Announcements

ISP Service

Wow! Thanks for the thousands of comments we received on Friday and over the weekend about our soon-to-be launched ISP! I really, really appreciate all who took a minute to help us out! You are the BEST!

Thanks to your comments, we are already making some changes to what we were going to offer. On Friday I only gave you a very (very) brief overview of what would be included, however, you had some ideas we hadn't thought much about. For example, we had considered server-level anti-virus protection, but based on the number of people who wanted it, it's now a for sure! And that's just a taste of the great ideas we received and are going to implement.

That said, there was a few issues I wanted to address. Since we had so many replies, I just can't respond to them all (did read 'em all though!), so in answer to some of your most asked questions:

Q:
Is this newsletter and your site still going to be free?

A:
You bet! Our ISP service has nothing to do with this newsletter or our WorldStart.com site. All the stuff you've been getting for free will continue to be free. The homepage for the ISP will not be the same one you have at WorldStart.com

Q:
Are you going to have a lot of pop up ads and banners on our ISP homepage?

A:
You're not going to have any pop up ads from us. We can't control what other sites on the internet do, but you'll not have to put up with that junk from WorldStart. In addition, we've decided against having ANY advertising on your homepage as well (thanks to your comments). Not even the big boys do that for you!

Q:
Is this a dial up or DSL service?

A:
It's a dial up only - for now. It looks like we are going to be able to offer high speed DSL access within about 6 months.

Q:
How do you handle access numbers? Will it be local, long distance, or toll free?

A:
We have agreements across several networks, so you will actually dial a local number. We are going to cover over 96% of the country (I know, that means 4% still won't be able to get us, but we're working on that problem too). So even if you can't get AOL, MSN, or another major player, we still may have a local number for you. Since we're smaller, we're not bound to any one network and have better coverage.

Q:
Will you accept checks / money orders?

A:
We're planning to. Still working out the bugs, but that's one of the benefits we are planning to offer.

Q:
Are you going to offer service in Canada?

A:
Initially, no, but we are planning to add Canada as soon as possible. I'd like to have it done by the end of the year.

OK, those were the main questions, but there were still a lot more. So, once the site is live, we'll have a FAQ full of answers to lots of your questions. Of course, you'll also be able to e-mail or phone us if you have a question too.

Again, we're planning to launch by the middle of November, so thanks for being patient while we finish this stuff up. And thanks again for your comments and help :-)

Computers 101 s

Drunk (but clean) Mice!

This is just a quick update to the "Clean Mice" tip that we ran on Thursday, October 17. Thanks to all of the readers who sent in the following:

The quickest solution to cleaning a roller ball mouse is to disassemble the ball, dip a cotton swab in rubbing alcohol, and gently wipe down the inside ball sensors. This usually eliminates most lint and the alcohol dries quickly so you can reassemble things quickly and get back to clicking!

~ Steve

Have a question for the newsletter? Submit it at the link below:
http://www.worldstart.com/submitquestion.htm

Tip of the Day

Throbbers

So, you’re running Internet Explorer and while waiting for that page to finally load, you’re staring at that little spinning ‘e’ in your browser for the millionth time, thinking how great it would be if only you could change it…

Happy day! Because not only can you change it, it’s really pretty easy to do!

The animated picture is called a ‘throbber,’ and you can change it just by adding a key in your Windows registry pointing to whatever animation you’d like to use.

There is a handy freeware tool that automates and manages most of the process. So, the first thing you need to do is download it at Red Planet Software:

http://www.geocities.com/RedPlanetSoft/index.html?throbit/throbit.html

Download Throbit14.zip by clicking on the word Download on the right side of the screen or from the menu on the left and select Save.

Once it’s saved, unzip the program into its own directory and run it from there. (Full instructions on how to unzip and install the program are available through the download web site, but basically, you just find the .zip file you just saved, right click on it and select Extract All. Then, select the destination folder in which to place the actual program.)

The opening screen is a blank panel, so you need to go to the File menu and choose Open. The program comes with three sample throbbers; however, you can download a total of nine in the Throb It web site gallery. Select the one you would like to use and click Open. ‘IE-cube-30’ is the one used for this example.

The program will tell you about the animation you’ve just loaded. Check the format. If it says Internet Explorer, you’re good to go. Go to the File menu and select Install.

You have three choices: Normal, Small, and Background. Background is for installing a skin over the toolbar, so you’ll need to choose either Normal or Small. The distinction between these is preserved only for backwards compatibility with browsers older than 5.0, so select Small if you’re using IE 5.0 or higher.

Now close all of your browser and Explorer windows and re-start Internet Explorer. The new throbber doesn’t show up until you’ve closed all the windows. On some machines, you may even need to restart the computer for it to kick in.

Enjoy the cool spinningness of it all!

P.S. To see how you’d go about making your very own throbber, open up one of the throbber (.bmp) files in MS Paint or any other image program and revise them there. You can also find other throbbers on the web. Just be advised that if they are Netscape formatted or designed for a Mac, you’ll need to reformat them in the Throb It program you just installed (under the Edit menu, Convert command).

Keep your arms in, and have a fun ride!

~ Tom Dalton, Provo, UT

Have a tip for the newsletter? Submit it below:
http://www.worldstart.com/writers-guidelines/index.htm

Amanda's Cool Site of the Day

Buying a Star

This article is definitely worth reading, especially if you have ever considered spending money to buy a star.

This article is setup as a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) and goes through many questions that you may have already thought of, and some you wouldn’t normally consider, regarding naming a star.

With their in-depth answers, you get the real scam, um, I mean, scoop on buying a star.

http://home.columbus.rr.com/starfaq/

Do you have a cool, non-commercial site that you want to share?
Send it to Amanda at amanda@worldstart.com