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Thursday, April 05, 2001 By David Radin
Will you lose your DSL service? It's entirely possible because NorthPoint Communications, one of the largest DSL networks, is going under. And your DSL service might go under with it.
Over the past few years, many Internet users have been upgrading to high-speed broadband connections such as DSL and cable modem. Many of you have turned to your local Internet Service Provider to provide the DSL service. But those ISPs have, in turn, been subcontracting the DSL service to NorthPoint or other DSL networks. It's easier and less expensive for ISPs to provide such high-end services as this because they don't have to create the infrastructure necessary to create the network. But it also puts them at risk if the provider goes down -- and subsequently puts their users at risk.
That's exactly what happened here. It takes a lot of money to create and operate a DSL network. NorthPoint originally thought that a merger with Verizon would give the company the money it needs to maintain its network. But the merger fell apart; and NorthPoint had to scurry for other funding. When that funding didn't come through, the company sold off its co-location facilities, network equipment and software to AT&T. AT&T did not buy the users, though. So 110,000 users are losing their DSL connections as NorthPoint shuts down.
Will you lose your DSL? Possibly -- even if you don't think NorthPoint is providing it. Because NorthPoint typically provides its service under the covers. You think that you're getting it from your ISP. They simply change the name and bundle other services with it. Most of the time, this arrangement works. But right now, if you're a DSL user, you're subject to risk.
Have a question for David Radin? Contact him at his Web site
Don't wait until your DSL connection is shut down. Act now. Start by visiting the Web site of your ISP to see whether the ISP has issued a statement that it uses NorthPoint for DSL service. If you don't see a statement, call or e-mail your ISP to find out. Your ISP should tell you if you are at risk of losing your DSL, when it might happen, and whether you need to do anything to keep your connection active.
Q: I see many documents that have nicely formatted margins in which some of the text is all the way to the left, and other text is indented. But the indentation applies to the whole paragraph. When I try to do it, the indentation happens on only the first line. What am I doing wrong?
A:You're probably not indenting the paragraph. You're probably just tabbing. When you press the [Tab] key to indent, it will simply move over a pre-specified number of spaces. Each time you tab, you move the same number of spaces to the right. If you want to move the left margin of the entire paragraph, you need to use the indent buttons on the tool bar. You'll typically find them grouped with the [numbering] and [bullets] buttons. The [increase indent] button has a right arrow on it and some thick and thin horizontal lines. The [decrease indent] button has a left arrow with those lines.
First, place your cursor anywhere inside the paragraph that you want to indent. Then click on the [increase indent] button. This will indent the entire paragraph. If it seems to indent only part of the paragraph, you have inadvertently split the paragraph in two with an extra [Enter]. Put your cursor at the beginning of the line that isn't included in the indent. Press the [Backspace] key (which will remove the extra [Enter]). Then, if needed, press the space bar. Now, your entire paragraph should be indented.
David Radin is host of the nationally syndicated radio show "Internet Insider," a local version of which is aired on KDKA AM 1020 at noon Saturdays. You can ask him a computer or Internet question by following the instructions at www.post-gazette.com/ interact, where you can also find an archive of his previous Q&A columns.
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