Cruzio Newsletter - Number 88, October 25, 2005
1. Free Brown Bag Workshop Thursday: Wireless Internet
2. Cyberhubs -- Free Wireless Access from Cruzio
3. Maps Page
4. Small Business Fair Coming November 16th
5. Don't Believe Everything in Email
6. Weekly Wednesday Workshops in Watsonville
7. Buddy Bucks
8. Feed Hungry Folks Instead of Paying Late Fees
9. About This Newsletter
10. How to Reach Cruzio (dial-in or tech support)
1. Free Brown Bag Workshop Thursday: Wireless Internet
"Wireless Internet for Home or Office"
Thursday, October 27, 12-1:30 PM
At Cruzio's Santa Cruz location, 903 Pacific Avenue
When your home or office has wireless Internet, you can easily add
or move computers -- no duct-taping wires to the floor or calling
in contractors to drill holes in the walls. You can sit on the patio
with your laptop reading email. But setting up a wireless network
can be tricky, and security is a concern.
You don't need to figure it out alone. Friendly experts from Cruzio's
Technical Support team are holding Thursday's workshop to explain the
workings of wireless, give instructions for easy setup, and answer
questions.
This workshop is perfect for a household with multiple computers, a
home office, or a small business. This Brown Bag workshop at Cruzio
is free; lunch is available for an additional $7. Sign up at
http://events.cruzio.com or by calling 459-6301, ext. 247.
Space is limited.
2. Cyberhubs -- Free Wireless Access from Cruzio
Have you noticed the green spiral "Cyberhub" banners in dozens of
local coffee shops? Cruzio Internet access is now provided free of
charge at a number of gathering places around Santa Cruz County.
So bring your laptop along on errands and you'll be able to stop,
sit, and log in to your Cruzio account at your leisure. For a map of
the sites, see:
http://www.cruzio.com/services/wireless/
Business owners who'd like to join our Cyberhub program can
email cyberhubs@cruzio.com for more information.
3. Maps Page
If you want to see a marvel of technology, check out the new
"Maps" section on Cruzio's home site, under "Local Info":
http://www.cruzio.com/local_info/showmap.cgi
Zoom in to your neighborhood and press the "satellite" button.
You'll find your very own street: houses, trees, landmarks
-- all brought to you by electrons.
Cruzio can see many uses for this new technology, and we'll be
adding to our map collection as time goes on. Many thanks to Cruzio's
Chief Technical Officer Chris for creating and deploying the page.
4. Small Business Fair Coming November 16th
Cruzio's 7th Annual Small Business Fair
"Growing a Sustainable Small Business"
Wednesday, November 16, 4-9 PM
At the Attic, 931 Pacific Avenue, downtown Santa Cruz
$35 Advance Registration, $40 at the door
http://smallbusinessfair.com
Once again, Cruzio invites you to an event created specially for
small and individually-operated businesses in our area. It's a great
chance to hear how successful local businesses have overcome hurdles
and managed to prosper, and to meet people who face challenges
similar to your own. Many, many years of collective experience are
gathered in one place and your business can benefit enormously from it.
You'll hear from such local luminaries as Gayle Ortiz, from Gayle's
Bakery; Tony Robinson, National Sales Manager for Martinelli's
Apple Juice; Shawn Bavaresco, director of Marketing for Bonny Doon
Vineyard (whose distinctive graphics are instantly recognizable),
and many others. Learn their tips and techniques; ask them questions;
join us for dinner and talk to other business owners.
So mark your calendar and register today -- these events often sell
out, and we don't want you to be disappointed. Sign up at:
http://www.smallbusinessfair.com
5. Don't Believe Everything in Email
It just infuriates us when someone sends out spam that appears
to be from Cruzio. The latest attempt had a nice, friendly tone,
too -- similar to what Cruzio would really send. Beware!
Although Cruzio blocks the majority of viruses, some still get
through. An alert customer sent us an email asking what this one
was about (thanks Charlene!).
What Charlene did is exactly what to do when you get email from a
bank, financial institution, or other trusted company asking you to
perform a task. Like her, you should doublecheck with the company
before going ahead with the emailed instructions. Just call, or send
email (*not* by clicking on the link in the mail -- those links are
easily faked!).
If you're curious what this particular spam looked like, the text
is on this virus-hunters' site under "Description":
http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/analyses/w32mytobfa.html
Spammers are now adept at evading virus safeguards and spoofing
emails from all kinds of trusted institutions; for example, every
week I get emails pretending to be from PayPal or EBay. The Cruzio
email filter catches most of these and we recommend you use it.
The filter is free and easy to set up -- if you haven't already
activated your filter, just go to your Cruzio Control Panel and
press the "Enable Junk Email Filter" button. Relief is immediate
and impressive.
As virus creators become more sophisticated, so do Cruzios' defenses.
We are always improving our anti-virus and anti-spam technology.
When you use the Cruzio spam filters, you are using a system that
is frequently upgraded behind the scenes, without any effort on
your part.
6. Weekly Wednesday Workshops in Watsonville
Every Wednesday afternoon, knowledgeable Cruzio store manager
Gershom holds a free computer and Internet workshop at Cruzio's
Watsonville location, 23 E. Beach Street, Suite 105, Plaza Vigil,
Downtown Watsonville.
Gershom covers the basics of owning and operating a computer at home
or for business, how to use Web browsers and search engines for best
results, and how to use Cruzio's email and other features. Please drop
in for a visit and to ask any questions you may have. Attendees will
receive two and half hours of free computer rental time at the
Watsonville store.
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. 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
9. 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.
10. 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: 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, Tapati, Stephen,
Paul, Gershom, Jessi, Michael, Maria, James, Juana,
Krissie, Nikkie, Mike, Don, Bruce, Edgar, Brian, Westi,
Andrew, Jaime, another Chris, and yet another Chris; Marco,
Tiffany, and even another Chris (!), our helpful interns;
Jake, Annika, and Carly (the kids)
Annika, age 10: "I won't eat that minestrone."
Mom: "You have to have at least 2 bites."
Annika: "Okay, but you have to fill my bowl before you put the
noodles in, because I don't like the noodle juice."
Bumper sticker: I Wish I Were the Man My Dog Thinks I Am.
