I'm no computer guru, not by a long shot.  But, I have DSL (through Bell South) at home and I like it (have had it for almost 3 years now).  I've been told that a cable modem is better, though, but I can't remember why.  See what Invictus has to say (he's got my vote for Board Computer Guru).

I have Comcast High Speed Internet and I can't imagine going back to dial up.

The cable internet is really good at reloading these pages quickly so that I can read all the new posts as soon as they are posted.

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Originally posted by: USM Sympathizer
"I am still using a dial-up connection, but I realize that I am living in the past."

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Tell me about it

Invictus, where are you when  we need you?

In my previous posting, $50 was for cable tv not for internet connection, i.e., $50(cable tv)+$40 or above (cable modemm connection)= or < $100 total. You cannot have internet connection alone without having cable tv service. Sorry.

NKOB

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Originally posted by: MIS Alum
"Comcast Cable Internet Connection for around $82/month w/o TV service.  Cable is much better than phone DSL.  "

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I did not know that one could have cable modem service without tv service. Sorry for my ingnornace and incorrect info. Thanks MIS Alum for the correction. I agree with you that cable is better but $82/month w/o tv is still too expensive.

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Originally posted by: LVN
" whatever you get, be sure to buy and install Norton Anti-Virus, some sort of pest removal software like Pest Patrol, and download Ad-Aware, which is free. It costs about $20 per year to update Norton. Set Norton to do a scan every week at least. Set Pest Patrol to run on start up, and run Ad Aware weekly or so. DO NOT USE Microsoft Explorer. Use Firefox, which is free. I also use their Thunderbird for email. Be extremely cautious about opening attachments, or best, do not open them. This is all a lot of hassle, but you must, must do it. My son is a computer security systems analyst in Seattle, and these are his minimum recommendations."

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LVN, I perfered "Spybot" over "Ad-Aware" after using both.

I use dial-up. I would like to have DSL, but I do not want to change my email address. Is there anyway I can move to DSL but still retain my current email address? I have spoken with two customer service representatives about this (one of them with my local cable company, and the other one with my local telephone company). DSL is available through both of them, but I can't get a straight answer from their customer service representatives.

Consider yourselves lucky to have the choice. I live so far out in the boonies they laughed at me when I asked about DSL. So I thought I'd see about cable and we can't even get that here! So my only option besides this pitifully slow dial-up is satellite. That's how we get our tv reception. But satellite internet service is even more expensive than cable - not something a poor pensioned-off state employee like me can afford.  :)

Thanks for that note, Invictus. I have mine set up through a router, actually. (And we're right at the farthest edge of my technical knowledge, btw.)
I have Pest Patrol in addition to Ad-aware. I had Spy-Bot at one point, don't remember why I changed. But good point, Ad-aware is not enough by itself. My son says you definitely need both. I initially downloaded Ad-aware to get rid of Gator, at the time it was the only thing that would.

Now could y'all talk about this shoulder and wrist pain I'm having??

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Originally posted by: Invictus
"  For the truly daring, I have also found that Sevin Dust (garden insecticide) has a very similar active ingredient to several prescription muscle relaxers. Just go outside & dust the gardenias without a mask. You'll not only eliminate a number of common pests (along with any stray birds that happen by), but you'll save big bucks at the pharmacy."

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I think not!

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Originally posted by: LVN
"


In the middle of that last post, I was talking to my brother, a dedicated Mac user. Are Macs still safer than PC's??"

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My understanding is that, yes, they are. But one of the reasons they are safe is because fewer people use Macs, so hacking into their OS is not as exciting (and far-reaching) as creating a virus to wreak havoc on PCs. This is at the limit of my tech experience, too! (I just read an article on Salon about Macs, which is the only reason I know any of this). I'm sure others can give a more complete and correct answer.

Remember the thing Will Smith did with the alien's mother ship, which just happened to use the same OS as his laptop?? Why can't we do that to the dome (except not actually blowing it up, of course. )

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Originally posted by: Reporter
"LVN, I perfered "Spybot" over "Ad-Aware" after using both. "

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Both Spybot and Ad-Aware are pretty good, especially considering that Spybot is freeware (I don't remember if Ad-Aware is or not). However, the new Microsoft Anti-Spyware, which has been released in it's "Beta" format, is the best that I have seen so far. The good news is that, in it's ongoing effort to prevent Bill Gates from being embarressed at any more public conferences, MS is going to provide it for free. The "full" version should be finished in the next 30-60 days, but the Beta version works great.

As far as Cable vs. DSL goes: I have had both. I am currently using DSL, but my wife and I are counting the days until the "contract" runs out and we can get back on with Comcast. DSL is ok, but it is not nearly as fast as Cable, especially when it comes to downloading.

Bellsouth DSL comes with 3 speed options: Slow (2-4X faster than 56K speed), Medium (10-15X faster), and Fast (1.5Mbps, almost Cable speed). We went with the "Medium" and are paying a rate that is only slightly less than what we paid for Comcast. The "Fast" option is more expensive than Comcast (at least in our area.)

Also, in an above post, the author explained that Cable was also more expensive because you had to use cable TV in order to get internet service. However, with Bellsouth, you must have TELEPHONE service, which costs as much or more per month than cable TV does! In our service area, when these costs are factored in, the Comcast cable service is actually LESS EXPENSIVE than full-speed Bellsouth DSL!!!

Another factor to consider is this: DSL likes to go "offline" at times, usually for no reason. It took us about 6 days (and MANY calls to the Bellsouth Tech Support folks) to get our connection "stabilized." I put stabilized in quotes because the line will still go down from time to time, it's just that we now know what to do in order to reconnect and get it back up and running.

We never had problems of this nature with cable. If the cable went down, we knew that the actual cable line was down or somehow "broken" at some place and was in the process of being repaired. (As happened after the hurricane back in Sept.) So far, not one of our "line breaks" with DSL has coincided with a physical phone line problem. It's been either software, modem, or Bellsouth.

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Originally posted by: LVN
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whatever you get, be sure to buy and install Norton Anti-Virus, some sort of pest removal software like Pest Patrol, and download Ad-Aware, which is free. It costs about $20 per year to update Norton. Set Norton to do a scan every week at least. Set Pest Patrol to run on start up, and run Ad Aware weekly or so.

DO NOT USE Microsoft Explorer. Use Firefox, which is free. I also use their Thunderbird for email.

Be extremely cautious about opening attachments, or best, do not open them.

This is all a lot of hassle, but you must, must do it. My son is a computer security systems analyst in Seattle, and these are his minimum recommendations."

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Sage advice, LVN! Highly recommended!

Some more things to think about:

In my experience, Norton Internet Security is far better than MacAfee. I had MacAfee taken down by a very malicious virus once. I swithced to Norton and have not had a problem in the 3 years since. Norton IS includes AntiVirus, Firewall, and E-mail scanning features all in one package.

Set the "LiveUpdate" feature on Norton to "Automatic." This will allow the program to update itself automatically, which will be at least once per week, but is usually 2-3 times a week. I scan with Norton once a week.

Since I am not familiar with it, I am presuming that Pest Patrol is a spyware removal tool like Spybot. Of course, Ad-Aware removes ad-ware. I have used the latter two and both are good (as well as free!), but there is a feature on the new Microsoft Anti-Spyware that trumps them all: Not only does MS-AS remove spyware AND ad-ware, it can be set for automatic updating and scanning like Norton. None of the other SW removal programs that I have encountered have this feature. I update mine every night and scan once a week. Finally, MS-AS will also block known spyware and ad-ware programs from installing themselves onto your system. It's like having Norton for spyware!

Although I do not use it, I have heard excellent reviews of FireFox and, based upon these as well as informed friend's recommendations, I agree. I currently use Opera, which is also a fast and stable browser. Stay away from Internet Explorer and Netscape.

And finally, some rules about e-mail:

Do NOT be cautious about opening e-mail with attachments - DON'T DO IT AT ALL UNLESS CONFIRMED!!!!! When I recieve e-mail with an attachment, I always send a reply back to the author, asking them if it was really them and if they actually sent it. I have saved myself from infection 4 times in the last year using this method, as well as alerting friends to problems on their systems. The newest generation of e-mail viruses have the ability to crack into an e-mail address book, steal the addresses, and then shoot out e-mail to YOU from THEM but using a friends address! Be especially careful if the message says something like "Check this out!", or "Look, this is neat!" These are almost sure signs of hacked e-mail. Also, don't use phrases like this if you send attachments: Makes your smart friends nervous!

Be EXTREMELY careful when FORWARDING e-mail: Again, the problem is all of the addresses on it, especially if it is one of those that has been forwarded again and again, building up a huge list. If you are going to forward an e-mail, ALWAYS edit out the "forwarding" (who it came from / through) information before passing it along. This makes it much harder on the e-mail hackers.

Finally, when sending, replying to, or forwarding e-mail of any kind to multiple recipients, use the BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) feature to do this. BCC should be below the "To" and "CC" (Carbon Copy) buttons in the top field of your e-mail program. If not, go to the program's "Options" or "Preferences" menu and enable the BCC function. If your e-mail program does not have this feature, dump it and get a new one.
BCC allows you to send e-mail to multiple users without revealing the identity or addresses of those recipients to any of the other addressee's. When you recieve an e-mail that has been BCC'd to you, it will say something like:

FROM: Geek's 'R Us
TO: Undisclosed Recipients
SUBJECT: Whatever

Some programs WILL allow YOUR address to be displayed on the "TO:" line, others will say "TO: Undisclosed Recipients@yourISP.com", but the main point is NO OTHER ADDRESSES WILL BE DISPLAYED, which greatly reduces the chances of having your address hacked. This also protects your dear friends from the same trouble.

Yes, all of these steps are a big hassle, but think of it this way: If you were to go to the airport and catch a plane, you would have to go through several security checks, each more strenous than the last. The pay-off is that we have not had a hijacking or airline bombing in the past 3-4 years or so. It's a huge pain, but the safety is worth it.

Finally, PLEASE feel free to copy this post and past it into an e-mail to send to your friends! Although worm's and other viruses are still a real threat to contend with, the dramatic upsurge of malicious spyware and ad-ware is actually causing more problems now, to the point that many of us are saying that they are actually WORSE than some of the viruses. Why? Because they are much easier to pass on. There are spyware and ad-ware programs that can install themselves onto your system WITHOUT your approval or knowledge. Just visit the wrong website and you will see.