Cruzio Newsletter - Number 17, September 8, 1998
1. ISDN available now: no extra charge
2. Try an iMac -- new, for rent, at Cruzio
3. Hands-on computer classes, starting this month
4. Check out the MAPS of Santa Cruz
5. Vacation email service (free)
6. Cruzio T-shirts for existing customers are $5
7. Switching to server-assigned addresses
8. New phone system: especially, NEW main number for Cruzio
9. Romance?
10. Suggestions box at http://www.cruzio.com/suggest.html
11. Geekspeak Radio
12. About This Newsletter
13. How to Reach Cruzio (dial-in or tech support)
1. ISDN available now: no extra charge
Cruzio is happy to announce that our single channel ISDN service is
available now. ISDN is a type of Internet access which is considerably
faster than most regular phone-line speeds. It requires a digital
line to your home or place of work. We offer it as a part of our
regular ($57/quarter) accounts for NO EXTRA CHARGE. Currently we are
supporting a limited variety of equipment.
Please be aware that ordering ISDN from the phone company and getting
it installed can take a few weeks. The phone company ISDN service has
both a monthly charge and an installation fee. Read our web page (below)
first: Cruzio provides instructions to help you place the order.
Please check the following web page for details on how to upgrade to ISDN:
http://www.cruzio.com/support/isdn.html
2. Try an iMac -- new, for rent, at Cruzio
Try an iMac! Three new iMacs have joined the Pentium PC's and other Apple
computers in our lab. They are available for rental and will be used
in hands-on workshops and classes. So if you'd like to see what all the
hype is about, come on down. It's $4 for a half-hour rental. They are
cute and they are fast.
Details about computer rental in general: Cruzio rents machines on
a dual T1 (3 megabits per second!) connection to the Internet at
$4/half hour (half-hour minimum, no per-minute rates). If you're
accustomed to a 28.8k or even 56k connection you may be blown away.
Our office is in downtown Santa Cruz, across from the bus station.
3. Hands-on computer classes, starting this month
Cruzio has re-vamped all our classes to offer much more hands-on
instruction. For example, an instructor will stand by as you try
out your new-found knowledge in "Using the Internet", our beginner-
to-intermediate series. Learn about search engines, email programs,
and cut through the technical jargon to get at the heart of what is
happening on the Internet.
We are also offering our very popular series "Publishing on the Web",
for those who want to design their own web pages. We will be offering
the "Webmaster" series, for advanced students, again in November. It's
the only local opportunity to learn some of the cutting-edge techniques
in the field of web design.
$5 discount per class to those with Cruzio Internet accounts!
Also, for those who are new to computers or the Internet, Cruzio holds
workshops once every two weeks in a question-and-answer format.
An experienced (and patient) staff person will address topics
that concern beginners. The workshop cost is $15 for an hour-long
session -- enrollment limited.
Please call 459-6301 if you are interested in workshops or classes.
Both are occasionally cancelled if enrollment is low, so please let
us know when you are interested.
4. Check out the MAPS of Santa Cruz
Here is a cool new feature you may have noticed on our home page
(http://www.cruzio.com). Local maps! We have set up a GIS system that
lets you zoom in and out of Santa Cruz County, showing local features
and demographic information along the way. Fascinating. We plan to
expand this feature to include more information. Please tell us what
you think -- comments should go in the suggestion box at
http://www.cruzio.com/suggest.html
5. Vacation email service (free)
Please remember that most Cruzio customers can set up "vacation email"
for your Cruzio email account. It's easy to do and free of charge.
Vacation email saves the received email into your mailbox (as usual),
but also sends out a reply with a message of your choosing -- usually
that you are gone and will answer when you return. This and other
features (and we are always working on more) are available through:
http://www.cruzio.com/support/checkacct.html
6. Cruzio T-shirts for existing customers are $5
We've had a lot of requests for t-shirts from our existing customers
(t-shirts are currently free to new customers). There's some sort
of geeky cachet to wearing high-tech t-shirts, apparently. And you
can't beat the kitty (logo), by local cartoonist Nina Paley, or the
price. We're selling the shirts to existing customers at our cost,
$5 per shirt. Men's and Womyn's styles, sizes Small to X-large.
7. Switching to server-assigned addresses
Changes in the way Cruzio accesses the greater Internet -- which have
brought much better, speedier service to our customers -- require that
we switch some customers over to server-assigned "IP" addresses. If
you signed up since February 1998, or if you are using 56k or ISDN
speeds, you're already set. If not, we may be contacting you sometime
in the next few months to make some simple, painless changes to your
settings. If you'd like to get a jump on things and see if your account
needs to be upgraded, go to the following web page for more information
and to upgrade your account:
http://www.cruzio.com/support/switchover.html
If your network login begins with an "x", you've already made the switch.
No need to do more -- congratulations!
8. New phone system: especially, NEW main number for Cruzio
ATTENTION: (831) 459-6301 is now Cruzio's main number
We've made another big investment in our phone system and this time
it's a great leap ahead. We've doubled the the capacity for calls to
customer service and tech support. In fact, our main number now has a
whole range of options that you can choose from. Please be sure to
listen to the whole message before making your choice. (And don't worry
about missing an option, the menu can be repeated.)
During busy times, you might reach our voicemail system instead of a
human. Please leave us a message, and during busines hours (12pm-6pm
Mon-Fri; 10am-2pm on Saturday), we'll call you back shortly, usually
within an hour.
For those of you who are used to calling our status line at 423-7529,
that number is retired. You should call our main number: 459-6301 instead.
There is an option to check system status from the main menu. If you
suspect a system-wide problem, that is a useful option.
10. Romance?
Cruzio and the Santa Cruz Metro are co-sponsoring a free Singles event
called "Love and the Net". We're holding it on Wednesday, Sept. 30
from 6 to 8pm at Cruzio headquarters (903 Pacific Avenue in downtown
Santa Cruz, across from the Metro Center). Included will be an
Internet Treasure Hunt, hors d'oeuvres, raffle prizes (including Cruzio
t-shirts and discounted service) and fun.
11. Suggestions box at http://www.cruzio.com/suggest.html
We're interested in your thoughts, comments, and suggestions about
Cruzio's services. To that end, we've placed a "suggestions" box
on our support page. Please give it a try. (Note: tech support matters
should still go to support@cruzio.com and billing/administrative
matters should still go to office@cruzio.com).
12. Geekspeak Radio
Remember to tune in to KUSP 88.9 FM every Monday night at 6:30PM to
hear Cruzio founder Chris Neklason, Cruzio Tech Support Guy Mark
Hanford and Steve Shaffer, owner of Guenther Computer, discussing
various topics of interest to computer owners and Internet users on
Geekspeak Radio, a half hour talk and listener call in show. Check out:
http://www.geekspeak.org
for more information and links to resources on the net discussed in
past shows.
13. 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.
14. 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).
ISDN: see http://www.cruzio.com/support/isdn.html
56k: see http://www.cruzio.com/support/highspeed.html
33.6 kbps or 28.8 kbps modems: 459-6230
14.4 kbps modems: 459-6200
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
webmaster@cruzio.com.....for questions about Cruzio's World Wide
Web service
Thanks very much from Cruzio:
Chris, Peggy, John, Deana, Julianne, Patton, Kathy, Mark, Martin,
Georgette, Jay, Tapati, Hilary, Jessica, Amy, Matt,
and Liz (the grownups);
Jake and Annika (the kids) and Carolyn Rose (the baby)
