Cruzio Newsletter - Number 91, February 22, 2006
1. Our Santa Cruz Store Is Beautified
2. Free Friday Rentals in Watsonville
3. Low DSL Prices Available to All Cruzio Customers
4. Cruzio Wireless Internet Free at Spots Around the County
5. Brown Bag Workshops Coming Soon
6. Jake's Picks on the Home Page
7. Cruzio DSL Is the Best Deal for Businesses
8. Children and the Internet
9. Weekly Wednesday Workshops in Watsonville
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)
1. Our Santa Cruz Store Is Beautified
Our downtown Santa Cruz store is now officially gorgeous.
It is a great place to hang out and talk about the Internet
with us; it's a great place to rent one of our brand new computers
on an ultrafast wireless connection; and there's plenty of space
to bring in your machine for our new computer tune-up service.
The store has been repainted and rewired, and we did not stint on
the hardware (we are tech geeks, after all). There's a new computer bar
with six snappy PC's and a couple of sleek, stylish G5 Macintoshes
for the Mac-inclined. Decor-wise, there's a giant kitty smiling down on
us from the back wall, and the office is more spacious, lighter, and more
comfortable. Come on in and try it out -- we're having some events this
month and next which might interest you (see item 5 below).
Many thanks to Krissie, Nikkie and Brian for leading the way to our
fabulous new environment. Their good taste knows no bounds.
2. Free Friday Rentals in Watsonville
Every Friday until March 12th, 2006, computer rentals are free of
charge at our Watsonville store. Take advantage of the opportunity to
sit down and enjoy a high-speed connection to the Internet on our
computers without paying a dime! It's on us.
3. Low DSL Prices Available to All Cruzio Customers
Cruzio currently offers low prices for year-long DSL contracts. Any
Cruzio customer may get the low contract price by signing up for
a one-year term while this special lasts.
If your contract has expired and you are paying a higher
month-to-month price, you can lower your costs simply by signing up
for another year. 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.
4. Cruzio Wireless Internet Free at Spots Around the County
If you are out and about and need a dash of Internet, visit one of
Cruzio's local "hot spots" to get free Internet access. Our 20
spots are mostly at local coffeehouses where you can sit down with
your laptop, read your email and otherwise engage in Internet tasks.
The hot spots are listed at
http://www.cruzio.com/services/wireless/
Or, just look for the Cruzio Cyberhub Kitty in the window of your
favorite cafe or laundromat.
Business owners who'd like to join our Cyberhub program can
email cyberhubs@cruzio.com for more information.
5. Brown Bag Workshops Coming Soon
Web Design Basics, Thursday, February 23: Sold Out
Computer Security for Home or Office, Thursday, March 16
12-1:30 PM, $10.00
At Cruzio's Santa Cruz Store, 903 Pacific Avenue
Seats Still Available
Cruzio's current Web Design Basics class has already sold out. But
we hold this workshop from time to time. If you're interested in
learning to create Web pages, and would like to attend a Web Design
Basics workshop in Santa Cruz or in Watsonville, please let us know
by emailing events@cruzio.com.
Next month, on Thursday, March 16th, we'll be holding a Brown Bag
workshop on "Computer Security for Home or Office." This popular
Brown Bag teaches you how to fight spyware and adware, and how to
keep your computer free from viruses and worms. Stephen and Mike,
our experts from Cruzio Technical Support, are veterans in the
computer security battle and will be happy to answer your questions.
See
http://events.cruzio.com
for more details.
6. Jake's Picks on the Home Page
If you are a fan of the Star Wars and Star Trek tribute home movies
created by obsessed fans -- and who isn't? -- you will love the entries
from Jake in the current "staff picks" list on our home page
http://www.cruzio.com
Check out these links: You'll see stormtroopers. You'll hear a
science officer with flimsy antennae warning the captain of anomalies.
You'll see gadgetry you can't believe people made in their spare
time without being paid. It's the geeked-out world of sci-fi fandom,
part of the American psyche, and it's lots of fun -- thanks, Jake.
7. Cruzio DSL Is the Best Deal for Businesses
Cruzio doesn't charge business customers higher fees for DSL --
but most other Internet providers do. That means your business would
pay about 50% more to use DSL or other broadband from a non-Cruzio
provider. (Yes, 50% more.) Big savings can mean a lot to a small
business. And Cruzio's DSL is fast and reliable, with nearly 6,000
customers in the Santa Cruz area.
If you'd like to inquire about our business services, please send
an email to office@cruzio.com or come in and talk to our friendly
staff.
8. Children and the Internet
Recently, a local 26-year-old Santa Cruz man was arrested for enticing
an underage minor to meet with him. As the news tells it, the man
read the girl's online profile and started chatting with her using
the popular MySpace.com social network and AOL instant messenger
chat. Cruzio was not involved with the case in any way, but it is a
reminder to us about taking care with children and the Internet.
Many parents have contacted us over the years concerned for their
children, and as this case illustrates, there are predators lurking
on the Internet. What can a parent do?
First, the bad news. There is no technology fix, no filter, no mechanical
parental control which can absolutely prevent your children from accessing
pages on the Internet. While it is true you can install filtering or
parental control software on your own computers, determined children are
adept at circumventing technology, either by figuring out how to turn it
off or by using someone else's computer. They can surf the 'Net the same way
they listen to music you don't want them to listen to, or watch movies
you don't want them to see -- in other words, like other media.
But as parents, we know that making an effort is worthwhile. For links
to parental filtering software, see our Family Web page at:
http://www.cruzio.com/members/families.html
Even more importantly, take an interest in your children, what they
read, who they hang out with, what music they listen to and what engages
their curiosity. Build and maintain a rapport and the best possible
relationship.
You can also set some rules. Make sure your children understand the
following:
-- There are predators on the Internet.
-- Do not divulge personal information to anyone online.
-- Do not share passwords.
-- Tell a parent immediately if someone is trying to make a date for
a meeting or is pressuring for personal information, or if there
is any discomfort in anything happening online.
-- The parents can and will inspect the computer or look over the kids'
shoulders at what they are doing at any time.
At our house, we have 3 children and 6 computers. The computers are
all in the family room -- we don't let the kids have computers or
televisions in their rooms. We talk to them about what they might see
online and what we think is dangerous or suspicious or just plain wrong.
It's "don't talk to strangers" all over again.
The Internet is an amazing resource, a wonderful environment, like our
lovely planet Earth, for everyone. Follow the guidelines above to help
your children understand how to have a safe Internet experience.
9. 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.
For more alliterative events in Watsonville, see item 3 above on
our Free Fridays.
10. 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. Lower
your costs and do friends a favor, all at the same time.
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: 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)
Consider voting for Cruzio as your favorite Internet Service Provider:
http://www.metroactive.com/cruz/
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 Nancy;
Melissa, our helpful intern;
Jake, Annika, and Carly (the kids)
Jake, age 13, when questioned about reading his homework while
wearing earphones:
"Now that I have audio books on my iPod, I want to see if I can
listen to one book and read another book at the same time, to
double my reading speed!"
