Cruzio/The Internet Store Newsletter - Number 45, April 17, 2001
1. Not for techies only!
2. Cruzio's 12th anniversary -- you're invited to a party!
3. If we could tell you just one thing...
4. Please come! Thurs, April 19th "Basic Computer Troubleshooting"
5. Cruzio members win awards
6. 6 million hits!
7. DSL news
8. Pay your Cruzio bill online
9. How to reach Cruzio (dial-in or tech support)
1. Not for techies only!
This newsletter is not for techies only. Just about everyone should
understand what we're writing -- or we're not doing our job. Please, if
you ever find we're aiming things over your head, or off to the geeky
side, let us know. You can always e-mail office@cruzio.com with any
corrections, suggestions, or ideas. Many thanks from the Editor.
2. Cruzio's 12th anniversary -- you're invited to a party!
It's Cruzio's 12th birthday!!
And, we are having a PARTY!
Why?: Because we want to thank you for choosing Cruzio as Best
Local Internet Service Provider AND Best Local Web Site for SIX
years running!!
When: Thursday, April 26th from 3-6pm
Where: At our downtown Santa Cruz location at 903 Pacific Ave.
What: Cake, of course, with our wonderful staff and birthday fun! You
might even win a doorprize! It's FREE of charge. Call 459-6301 for more
information.
As a party theme, we'd like to recognize the customers who've been
with us for more than 5 years and ask you to write us a short letter.
Do you remember Cruzio in the olden days? How have you and the Internet
changed? We'll publish our results, so please give a pseudonym if you
don't want us to use your real name. If you send in a story, we'll enter
you in our April 26th prize drawing. Please e-mail letters to
office@cruzio.com.
3. If we could tell you just one thing...
If we could show Cruzio members just one thing, it would be your
Cruzio Control Panel. Every Cruzio member has an account Control
Panel, accessed by Web browser, where you can easily add mailboxes
(remember, just about every Cruzio account comes with 6 mailboxes),
delete mailboxes, set up vacation e-mail, all sort of things.
How do you get there? Just go to the Cruzio Support page at
http://www.cruzio.com/support
and type your login and password in the fields at the top of the page.
You'll be taken straight to your Control Panel. If you have any trouble,
read the help screens, or call Cruzio tech support at 459-6301.
4. Please come! Thurs, April 19th "Basic Computer Troubleshooting"
Cruzio will be hosting a business brown bag on Basic Computer
Troubleshooting on Thursday, April 19th from 6:30-8pm at our
downtown Santa Cruz location, 903 Pacific Avenue. The event,
co-sponsored by Grey Wolf Computer Systems, will give an overview
of basic troubleshooting tips for both Mac and Windows. Learn what
you can do yourself, when to take it into a professional, or call
technical support. Seating is limited, so please register at
http://www.cruzio.com/support/business/brownbags.html
or call Cruzio, 459-6301.
This is an evening event and no meals will be served. There will
be free refreshments.
5. Cruzio members win awards
This latest comment came from alert reader Howard "Boots" McGhee:
"To let you'all know, the Surfrider Santa Cruz web site
http://www.surfridersantacruz.org
was given the bronze in the Metro goldies, and The Sentinel
chose my site
http://www.bootsite.net
as Website of the week for the week of March 5th. You host
these and probably many of the winners sites. Thank you Cruzio!"
Boots also mentioned that Paradise Surf Shop, who doesn't seem to have
a Website yet but does have Cruzio e-mail, won the Metro Silver
award for Best Surf Shop. Congratulations! If you're a Cruzio customer and
you've won a major award, please let us know. We're proud of you and we'll
list you in the newsletter. Just send e-mail to office@cruzio.com.
6. 6 million hits!
If you look at the very bottom of Cruzio's home page
http://www.cruzio.com
you'll see a number that just keeps shooting up. It's counting
how many hits the home page gets per day. We just passed 6 million
hits! Our home page consistently gets about 6,000 hits per day. To
understand how fast it's going, www.cruzio.com reached 5 million hits
in October 2000.
Why is that good for our customers? First, it's a great local page
for people who live in Santa Cruz County. Second, it shows the
possibilities for your local page -- there are lots of Web surfers out
there in Santa Cruz County (and Cruzio's servers can handle a popular
page). Third, you get free listings in links off Cruzio's home page so
some of our traffic can be directed to you. If you set up a local Web
store, you can be listed in the Web Mall, at the bottom of Cruzio's home
page. You can put your personal page in a listing under Member Personal
Pages. You can put your business page under Member Professional Pages.
All these services are free of charge to Cruzio customers, and some are
open to anyone in the community.
7. DSL news
Cruzio supplies the Internet service for our DSL (high-speed
Internet) customers, but the telephone company supplies the data line.
Terms for line installation have recently changed and now a "self-install",
where you receive equipment and hook it up yourself, are much more
reasonable than having a phone company technician come out and do
the installation for you. Cruzio is recommending self installs to
all new DSL customers. The price difference:
Phone company installation, equipment and setup total: $453
Self install with equipment purchase: $198
Self install when you own the equipment already: $0
We think the last two options are a very good value. DSL installations
are going very smoothly and quickly these days, generally just a few
weeks from order to installation.
If you are a computer consultant who's experienced and knowledgeable
with installing DSL equipment, there are probably people looking for
lower-priced solutions. Help your neighbors fight the inflated prices,
and make a few bucks too! When you put a listing on Cruzio's consultants'
page, be sure to mention that you do DSL installations. Computer
consultants can be found at
http://www.cruzio.com/consultants
8. Pay your Cruzio bill online
Did you know you could pay your Cruzio bill online? Yes. You can.
Just go to your Cruzio Control Panel on the Web. You can look up
your Cruzio balance due and pay by credit card. Pay any time of night
or day and rest easy for three more months.
By the way, if you wish to have your credit card billed automatically
every month, you can sign up for that on the Control Panel, too. Very
handy.
9. How to reach Cruzio (dial-in or tech support)
To reach the Cruzio Information Center, for online technical and
sales information:
http://www.cruzio.com/support
To dial in to Cruzio, set your software to dial one of the numbers
below (note: we've expanded and joined modem pools, so you may be
using another number. If so, don't worry, it still works just fine).
56k: 459-9408
33.6 kbps and under: 459-6230
To call Cruzio:
459-6301............Use this number to check Cruzio's system status,
pay your Cruzio bill, find out more about our hours and location,
or to reach someone in customer service and technical support.
To send email to Cruzio, use one of these addresses:
support@cruzio.com ......for technical support
office@cruzio.com .......for billing and ordering information
Cruzio's location:
903 Pacific Avenue, Suite 101, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Cruzio's hours:
Sales hours: 10am-6pm, Monday through Friday; 10 am - 2 pm Saturday
Technical support: 10-6 pm, Monday through Friday, 10am - 2pm Saturday
System monitoring, including customer-alerted emergencies, 24 hours
per day, 365 days per year (leap years, 366 days)
Thanks very much from Cruzio:
Chris, Peggy, John, Julianne, Patton, Kathy, Mark, Martin,
Georgette, Pedro, Tapati, Hilary, Brittany, Alec, Rachael, Barbara,
Priya, Stephen, Paul, Tim, Gershom, Kelly, Allyson, Laura,
another Chris, Jessi, and Michelle (the grownups); Jake,
Annika, and Carly (the kids)
We're about to get into the car for a long trip.
Daddy: "Carly, would you please go to the bathroom?"
Carly, age 3: "I already went this year, so I don't have to go again."
