Winning E-Story Submitted by: John Kelly

I am disabled and have been doing my family genealogy for about the past 6 years ,mostly on the internet. I have my mothers family traced back to 1225 England with 110 relatives that were involved in the civil war . and have my fathers side traced back to 1826 Ireland. Without the internet DSL from NATCO I would not know what I do now about my family.

John Kelly 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.

Home and School: When to Keep a Child Home

With school in full swing, parents will be thinking about what to do when their child feels sick on a school day. Check with your school on its rules, and consider these questions from The Mayo Clinic - a well-known source of medical information online - to help you decide when to keep a child home.

• Can your child participate in normal, everyday activities?


• Has your child vomited twice or more in a 24-hour period?


• Does your child have a temperature of 101 or more orally?


• Is your child having severe coughing or difficulty breathing?


• Does your child have severe diarrhea, or has had bloody stools for at least
  a day?


• Has your child had persistent abdominal pain for more than 2 hours?


• Does your child have open sores on the mouth?


• Is there a skin rash or red eye from an undetermined cause?


• Are there head lice or scabies (itchy skin condition caused by a tiny mite)?

Speed Up Your Internet - Free for Limited Time

NATCO Tech customers may upgrade to the new DSL speeds in all tier levels free up to Dec. 31. Tier 1 ($29.95) and Tier 2 ($49.95) both double in speed, and Tier 3 ($79.95) quadruples in speed. Call the customer service representatives for details at 800-775-6682. If you’re in Flippin, call 453-8800, and if you’re in the Mountain Home area, call 425-8064 (Brooks-Jeffrey Computer Store). Check out the offer of an upgrade to a wireless router for $19.95.

Gift Certificates for Christmas

NATCO could help you surprise family members or friends with a gift at Christmas. Wrap up a gift certificate for an Internet service, a telephone or phone feature. You may want to provide an upgrade to an existing Internet customer. Gift certificates are also available for an additional phone line, a new telephone set, and low cost digital telephone features like Call Waiting or Teen Line.

You can do it all from home with your telephone or computer. For more ideas and details about payment plans or charging to your credit card, call our Customer Service Santas … we mean … Representatives. Telephone 453-8800 in Flippin or 1-800-775-6682, and then press Option 1.

Stay Focused on Antivirus Function

Do you do an antivirus (also, adware, spyware) check on your home computer periodically? It’s helpful to start a routine of this type. Make it a habit to confirm that your computer is checking all incoming email messages and your automatic update for virus definition files is turned on.

For further information, heed advice that applies to your operating system from 5 Critical Steps to Protecting Your Computer on the Internet (from the Computer Help Squad). Briefly, the steps are: run a personal firewall; turn on your Windows Updates; install and update antivirus software; install antispyware software; and set up a free e-mail account (so your permanent e-mail account attracts less spam).

DST Continues an Extra Week This Year

This year, Daylight Savings Time does not end in October. Instead, it continues for one week - ending on November 4, 2007, the first Sunday in November. So, set clocks back one hour (2 a.m. is the official time) and Central Standard Time is back!

Also check your computer clock and calendar. If you use Windows Vista or have Automatic Updates turned on, you may not be affected by the DST change. You may confirm that by going to the main Microsoft Help and Support page for DST and following the steps in the DST Update Guide.

If you use Windows ME or earlier versions, visit the Microsoft Support Lifecycle page. IT professionals and managers are also referred to the DST Update Guide to find articles and downloads needed for updates.

Don’t forget that all devices without a network connection or a way to update them will need to be done manually, including: digital cameras, cordless phones, VCRs, DVD players, clock radios, and microwaves.

The 2008 span of DST will be nearly identical to this year - four weeks longer than in 2006 - from March 9, 2008 through November 2, 2008.

NAEC Co-op Adds Weather Warnings

If you are a member of North Arkansas Electric Co-op, you may see National Weather Service watches and warnings for counties which you select. It’s free to you. The September newsletter said NAEC members may download the application from the home page of www.naeci.com. There are setup instructions to customize the software to your area. Once set up. The watches and warnings pop up automatically.

Acer to Acquire Gateway

In late August, Acer, one of the world’s leading PC vendors, announced it would acquire Gateway, the fourth largest PC company in the United States and a leading retail PC provider. Acer would pay $1.90 per share for all the outstanding shares of Gateway, or a total of $710 million. The acquisition is expected to close by December. The combination will create a multi-branded PC company with over $15 billion in revenues and shipments of over 20 million PC units per year, the companies said in a joint press release of August 27, 2007.

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.

Diane Hadley is this month's winner of a T-shirt. Congratulations, Diane Hadley.

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.