INews Newsletter - Dec 19, 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 13 December 19, 2000
Welcome to another issue of INews, Internet Nebraska's customer
newsletter. This monthly 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: Modem Changes In Some Cities
Happy Holidays On-line
Graphic Formats
Check Reminder
Mr. Internet
*** Modem Pool Changes in Omaha, Grand Island, and North Platte ***
We're converting all of our modems in Omaha, Grand Island, and North Platte
to more reliable all-digital modems. Although we already offered some
digital modems in these areas, these changes will allow us to offer better
connect speeds, modem bonding, less downtime, and ISDN in areas it wasn't
previously available.
There will be some downtime as the pools are converted, and we'll try to
give customers in each area as much advance notice as possible. The new
equipment supports v.90 only for 56k modems. If you're in Omaha or Grand
Island and are currently using the old x2 standard to connect to our modems
at 56k, we suggest that you upgrade your modem to v.90 as soon as possible
to avoid any problems after the switch. If you are using a v.90 modem more
than a year or so old, we also recommend you check with your modem
manufacturer to see if there are any upgrades available to download for
your modem. This will allow you to connect to our digital modems more
consistently and with better speeds.
The Omaha modem pool is being converted at 1:00 AM, Friday morning December
22nd. Dial-in access will be unavailable in Omaha during the upgrade,
which should last around 2 hours. The other 2 cities should be upgraded
sometime before mid-January, and for those North Platte customers
experiencing busy signals at peak times, this should solve that problem as
well.
We look forward to offering an even higher standard of service in these
locations, and thank you for your patience during these upgrades.
*** 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
*** We Wish You a Merry Non-denominational Holiday Season ***
Kidding about political correctness aside, all of us at Internet Nebraska
wish you a happy and joyous holiday season this year.
To allow our employees to spend time with their families during this
season, Internet Nebraska will be closed on Christmas day, December 25th
and New Year's Day, January 1st. We will also be closing at 4:00PM on
Christmas and New Year's Eve, December 24th and 30th, respectively. To
help keep you busy during those times we won't be around, we've put
together a few sites you might find interesting over the holiday season.
To help keep you busy during those times we won't be around, we've put
together a few sites you might find interesting over the holiday season.
Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, there are tons of
sites on the World Wide Web to help you deal with your uncontrollable
holiday cheer. Here are just a few of our top picks, have fun with these
site, and have a great holiday season.
First up we've got the all around guide to Christmas. If you're looking
for recipes, games, skits, crafts, stories, or great gift ideas, you can
probably find them here. There are also a few prize giveaways this
season. Just point your favorite web browser to:
http://www.christmas.com
Next stop, Hanukkah. This site has Hanukkah letterheads, greetings,
recipes, books, music, and even a complete history on Hanukkah and its
roots. There is also a section dedicated to the Menorah and tells what it
is used for and how to put it to practice correctly. Just put in this
address:
http://www.theholidayspot.com/hanukkah/
Finally, we've got a site for Kwanzaa. If you aren't familiar with
Kwanzaa, it is an African-American holiday meant for African-Americans to
think about their African roots and their life in America. Check out this
site, and be overwhelmed with information on this, one of our newest
holidays.
http://www.globalindex.com/kwanzaa/welcome.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/
*** Lines and Targas and Bitmaps, Oh My! ***
Many Internet Nebraska users have asked about the best way to send and
receive photos through e-mail. Generally the GIF and JPG file formats are
the best because they are much smaller than many other file formats, such
BMP. The following is some general information on image file formats and
compression, so you can make the best choice for your imaging needs.
There are two types of computer graphics, Vector and Bitmap. The
difference is very significant.
Vector images exist as mathematically defined lines and curves. They are
resolution independent -- scaling won't affect image quality. Files made
by CAD (Computer Aided Design) programs, True Type fonts, and many types
of clip-art are common examples of vector images.
Bitmap (or raster) images are made of tiny squares of different colors,
known as pixels.. When a bitmap picture is resized, the image can become
blocky (this effect is known as pixellation.)
Because computer screens and printouts are made up of a grid of pixels,
both vector and bitmap images are displayed as bitmaps on screens and on
paper. Bitmaps are shown directly, whereas vector images are converted so
that they look their best at whatever resolution you're using.
There are as many different ways of storing graphics images as there are
fish in the ocean. Luckily, computer software companies have standardized
on a handful of formats that meet most graphic needs.
PCX and BMP are bit-mapped file formats often created by PC paint programs
and screen capture programs. BMP is Microsoft's default format for desktop
backgrounds. These formats are large because they don't use any sort of
image compression, and aren't very suitable for sending over the Internet.
GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) is a bit-mapped file format originally
established by Compuserve. GIF files contain a maximum of 256 colors, and
use a loss-less compression scheme. The image after decoding from GIF
format is exactly the same as it was before it was compressed to GIF
format. The GIF format also allows you to tag certain parts of a GIF file
as transparent, so that it can fit in with any background. GIF files are
small and work well for sending cartoons, drawings, and other
non-complicated images online.
JPG (also JPEG, for Joint Photographic Experts Group) is a specially
compressed bitmap graphics file that uses a "lossy" compression scheme.
JPG images are compressed in such a way that some of the image is lost,
although when a JPEG image is correctly made, the parts of the image that
are lost are parts that likely wouldn't have been seen anyway. (Such as
minute variations in the shade of a color.) Even with this lossy
compression, JPG images will often look better than GIF images because JPG
images can store 24 bit color (16.7 million colors), whereas GIF images
only store 256 colors. JPG files are also small and work well for sending
photographs online.
TIF (or TIFF, for Tagged Image File Format) files are usually created by
scanners or image-processing programs. TIFF files are bitmaps and can
contain 24bit color are are usually uncompressed, making them very large.
TIF files are usually not appropriate for sending over the Internet, but
are used when absolute image quality is a must.
The TGA (Truevision Targa Graphics Adaptor) format is a bit-mapped image
file format that supports 24 bit color, color maps, alpha channels,
compression, and comments. TGA files used to be common, but finding a
graphic in TGA format is almost a rarity these days.
PNG (Portable Network Graphic) is a relatively new format that more and
more web sites and browsers are beginning to support. PNG is a bit-mapped
format that offers 24 bit indexed color, lossless compression, built-in
gamma, alpha-channel transparency, and two-dimensional interlacing. It may
be the format of choice on websites in the not-to-distant future.
The only vector format in wide-spread use general graphic use is WMF
(Windows MetaFile). It is used by Windows and many Windows programs for
scalable graphics, such as clip-art.
*** How to Check Your Check ***
Internet Nebraska takes many forms of payment, including checks, Visa,
Master Card, Discover, EFT, and we even take cash. The majority of
IN customers pay by check each month, and it's checks that cause the majority
of payment problems for IN and our customers.
To help us process your check quickly and most importantly correctly, please
follow the following instructions when sending payment by check.
1) Make sure the amount is clearly indicated on the check in both numeric
form and written out.
2) Make sure your username or e-mail address is clearly written on the
check. Almost all cases of non-credited or mis-credited payments are
caused by customers not having their account name written on their check.
3) For fastest processing, please send your check to:
Internet Nebraska
PO Box 5301
Lincoln, NE 68505
Processing may be delayed significantly for checks sent to other addresses
or dropped off with Internet Nebraska agents in some cities.
For your convenience, you may want to switch to payment by electronic funds
transfer, or EFT. With EFT, funds are taken directly from your checking
account at each renewal cycle so you no longer need to take the time to
send in a check every month. You're completely in control and can discontinue
the use of EFT at any time. To sign up for EFT, please print out, complete,
and send in the direct payment form, located at
http://www.inebraska.com/eft.html .
*** Mr. Internet ***
Q: I had a hard time sending and and receiving e-mail last week. What
was going on?
A: Last week our mail server was inundated with unsolicited commercial
mass e-mail, also known as spam. Internet Nebraska's mail server is
designed for and capable of processing hundreds of thousands of e-mails
a day. One day last week our server received more than 2.1 million
spam e-mail from once source alone! Once we found out where it was
coming from, it was easy to stop, but our mail server suffered in the
meantime.
To help keep this problem from happening again, we have a new mail server
on order, hopefully to be installed before the end of the year. We're
also looking into the installation of automated spam-blocking programs
both the keep the server happy, and to keep the unwanted spam out of
your mailbox.
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.
*** 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.