HIGH TECH CORNER: SOUTHWESTERN BELL BACKPEDALS FOR DSL FOR CAPE

Living in Cape Girardeau is a wonderful thing if you don't need technology.

Our local phone company, Southwestern Bell, has announced it is going to push to put DSL service in 8.2 million homes by the end of the year. Of course, that large number does not include Cape Girardeau.

What is DSL and why do you want it? DSL stands for Digital Subscriber Line. It is a great way to get 24-hour-a-day, high-speed Internet access at speeds 50 times faster than a standard 28.8 modem. You also get standard voice and fax service on the same copper at the same time. For $39 a month, customers who sign up for a year will get download speeds up to 1.5 megabits a second -- with 384 kilobits guaranteed -- and upload speeds to 128 kilobits.

SBC will throw in the necessary Internet service for $10 monthly and will waive installation charges. I called SBC and said sign me up. After several throat clearings and being passed to the next person a few times the truth came out. (BOLD) Cape Girardeau is on no schedule to get DSL service! (UNBOLD)

I am sure that the local ISP's (Internet Service Providers) who charge up to $25 a month for non-dedicated Internet access are very happy. Keeping the status quo allows them to rake in the Internet money for slow access and lots of busy signals.

When I contacted media relations at SBC and asked them specifics on why Cape is not a priority until after 2002, they said they would call me right back. The answer was basically that SBC is going for the big dollar markets first.

I did contact Falcon cable to get the exact skinny on cable modem access in Cape. More on this good and bad news in my next Southeast Missourian article.

On the Microsoft front, your Win98 operating system is not Y2K compatible, but you can make it so very easily. The Microsoft spin-doctors said the Year 2000 issues identified in Windows 98 pose no risk of data loss or PC damage.

They are small obscure bugs that no one would ever hit, but once it was discovered, there was a patch in two days on their upgrade Web page. If you have not visited the Windows 98 Microsoft upgrade Web page (BOLD) http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ (UNBOLD) your Win98 is sadly out of date already. The upgrades are all free of charge, and there are lots of various types of updates posted there.

Here is the bad news. The Web page is always slow due to the millions of hits. Go on late at night and let it analyze your computer to give you the list of what upgrades your box needs.

Select all the items you want to upgrade. Leave your computer turned on and connected and go to bed. The next morning your computer will be enhanced and better than ever.

I want to pass on a Y2K joke that someone e-mailed me this morning. Feb. 4, 2000. Dear Valued Employee: Re: Vacation Pay. Our records indicate that you have not used any vacation time over the past 100 year(s). As I'm sure you are aware, employees are granted three weeks of paid leave per year or pay in lieu of time off. One additional week is granted for every 5 years of service. Please either take 9,400 days off work or notify our office and your next pay check will reflect payment of $8,277,432.22, which will include all pay and interest for the past 1,200 months. Sincerely, Automated Payroll Processing.

Your House of Representatives in Washington is trying to mess things up again. The House is going to vote on allowing or disallowing a charge to your phone bill equal to a long distance call, each and every time you access the Internet. Of course, phone company lobbyists are all for this to happen.

Please go to the Web page of our rep of the Missouri 8th District the honorable Jo Ann Emerson at (BOLD)http://www.house.gov/emerson/ (UNBOLD) and E-MAIL her to vote against this bill. Our phone bills are high enough!

As always feel free to contact me at (BOLD) digital@ldd.net or www.digitallabs.com (UNBOLD).

Rich Comeau is an electronics scientist and owner of Digital Labs of Cape Girardeau. E-mail him at ditigal@ldd.net