UNPLUG YOUR COMPUTER DURING STORMS

The long dry spell, coupled with a spring season that didn't really produce much in the way of storms, has had a way of letting us forget the damage that a good thunderstorm can do to our computers.

So, if you start to hear a rumbling, it's a good idea to think about the money and terrible inconvenience you will save yourself by shutting down your computer and unplugging it. Don't forget the phone line too, even if it does go through a surge suppressor. Or, if your going away for the weekend, it's better to be safe that sorry. Add shutting down and unplugging the computer and phone line to your to-do list.

This month we will talk a little about browsing the Internet. It is not our intention to try and give a complete history, just how things have changed here at Riverside Internet since we started offering service in 1996.

Just as in E-mail, browsing the web is not quite the same as it was, even a few years ago. When we started offering service the Internet was actually in the midst of a browser war between Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator, who were the two main players. Opera, also hade a release at that time also, but was relatively unknown. The war pretty much ended when Microsoft started integrating Internet Explorer into its operating system in about 1998. One of the effects of the browser war was that as each introduced new features, both Microsoft and Netscape incorporated proprietary extensions to HTML in their products to the point where you would find web pages that had 'best viewed in Netscape' or 'best viewed in Internet Explorer' logos. Even though logos like that are rarely seen anymore, people who still would rather use alternative browser might still have to open Internet Explorer if certain pages do not display properly.

The equipment and software that we at Riverside Internet use has also changed as dramatically as the Internet itself has changed. Our first Web Server was a 386DX running Microsoft NT3. The software was a program called O'Rielly Website, which we used for about the first three years. All of that changed when we started converting from a Microsoft shop to a Linux shop. Our primary Webserver is now a 2.4 ghz machine running Linux, and Apache. Apache runs approximately 68% of all websites worldwide an is more widely used than all other website software combined. Riverside Internet now has three webservers, all running Apache. One of the webservers is used primarily for customer websites that run Microsoft's Front Page extensions.

We previously discussed that there are alternative web browers for viewing websites and, as many of you already know, there are also alternative email programs to Microsofts Outlook Express.

All email programs will do the same thing. That is send and receive e-mail. The difference in all of the available options is in the other things that the program will do. Things like spam filtering, html mail handling, advanced mailbox management, wallpaper backgrounds, etc. Also, whether or not it is free. Many mail programs are like other software programs that you can download, they're free to try, and will work for 30-60 days, but if you want to use it after the trial period, you will need to pay for it.

Although we cannot offer technical support on any of the hundreds available, we can tell you that they will all require the same server settings in order to operate on our servers. The settings for Riverside Internet's mail servers are located at: http://www.riverview.net/techinfo.php.

Most all of you probably know about the maps websites like Mapquest and Yahoo's map page. Did you know that Google also has a great maps page in beta testing. It's found at http://maps.google.com.

The maps are excellent, but, they also have a "Satellite" and "Hybrid" feature, found in the upper right hand corner of the map that is generated when you plug in an address. The "Satellite" shows the address from a satellite view and "Hybrid" adds main roads identification.

Our retail store is completely stocked with computer parts. You can update what you have, build a complete new system, or have us do it for you.

If you just want your computer to look new and spiced up, we have some great looking modified cases that come in several eye catching colors. Add glowing cables and uv lights to make it really stand out in a dimly lit room.

If you have comments or topics that you would like addressed in our newsletter just email us at newsletter@riverview.net