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HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Welcome to the New Millenium

Happy New Year! Its not quite the magic hour yet as I'm writing this, but Australia and New Zealand are already celebrating.The fireworks there are apparantly fantastic with no major problems reported so far.

This new year has the feel about it, doesn't it? Despite the worriers and their hoarding of generators, batteries and cans of pork and beans, the underlying feeling is one of optimism and opportunity for the new millennium (whether you think this is the new millennium or not). We are starting the year 2000 off on a very good foot here in Manitoba and generally throughout the world.

The Year 2000 will be marked as the year technology and innovation created a climate of optimism and opportunity. The technology has been moving along at break neck speed over the last few years and the general public has been scrambling to keep up. It feels now as though the technology developed is at the stage of general exploitation - ready for the world to step into the foray and let it change their lives. The Y2K computer glitches have, for the most part, been fixed and the final test is just around the corner for us. After that it will be full speed ahead. Nothing left to stand in our way and stop us!

The Future for Granite Internet

What does Granite have in store for the Year 2000? Our first order of business is to install a dial-up location in Beausejour. Thats coming along just as soon as MTS can install it - sometime near the end of January. This will complete our coverage of the North Eastman region of Manitoba and extend it just a little bit beyond.

E-commerce is going to change the way we all do business. It already has for some, but statistics show that the general public is now feeling secure enough to begin using e-commerce in a big way. In a recent customer service survey, 30% of our customers have purchased products over the Internet. This one Internet service will make a world of difference to rural businesses in our region. The market for many businesses will expand from tier own small communities, to the world almost over night. The competition for them, however, will also be businesses around the world. Our local businesses will have to respond. Granite is ready to provide all Internet services required for our local businesses to do just that; from web pages to e-commerce, high speed access to simple e-mail.

Here at Granite we are looking forward to the new year with excitement. Whatever it brings, I can't think of a better place to be than right here in Eastern Manitoba supplying Internet services to all of you. I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of our customers. You have kept us in business for three years now. You have supported our expansions so the Whiteshell Park and Beaches region could enjoy toll-free access not available anywhere else. You are our reason for being here, and I wish you all the best in the New Year.

Happy New Year!

And now, for your viewing pleasure, a few links for you to visit for New Years:

• http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/7214/newyear.htm
• http://www.billybear4kids.com/holidays/newyears/fun.htm
• http://millennium.greenwich2000.com/countdown/countdown2001.htm
• http://www.swissinfo.net/cgi/worldtime/clock.pl?Chatham,New=Zealand
• http://www.earthportals.com/newyear.html
• http://www.timessquarebid.org/times_square_2000.htm
• http://rats2u.com/christmas/newyear_index.htm

Pinawa Vignettes

Discover the Secret
Our home, in the heart of Canada, is a place where the beauty of nature springs forth; without the backdrop of high rise buildings and city noises. We're a dwelling place for people from various walks in life, and as we enter the next millennium; there's an invitation for visitors to come and discover the secrets of Pinawa. Our community is located on the north shore of the beautiful Sylvia Lake. Come to Eastern Manitoba this year. We'll be looking forward to your visit.

Today, the tourist can visit this majestic network of waterways in Manitoba's, Whiteshell Provincial Park. The park's arcadian beauty can also be found in the countryside surrounding its boundaries. The town of Pinawa is only a few kilometres north of the park and a close look at a map, shows the community surrounded by a spate of basins and streams. Pinawa is easily accessible by a network of highways and a sign, eight kilometres north of Highway 44 and Junction 11, invites the traveler to Discover The Secrets of Pinawa. Three kilometres north of that sign, visitors will find trunk road 211 and after taking it east, over the Winnipeg River, they'll become captivated by the beauty of our home in Eastern Manitoba.

....The End

The Cougar
It was three in the morning, when I heard the demented howl. A full moon, with a fringe of thin clouds, drifted across the cold clear sky. A cougar had been sited near town and everyone was talking about its stalking habits. I rushed to the back door, as the howl came a second time. It sounded like it might be in front of Mayor Swanson's place. After all, Swanson had reported hearing the cougar's howl several days earlier. I felt courageous. Maybe I'd make an authentic sighting; and as I stepped outside the back door and rushed toward toward the front of the house, I heard the howl again. I gingerly peered up and down the street and lo and behold, all I saw was a frisky fox, sitting on its tail - taunting a cat several houses down. The howl had been magnified by a brisk southwesterly wind, and there was nothing left to do but scare the beast off. I clapped my hands twice. I like to think it sounded like the reports from a shot gun and the last I saw of the creature, it was scurrying off towards the gold course - on the north side of town.
...The End

Hearts - Favourite Old Game for Lunch-Time and now for Mid-Night Snack Time

Games usually don't draw me in as much as this one has. For those who are interested in a 30-day preview version, go to http://www.silvercrk.com and click on the "download" buttons, you will probably be asked to download it from another site, as it is busy throughout the day. The http://download.cnet.com site had 5,900 downloads of this game in the first week of December. Once downloaded into a folder, of your choice, for future use, you simply click on the filename and let it install on your system. For several years, I have played the Silvercreek Entertainment version of Hardwood Solitaire II on my PC only. Many of these similar features have been duplicated, enhanced and adopted into this Game of Hearts. You haven't played Hardwood Solitaire II either, you have been missing out, maybe you would like to also go and download that game and have it in your software library for playing. It beats the heck out of the Microsoft version of Solitaire.Enough said.

In the first '30-day trial period' you get an option of three different icons to illustrate yourself at the card table. Each download changes the choice of 3 icons with which to start. You can change the colour of your character, clothing and background. The purchased version costs $29.95 US$ on a CD, or $24.95 US$ for a "key" number following your download. This allows you 17 different icons and a number of other enviable and desirable improvements. By the time you read this article, I will likely have bought the game and will be heavily immersed. I just don't know where the internet account hours have gone, I didn't get much surfin done and I haven't really read all my e-mail this month. What is wrong with me. My spouse has thoughts of enrolling me in the card-addiction program.

Instead of playing by yourself against computer-robots, you can now play on-line in real-time with friends, relatives or strangers from anywhere in the world, and also use a chat option where you talk back and forth using a bubble-feature during game play. Once the game gets going and requires an increasing level of strategy, your discussions by text gets more cryptic and far less formal.

Two choices:
You can play in the "social" area against robots or real players from all over the world, not worrying about the ultimate point total, or, You can play in the "rated" area where points really do matter. Following completion of your first 20 games, you end up with a rating which others can then view in your "Profile".

The "Profile" area is where you can put tidbits of knowledge you want to share about yourself with others wanting to view this Profile. Leaving it blank might curtail conversation at first. It is always nice to know where in the world your partner(s) come(s) from and if you want to meet with a friend or acquaintance then it obviously is better to put some personal information so they can find you easily, otherwise they need to know what username to find you under in the Lobby Area where potential players meet.

In the "Rated" area you start with a "Provisional" rating of 1500, that will change throughout the 20 games, either upwards or downwards, depending on your skill-level. If you sign-on to the Multiplayer function, and no live players are available, you can still play against the instantly provided robots and try to build up your skill level so you are ready for your live opponent(s). Don't kid yourself, the robots or 'bots' play 24 hours a day and have a pretty good rating. Of course, others have the opportunity to ask you, as the host, if they can join in, usually it is in your interest to allow others in and the challenge begins. During my first 20 games I was playing a young person age 13 from Bangla Desh, an older individual from New Zealand and a sharp player from Italy. In the first week of December, I was able to match up with a handful of people from different parts of Canada. We chatted about various topics, had a heck of a good time. Hours passed, lights got turned out and when I went to bed, the sun was coming up. (Bet some of you know the situation if you have been a heavy game player on your PC).

There are of course many choices and options when you start playing Hardwood Hearts. The basic options match the manual card game exactly, however, such enhancements as points for the Jack of Diamonds, choice of always passing or not, extra points for getting all the card tricks (not just the hearts and queen of spades) is called "Shooting the Sun" or "eclipsing" compared to Shooting the Moon for the standard accomplishment of 26 points. The host sets these options for the group. Also the option of "Spot Hearts" where the actual face value is used as the points calculator, 'heck of an option'. Refinements such as auto-play, view the last card trick, etc. is available once into the actual gaming screen through the General Information tab on the right hand top corner. Shooting the Moon gives a graphical screen which embellishes your accomplishment, however, Shooting the Sun, is a much more desirable euphoric experience. Cataclysmic to say the least, because all four players get to see both of these skyscapes. Some players may even leave abruptly suffering the additional points penalty. And there is a button "TRAM" The Rest Are Mine, when the game knows you have control of the tricks to be taken. You can then either end the agony instantly for the others or continue to draw on their patience. Once you have played the Multiplayer option, there are small icons by each player's name line, which could be a computer chip illustrating a computer robot, or a "turtle" showing who has a slow connection for those who wonder why the next player is not moving. The host for the game has an "H" in this same spot. The yellow light in the middle circle on the table top revolves to the next player whose turn it is, so we all know who is "sitting in the bush". No you can't play out of turn, and no you can't cheat, cards not playable are grayed-out for the moment, and a single card left can pop up and onto the table automatically when that suit is played. In addition, there are numerous sound files which provide you with a choice of having music accompanying your game. An extra add-on is the Deck Press also available which can be used for both Hardwood Solitaire II and Hardwood Hearts. The site also added a discussion group for members to exchange experiences.

Go ahead, log on to the the Silver Creek Entertainment Web Site at http://www.silvercrk.com and get going. No doubt, whenever you are playing in the multiplayer section you will find me in the 'rated' area. My Provisional Score of 1500 has dwindled down to the upper 1200 's. I did have a good rating but once into groups of four with either the robots or live action with people from other distant domains, each having ratings of 1600 plus, I got beat so badly that my rating dwindled before my very eyes.

Submitted by
Budd Mager
7sisters@granite.mb.ca
December 9, 1999

The Granite Network - Ever Expanding to Serve More of You - Better!

What will this mean to you, our customers? Well, we are installing twenty-four 56k modems and high speed digital access into Beausejour. A new 268 exchange will be available, extending our toll-free dial-up location further afield to communities like Oakbank, Anola, Selkirk and others. Some new high speed options for Internet access will now be available to businesses in the community of Beausjour - options like HSDL and wireless solutions that have been currently unavailable in that community.

The new millenium is bringing with it a wide range of new opportunities. Many of these opportunities are made possible through the use of the Internet; the WWW, E-mail and Electronic Commerce. Granite has positioned itself as a company to offer all these services and more throughout the entire North Eastern Region of Manitoba. Our aim is to provide all your Internet needs in this region. Our Web Design department has been designing professional web sites for local Manitoba businesses for over three years now. Our local regional web sites offer affordable local promotion of web sites, as well as promoting our region to the world. Our homepage, located at www.granite.mb.ca was rated unanimousely as excellent in our latest customer service survey. Granite's customer service, including our technical help-line, rated from Very Good to Excellent by the people whose opinion we value most - our customers. There is no reason the choose any other Internet Provider in Eastern Manitoba, no matter what your needs are.

HSDL and wireless high speed solutions are now available in the communities of:

• Lac du Bonnet
• Pine Falls
• Whitemouth
• Pinawa
• Beausejour

Thank you for helping us provide the best possible service to all of our customers.

Network Manager Editorial

As the new year approached a disconcerting glitch in the Internet caused me concern. We had a client that was trying to email the UK. After a few days of trying, he contacted me and I started to look for the problem. I checked Granite's service, it was okay. I then proceeded to check the network beyond Granite. I finally traced the problem down to a router in the USA that was not letting Granite's traffic pass. So the email started flying to Granite's upstream provider asking them to look into the problem and with what I have found.

After a couple of days of frustration, I again contacted our upstream provider. They escalated the problem and that satisfied me that something was going to get done that day. But it was the 23rd of December and I was not very hopeful that I would see a resolution before Christmas.

I was right, it was not until December 29, 1999 and a lot more emails/telephone calls that fixed the problem.

The whole problem stemmed from "lack of cooperation". Through out the entire process a lot of finger pointing and "we do not provide your service" replies occurred.

The Internet is a collection of private networks thrown together by a protocol called IP. The Internet only survives by cooperation between service providers. I guess my partner's saying is correct "Do not be amazed when the Internet doesn't work, just be amazed when it does!"

Thanks to our upstream provider Escape Communications Corp. for their assistance in resolving this issue.

by David Hnatiw

Network Manager Report

December 1999 Problems/Changes

LAC DU BONNET - No major changes to report. The Mail server was rebooted to load Y2k patches. From about December 19th to December 29, 1999 a routing problem in New York caused some sites to be unavailable. Christmas break caused the delay in the fix. A router failure in Winnipeg on December 25th and December 28th caused periodic outages beyond the Granite Network. Bell Canada has corrected the problem.

WHITEMOUTH - Nothing to report.

PINE FALLS - Nothing to report.

January 2000 Upgrades/Maintenance

LAC DU BONNET - No planned maintenance.

WHITEMOUTH - No planned maintenance.

PINE FALLS - No maintenance planned; just performance monitoring.

BEAUSEJOUR - Installation and testing; should be operational by January 24, 2000