October
2001 Edition
A
Monthly Newsletter for Atlantic.Net Members
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October
2001 Edition
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A
Monthly Newsletter for Atlantic.Net Members
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| In
This Issue: Atlantic.Net@Home • Spooky Holiday Decor • Entertaining Sites • New at Surf.Atlantic.Net • Tips for Better Web Searches Atlantic.Net@Work • Save on Web Hosting • Cut Costs by Upgrading Your Connection Contact Us Earn free service! Now that Atlantic.Net offers dial-up services nationally, it's easier than ever to recommend your Internet service provider to a friend—and earn a month of free access for yourself. Click here to learn more about Atlantic.Net's Referral Program, or check out the Local Access Numbers.
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 Haunted
HousekeepingWhether you're terrorizing the tots or hosting Halloween in your haunted hall, make your home the spookiest spot on the block. But beware! These homemade decorations aren't for the faint at heart. Outside: • Make a giant spider from black garbage bags stuffed with newspapers. For legs, attach more garbage bags filled to the desired thickness. Making "glowing" red eyes with construction paper. Don't forget massive white fangs. • Create several ghosts from garbage bags or old sheets. Place them around a tree. Provide them some ghoulish music for dancing. • Give your scarecrows tin-foil daggers dripping with blood (fake, of course). • Using heavy-duty cardboard, make grave markers for each housemate or party-goer. Now, here's the kicker. Each gravestone portends a wacky death, such as: "Here lies Travis Rung, died from a paper cut to the tongue. Oh, to be licking envelopes so young." Inside: • Use dry ice (kept away from prodding fingers) behind cardboard kettles to simulate witch's brew. Decorate bottles and jars with content labels such as "Spider Legs," "Children's Eyeballs," and "Dog Tails." • Make ghostly party favors with lollipops, wrapping tissues over the top and tying strings around the "necks." Use a black marker to give the ghost two eyes and a mouth. Hang from the ceiling at varying lengths. • Build "feelie boxes" for the kids to put their hands in. Use foods like Jello, rice, and mixed nuts. Don't forget to label the boxes as "Giant Snot," "Maggots," and "Tarantula Eggs." • Provide a menu of ghoulish treats. For creative food ideas such as Shrunken Apple Heads, see ChildFun.com. Surfin' Safari This month, the Surf's Up team wants to entertain you. Whether you're a music lover or a movie buff, set your sights on the sites below! Hollywood.com Find out what's playing on the big screen in your hometown at Hollywood.com. You can even order tickets online (instead of standing in line) at Fandango.  Rotten
Tomatoes Before you head to the theater or the video store, check
out The Tomatometer™ to find out if experts think the flick is "fresh"
or "rotten" (RT's version of picks and pans). Rotten
Tomatoes gets a thumbs up for compiling critics' reviews, so movie-goers
or renters can get a consensus opinion of what's worth watching. Live365.com Touted as the "world's largest network of independently-produced audio content on the Web," Live365 is a must-bookmark site for serious music connoisseurs. While your listening pleasure won't be interrupted by cheesy local ads, you will have to endure periodic pop-ups. But the range of genres and streaming speeds make closing an occasional pop-up window a small price to pay for true "radio revolutionaries." Lyrics.com Ever mistake the chorus of "only the lonely" for "phony bologna?" Get to the bottom of mysterious lyrics once and for all at this comprehensive list organized by artist (scroll down for an alphabetical list). IMDB The Internet Movie Database is perfect for finding obscure film factoids including cast and crew info, filming locations, memorable lines, video and audio clips, release information, and more. You can even search by plot keywords, character names, quotes, and actors when you can't seem to answer the question, "What was the name of that movie?" Yack.com Think of it as a TV Guide for Internet broadcasts. Yack.com is a one-stop shop for finding out about scheduled Webcasts or live chats, or locating audio or video footage on a variety of topics. New at Surf.Atlantic.Net  Embrace
the season... Celebrate this fall with spicy scents, warm knits, and
hot flicks from the Surf
Shop, brought to you by Surf—the
portal for Atlantic.Net members!Tech Tips: How to Get Better Search Engine Results Search engines are great time-saving tools when you're looking for something online. But what's more frustrating than looking for information about "buffalo" (you know, the furry kind) and finding instead recipes for chicken wings or stats for New York's Bills football team? Study these tips to yield better results the next time you use a search engine. 1) Add terms to narrow your search. For instance, adding keywords such as "animal," "bison," or "American buffalo" to the example above would likely return more relevant results. 2) Take advantage of "Advanced Search" features. Some popular search engines including Yahoo! and Google offer ways to include some keywords while excluding others. For example, you could search for Web pages containing the word "buffalo" but not "chicken" or "New York." Look for a link to "Advanced Search" capabilities. 3) Use search engine math. Did you know that the symbols you remember from your elementary school math classes can help you find what you're looking for online? Just add plus or minus symbols to add or subtract keywords from your search. 4) Search for whole phrases. Use quotation marks to group generic keywords together to create a more meaningful key phrase. 5) Try a Web directory. Narrow your topic by working through categorized text links such as Science: Biology: Flora and Fauna: Animalia...Bison! 6) Learn more about Web searches. Visit Surf for a variety of search engines and tools, or consult Search Engine Watch.com for additional tips on using search engines. You can find more info about these and other self-help topics, at Atlantic.Net's Support Web site. |
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Exclusive
Offer for Atlantic.Net Members! * Offer valid up to a $500 value of services. Some restrictions apply. Call for complete details. Expires 10/31/01. How Upgrading Your Connection Can Save You Money If you don't think boosting your bandwidth can also boost your bottom line, take a look at these cost-cutting advantages over that status-quo connection speed. 1) Save research time. While your employees are waiting for that page to load, the time clock is still ticking. How does that translate into wasted money for you? If 10 employees earning an average of $10 an hour each waste 10 minutes a day waiting for pages to load, that's a whopping $4,342 in wasted cash! 2) Lose the unnecessary equipment. Upgrading to DSL from ISDN or a dial-up connection frees up a phone line, which you can cancel or use for voice. That's because DSL technology allows data and voice communications to use the same line. In addition, DSL is more cost-effective than ISDN when used to connect multiple office locations together. 3) Convert to Web-based applications and back-ups. A faster connection enables your team to access and share information securely via the Internet. Hosted applications cost significantly less than purchasing, implementing, and maintaining your own hardware and software, and Web-based back-ups give you peace of mind and protection for your priceless intellectual property. 4) Reduce travel expenses. Replace face-to-face visits with videoconferences and Web-based presentations for training, sales consultations, and meetings. 5) Stop licking stamps. Postage certainly adds up, especially when you need important files to arrive the next day. Instead, exchange documents electronically and save time and shipping costs. 6) Take full advantage of the Web. Bring the full potential of the Web to your staff's fingertips. Bigger bandwidth means your team can access rich dynamic content and quickly reference online maps, phone books, directories, and other resources via an optimized connection. 7) Make telecommuting possible. Working at home becomes realistic when employees can access the info they need via the Web. And thanks to high-speed connections, you can realize the savings and convenience that telecommuting offers. For more information, visit http://www.atlantic.net. To upgrade your connection today, contact an Atlantic.Net sales executive at 1-800-521-5881 or sales@atlantic.net. |
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