The following was read at the Poplar Bluff City Council meeting during Citizen Input on July 6th, 2010.
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My name is Brian Becker, I own Poplar Bluff Internet also known as semo.net. A month ago I stood before City Council asking for action. It’s now been 49 days of being prevented by City Cable to sign up new customers and in several instances over the past month, even lose the ones I already have.
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One of the factors that sets our company apart is our support department. After each trouble ticket with our support team, our customer is sent a survey by email. I am constantly amazed at the number of high praises our team members get (not because they don’t deserve it but because human nature’s desire to be more vocal over frustrations one would expect frustration to dominate the responses).
Though we sometimes get frustrated responses, the overall majority are wonderful praise of our staff.
Over the past week, our team dealt with over 200 customer issues and 19 completed the survey for us. Below are the scores given in all 19 surveys and following that are the messages that accompanied the scores (there were no negative responses this week).
Ratings:
|
Jerry 2 Excellents 4 Goods |
Josh 2 Excellents 1 Good |
Justin 1 Good |
Stefan 4 Excellents 4 Goods |
Bill 1 Good |
Reviews:
| Bill/Jerry: 639729 I bought a new laptap, not able to log into my e-mail or internet. So took it to semo.net. It was fixed. Thank you. Stefan/Jerry: 696509 Josh: 697591 Stefan: 697702 Stefan: 697851 Jerry: 698113 Josh: 698271 Stefan: 698294 |
Below is a press release describing semo.net’s attempts to secure USDA broadband stimulus funding to make high-speed access available in our area; an area which the USDA has decided is not remote enough to qualify.
USDA TILTING AT WINDMILLS: LITTLE GUY EXPOSES USDA STIMULUS BLUNDER
Brian Becker owns a small Internet Service in Southeast Missouri started in 1995. Becker has documents to show that the USDA, responsible for doling out billions for Rural Broadband, has contradicted both itself and Congress. Most are skeptical at first, but a few minutes with him and you realize that $7.2B stimulus dollars hinge on one word.
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DUE TO THE WINTER-WARNING FORECAST: The event date has moved to February 5th.
Locally-based advertising agency All Media Services will be hosting a Media Round Table on Friday, February 5th. Get answers to your marketing questions, and solutions to your advertising issues from the market’s leading professionals.
The event will be held from 8:30 to Noon at the Holiday Inn in Poplar Bluff. For more information, visit All Media Services or email allmediaservices@tcmax.net.
Over the summer of 1995, I was working on a project with Jerusalem Perspective (JP) magazine to develop an interactive CD that would showcase their magazine. I first heard about the “World Wide Web” that summer, but living in technology-locked southeast Missouri, I couldn’t grasp the WWW concept and certainly didn’t know how to access this “Internet.” I had an account on CompuServe (and several other bulletin boards) but we all paid by the minute for the long distance phone access over a 9600 baud modem (9.6k).
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Apple iPhone: Jailbreaking & Unlocking and Related Security Problems
jailbreaking – the act of “freeing” a phone or computer from its manufacturer’s limitations
unlocking – the act of opening a phone so that it can be used on another network
A Netherlands-based hacker broke into some iPhones that had been “jailbroken” because of a security flaw in the code. The hacker placed a message on the screen that the user should pay 5 euros (more than $7) via pay pal to find out how to secure the phone.
Apple has taken steps in their latest firmware to prevent jailbreaking/unlocking.
Windows 7 – A Great OS (operating system)
Even despite the Apple ads that laugh at the OS woes of Windows-past, this new Windows 7 is a great operating system and worth the upgrade. semo.net will upgrade your computer for as little as $59.95 + the cost of the software from Windows (you can bring in your own or buy an upgrade from us for $129). Most newer computers can handle the upgrade but some might require new memory. If you need your computer data backed up before the upgrade, we can do that for you as well.
Google’s Android Appears with Verizon as “Droid”
Less than two years ago, Google announced that they were releasing an open-access, mobile phone software platform. T-Mobile and Sprint have released phones with Google’s mobile phone OS. Now Verizon along with Motorola have designed their first offering dubbed: Droid. This phone has lots of promise and the buzz is that the phone will live up to the hype.
Great Kids Christmas Present
Give your child a three-class tutor session on how to program computers. Taught by Ben, Jack and Brian Becker. Email us@beckerboys.com for more information.
http://scratch.mit.edu/users/thecatcher
http://scratch.mit.edu/users/smallstuff
Windows 7.0
Windows 7 is just days away with a release date of 10-22-09. Is your PC ready for Windows 7? Download Microsoft’s Advisor to find out. I have no idea what takes so long to determine compatibility…my laptop took over 10 minutes to get an answer. My Sony laptop (new in February 2006) running XP passed as long as I free up 12G of hard drive space (easy enough by I dumping “My Pictures” onto an external drive).
Don’t want to do the upgrade yourself? semo.net’s certified technicians can do the upgrade for as little as $59.95 plus the cost of Win7 upgrade software ($119 – $210). Call 686.9114 today for information about your upgrade.
Apple Tablet Rumors Continue
You can find tons of rumors on the new Apple product and whether it will be an ebook reader, large iTouch or Newton 2.0. Dvorak uses reason and rumor to gives his opinion on what this new device will do.
Google Android Coming To Verizon
T-Mobile & Sprint have already released a version of the Google Android phone, but in S.E. Missouri that doesn’t do much for you. But earlier this month, Google & Verizon announced that the open-platform phone was coming to the “Can You Hear Me Now” network. AT&T, home of the iPhone, has yet to agree that the Android can be used on their network.
Google AppEngine Goes Java
For two years, Google’s development platform (known as Google App Engine) was only available for the Python programming language. But last month, Google released a Java version of the application development system. For those who program, Google has developed a powerful, scalable platform for your web applications.
Saturn Has Invisible Ring
According to an article posted today, Saturn has an invisible ring up to 7.4 million miles from it’s surface.
semo.net Still Looking For Writers
You can make up to $500/month writing articles & blog posts for semo.net. Imagine an extra $6000 per year! Here’s how the process works:
Email a subject you want to write on to “articles@semo.net”
Within one business day you get a response. If it is a “yes” you will also get guidelines of how long the article should be, how much semo.net will pay you for your post, and when you need to have it completed.
Submit your post for final editing (articles that need major editing will either be rejected or the payment will be reduced by an editing expense — so write well!).
Just after Memorial Day, a story brewed that didn’t seem to get much airplay. A woman had a 3×5 foot flag hanging behind her desk in her office, an office she shared with three other supervisors. She came to work one day and was told the flag had been taken down because it was offensive to several employees.
For the entire story go to: Fox News
After every technical problem a customer has with our company, our system automatically sends out a survey to the customer asking for their feedback. We can count on one negative comment each week, but the amazing thing is that people go out of their way to express their appreciation to our Support Agents.
Here is a sample of the comments we received this week:
SUPPORT AGENT: Bridgett (received an Excellent rating)
“The “tech” I talked to was very helpful. She talked me through hooking up my dial-up internet, adding a desktop icon, and gave me an estimated timeline for when my DSL might be up and running again.”
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There’s still time to sign up for the Kids Programming Class in June. Your child, age 8 through 11, will learn how to program your computer with the language called Scratch, developed by MIT. Kids can program games like this one developed and designed by Jack Becker:
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