Winning E-Story Submitted by: Mary Donn

I have been so happy with my DSL from NATCO. I had dialup and it is so nice to be able to talk on the phone and not miss calls while using the internet at the same time. We have a router so the second pc is wireless.

Mary Donn just earned two free months of NATCO Internet service! Submit your E-Story today and you could be our next winner! Remember that you can enter more than once. So, if you didn't win this time, try again! Just go to www.natcotech.com/estories.htm and tell us how using NATCO's Internet or e-mail service has made your life easier, helped you promote or manage your business, or simply how much you enjoy using the Internet and e-mail. If your E-Story is chosen, you'll win two months of free NATCO dialup Internet service ($19.95 X 2 = $39.90) or an equivalent credit on your DSL account.

E-mail Upgraded for NATCO Customers

NATCO Technologies has upgraded its e-mail servers to provide faster and more reliable access to e-mail for customers. Russ Woodman, Systems Administrator, said the work was undertaken because “Quality of service is NATCO’s highest priority when providing Internet access and solutions for its customers.”

The work was completed in October. The new features include: expanded Web Mail capabilities, quicker downloads, high availability of e-mail even during rare hardware downtime as well as the ability to scale our e-mail service to provide quality options and value-added services to customers in the future.

The upgrade also means that the e-mail system is protected from failures, or disasters, with additional capacity and additional redundancy including off-site backup.

NATCO Boosts Preparedness for Outages

NATCO has recently taken steps to increase its preparedness for service outages of all types. Steven Sanders Jr., Plant Manager, explains that the new Nfinity UPS equipment corrects all types of power fluctuations and extends battery life. Installed at Lead Hill, the equipment will help customers experience reliable service in the face of commercial power fluctuations and lightning strikes.

New Year’s Resolutions for Parents of Students

What better time than the New Year to renew those good intentions concerning the school year? Parents may find resources at websites of commercial and nonprofit groups, such as maps, activities, and homework help. Some of these sites are: www.WorldBook.com/wb/Students with typical courses of study for levels K-12, www.NationalGeographic.com/homework with homework help on many subjects, www.pbskids.org with story time, games, music, printable coloring pages, www.WordCentral.com with dictionary-thesaurus-rhyming references and activities, and www.FunBrain.com from Leap Frog, as well as other sponsors with games like math baseball, proton Don, grammar gorillas and others.

Here are reminders for parents to help the younger generation do their best in school.

• Set a good example. A parent is the child’s first and most important teacher.


• Read aloud to young children every day.


• Compliment your children for their efforts, even small ones.


• Let your child see you using skills from school – reading, writing, arithmetic, scientific method, even a foreign language.


• Listen to your child to learn what’s on his mind, how he/she thinks and learns.

IRS Scams Continue

The Internal Revenue Service has reported five more scams in recent months that targeted taxpayers and sought their personal and financial information. This statement from the IRS covers them all. "Everyone should beware of these scam artists," said Kevin M. Brown, Acting IRS Commissioner. "Always exercise caution when you receive unsolicited e-mails or e-mails from senders you don’t know."

Among the recent scams were: offers for so-called tax refunds with a link to a fake IRS website; an offer of $80 for filling out a survey; various so-called investigation notices; and an opportunity to donate to the victims of recent California wildfires.

The IRS spokesman advised anyone receiving questionable e-mails claiming to come from the IRS to not open any attachments or click on any links in the e-mails. "Instead, they should forward the e-mails to phishing@irs.gov."

Who’s Phishing for Your Employees?

Imagine that hackers impersonate a government agency and send your employees links to a virus using an official-looking e-mail!

Companies across the country are warning employees about recent e-mails that appeared to be from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The e-mail directed the recipient to a website to download a copy of the "complaint." It contains links to a virus likely to harm the recipient’s computer if the user clicks on the referenced link or downloads the attached file.

No company or government agency should ever request account, password, or
other confidential information via e-mail. Do not respond. Do go to one or
more of these websites to find more information about these types of attacks:

The Anti-Phishing Group – http://www.antiphishing.org/ or Federal Trade
Commission – http://www.onguardonline.gov/phishing.html.

New Words Welcome

The Merriam-Webster company wants to know about new words and has an Open Dictionary for such words - 12,000 of them. An online newsletter invites readers to submit words they have noticed in use on the radio, in a book, magazine, or online. Before you send a word to www.Word.com, check other dictionaries to make sure it is not already included.

A few examples of new words accepted for the Open Dictionary are: babymoon (noun) : a short vacation for a couple before the birth of their child; e-tailer (noun): a person or store who sells over the Internet; y’alternative also y’allternative (noun): alternative country music. Click here for the ground rules for submitting a word.

For Late Shoppers – Give NATCO Gift Certificates

A NATCO Gift Certificate is a welcome gift for any friend or relative nearby. It’s a great help for the last-minute shopper, too. Call our Customer Service Santas between 8 and 5 p.m. at 453-8800 in Flippin, or toll-free outside Flippin at 800-775-6682. The NATCO Gift Certificate can be used for any telephone or Internet service.

Q. Is Your Teen Ready for MySpace.com?

A. No - Unless He/She Passes the Test.
What test is that? Keep reading.

USA Today newspaper technology columnist Kim Komando has drawn up a sample profile for parents and kids to look at together as a test of their safety knowledge. In a recent column, the writer said, "MySpace remains a dangerous place for children."

Komando advises parents to go to her website and give the kids the test. There may be other helpful links on her comprehensive website, www.komando.com.

Win a South Shore Gift

When you visit the South Shore website at www.southshore.com, you'll have a chance to win a South Shore souvenir, like a T-shirt, a cap, chiller cups, and other necessities for the great South Shore outdoors. The South Shore website is an electronic community for the towns on and near the south shore of Bull Shoals Lake, and it's packed with information for you and for our tourist visitors.

Glenn A. Dunn is this month's winner of a coffee mug. Congratulations, Glenn A. Dunn.

Weekly Maintenance on Wednesday

Each Wednesday morning from 12:01 A.M. until 5 A.M., NATCO Technologies performs regular maintenance on Internet equipment. Your Internet service should not be affected. But, if you do experience an interruption in service during this time, please try again a few moments later. We try to minimize any "down time" by doing our maintenance at a regular time each week.

All users agree to terms and guidelines published at www.natcotech.com/guideline.htm.

Feedback: NATCO invites readers' comments about the e-newsletter and suggestions for future articles. Let us know what information in the e-newsletter is most useful or what Internet issues are important to you. Readers may send suggestions for future e-newsletter articles, questions or comments to: custserv@natconet.com.

Want to view previous issues? Visit: e-newsletter archives.

NATCO Technologies does not endorse or recommend any software or program. The purpose of the articles included in this newsletter is to keep our customers informed. We do not provide free technical support for software or programs such as Norton, McAfee, AVG Anti-Virus, Instant Messenger Services, etc. Please see the NATCO Internet brochure for full details on what is and is not covered by our free Internet Technical Support.