My condolences goes out to anyone who has been affected by the Excite@Home soap opera.  If and when you get a new high speed Internet access provider, make sure to cancel your automatic deduction from your credit card. To show my support, I've put out a guide to the alternatives in high speed access. As has been the case for 5 years, I still recommend Earthlink as a dial-up access provider. If you call them today, they can have you up and running on dial-up access in 15 minutes. You may be surprised how fast dial-up access is, especially if you primarily use the Internet for e-mail. Enjoy this week's episode of .... as the computer turns.... Clyde ******************************** Children's Software - Reviews and free stuff Best children's software for holidays http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/ptech/078464.htm Great Reviews. PC Games, educational computer software, and more at Discounted Software Clearance Outlet http://softwareoutlet.com/main.html Inexpensive software. Children's Software Revue http://www.childrenssoftware.com/ Mostly a place to subscribe to magazine. Kid's Domain http://www.kidsdomain.com/ Loads of free educational stuff WeeMote http://www.weemote.com/products.html Extremely cool remote control - just for kids! Holiday Invites, Holiday Cards, Holiday Mailing Lists - No problem with Us on Board!! We'll come in and either work with your current program (Act! or Outlook) or install Act! (our preferred contact management tool) to make Mail Merging and Invitation and Label making a snap. We'll even enter the data off handwritten sheets for you (at 50% off our normal rates). Once we get the data in the database, you'll be able to use this for parties and special occasions year-round.  Contact us immediately as Christmas, Hannukah and Kwanza are right around the corner!! High Speed Internet Access Guide Status of Service for AT&T Service AT&T Broadband On-line Customer Support Center http://help.broadband.att.com Basically, the following is a mind dump of all my sources for high speed access. I've annotated where it's appropriate. Going through each of these links thoroughly should give you a great understanding of high speed access as it stands today, which will be different in a few months! If you'd like a custom consultation to figure out which high speed access is for you and which you quality for, e-mail me or call me anytime at 408.732.8500 to schedule a phone appointment. Guides for Selecting new service CNET Internet Services - DSL Prequalification Tool http://webservices.cnet.com/prequal/ Getspeed Broadband Service Summary http://www.getspeed.com/ Broadband Buyer .com - The SIMPLE & FREE Solution to find Broadband! DSL Cable Satellite Fiber http://www.broadbandbuyer.com/ ADSL vs Cable Modem http://www.zdnet.com/pccomp/features/excl0698/crossroads/cable.html CNET.com Internet Services http://www.cnet.com/internet/0-3761.html Holiday Gift Certificates - Easiest Way to Give - Now Pay On-Line! We at ITM Computing are offering gift certificates for you to give an indispensable and very practical gift of computer assistance/training/maintenance (digital camera training and Christmas/Hannukah mailing list training are in high demand!) for the holidays. For the months of November and December, you can purchase hours at a 30% discount off our normal rate for friends, relatives, and co-workers. This gift certificates can only be used by first time customers (Don't worry - loyal customers - you'll get a great holiday deal in December!). E-mail or call us if you're interested at 408.732.8500. You may pay by check or on-line at www.itmcomputing.com . Hours must be used within 4 months of the date they are issued. Remember, we can provide phone tech support and webdesign worldwide!! Tools for Highspeed Internet Usage ADSL Forum Home Page http://www.adsl.com/ DSL Reports http://www.dslreports.com/ DSLwebserver.com / CABLEwebserver.com - Run your own webserver from home on DSL or Cable! http://www.dslwebserver.com/ Navas Cable Modem/DSL Tuning Guide http://cable-dsl.home.att.net/ Business Only DSL - Highspeed Internet Services MegaPath Networks http://www.megapath.net/ XO (formerly Concentric) http://www.xo.com/xofferings/internet/dsl/ I've had good luck with both of these companies. I'd choose MegaPath over XO. Home/SOHO/Business DSL Access - most around $50/month Pac Bell/SBC Global Net http://public.pacbell.net/dedicated/dsl/pricing.html Earthlink https://register.earthlink.net/cgi-bin/wsisa.dll/broadband/main.html Qwest http://www.qwest.com/residential/products/dsl/index.html DirectTVDSL - Formerly Telocity http://www.directvdsl.com/why/compare.asp Sympatico - Canada http://bell.sympatico.ca/DynamicContentServlet.dyn?/default_NEW.html I've ranked these in order of preference (except for Sympatico which I included for Canadian subscribers). PacBell, by low balling and barraging people with advertising has put most of the DSL companies out of business.  All DSL lines must still go through them, even when you sign up with another company. I've used Qwest 2 times recently and they're great if you're too far for PacBell DSL. I haven't tried DirectTVDSL. REQUEST: I would love to get recommendations for good high speed Internet access from other countries, outside the US. ease send me the best experiences you've had plus the URL and cost of the service in your country's currency. I'll publish this in the next newsletter. Fixed Wireless Service Sprint Broadband - On Hold http://www.sprintbroadband.com/ I used to recommend these guys in the past. They've now put new client applications on hold for the future. Not sure what this means in the long run. They are more stable the satellite. Satellite Direcway - Hughes http://www.hns.com/direcway/intro.htm Earthlink - Special Offer on Satellite http://www.hns.com/direcway/for_home/how_to_get_it/earthlink.htm Earthlink Satellite https://register.earthlink.net/cgi-bin/wsisa.dll/broadband/satellite/pricing.html?drn=7dbefc5fbd35a9ac6de8fecde4b0efdd Starband http://www.starband.com Out of all these services, I've only used Starband with one client. The service is a bit pricey and seems to fade in/out throughout the day. They have a new satellite which I haven't tried which is supposed to be a huge improvement. Bottom line, if you don't mind disk on roof, this service can be had almost anywhere. Cleanup Your Windows 95/98/2000 Startup Group PacMan's Startups Listing http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_index.htm Start-Stop Get rid of startup items http://www.tfi-technology.com/products.htm#StartStop Having stuff in your startup group saps your system of valuable resources. Much of it is stuff you don't need and can get rid of. Check out PacMan's Startup Listing Page and use Start-Stop to see these programs in detail. One caution: this is for advanced users and those with strong hearts only. If you're not confident of this type of work, wait until our next visit. Always - back everything up before trying a maneuver such as this. Flat Panel Monitors 17" flat panel monitor - $549 http://www.outpost.com/entry?site=linkshare:QwwmKliEDWo-Fr3Q1ImhhfzHeUYWsQyudQ&sku=3054149 15" Flat Panel Monitor - $199 http://www.outpost.com/entry?site=linkshare:QwwmKliEDWo-NukLG6YOE2HDkMBVDjNIUA&sku=3081689 Ahh...flat panel monitors. They save space, reduce glare and flicker and just look cool. If you've been thinking about upgrading the monitor on your system (or even if you haven't) here are a couple of great buys that expire in 4 days on December 6th! Act! Update for Windows/Office XP ACT! Updates - Windows-Office XP http://support.act.com/act_support/act2000/updates/ This is the premier contact management program for home users and small businesses. It's one our favorite programs to implement and teach. Here's support to keep you right up-to-date! Mac users - I'd stay away from this program, as they haven't updated in several years.  I'd go with Chrono's Organizer at http://chronos.iserver.net/consultant/index.html   ************************ Hope you enjoyed the ride.... Clyde Lerner, In The Moment Computing Phone: 408.732.8500 E-mail comments/feedback to: http://www.itmcomputing.com/contact_computer.php This newsletter is a service of In The Moment Computing and is Copyright 2005 Clyde Lerner. All worldwide rights reserved. If forwarding, please forward all of e-mail, not any portion therein. To see past issues of This and That Computer Tips newsletter, please visit the web at: http://www.itmcomputing.com/newsletter.php and click on "Archives." Please note: Unless requested, questions pertaining to this newsletter will be answered in a 3-4 week time frame. If you need a faster response, there will be a small consultation fee of $15 per e-mail response. You will receive a reply within 48 hours. "Complete Computer Help (Networks, New Computer Installs, Software Training) for Individuals and Small Businesses" "Designing your Perfect Website, at an Affordable Cost, in a Timely Manner" Eliminate and Destroy unwanted email: http://spamarrest.com/affl?1337207 Send a greeting card through the Internet so recipient gets card in their postal mailbox: www.sendoutcards.com/7197 - let me walk you through how to send a card - it's easy.   ©2001 In The Moment (ITM) Computing. All rights reserved.