looking to upgrade for the graphical support or because you
need a new computer, you'll want to make sure you get a computer with
at least the following:
1GHz Processor
1GB or RAM
40GB Hard Drive
A Video Card with 128MB of RAM and support for:
DirectX 9
WDDM Driver
Pixel Shader 2.0
32 bit per pixel
DVD-ROM
Audio Outputs with Speakers
Internet Access
This configuration will allow you to run any of the Premium editions of
Vista. That means you will have access to the Aero Interface, the
extra games, and all the extra graphical/gaming/audio support. Your
machine, if purchased within the last 2 years, will either have all of
this or need a small upgrade. If your machine is much older than that,
chances are you will either need some serious upgrades or you will want
to buy a new computer. Make sure you price the upgrades versus the
cost of a new machine. In many cases, a new computer will cost less
than upgrading your current machine. As stated earlier, Microsoft has
provided a nice tool for free to help you make your decision on what
needs upgrading and what edition of Vista you'll want to run... and
we're still going to get to that later. :)
With the hardware side of things out of the way, let's talk about
software. Unlike Windows XP's ability to run older programs, Vista
seems a little more picky. When buying software for Vista, be sure it
says on the box it's supported. If it doesn't state that, be sure to
ask. Many software companies are already providing support for Vista
and some are still developing support. So when upgrading, make sure
that your favorite programs are supported. You can find this
information by going to the software website and doing your own
research or by using Microsoft's tool that will be discussed below.
Many Internet search engines will be helpful here. The Internet is
full of online communities dedicated to helping people with computer
troubles. Using a tool such as google.com, ask.com or yahoo.com to
find these communities will be very helpful to you. Simply go to
your favorite search engine -- google.com, for example -- and type in your
question. Many of the results displayed will have several others'
experiences written up in detail to help you make your decisions.
With that said, let's move on to printers, scanners and other
peripherals. Vista seems to have somewhat limited support out of the
box for these devices, so it's important that you make sure that your
current devices are supported. Many of them will require that you
download new drivers from the manufacturer's website. Internet search
engines such as google.com, ask.com and yahoo.com will be helpful to
you when trying to find new drivers. Simply go to one of these
websites and type in the manufacturer of your device. For example,
let's say you have an HP printer. Go to google.com and type in "HP
printer". The first result will be www.hp.com . Navigate the site to
find your product and possible driver upgrades. If you're buying new
devices for Vista, be sure to check the box and ask a sales rep to see
if the device is supported by Vista. This area seems very gray for
many people. While a lot of brand new printers and scanners will have
support for Vista, almost all devices older than 1 or 2 years will need
an updated driver to operate under Vista. Once again, the online
communities will be extremely helpful here. Many manufacturers provide
their own forum or discussion-board where people can talk about their
products and compatibility issues.
Many people will find themselves needing to buy an entirely new
system. New computers always range greatly in price and
functionality. Although it's often possible to find really good deals,
remember the old adage that you get what you pay for. So while you may
find a really cheap computer, it might be slower, built with
lower-quality components (meaning more spent in repairs in the long
run), or it might be running just the bare minimum to get by in Vista.
Buying a new computer is a lot easier than most people think. Find out
what your needs are using the above information and then start looking
at computers. If you know someone who knows a little bit about
computers, talk with them before you go buy a computer, talk with sales
associates from different stores, and talk with different associates
within the same store. Getting as many different opinions and as much
information as you can will greatly help you determine your needs and
what you are looking to buy. It's always a good idea to have a little
extra money sitting aside when you buy a new computer as many people
will find that they need something else with the new computer. For
example, when buying a printer, many manufacturers don't include a
printer cable or a decent supply of printer ink. In order to use the
printer, you will obviously need these. So it's always a good idea to
tuck a little extra aside just in case.
Now, as promised, let's talk about Microsoft's Upgrade Advisor. This
tool is extremely helpful in telling you what you have and what you
need to do to get each edition of Vista to run on your computer. It
also tells you if any of your programs or extra devices will fail to
run under Vista. Remember, though, this tool will only tell you how the
devices and programs will run under Vista right now. The tool is
unable to see if there are updates for your devices and programs to get
them to run, so before you upgrade, be sure to check with the
manufacturers of your programs and devices to make sure they'll be
Vista-compatible. Also check with sales associates and anyone else
that might know how your computer will react to the upgrade. To get
Microsoft's tool, go to
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/buyorupgrade/upgradeadvisor.mspx
As a last thought, information is your friend. Being an informed
consumer is as important now as it ever has been in the past. With all
the different computers, programs, and devices, getting as much
information as you can is your key to the most pleasant update
experience possible. It could be the difference between spending $200
or $2000 on your upgrade. Talk to your friends and research on the
Internet. Even people who know very little about computers probably
will have heard something about Vista. We cannot stress how important
it is for you to do your own research and talk with as many people as
possible before buying anything for your upgrade. Search engines such
as google.com, yahoo.com and ask.com will help answer all your
questions. If you have a question, just type it in and read through
the results. There is a plethora of online communities dedicated to
computer support. Chances are if you have a question, other people are
asking the same question. And if not, don't be afraid to ask. Doing
your own research can be difficult but you will be far more satisfied
with your upgrade knowing that you bought exactly what you needed or
wanted, and didn't waste any money on features or products you didn't
need.
*** 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
*** Mr Internet ***
Q: I have broadband and I want to connect with more than one computer. Do
I need another DSL or cable modem?
A: No. Connecting multiple computers on a broadband connection such as
Internet Nebraska DSL or Cable is easy to do, and you do not need
another modem. Instead, you need what is known as a broadband router.
Routers are available at most office supply and computer stores for as
little as $40.
These devices give you the ability to connect multiple computers to one
broadband modem. Most routers sold these days also include wireless
functionality, so if you have a wireless enabled device you can use the
Internet nearly anywhere in your home! For questions on routers and
wireless security, feel free to give our friendly help desk a call.