MIS Newsletter --IMPORTANT!!!-- January 2003 0. Internet Accelerator Reminder 1. Survey Results 2. Price Reduction/Hour Increase Reminder 3. Steps for Effective Spam Killing 4. In-house Configuration 5. Online Suggestion Box 6. Thanks for Cards and Goodies 7. Contest Winners for December, New Prize for January 8. Helpful Tips When Calling for Help 9. Beginner's Internet Class Options Added -- 0. Internet Accelerator Reminder If you have yet to try Internet Accelerator, you should! Your browsing speed could increase by up to five times! For all the information, see here: http://www.midcoast.com/mis/accelerator/ . Some new things are happening with the Accelerator program. First, new users can try it for free. Here's how; first, sign up for the service. Next, install the software. Then, try out the service. If you don't like it, cancel the accelerator option before the 13th of the month. You will not be billed for the service if you cancel before the 13th. If you do like it (and the overwhelming response has been positive), do nothing and the $5 monthly charge will be added to your bill. Also good news--the people who make the Accelerator system (Venturi) are working on a Mac version! At first we were told they wouldn't be making a Mac version, but the cry of the people showed them the demand for a Mac version. We'll keep you updated as to when a full Mac version is available. Also, the Accelerator system is customizable. You can open the Venturi software, and tweak it. Some people find that email works better for them with Venturi off. Just log into the control panel for the software, and shut that part off. You can adjust the speed by adjusting image quality. Again, it's all there in the options--play around with it, and see what works best for you. For an example of what the screen looks like, see here, and jump to step #7: http://www.midcoast.com/help/custservice/instructions/venturi/ 1. Survey Results Thanks to all of you who responded to our Quality of Service survey last month. We received 719 responses. The average score for connection reliability was 8.06 out of 10, and the average rating for connection speed was 7.26 out of 10. For those customers who are suffering from connection problems, please let us know! You can also check our on-line primer for connection issues here: http://www.midcoast.com/help/connectissue/index.html . Our survey also showed how many people are online WITHOUT anti-virus protection. The $40 or so you spend on Norton Antivirus is some of the cheapest insurance you can buy. If it saves you from just one virus, it's paid for itself. If your computer connects to the Internet, it should have anti-virus software on it. As a way to say thank you for those who responded to the survey, on Decemeber 17th we pulled five names at random from the completed surveys, and each of the five were awarded an MIS Holiday basket. Those winners were: Theresa Simoneau, Patrick Harrington, Phyllis Flemming, Fred Bischoff, and Frank Yahner. 2. Price Reduction/Hour Increase Reminder This is just to remind you that the $30/300 hour plan is no more here at MIS. All $30 plans were changed to the new $20/300 plan. There is now only one basic dial-up plan here at MIS: $20, 300 hours. As a reminder, any hours used over 300 will be billed at $.50/hour. In reality, 300 hours is about 10 hours a day, every day of the month. For all practical purposes, that's unlimited. (In fact, if you check the Acceptable Use Policy of those providers who offer "unlimited," you'll find there are indeed limitations.) Just remember, if you're done with your connection, hang up. That leaves that line open for someone else to use. 3. Steps for Effective Spam Killing It's like a plague, and it's everywhere. And we're not expecting the new legislation to really cut down on spam that much. But there are some things you can do to reduce the amount of spam you receive. a) Make sure you're using the MIS "Spam Assasain" filter to its greatest potential. Use the whitelist. Check the filter's scores of the junk mail, and adjust your threshold accordingly. Once you've got it set, ask us to delete your junkmail for you. (It's a two step process. You must first get the filters set properly. Otherwise, mail might be filtered that you want.) b) Use a Yahoo or Hotmail address when appropriate. Keep your real email address for friends and family. If shopping or posting messages online, then use the other "expendable" address. c) Don't reply to junk mailers. Replying tells the junk mailer that your address is valid, and someone checks it. The amount of junk will actually increase once the junk mailers know your address is valid. 4. Inhouse Configuration Using a local ISP has some distinct advantages. One of those advantages is having real live people who can help with problems. One special thing we do here at MIS is allow you to bring your computer to us. And the first visit to our shop is free! Sometimes, there are problems that just can't be fixed over the phone. You may not have the skill or patience to work out some of the more complicated problems. When something like that occurs, set your mind at ease, and let one of our techs fix the problem for you. In fact, sometimes a connection problem is due to a faulty or low quality modem. MIS even has a policy of replacing modems for free. That's right! MIS will replace a standard PCI modem in Windows desktop machine for free (limit one free modem per year). So if your modem isn't putting out the speed you feel it should, let us take a look at it. If we feel a new modem will help, we'll put one in for free. How many other providers would do that for you? 5. Online Suggestion Box Remember, if you have a suggestion you'd like to share with us, use our suggestion box linked on our home page (http://www.midcoast.com/help/suggestions/). We also have online forms for seasonal lock requests (http://www.midcoast.com/help/custservice/lock/index.html) and an online trouble ticket form (http://www.midcoast.com/help/troubleticket.html). Using the right form for the right item will ensure your request gets to the right people. 6. Thanks for Cards and Goodies All of us here wanted to thank those customers who thought enough of us to send us a Christmas card, or drop of holiday treats for us. It was very much appreciated. 7. Contest Winners for December In our regular monthly drawing for those people who referred new customers to us, Steve Waterman, photographer and jack-of-all-trades, donated a framed print (a $135 value). Walter Lewis of Nobleboro won that. Then, Pat Provost of the Rockland Domino's Pizza donated a second place prize for that raflle: a large two topping pizza. Michael Renquist of South Thomaston won that prize. This month's referral winner will receive a $20 gift certificate to Cafe Miranda (http://cafemiranda.com/). 8. Helpful Tips When Calling for Help When you're calling for help, please make sure you have your username ready. (Your username is what preceeds the @ in your email address.) If it's a billing issue, having your account number ready is helpful as well. If your calling for tech support, make sure you're in front of your computer, and your computer is turned on. If you've been receiving error messages, the wording of those errors is helpful too. 9. Beginner's Internet Class Options Added For years, new MIS customers have been able to take a free beginners Internet class through Rockland Continuing Education. We've expanded the program, and now the same class is available through the 5 Town CSD Adult and Community Ed in the Camden/Rockport area. Now, new users have a choice of where they'd like to take their free class. For info on the free classes in Rockland, call 596-2018. In the Camden area, call 236-7800, extension 274.