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Is the internet all Greek to you?
It is estimated that most households and businesses in Australia will be on-line by the turn of the century. What does that mean? It means being connected to the internet and the world wide web, with access to e-mail.
The world wide web is a network of computers which transmit information almost instantaneously throughout the world. This means that you can find information on almost any subject that you can imagine. Many of the articles written in the Village Views, for example, are researched via the internet. You can publish your own information via your own home page. It also means that you can have conversations with other people connected to the internet, by typing your comments. These are called internet relay chats and are very popular - you could be having a three way conversation with one person in the United States and another in India. You can also send letters via e-mail instantly to another person anywhere in the world, as long as they have an e-mail address.
To do all of this, all you need is a computer, a modem, a telephone line and an internet service provider (ISP) who will connect you to the internet.
There are many ISPs cropping up to service the Blue Mountains. Until recently, many people were using Sydney based companies and paying STD phone call rates, making each connection quite expensive, especially as many people like to "surf the 'net" for hours at a time.
When looking for an ISP, make sure that they provide a local phone call rate for your particular area of the Mountains. Often STD rates are charged even between Mountains towns and villages. A new ISP has recently opened called Hermes Internet. Based in Katoomba, they provide a local phone call service from anywhere in the Blue Mountains.
The people at Hermes Internet, Derek Bem and Jack Olszewski, have been working for nearly a year to make sure that the service they provide is the best in the mountains.
They are connected to the 'net via fibre optic technology onto a digital network, which radically decreases the chance of errors and so improves transfer speeds. They have their own direct link to the internet - unlike many others, they are not hooked off another big ISP. This also increases access speeds.
Hermes Internet do not use standard phone lines or analogue modems, either. Their equipment is based on flash upgradeable digital modems and access servers from Shiva, the world leading American company. This means that all computers are catered for, and all modems - including the fastest new 56Kbps modems, down to the slowest older ones. Hermes Internet continues the digital process using a high capacity ISDN channel to improve access speeds.
Power interruptions will not affect the data on Hermes' computers because they are protected by the highest quality Uninterruptible Power Supplies, and in any major power failure the computers will be able to be shut down properly to protect information. Just in case, Hermes backs up the data each day, rotating the back up disks and keeping them at different sites.
Best of all are Hermes Internet's rates. All of their access is sold in hour blocks and you can use the hours any time within a twelve month period, so you don't pay for what you don't use. You can start with as few as ten hours for $25, or you can get 100 hours for $99. For heavy users they also offer a monthly credit card account, where you are charged at 99c per hour, with a minimum charge of $20 per month. Incredibly, they do not charge for registration or setup and they provide you with detailed information on how to set up your computer to access their equipment. They also offer 30 minutes of free help desk support per month, and 500kb of free space for your own home page.
If you are interested in connecting to the internet, or if you want to leave your current ISP and connect to the superior service of Hermes Internet, call them on 82 6111, or e-mail Hermes at admin@hermes.net.au
Click here to go to Hermes Home Page
To contact the Village Views, send us an e-mail to: bmvv@hermes.net.au