Cruzio Newsletter - Number 10, October 28, 1997
Table of Contents
1. Batten Down The Hatches
2. Wet Weather = Modem & Phone Problems
3. Are you using a BBS account?
4. No More Anonymous FTP or Email Pass-through, thanks to hackers
5. Computer and Internet Classes
6. Wednesday Evening and Saturday Morning Chat
7. About this Newsletter
8. How to reach Cruzio (dial-in or tech support).
1. Batten Down The Hatches
The rainy season is coming, and with it the problem of losing electrical
power during a storm. Cruzio is preparing by beefing up our UPS
(Uninterrupted Power Supply) capacity and aquiring a large generator
for those longer outages.
Please remember that computers don't like sudden power surges,
dropouts or outages. To make sure your computer investment enjoys
a long life, make sure to get power surge protectors and small
UPSes for your systems at work and home. The good folks at
Santa Cruz Electronics (479-5444) or Guenther's Computers (458-9404)
can set you up with a good UPS, call ahead to make sure they have
some in stock.
2. Wet Weather = Modem & Phone Problems
Another common occurrence during the rainy season is for the telephone
wires coming into your house to get good and wet. In most houses and
businesses, this isn't usually a problem.
However, it can be a factor causing slower connection speeds and dropped
connections. If you notice poor modem connections during or after a rain
storm, you might visually inspect the point where the phone wires from
the telephone pole connect to the terminal box on the side of your house.
It might be stuffed with plant debris, spider webs, etc. blown in over
the ages. You can carefully sweep out any debris you might find in the
terminal box. Another quick check is to pick up the phone and call
the recorded time lady at 767-1111. While the voice is rattling
off the time, listen to the connection. Is there popping or static?
If you have a "dirty" line with static or popping, or ghost voices
from telephone conversations next door, etc, call telephone company
repair at 611 and make sure to tell them the symptoms you've observed.
3. Are you using a BBS account?
When Cruzio started up in 1988-1989, we wrote our own software to run
on a 386 computer. It was (at the time) state-of-the-art software,
performing non-graphical Internet functions. We called it a "BBS" system.
Over the years, the BBS functions have been overtaken by PPP functions,
which are graphical and far more popular. Our BBS system is out of
date and would take a huge investment to update for newer hardware.
We simply don't have enough BBS accounts to justify the expense, so we
are discontinuing the service. All BBS customers were notified of this
over a month ago, and provisions have been made to assist their transition.
However, please note that if you were upgraded from a BBS account and
have continued to use the old account (sometimes we forget
to turn BBS access off), your BBS access will definitely, completely and
finally disappear on November 15, 1997.
4. No More Anonymous FTP or Email Pass-through, thanks to hackers
We discovered that our anonymous FTP server had been commandeered by
hackers*, using it to distribute ill-gotten software. Because there is no
way to prevent abuse of anonymous FTP servers, we had no choice but
to disable anonymous FTP upload services at ftp.cruzio.com. Downloading
of software archives is still available.
Also, Cruzio found that spammers* were taking advantage of our open
SMTP server. That is, we used to have a mail server through which anyone,
even people not logged in through Cruzio, could send outgoing mail.
A lot of mail servers used to be set up that way. However, this is one
of the main ways Internet spam email is sent -- the spammer is attempting
to hide his/her true identity and to use a service for free. Often, the
spammer will paralyze a mail server by sending millions of spam messages
per hour. No legitimate mail goes through. To prevent this, Cruzio will
no longer support email relaying.
Both Anonymous FTP and Email Pass-Through were used by a very small number
of Cruzio users. However, they were handy in certain cases and we are
sorry to have to lose them. Needless to say, we feel it's a shame that
spammers and hackers are spoiling the open nature of the Internet.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
* hackers: those who crack security schemes protecting computers or
software.
* spammers: those who send junk mail or post inappropriate ads via
the Internet
5. Computer and Internet Classes - Gift Certificates
Our new computer and Internet class series are a hit. With
the economy moving online, more and more people are seeing
Internet experience as a valuable employment asset. Gift
certificates are available, the classes are a nice gift for the
holidays (as is a custom-built web page!)
Check out the classes web page at http://www.cruzio.com/classes
to see our complete catalog of individual classes in the
Using the Internet, Publishing on the Internet, and Webmaster
series.
Schools, businesses or government agencies looking for an easy
way to prepare their people to use the Internet will want to
contact us for special all day intensives or for group discounts
in regular classes.
6. Wednesday Evening and Saturday Morning Chat
Don't forget the regular weekly chat sessions on irc.cruzio.com
every Wednesday at 8:00 PM and Saturday at noon. Check out
http://www.cruzio.com/chat for more information.
7. 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.
8. 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).
33.6 kbps or 28.8 kbps modems: 459-6230
14.4 kbps modems: 459-6200
To call Cruzio, use one of these numbers:
423-1162.................Our main number, to leave a message
423-7529.................Our status line, check on system problems
459-6301.................Our "human line", from 12-6 Monday through
Friday. Talk to a human being.
To send email to Cruzio, use one of these addresses:
support@cruzio.com.......for technical support
office@cruzio.com........for billing and ordering information
webmaster@cruzio.com.....for questions about Cruzio's World Wide
Web service
Thanks very much from Cruzio:
Chris, Peggy, John, Deana, Judy, Julianne, PK, Gloria,
Holly, Alex, Kathy, Mark, Jorge, Martin, Georgette, Jay
and Tapati (the grownups); Jake and Annika (the kids)
and Carolyn Rose (the baby)
