Cruzio Newsletter - Number 2, November 23, 1995 Table of Contents 1. About this newsletter 2. 28.8 lines busy! Getting more lines. 3. New, low rate for combo accounts 4. Extra POP mailboxes available from Cruzio December 1 5. Domain name service available from Cruzio December 1 6. Help available: Web and computer consultants 7. Cruzio Gift certificates for that hard-to-please friend 8. System downtime -- Sunday mornings before 8am 9. ISP joke 1. About this Newsletter Cruzio doesn't like to waste bandwidth with extra email, but we sometimes have events and announcements that users need to know about. This seems like the most efficient way to let people know what's happening. Hope it's helpful. Please email support@cruzio.com with any comments or questions. 2. 28.8 lines busy! Getting more lines. The 28.8 hunt group has become very overloaded at times, and we want to explain what's behind those busy signals and what we are doing to improve the situation. Unfortunately, our building has run out of phone lines. In order to add more lines (we have about 130 already) we have had to order cables brought through the roof of the building, a major project. The project has been ongoing for two and a half months, and should be finished November 30. We are having 600 lines cabled in,so the frustrations with connections to Cruzio will be fixed for quite some time. It's hard to avoid busy signals in peak times completely, but we strive to keep them at a minimum. We appreciate users letting us know when they are getting more than 3-4 minutes of busy signals. In the meantime, when the 28.8 lines are busy, try dialing in at 14.4 kbps. The 14.4 number is 459-6200. Please note that it helps other Cruzio users during these frustrating times if you "close" or "disconnect" when you are not actively using your connection for more than a few minutes. 3. New, low rate for combo accounts We think our "combo" accounts have been underused, so we are lowering the fee from $81.00 per quarter to $75.00 per quarter. That's just $25 per month for an account that combines a BBS account with a PPP account. A clearer definition: The BBS account is text-based and has a full set of Internet software pre-installed and configured on our system. It can be accessed from just about any computer, using any operating system. A PPP, or graphical, account has the advantage of flexibility -- you can install the software you like -- and software that uses the point-and-click and graphical capability of your system. The PPP is our most popular type of access account. Combining the two accounts allows you extra access to the Internet without extra fuss. This rate change means that anyone currently paying $81 a quarter for a combo account will be getting a credit for the difference ... Happy Holidays! Note: To find out more about getting a "combo" account, just send email to office@cruzio.com. 4. Extra POP mailboxes available from Cruzio December 1 In response to popular demand, Cruzio will be offering extra mailboxes to PPP users starting December first. This will help people who share a Cruzio Internet account but would rather not share email. The charge is $5 per month per extra mailbox, charged quarterly. There is a $10 one-time setup fee. Note: To find out more about getting an extra mailbox, just send email to office@cruzio.com. 5. Custom domain name service available from Cruzio December 1 For those customers who would like to be "yourname@yourdomain.com" rather than "yourname@cruzio.com", Domain Name service will be available from Cruzio as of December first. When you have a custom domain name, you can have a "virtual" domain on the Net. Your web page can have the URL of "www.yourdomain.com" and your email can go to "yourname@yourdomain.com". Custom domain names require a one-time payment to Cruzio of $50.00, and a payment of $100.00 to the InterNIC to cover 2 years of registration fees. Fees to the InterNIC are $50.00 per year after that. There's no ongoing fee to Cruzio. Note: To find out more about getting a custom domain, just send email to office@cruzio.com. 6. Help available: Web and computer consultants If you are looking for someone to help with a Web page, or for someone to come to your house to help straighten out your computer, check the Consultant's page. The address, in Netscape, Mosaic, Lynx, or any other web browser, is http://www.cruzio.com/consultants If you would like to be added to this listing, please fill out the form at the bottom of that page. We will perform a quick test of your information and put you on. Note that Cruzio is providing the information as a service to our users, and others in the community, who often ask us for consultant information. We don't endorse or guarantee the work of the consultants on the page. 7. Cruzio gift certificates for that hard-to-please friend Cruzio is offering gift certificates for those who'd like to give connections or Internet time to their friends or family. This is in response to popular demand -- lots of grandmothers have been asking. Again, contact office@cruzio.com for more info. 8. System downtime -- Sunday mornings before 8am Just a reminder that Cruzio has a weekly downtime to do system maintenance, early Sunday mornings. We are normally down from about 4 am to 6 am, but sometimes take up to 8 am to finish our work. 9. ISP joke We made up a joke in our office that perhaps some customers will enjoy. Q: How many Internet Service Providers does it take to screw in a lightbulb? A: It's light over here, the problem must be on your end! Thanks, and Happy Thanksgiving, --The Cruzio Family: Chris, Peggy, Deana, John, Judy, JJ, Jake and of course Annika, the Cruzio Baby
