Cruzio Newsletter - Number 95, July 18, 2006
1. Free Beginners' Classes in August
2. Bring In Your Computer; We'll Tune It Up
3. Free Lunch and Workshop for Web Consultants This Thursday
4. Mergers, Monopolies and the Internet
5. Our New Signup Form
6. Low DSL Prices Available to All Cruzio Customers
7. Buddy Bucks
8. Late Fees Waived if You Help Us Feed the Hungry
9. Moving?
10. About This Newsletter
11. How to Reach Cruzio (Dial-in or Tech Support)
1. Free Beginners' Classes in August
"Intro to Computers and the Internet"
Tuesday, August 8th and Thursday, August 10th
Cruzio's downtown Watsonville Store,
23 E. Beach St., Plaza Vigil
If you're reading this, you probably know enough about computers
to read email comfortably (we hope you are comfortable!). But you
may know someone who's still intimidated by basic computer concepts.
Cruzio provides help: beginners' workshops taught by our personable
Watsonville Store Manager Gershom.
At the first class, we'll practice keyboarding and moving around the
computer, creating and saving files. At the next class, we'll be doing
searches on the Internet and sending email. We'll provide lots of great
tips on avoiding spam and viruses, and questions are welcome.
These classes are given in both English and Spanish. No registration
is necessary, but please give us a call to let us know if you plan to
attend. For details, see
http://events.cruzio.com
or call our Watsonville office at 831 722-6200.
And please, don't forget that you can drop in to our Watsonville
store any Wednesday afternoon between 3 and 6 pm for a free workshop.
As a bonus, attendees receive 2.5 hours of free computer rental
time!
2. Bring In Your Computer; We'll Tune It Up
Cruzio's support technicians tune up dozens of sluggish machines a
month, and we have room for more. If your computer has been acting
overloaded, or if you're getting excessive popups or weird windows that
you can't erase, call Cruzio and set up a free 15-minute diagnostic.
Our tech staff will make an honest assessment of your computer's problems
and needs. If the computer requires repair, we can usually do it right in
our Santa Cruz shop within a couple of days.
There's nothing like a good scrub to get your computer working like new
again, saving you time and frustration. For information:
http://www.cruzio.com/services/tech_services/
3. Free Lunch and Workshop for Web Consultants This Thursday
Thursday July 20, 12 - 1:30 PM
903 Pacific Ave. Suite 101, Downtown Santa Cruz
Over the past year Cruzio has been working behind the scenes to
improve our Web & Domain Hosting services. Cruzio would like to
invite Web development and design consultants to attend our quarterly
consultants' luncheon this Thursday, July 20. Cruzio's Chief Technology
Officer, Chris Neklason, will present Cruzio's new Web & Domain
hosting services.
At the lunch you will learn about the latest addons, restructured
pricing, and tools that will benefit both you and your customers.
We will give you a head start on the features that your customers
will love. As usual, we hope to get your feedback and suggestions in
our continued effort to improve the Cruzio experience.
Please register online at http://events.cruzio.com
4. Mergers, Monopolies and the Internet
Last week, a federal judge announced he will review the mergers
of AT&T with SBC and Verizon with MCI approved by the US Justice
Department last year, saying he has "doubts" about whether
the companies have met anti-trust requirements.
Judge Sullivan asked the Justice Department to explain:
"Through the eyes of a layperson, the mergers, in and of
themselves, appear to be against public interest given the
apparent loss in competition. In layperson's terms, why
isn't that the case?"
One item being reviewed may particularly interest Cruzio members:
as part of the mergers, the telephone companies were required to
offer what's known as "dry DSL" or "naked DSL" -- DSL without
telephone service.
The telcos have recently made it available, but are charging as much
for dry DSL as they do for DSL and telephone service together. They
aren't wholesaling it to ISPs like Cruzio, AOL or Earthlink at all.
Cruzio had looked forward to providing people with dry DSL, so that
members could drop their land-line phone service if they chose but
still maintain a DSL Internet connection. We are disappointed by this
name-only implementation of an already toothless agreement. There has
been little or no effort to enforce even this most minimal of
conditions for the merger. Judge Sullivan's action offers a glimmer
of hope.
If you are interested, a fuller report can be found at:
http://www.benton.org/index.php?q=node/2920
5. Our New Signup Form
Since you are reading this newsletter, you may not need to sign up
for a Cruzio account. But if you signed up more than a few months
ago, you may not have seen our new signup form, created by talented
Cruzio Webmasters Julianne and Chris. It is so gorgeous and works
so well, we just can't help mention it.
It's worth helping a friend sign up for Cruzio service, just to see
how easy this form is. And if you need some additional service --
like Web hosting, say, or an extra Cruzio mailbox for Grandpa -- you
get to use the form too! Ahhh.
//signup.cruzio.com
6. Low DSL Prices Available to All Cruzio Customers
Yet another reminder that during our current special, all Cruzio DSL
customers are eligible for our low sale price. Just commit to a new
12-month term and you'll pay the same low price as a new customer.
Visit
http://www.cruzio.com/services/highspeed_access/
for more information, and
//signup.cruzio.com/dsl_sale.html
to sign up for a new term, or to extend your current term.
7. Buddy Bucks
Recommend us to friends, family, colleagues: if a new customer
gives us your email address, registration number, or full name when
they sign up you'll get $10 credit to your account. If two friends
sign up, $20. Three friends, $30. It just goes on and on.
8. Late Fees Waived if You Help Us Feed the Hungry
If you're late on a payment to Cruzio, turn it into a donation
to hungry folks in our community. We will waive your late
fee if you bring 3 cans into our office for our Second Harvest
Food Bank barrel. Learn more about this charity at
http://www.thefoodbank.org
9. Moving?
If you're moving your home or office, please contact Cruzio.
We're here to help the Internet portion of your move go smoothly.
It's best to let us know several weeks ahead of time, especially
if you have DSL or if you're canceling a phone line. We can often
save you from an interruption in Internet service and prevent
costly fees -- but you've got to let us know. For more information,
please see
http://www.cruzio.com/services/highspeed_access/move_dsl.html
10. 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.
By the way, we would love to have a regular, predictable schedule
for this newsletter...but we simply do not send it unless there is real
news enclosed. Thus the haphazard datelines.
11. 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).
Dialup (in Santa Cruz County): 459-9408
Nationwide Dialup: Look up local number on our Web page:
http://www.cruzio.com/support/dialup_isdn/nationwide_numbers.html
or call Cruzio toll free, 1.800.303.3302
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.
722-6200 .......... Cruzio's number in Watsonville.
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 locations:
Santa Cruz: 903 Pacific Avenue, Suite 101, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Watsonville: Plaza Vigil, 23 E. Beach Street, Suite 105,
Watsonville, CA 95076
Cruzio's hours:
Sales hours: 10am - 6pm, Monday through Friday; 10am - 2pm Saturday
Technical support: 8am to 6pm, Mon to Fri, 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, Julianne, Kathy, Mark, Stephen, Paul, Gershom,
Jessi, Michael, Maria, James, Juana, Krissie, Nikkie, Mike,
Don, Bruce, Edgar, Brian, Westi, Andrew, Jaime, another Chris,
yet another Chris, and Reema;
Jake, Annika, and Carly (the kids)
Jake weighs in on the prospect of a hike through the mountains:
"Yes, views are nice. But why would anyone want to walk uphill for
six hours just to see some views?"
