July MIS Newsletter - IMPORTANT!!! 0. Technical Updates 1. New Phone Numbers 2. New Wireless Locations 3. Augusta 4. Congratulations JP & Allison 5. Scholarship Winner 6. Referral Contest Updates 0. Technical Updates There are several technical updates to share. Since the last newsletter, we have made several improvements and upgrades in our antispam system. If you receive a large amount of spam, please call one of our offices and discuss the situation. We have many excellent tools and resources to reduce spam. We'll discuss with our customers what is being done with their email now and what could be done using our various server tools. We've made a small change in how our antivirus software on our mailserver works. Previously, when our mailserver stopped a virus it would send a message to the sender saying why the message would not go through. However, times have changed, and most of the viruses have falsified return addresses. Thus it serves no purpose to return them to the alleged sender. We just discard messages containing viruses due to the frequency at which the sender is falsified. The biggest offender is a virus that claims to be from various official sounding addresses at your given domainname (midcoast.com for most of us). It contains a zipfile and is definitely not from MIS. We would not send zipfiles to our customers or use the quality of English which is present in the virus message text. We have also made some changes for new wireless broadband customers. MIS has reduced the setup cost to $99.95 for new wireless broadband installs. The standard external or internal antenna, radio, and broadband router/firewall are owned by MIS. This is a change since equipment has traditionally been customer owned and MIS subsidized. In addition to lower up front cost, we warrant the equipment for as long as the customer is in good standing. This is better than the typical one year warranty on purchased equipment and prevents suprise costs related to lightning or unanticipated equipment problems beyond anyone's control. We also have a reduced fee for seasonal use of our wireless broadband service. Call our office for more details. 1. New Phone Numbers For three years, we've been using Maine's statewide toll-free 1-500 number system. And while everyone appreciates the convenience of using one phone phone number anywhere you go in the state, there are other considerations that have warranted us changing back to the "separate number for each town" approach. These new numbers are up and operating, and we've been switching people over to them for quite a while. But the time when the 1-500 numbers will be disconnected is coming, and now is the time to switch to the new numbers. Important! Midcoast Internet Solutions will not be responsible for any long distance charges incurred when accessing our services. Please be sure to contact your local telephone company to confirm the number you configure in your computer is not a toll call! Make sure the number you use is not long distance! The list of numbers, by town, is located here*: http://jet.midcoast.com:8078/dialup/bytown.php Instructions on how to change the phone number are here: http://www.midcoast.com/2help/windows/changephone.html Of course, if you need assistance or have problems, simply call our office at 563-8563, or 594-8277. *Liberty, Washington, Matinicus Area Users: At this time, there are no new local exchange numbers for you. Continue to use the 1-500 numbers. We'll have numbers available before the 1-500 numbers are phased out. 2. New Wireless Locations MIS has recently added three new Wireless Repeaters. We have launched a 900 MHz repeater in Edgecomb, on Quarry Point Road. This repeater was designed to provide non-line of sight coverage (NLOS) for people who want high speed Internet access via wireless, but have had foliage issues which have prevented them from doing so in the past. This repeater covers the entire Quarry Farm and Quarry Point development, as well as certain parts of Cross Point Road in Edgecomb. MIS has also added a complete site to North Haven. We have both 2.4 GHz & 900 MHz coverage for line of sight (LOS) and non-line of sight (NLOS) coverage. For those wondering where we put the equipment, we have installed it onto the North Haven water tower. If you can see the water tower, or are within 1.5 miles of it, you most likely can receive wireless Internet access from MIS. This serves about 2/3 of North Haven and parts of the north portion of Vinalhaven. There is often extra expense involved in hooking up customers on islands. North Haven will have the same low setup cost as mainland customers. MIS has also installed a 900mhz repeater in the Ash Point area of Owls Head. This provides excellent non-line of sight coverage to that end of the town. Other repeater sites are in the works and we will announce them as they become ready. Platinum wireless service also has more coverage. Additions to the coverage include Rockland from the courthouse and Benner Hill, and downtown Camden. 3. Augusta We've also been working with state representatives and other ISPs in Augusta. Bills 1440 and 789 were proposed to help encourage broadband throughout the state. 789 was created with the assistance of the Maine ISP Association, of which Midcoast Internet Solutions is a member. We also helped Rep. Pingree create 1440. Unfortunately, certain large incumbent companies spread a lot of FUD and were very skillful in their opposition to these excellent proposed bills. Jason Philbrook, president of Midcoast Internet Solutions, also serves on the Governor's ConnectME committee. The committee aims to track and promote broadband Internet coverage and availability throught the state. It also aims to promote better cell phone coverage, but MIS is not involved in that area. 4. Congratulations JP & Allison Congratulations to MIS owner JP and his wife Allison on the birth of their first child, Emma. She was born about 4am Tuesday May 3rd, and weighed 8lbs, 6oz, and mom and baby are doing fine. Pictures are available here: http://f64.nu/gallery 5. Scholarship Winner Matthew Morgan, a senior at Boothbay Region High School, has been selected as the recipient of the 2005 Midcoast Internet Foundation scholarship. Morgan has taken classes in web design, Macromedia Flash and Fireworks, and Javascript, as well AP English. He plans to meld these courses together as he majors in Technology and Communications at Bates College. Fifteen high schools from Brunswick to Augusta to Belfast were asked to submit candidates for the scholarship. Three community leaders from the Rockland Kiwanis Club acted as judges. This is the 6th year of the MIS scholarship. 6. Referral Contest Updates Congratulations, Mr. Dick Cleveland! For the March and April, all people who referred a friend to MIS were entered in a drawing. The winner received a Philips/Magnavox surround sound speaker package. And Mr. Cleveland was selected at random as the winner! He can hook this great kit up to any regular stereo, and be in surround sound heaven. This prize (a $75 value) was donated by 3-Dimensions (www.3-dimensions.com) in Rockland--your source for sight, sound, and technology. For May and June we offered a very unique prize for the referral contest winner. The prize was a 1/2 hour birthday party/small event package from Zabby's Traveling Farm Animals ! How perfect is this for summer! John Turner of South Bristol won this $65 valued prize. The prize is for 1/2 hour, but he cam book more time at his own expense. He can even add pony rides! It doesn't have to be a birthday, and it doesn't have to be for kids. Maybe the animals could add that certain something to his big summer cook-out, or a family reunion! You can check out Zabby's website here: http://zabbystravelingfarmanimals.com/index_files/Page441.htm For the month of July, Candice from Oyster Creek Mushrooms has donated a $25 gift certificate to be used on any of their products found at the Boothbay Harbor, Damariscotta, or Camden Farmer's Markets. Put me down for some shitakes on the grill! Yum! Their website is: http://www.oystercreekmushroom.com -- Thanks for reading our newsletter. We try to pack it full of useful information, as well as highlighting new products and services. Thank you for being a midcoast.com customer!