Cruzio Newsletter - Number 86, July 19, 2005
1. Cruzio DSL 1.5 Customers Can ALL Get the 19.95 Price
2. Opposing the SBC/AT&T Merger
3. Selling Products Online: Workshop This Thursday
4. Wonder What's Up? Check Cruzio's Status
5. Watsonville: Your Office Away From Home
6. Free Watsonville Wednesday Workshops
7. How to Send Gigantic Photos to Friends
8. Moving? Call Cruzio
9. Correction!
10. Buddy Bucks
11. Feed Hungry Folks Instead of Paying Late Fees
12. About This Newsletter
13. How to Reach Cruzio (dial-in or tech support)
14. Cruzio Members' Letters to the CPUC
1. Cruzio DSL 1.5 Customers Can ALL Get the 19.95 Price
No matter when you signed up for Cruzio DSL 1.5, and no matter
what price you are currently paying, you can now get the
$19.95/month price if you sign a new one-year contract
during this special.
This is a great deal. Cruzio worked hard to get the wholesale
price lowered for the benefit of our longtime customers, and we
are glad to pass the lower prices along!
Of course, anyone who's a new Cruzio customer, or who's upgrading
from dialup, can also get the low price. And if you recommend a
friend to our service, you'll get an additional $10 credit. Recommend
a couple of friends, and sign up for the new special, and you'll
have a month of free broadband!
Visit http://www.cruzio.com/services/highspeed_access/ for more
information, https://quartz.cruzio.com/dslorder/order_dsl.html to sign up
for DSL service, or //signup.cruzio.com/dsl_sale.html to renew
an existing contract.
2. Opposing the SBC/AT&T Merger
Thanks so much to all who wrote to tell us they'd sent email
or letters to the California Public Utilities Commission protesting
the proposed SBC/AT&T merger.
A few people sent the text of their messages to us -- some
memorable excerpts are reprinted in item 14 at the bottom of this
newsletter.
As we wrote in June, Cruzio is concerned about the concentration
of all Internet resources in the hands of a few giant corporations.
We don't feel that's conducive to an open and free Internet -- we
expect the removal of competition to lead to an Internet that is
more limited in information, less innovative in technology, and more
expensive to consumers in the long run.
Since telephone and cable lines are public utilities, from time to
time the corporate giants must appear before government boards
to ask approval for further consolidation. Now is such a time, and
it's an opportunity to make our voices heard.
There is still time to send letters or email. The evidentiary hearings
start August 8, 2005.
We called the CPUC just last week and were told it's a "hot issue,"
"not at all decided yet" and that they are "counting every letter."
So please contribute your opinion by sending email to
public.advisor@cpuc.ca.gov .
Or write to CPUC Public Advisor, 505 Van Ness Avenue, Room 2103, San
Francisco, CA 94102. Again, if you are the kind of person who appreciates
a boilerplate letter to copy-and-paste (as I do), here is a start for you:
Dear Public Utilities Commissioners,
Because of their anticompetitive behavior, I think that the
merger of SBC and AT&T will be damaging to the growth of a
healthy, free and prosperous Internet. Telephone lines are
a public utility, and should include choices for members of the
public. This merger will tend to reward monopolistic practices
and limit competition in the Internet and telecommunications
market, and I urge you to vote against it.
If you write a letter, we'd love it if you dropped a note to
office@cruzio.com to tell us that you did. Or just copy us on the
email.
3. Selling Products Online: Workshop This Thursday
Brown Bag Workshop: "Selling Your Products Online with ShopSite"
Thurs, July 21, 12-1:30 PM, $5 per person,
At our Pacific Avenue storefront
There's an easy way to set up an online store with Cruzio and
generate online income for your business: it's called ShopSite,
and this week our personable Marketing Director, Kathy Bisbee,
will be sharing her ShopSite expertise. Please come and learn whether
ShopSite is right for your business, how to set it up, its latest
features, and how to integrate a store into an existing Web site.
If you purchase ShopSite on the day of the workshop, the $5 fee will
be waived. To register, and order lunch if you wish, visit:
http://events.cruzio.com
4. Wonder What's Up? Check Cruzio's Status
Cruzio's systems are up over 99% of the time. But when, occasionally,
something does go wrong with our servers or with the greater
Internet, we realize you'll want to know about it.
Cruzio puts network status messages into our voicemail system
every day. You can call us any time and listen to the state of
the Internet and of Cruzio's connections. We update our voicemail
and status Web page every time there is a significant change.
If there is a problem we'll give a brief explanation and an
estimate of when we expect things to be fixed.
Our status number can be reached by dialing our regular number,
459-6301 and choosing option 3. On the Web, our status is at
http://www.cruzio.com/misc/network_status.html
5. Watsonville: Your Office Away From Home
When you need to rent a computer and Internet connection at a low
hourly cost, visit Cruzio in Santa Cruz or Watsonville. Computer
rentals are just $2 every 15 minutes -- that's the lowest rate
we've found. And in Watsonville, we've added several other office
services as well: you can scan and print out your work, send faxes,
or burn CD's. All at low prices. Please stop by!
6. Free Wednesday Watsonville Workshops
Every Wednesday, 3 to 6 pm, Free
At Cruzio, 23 E. Beach Street, Plaza Vigil, Downtown Watsonville
Gershom Toriz, Cruzio's Watsonville Office Manager and long-time Cruzio
staff member, knows a lot about the Internet and about Cruzio's
services. Every Wednesday afternoon from 3 to 6 pm, you can come in
to our Watsonville office and talk to Gershom about how the Internet
works, as well as any specific questions you have. Everyone is
welcome, whether a Cruzio member or not, and it is free to all.
Once the workshop is over, you will receive two and a half hours of
free time on Cruzio's rental computers. No registration is necessary;
just drop by any Wednesday afternoon!
7. How to Send Gigantic Photos to Friends
Pictures, graphics, enormous files of any kind -- sometimes it just
doesn't work to send them in email, no matter what email program or
ISP you use. Cruzio Tech Support often helps members who have the
Internet equivalent of clogged pipes: an email message, containing
a gigantic attachment (Cousin Lucy's new baby, perhaps?), is preventing
them from downloading any of their other email.
Mike and Stephen, two of Cruzio's finest and most experienced Support
staffers, suggest using a service like
http://www.yousendit.com
for those times when you'd like to send or receive something so
enormous that email might gack. With this service, the file gets put
onto the Web, and the recipient can view or download it free of
charge with their Web browser.
8. Moving? Call Cruzio
If you are relocating your home or business, Cruzio can help you
move your DSL. We can often switch over Cruzio DSL with little or no
downtime. Early notice is helpful for any account changes you'd like
to make, so please contact us as soon as possible.
Or if you are leaving Santa Cruz County and want to keep your Cruzio
dialup, email or Web and domain hosting services, just call us with
your new information. We have hundreds of customers using our Internet
services outside of the county.
See http://www.cruzio.com/services/highspeed_access/move_dsl.html
for more details.
9. Correction!
Thank you to the several alert newsletter readers who pointed
out that "anticompetive" is not the correct spelling for the
word "anticompetitive." It seems so simple now. We'll be the
first to admit that we did not spellcheck the newsletter --
obviously -- and we appreciate the correction, which reminds
us that we should really always spellcheck. (Obscure question:
Does the word "spellcheck" pass the spellchecker? Yes, it does,
although it's not in Webster's Dictionary -- http://www.webster.com )
10. Buddy Bucks
Recommend us to friends, family, colleagues, people you barely
know: if a new customer gives us your email address, account
number, or full name when they sign up, you'll get $10 credit to
your account. That's $10 each, for as many friends as you send in.
Get free service by passing the good word along!
11. Feed Hungry Folks Instead of Paying Late Fees
If you're late on a payment to Cruzio, turn it into a donation
to hungry people 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
12. 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.
13. 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, Watsonville, CA 95076
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, Julianne, Kathy, Mark, Tapati, Stephen,
Paul, Gershom, Jessi, Michael, Maria, James, Juana,
Krissie, Nikkie, Mike, Don, Bruce, Edgar, Brian, Derrick,
Westi, Andrew, and Jaime; Marco, our helpful intern;
Jake, Annika, and Carly (the kids)
Carly, age 8, with a lunchtime request:
"I've got two words: Samwich. Sam. Wich."
"I've got two more words: Make. It. Now."
14. Cruzio Members' Letters to the CPUC
Here are some excerpts from letters sent by Cruzio members
to the CPUC (first name attributions only). We were so impressed
and inspired by the letters, we thought they'd speak better than
any further statements from Cruzio.
**********************************************************
Dear Public Utilities Commissioners,
As the current broadband price war shows, the megamergers that
create voracious large companies willing to lose money on services
in the short run in order to shut down competition and then turn on
the consumers. Our only protection from this tactic is you, the
public's representatives. Please stand against this merger to
protect a free and prosperous internet and to preserve our
choice in telephone and internet companies.
Tom
*****************************************************************
Dear Public Utilities Commissioners,
Not so many years ago, SBC and the other "Bells" were forced by
antitrust action to *separate* from AT&T due to anticompetitive
behavior. Why would anyone think that it would be in the public
interest to allow them to recombine?
...
Sincerely,
Dorelle
*****************************************************************
Please use your vote for the benefit of consumers rather than executives.
Philip
*****************************************************************
a.. In this age of consolidation, anti-competitive behavior appears to
be the norm for large corporations. Large publicly-owned companies
by nature only answer to the bottom-line gods. Because ISP providers
are in effect public utilities, it is important to assure that
consumers are protected and are provided choice, not between two
behemoths who cooperate with each other, but with many competing
providers, thus encouraging the lowest prices and best service.
b.. I enjoy the "local resource information" which is provided by our
local provider, Cruzio.com.
c.. I can call a local person about service & support. It is a pleasure
not get just get someone in some "center" elsewhere who has a Q&A
tree to use for responses to customers.
d.. I can actually go to the local office for equipment checks and for
other hands-on services, which you cannot do with the large companies.
Again, please do not permit a merger between SBC & AT&T.
DO encourage local provider companies.
Thank you,
Rodney
**********************************************************
Hello,
Since the break up of the Telephone monopolies, consumer costs have
dropped considerably, and quality of service has improved dramatically.
Consequently, it may not be a good idea for SBC and AT&T to merge.
Bob
