Hi Folks,

Q:
Do you happen to have any suggestions on which ISPs are the best or which ones are the worst? I'm thinking about switching to a new one, but I don't really know who to go with. Please help!

A:
It's very interesting that you asked that question today. I was actually browsing through our message board the other day and I found a posting from one of our members about a recent survey that was done by PC World magazine entitled "The Best and Worst ISPs." So, this was the perfect source for me to use to answer your question. I was actually quite surprised by some of the results too. There were even a few ISPs on the list that I've never even heard of, so this survey really gave well rounded results.

Now, just in case you're not sure, ISP stands for Internet Service Provider. They're basically the ones who handle your Internet connection. Your ISP is who you connect with to get on the Internet everyday. If you're thinking about changing your ISP (like the person who asked this question), you'll want to take a good look at the survey results, because they will provide you with a lot of information you can use to choose the best one for your needs. Or if you're content with the ISP you have right now, you might be interested in seeing where it ranks in the list. So, what do you say we take a look at those results?!

The survey was divided into different criteria that each ISP was tested for. Those included connection type, overall satisfaction, connection reliability, download speed, upload speed, customer service, technical support, e-mail service, spam blocking and antivirus/security. Each ISP was given a rating of above average, average or below average. And lastly, the ISPs involved in the survey were Verizon Fiber, Cablevision, Cox, Insight Cable, Earthlink Cable, Earthlink DSL, AT&T Yahoo! (formerly known as SBC Yahoo!), Time Warner Cable (also known as Road Runner), Verizon DSL, Comcast, Qwest, Earthlink Dial-up, BellSouth (now known as AT&T), MSN, AOL and Charter.

After looking over the chart, it looks like Verizon (the fiber version) made the top of the list, getting an Above Average ranking for each set criteria. Charter came in last, only getting two Average ratings throughout the whole survey. Some of the other ISPs that came out on top were Cablevision, Cox and Insight Cable. To be honest, those actually surprised me, because when I think of ISPs, I don't think of any of those right away. But it just goes to show that just because you have a popular name, you're not always at the top of your class.

Now, when you look at the results, it obviously depends on what type of Internet connection you're using. For example, Earthlink has dial-up, cable and DSL services, so make sure you're looking at the correct type for whatever you use in your home or office. Other than that, the results are pretty straight forward and self-explanatory. For your convenience, I have copied the full chart and you can check everything out for yourself right here:

So, go ahead and look up your ISP and see how they ranked. If yours didn't do so hot, don't worry about it too much. If your ISP is still working well for you and you're getting everything out of it that you want, you don't need to panic and switch to another one. As long as you're happy with the service you're receiving, the results don't matter. On the other hand, if you're very unhappy with your ISP, you may want to consider another one that got rave reviews from PC World. The choice is yours!

Either way, I'd like to thank PC World and Pelican56 from our message board for helping me out with this tip. I really hope it will give some of you a little help with your ISP issues. Enjoy!

~ Erin

Q:
The other day, you wrote a tip on how we can use our own pictures to create new stationery choices in Outlook Express. I've been trying to do that for the last couple of days, but I'm not able to get it going right. Can you please give us a few more instructions on how to do this? Thank you!

A:
I sure can! Yes, as you may remember, the other day (on Tuesday to be exact), I wrote a tip on adding your own pictures to your stationery choices in various e-mail programs. Well, ever since, I have been getting non-stop e-mails and phone calls from some of you who seem to be having trouble getting it to work in Outlook Express. And I figured instead of answering your questions individually, I'd just write a whole new tip about it. So, here's to fixing your OE stationery blues!

In Outlook Express, go to Tools, Options and click on the Compose tab. From there, click on the Create New button located under the Stationery section. The Stationery Setup Wizard will then appear. Hit Next to get started. The first thing you'll want to do is click the Browse button and find the picture you want to add. Once you find it, select it and click the Open button. That picture will then show up in the Preview box.

You'll then want to adjust it so it will look the way you want it to in your actual e-mail. You can position it to the top, center or bottom and to the left, center or right. You can then either tile it vertically, horizontally, on the entire page or not at all. Then if you want to add some more color to your background, checkmark the color box and then choose the one you like the best.

Now, every time you make a change, it will show up in the Preview box, so you'll know right away if you like it or not. And if you don't, just keep experimenting until you find a combination you think your recipients will enjoy. I personally like to put my picture as a top border around my e-mail. It just gives the e-mail enough extra jazz, but it doesn't overdo it. You can certainly do whatever you want, but that's what I usually do.

When you're all done with that, hit the Next button to continue. The next section deals with the font you'd like to use with your new stationery. This is the actual font that will show up as you type out the e-mail you're going to send. Just use the drop down menus to choose your font style, the text size and if you want it to be in color or not. You can checkmark either bold or italic if you want as well. You can see what it will look like in the Preview box for this one too. When you're all done, hit the Next button.

You can now choose your margins. Use the up and down arrows to set your margins for the left side and the top of your e-mail. Again, you can see the changes you're making in the Preview box, so you'll know if it looks appropriate or not. Click Next again when you're finished with that. The last step is to choose a name for your new stationery creation. Just type in a name in the open box. I named mine "My Picture Stationery." Click Finish when you're done with that.

When you're ready to send an e-mail with your new stationery included, hit the drop down arrow on the Create Mail button and choose Select Stationery. You can then find yours in the list. Select it and click OK. A new e-mail will then be created with your new stationery inserted. Doesn't that look pretty?! And hey, if you don't like it, you can always go back to the wizard and redo it. It's not difficult at all. Here's a small sample of what mine looks like:

I just used a picture of a flower I really like and some nice green colored font to match it. I'm going to use this to send a simple "Hello!" e-mail to some of my friends and family members I haven't talked to in awhile. I hope they'll like it, but I have a good feeling they will. Now that you've got yours done, who are you going to send an e-mail to? Or maybe you're going to create some more stationery of your own. Either way, have fun with this one. It's too good to pass up!

~ Erin

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