INews Newsletter - Jan 14, 2000
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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 3, Number 1 January 14, 2000
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: Online Auctions
Downtime
Technical Support
Mr. Internet
*** Buying and Selling On-line ***
For many years, the Internet has been used to buy and sell products and
services. Much more recently, however, on-line auctions have become very
popular. Several well established sited like Amazon.com (
http://www.amazon.com ) and Yahoo! ( http://www.yahoo.com ) have added
auctions to their already large number of services.
The big daddy of all Internet auction sites, however, is eBay (
http://www.ebay.com ). As of the time of this writing, eBay has 3,786,404
items up for auction in 2,978 categories. Even though the numbers are
staggering, eBay does a wonderful job of keeping items broken down into
easy to navigate categories and sub-categories. There is also an easy to
use search engine that will allow you to look for an item in all the
listings.
Users must register with ebay before they are allowed to bid, and feedback
is left from buyers and sellers to alert possible future customers of
those who may be dishonest or untrustworthy. There are small charges to
place items on eBay for bidding, and no charges for browsing or bidding.
If you're looking to sell some no longer used items for extra cash, or are
looking for some hard-to-find items, there's a good change that eBay's
where you want to be.
*** 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/
*** Yet Another Downtime ***
Our technicians love being in the office (they call it the dungeon) in the
wee hours of the morning so much that they're insisting we have another
downtime to fix some persistent modem problems. In fact, it's been
several weeks since we've had a scheduled early morning downtime, and our
technicians are beginning to show signs of withdrawal from early morning
work, including clear-headed thinking, non-bloodshot eyes, and an ability
to get up before noon. For their sake, we must remedy this situation
soon.
There will be a several hour maintenance window beginning at 1:00AM
Tuesday, January 18th. During this downtime, the 28.8/33.6 Lincoln modem
pool at (402) 434-8681 will experience intermittent periods of
inaccessibility.
Customers needing to access the Internet during this period should use the
56k modem bank at (402) 437-8251.
*** We're Here to Help ***
The Internet is a great way to stay in touch with friends, do research or
find interesting things to do -- until it stops working, that is. If you
ever have problems with your connection to the Internet, there are a
variety of ways in which we can help.
One way to get help is through Internet Nebraska's web site. Our web site
is at http://www.inebraska.com , and contains several sections useful to
those looking for help or information.
Help Documents ( http://www.inebraska.com/helpdocs.html ) In this section
you can find information on personal web pages, configuring e-mail
programs, current modem drivers, and how to connect using various
operating systems.
Customer Utilities ( http://www.inebraska.com/customer/ ) In this section
of the web site you can change your password, check your usage or account
information, and see how much disk space you're using on the server.
Software ( http://www.inebraska.com/software/ ) This section of the web
site contains Internet software for several different platforms.
Help is available via telephone from our help desk. Our help desk hours
have recently been expanded to serve our customers. Our hours are as
follows:
Monday - Saturday 8 AM to 10 PM
Sunday 10 AM to 6 PM
We have a couple of different help numbers, depending on your location.
Please help us help you by choosing the correct help desk number.
Lincoln (402) 434-8680
Omaha (402) 592-1110
Hastings (402) 463-3426
all other locations (888) 293-3426
Support is also available via e-mail.
All technical support questions should be directed to
manager@inebraska.com. Questions about billing should be e-mailed to
accounts@inebraska.com.
Users needing disks or printed setup instructions can also pick them from
our office in Lincoln at 1719 N Cotner, Ste B. Our office hours are the
same as our tech support hours listed above. Note that for most technical
support problems you'll have to be sitting in front of your computer for
us to be of much help, so stopping by the office for technical support
usually isn't very productive. :)
*** 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
*** Mr. Internet ***
Q: I'm concerned about what my children might find on the Internet. Is
there a way to control what my kids see?
A: As our world in overtaken by technology and advances our society changes
as well. What we see as entertainment even changes and is shaped by the
times. The Internet has become a main source of entertainment for us and
for our children. It's natural that many parents are worried what their
children are viewing on the Internet.
The best way to monitor what your children are doing on the Internet is
the same as for any other entertainment medium-- Spend time on-line with
your kids. A good place to start is Yahoo!'s kids site, Yahooligans
( http://www.yahooligans.com ). Yahooligans is full of links to sites
for children of all ages, including games, homework help, chat, and other
interesting topics.
Here are some other kid safe sites children might find fun or
interesting:
Walt Disney ( http://disney.go.com )
Discovery Kids ( http://www.discoverykids.com )
Pokemon World ( http://www.pokemon.com )
The Official Barbie Doll Page ( http://www.barbie.com )
We understand parents are very busy and don't always have time to sit
down and surf the Internet with their kids. Software is available to
help keep kids out of places on the Internet that they shouldn't be.
Two of the most popular parental control software packages are Cyber
Patrol ( http://www.cyberpatrol.com ) and Net Nanny
( http://www.netnanny.com ). These packages can be purchased on-line
or from your favorite computer store.
The Internet really is a great tool and source of entertainment for
both kids and adults alike. With a little care, parents need not worry
about what their children might find.
*** 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.