Dennis! schrijft: "Zag op BluesNews Dat er een update voor de Messiah Demo is. Een hele rits fixes en wat nieuwe content (geluid vooral, daarom is de patch ook zo groot). Hier wat info over het spel zelf en een deel van de lijst met fixes:

Bob is a working-class angel ordered by God himself to go and clean up the putrid, disgusting, sleazy, and infested world of the future. He has been given the power of possession so that he can sneak up on any person, animal or genetically engineered being and leap right into their soul! With your help, Bob can then use their bodies, their weapons, or even their bare hands to strangle, cripple, impale, and incinerate the cities of sinners sent to stop you from finding Satan himself. Hiding in their souls, Bob can use these sinners bodies against their will as armor (to take pain for him), or he can use them for camouflage (to hide inside them) and pretend to be just another twisted citizen in the Messiah world.... The rules are up to you.... Enjoy the freedom.

Changes in Messiah demo (from 1.0 to 2.0)

- Fixed problem where player was harpooned to floor
- Fixed some hiding issues
- Fixed translucent viewing system being activated on red cops
- Fixed female characters being held by electric fences
- Fixed female reload animation
- Added some Fear Factory music
- Added Fear Factory sample to main menu
- Increased Messiah priority so that other running programs would not steal so much horsepower
- Fixed some save/load issues
- Clear screen at beginning on all cards
- Fixed sample overwrite
- Get rid of 32 bit resolution check

Volg deze link voor de hele lijst. hier vindt je een mirror-site.

denhis schrijft: "Een bedrijf met de wazige naam Raite heeft een DVD speler ontwikkeld die ook CD's met MP3's kan afspelen. Hier heb je wat tekst uit de productomschrijving:"

Raite AVPhile DVD Player is a whole new optoelectronics technical revolution. It provides you superior high video and audio quality than LD can do. More than 525-line horizontal resolution gives superior finesse, color, seamless in each image you see.
Not only the excitement from video, AVPhile also provides you the enjoyment of 6-channel audio experience not only Dolby AC-3 but also dts audio output format. Moreover, AVPhile implements friendly functions as followings: DVD/VCD/SVCD/CD/MP3 Compatible which SVCD format is China national spec and specially also support full karaoke function , still, step, fast forward, rewind without seamless, up to 8 languages, up to 32 subtitles, multi-angle and search by title, chapter, time, interactive.

insane schrijft: "The register heeft het nieuws dat de Celeron 533 de laatste Celeron van de "oude" stempel zal zijn.

The spate of Coppermine Pentium IIIs that Intel will intro on January 10th next will walk hand-in-hand into the daylight with last .25 micron Celeron processor ever, a 533MHz using the 66MHz bus and with a multiplier of eight
As reported earlier this year, the Brave New World of the Celeron III in .18 micron technology will start relatively swiftly in the new year, as the chip mammoth seeks quickly to make .25 micron microprocessors relics of an age long gone.
As we have already noted, chip rival AMD has the ability to scale Athlons now, but wants to get the maximum bucks out of its current range. And, in this respect, it is exactly similar to Intel, although not as fiendishly cunning in its pricing strategies.

Het verhaal vindt je hier.

Nog een review van de Asus V6600 GeForce 256 kaart vandaag, deze is in elkaar gemikt door Lost Ciruits. De review is erg uitgebreid, de kaart is op 3 uiteenlopende systemen getest. Hieronder een gedeelte:

The world has changed forever. There is more truth to that statement than the benchmarks show. The implementation of T&L into the GPU is a milestone in the history of graphics adapters in that they really show the way into the next generation of virtual reality. I mentioned on the first page that nVidia’s Treemark is hopelessly optimized for the GeForce and, thus, not a valid criterion to judge the quality of the concept. However, Treemark only shows what is possible and to which limits even a midrange system can be pushed.

All systems tested achieved Treemark scores of around 50 fps in the simple and 14 fps in the complex run. The only fallout in this domain was the K6-III system that only scored 34 / 13 fps but once again, the low bus transfer rates shown in FR 1.01 show that the AGP transfer protocol is not yet ultimately optimized for the VIA MVP3 chipset.

Are there any other applications that give similar results? There certainly are, Indy3D has a complete CAD benchmark suite in which the GeForce blows away everything else currently around. Adding these numbers would exceed the limitations of this review, besides, Johan De Gelas on AcesHardware has already posted a very detailed analysis of these benchmarks.

The bottom line is that the GPU concept has finally delivered the coup de grace to the Voodoo2 era, there is simply no way that any other concept will prevail in view of this heavy duty competition. But wait, wasn’t Matrox supposed to come out with a working OpenGL ICD? Seriously, they are cooking up something new as well and we will shortly also see the new Viper II from Diamond based on the Savage2000 as well as the latest ATi Rage Max. And then there was the PixelFuzion and the new 3dfx V5. Finally, it looks like we are getting into the bronze age of computer graphics but the GeForce, or more specifically the ASUS V6600 will be the standard against which everything will be measured.

The Tech Zone heeft een review online geplant van de Epson Stylus Photo 1200. $500 Dollar is veel geld voor een printertje, maar hij schijnt zijn werk wel erg goed te doen:

The quality of the prints made by the EPSON Stylus Photo 1200 is simply amazing. You really can't tell the difference between its printouts and that of a real photo if you use special EPSON photo quality glossy paper or other photo quality paper.

Running at 1440 x 720 dpi slows the printer down considerably. While at normal 720 x 720 dpi, an 8 x 10 takes just 2 minutes to print, it slows down to over 10 minute when I increase the resolution to 1440 x 720 dpi. However the output quality has to be seen to be believed!

Under normal operation, you can get over 300 prints (8x10) before you have to change the ink cartridges. However, this figure is a bit misleading because it's based on only 15% ink coverage and 320 x 320 dpi resolution. A normal photo consumes nearly 100% of the paper surface and running at super high resolution consumes way more ink. I had to change the color cartridge after only 30 full coverage high resolution 8 x 10 photos. The black cartridge was down to the half way mark. Considering that an ink cartridge cost $40 to change, this brings the cost of each photo to over $1 each, plus the cost of the photo paper which can cost up to $1 each depending of the paper you chose. Still $2 for a high quality 8 x 10 photo is not a big price to pay when you consider it would cost you more to get an 8 x 10 reprint at the local photomart.

Bij BXBoards hebben ze een review in elkaar geschroefd rondom de nieuwe Iwill Slocket II 370 to Slot1 Converter met Coppermine en Dual Celeron support. Hieronder wat info:

The quality of construction of these units is superb. The cards are actually modelled on the old style Pentium II SECC cartridges. The rear of the Slocket could easily be mistaken for a CPU, and because of its size, it fits like a glove in the CPU slot, with no wobble, so there is no danger of any reduced system stability. Some converter cards suffer from wobble, which can result in the odd freeze over time, and the need to re-seat the convertor. This isn't a problem here, and the result is stable platform from which to launch an expedition into the realms of overclocking

While this unit is designed from the ground up to support Coppermine overclocking, backwards compatibility with Celerons has not been forgotten. Jumper 8 on the unit configures the card into either PPGA (Celeron) or FCPGA (Pentium IIIE). One size of convertor card really does fit both variants on the Socket 370 theme. Very nice indeed! Additionally, the unit also features forward compatibility with Cyrix forthcoming Socket370 chip, codenamed "Jupiter" and jumper 9 on the board configures between Cyrix and Intel compatibility. Iwill have thought of everything!

While the FCPGA Coppermine is dual enabled, so there is no need to have fancy electronics onboard the unit to assist this feature, Celeron owners do not have this luxury. However the Iwill Slocket II still provides dual Celeron support and its all built in from the ground up , without any need to configure anything. Very elegant.

Bij Sharky Extreme is vandaag ook een review te vinden van de RCA Lyra portable MP3 player. Deze maakt gebruik van Compact Flash Ram van 32MB en een handig LCD schermpie.

You'll notice that the Lyra uses Compact Flash Ram to store MP3 files or other data, which is slightly larger in size than the ultra-thin SmartMedia memory cards that the Creative NOMAD and Diamond Rio MP3 players utilize.

While not as popular as SmartMedia cards, the Compact Flash cards are similar in performance level as well as availability, with 96MB and 128MB cards available should a Lyra owner wish to expand their song capacity.

With the included 32MB of memory we were able to store approximately nine to ten MP3 songs on our Lyra player at the maximum quality level of 128Kbps, which is about 40 minutes of music.

The Lyra's included MP3 encoding software, which allows users to convert their existing CDs into the MP3 format via their PC's CD-ROM, is able to choose from four audio quality sound levels to enable more storage space should the user require it.

bij High Gear kun je een review lezen van de game Rally Masters. De graphics zien er erg strak uit en verwacht wordt dat deze game in februari 2000 in de winkels ligt. Hieronder vast wat info:

Their latest game is called Rally Masters (Test Drive Rally in the US) and takes you to the very popular "Michelin Rally Masters - Race of Champions" event on Gran Canaria, held at the end of every rally season.

Rally Masters puts you head to head, bumper to bumper, against the greatest drivers the sport of Rallying has ever seen. Racing 17 different Rally Cars across more than 40 circuits, in environments that are as difficult as they are demanding. Drivers must use all their nerve and skill, to compete against each other in a series of world wide events, with the sole purpose of achieving the ultimate goal... To become the Champion of Champions, and a true Rally Master.

The concept idea was to build a rally game with a great variety in rally racing, so it has got championship modes based around: The Side-by-side circuits (like the Gran Canaria event), normal WRC style driving (you alone against the clock) and rally cross style where there are 4 cars on the track at once. On top of this the game will have an arcade mode ala’ Sega Rally style. Also included are single races, time attacks, multiplayer as well as a custom championship editor.

Tweak3D legt in deze guide uit hoe je thuis een LAN in elkaar flanst. Hieronder een stukkie copy/peest uit het artikel:

The first step to configuring your network is installing your network cards for each machine. After you have made all the connections mentioned, power on your computer and verify that Windows boots up properly. You should be prompted because new hardware is found. Insert the driver disk included with your network cards if necessary. After this process is completed, reboot your PC. If your card is not detected correctly or it refuses to install, try disabling Plug and Play in your BIOS setup. When I first installed the Linksys Fast Ethernet Starter Kit I was required (on my old P2 266 system) to disable plug and play and have Windows redetect most of my hardware. It was a hassle, but it works now. Consult your motherboard manual for further information.

Once you're sure that your network cards are installed correctly and Windows is functioning properly, go into the Control Panel (Start, Settings, Control Panel) and choose Network. You will see a list of the installed protocols. Look for IPX, TCP/IP, Client for Microsoft Networks, and File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks. If these are not present, you will need to install them.

To add IPX or TCP/IP, click the "Add" button. Choose Protocol, then Microsoft. You will see the options for IPX and TCP/IP.

To install Client for Microsoft Networks, choose Add, then Client, then Microsoft, then choose Client for Microsoft Networks.

To add File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks, choose Add, then Service and you will see it.

Installing any of these will most likely prompt you to insert your Windows CD, then reboot your computer. They should bind to your network card automatically. Click the File and Print Sharing button below the listed protocols. If you wish to use your printer with both machines and share files back and forth, check both of these boxes. You may also need to give each computer a unique name so that you can tell them apart. It doesn't matter what you call them, just make them different.

Head back into the Network Control Panel. Double click the "TCP/IP -> [insert NIC card name here]" protocol. Go into the TCP/IP tab for your network card, and under the IP Address tab, click "Specify an IP Address". Each computer will need its own IP, but make sure to only change the last number, otherwise they'll end up on different subnets which could complicate things. A good range to use is 192.168.0.xxx (1, 2, etc). Don't just throw something in there, because it needs to be in a range that won't interfere with the rest of the Internet (since the 'net uses IPs too). The 192.168 range is set aside for private networks. If you experience other problems, try setting the Subnet Mask to 255.255.255.0.

Creative Labs heeft een overclocking proggie in elkaar gesleuteld voor haar nVidia based videokaarten. Hieronder wat info, op deze page kan je de soep downloaden.

OverClocking Utility for Creative Graphics Blaster RIVA TNT, 3D Blaster RIVA TNT2, 3D Blaster RIVA TNT2 Ultra and 3D Blaster Annihilator cards, Version 1.22beta

This is a beta release of our graphics core and memory clock setting utility for Creative Graphics Blaster RIVA TNT, 3D Blaster RIVA TNT2, 3D Blaster RIVA TNT2 Ultra, and 3D Blaster Annihilator cards. After installation the utility is resident on the Windows® taskbar. The utility features adjustable limits, a 15-second reversible test countdown after changes are applied, as well as a Safe Mode Safety Recovery and other features. Please review the readme text file included in the installation. As with all beta test releases, we cannot provide tech support. However, we are very interested in receiving your feedback. We invite you to share your observations on the Creative Graphics Blaster RIVA TNT, 3D Blaster RIVA TNT2, 3D Blaster RIVA TNT2 Ultra, and 3D Blaster Annihilator newsgroups.[break]En hieronder wat info over hoe je je kaart nog hoger kan klokken dan wat het proggie maximaal biedt:[/break]Since CL OC Tools only let you oc your Videocard to a very limite speed (ex. Geforce GFX speed: 120-135 only, MEM Speed: 166 to 183 only). That is a way to modifity it to let you clock beyound that. Here is how to make it works:Go to Regedit:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE->Software->Creative->nvSpeed->and Modfity the following two DWORD valueGFX Max=Max Clock SpeedMEM Max=Memory Speed

Koen Crijns van Hardwareinfo.net heeft een review geschreven van de Soundblaster Live! Player 1024. Hieronder wat uit de intro:

Van Creative ontvingen we een van de twee nieuwe "Sound Blaster Live!" geluidskaarten. De Live! Player 1024 is een Live!-variant die (zoals de naam al aangeeft) primair gericht is op de echte "gamer". Niet alleen qua mogelijkheden, maar ook qua prijs en bijgeleverde software. Creative noemt de SB Live! Player 1024 zelf de "ultieme audio oplossing voor gaming, MP3, Internet en DVD". Of hun aspiraties werkelijkheid zijn geworden of niet: Creative heeft inderdaad wel overal aan gedacht bij de SB Live! Player 1024. Perfect ondersteuning voor nieuwe sound API's in 3D games, goede op MP3 gerichte software, en DVD ondersteuning incl. surround geluid.

Voor ongeveer tweehonderd gulden krijg je van Creative een wederom zeer fraaie doos een goed gevulde geluidskaart, twee kabeltjes om je CD-Rom drive aan te sluiten, een korte installatie handleiding, een installatie cd-rom met veel software, het volledige spel "Alien versus Predator" en een coupon om Fl. 50 resp. Fl. 100 retour te krijgen bij de aankoop van een Creative FPS1000 of FPS2000 surround speaker set.

"Hoe vernieuwend is de Live! Player 1024 nu precies?" zullen vooral bestaande SB Live bezitters zich afvragen. Het antwoord op deze vraag is net zoveer teleurstellend als verblijdend. Qua hardware heeft Creative namelijk vrijwel niets gewijzigd aan de SB Live! kaarten. De nieuwe Player 1024 en Platinum uitvoeren maken gebruik van precies dezelfde chip als de "oude" Live! Value en Live! Retail. Bij deze EMU10K1 ligt echter wel meteen het grote voordeel van de SB Live! serie: aangezien het hier om een vrijwel universele DSP (Digital Signal Processing) chip gaat, is de chip tot heel wat verschillende digitale audio effecten in staat. Telkens als je nieuwe software in de chip laadt, kan de chip weer nieuwe taken uitvoeren. Dit is een grote vooruitgang t.o.v. conventionele geluidskaarten, die alleen datgene kunnen waar men bij het ontwerp over na heeft gedacht. Aangezien Creative de performancegrens van de EMU10K1 nog steeds niet bereikt heeft, zullen er steeds nieuwe mogelijkheden voor de SB Live! serie bij komen. Als huidige SB Live! gebruikers de nieuwste versie van de Live! software installeren (Live!Ware 3.0) zal ook hun SB Live! er weer heel wat mogelijkheden bij krijgen. Ook nieuwe Live! kopers kunnen ervan op aan dat Creative in de toekomst heel wat extra's voor hun kaart zal brengen.

In deze review zal ik eerst de hardware van de SB Live! Player 1024 uitvoerig bespreken. Daarna behandel ik nog kort de geluidskwaliteit, de installatie en de enorme berg bijgeleverde software.

insane schrijft: "Net alsof Intel niet genoeg klappen heeft gehad blijkt nu zelfs de Europese Unie de rug te keren naar Intel. Lees hier het hele verhaal."

A report from the STOA Committee of the European Union has suggested that the economic bloc look long and hard at the implications of Intel's personal serial number (PSN) embedded in the Pentium III microprocessor.

The STOA (scientific and technological options assessment) committe is presenting its findings to the European Parliament, in connection with the development of surveillance technology and the risk of abuse of economic information.

According to a report presented by Franck Leprevost to the committee, and called Encryption and Cryptosystems in Electronic Surveillance, there is a prima facie case that the PSN breaches European protocols on security.

The report recommends close examination of the role of the role of both the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National Security Agency (NSA), in relation to the Pentium III's embedded security number.

In part of the report, Leprevost states: "The PSN is very different from the IP (Internet Protocol) address, even though a user’s IP address can be revealed to any webpage he or she chooses to visit.

"IP addresses are not as permanent as PSNs: many users have no fixed IP address that can be used to track their movements, as they may use masks via the proxy servers of Internet service providers. ISPs normally assign a different IP number per session and per user.

"Users can also change ISP, use a service which guarantees their anonymity, etc. As it stands, the PSN can therefore be used for electronic surveillance purposes."

The news report, in German, may be found here, while the full report to the committee can be downloaded from this page.

Bij vr-zone is een review gepost van de Asus V6600 GeForce 256 videokaart. Het ding kon stabiel op 140/190MHz worden geklokt wat een vrij aardige performance boost opleverde.

nVidia GeForce 256 really rocks and ASUS is fast to implement this chipset into ASUS V6600. This card is packed awesome graphics capabilites which symbolizes a new era of 3D computer gaming. The integrated T&L takes the load off the CPU, while at the same time providing realistic 3D environments. It has new effects such as Cube environment mapping that increase the number of polygons used for scene resulting in higher realism and natural look of the created models. The GPU’s QuadEngine capability that includes support for transformation, lighting, setup and rendering. Also it has equipped with other great features such as 4X AGP with fast writes, 256-bit 2D and 3D rendering paths, 350MHz RAMDAC and DDR SDRAM support that would inevitable make ASUS V6600 GeForce 256 an interesting feature-packed card. Soon when more and more next generation games support hardware T&L then the power of GeForce 256 will fully unleash.

ASUS V6600 performs real well in overclocking. Very stable at high core and memory clock speed of 140/190 where it passes all benchmarks tests and score a remarkable improvement over the default 120/166 clock speed. I am able to push this card all the way to 145/200 and still manage to run nVidia's TreeMark and obtain an significant improvement of nearly 23% over the default clock speed. I am using the original heatsink and fan and running this card at room temperature of 28 degrees and no special cooling was used. In terms of overclocking, this card is an impressive performer and there is no doubt about it.

The choice of upgrading or buying this card is up to you. If you can't get enough fps out of your Quake game and you are a game fanatic maybe you should get this card. Who knows your parents may give you this card as a Christmas present? That should make a fine Christmas present.

Chakotay schrijft: "Micro$oft medewerkers kunnen tegenwoordig een bod geven om mr billyboy een bezoekje te brengen.... $42.525 dollar om bij Bill Gates op de thee te gaan... how low can you go? :r":

Net Als vorig jaar houdt Bill Gates een soort veiling voor Microsoft medewerkers. De bedoeling is dat een bedrag geboden kan worden om the man himself te ontmoeten en zelfs een rondleiding door zijn huis te krijgen. Vorig jaar bood een Microsoft medewerker 42.525 dollar om op de thee te mogen komen. Het geboden geld gaat overigens in de pot van de Bill&Miranda Gates Foundation, op dit moment de rijkste goede doelen-organisatie ter wereld.

Bovenstaande komt dus ui het magazine van de PC Zone, dus als je het wilt nalezen moet je effe naar de Bruna

Bij Sharky Extreme hebben ze een review online gegooid van de Nokia 446XS 19" monitor. Ook deze monitor is 'short-necked' (korte achterkant) en heeft een maximale resolutie van 1600 x 1200 bij 75 Hz. Hieronder een stukkie:

The Nokia 446XS is a sweet monitor. Its compact size, nice image quality and vibrant color reproduction makes a very strong case for this relatively inexpensive monitor. Passing judgment on the Nokia 446XS isn't tricky, it's a real good monitor and you won't regret having one of these in front of you whether it's for playing EverQuest night and day or doing some serious spread sheeting or word editing. The Nokia 446XS is highly recommended, especially for those of you that don't really have the table space for a standard 19" screen.

parakip schrijft: "op pagina 46 van dit .pdf doccie staan de kleine lettertjes waar ik en ik niet vrolijk van worden...".

Om dus even voor te borduren op het vorig nieuwsbericht, dit is wat er op pagina 46 staat:

The INA SHOULD support a "wire tapping" mechanism such that user-to-user traffic within a single INA can be captured. This requirement is critical in countries where regulatory issues mandate by which law enforcement agencies can view all traffic to and from the individual subscriber.

Ene anne frank stuurde dit nieuwsbericht op van Newswire. Kenbaar hebben ze het in Australië voor elkaar gekregen dat daar de Australian Security Intelligence Organisation in home PC's mogen inbreken om even te gluren wat je allemaal op je PC hebt staan. Ook mooi

Parliament has passed laws that allow the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) to tap into and alter data on private computer systems.

The ASIO Amendment Bill 1999 passed the Senate yesterday, giving federal authorities the power to tap into private computer systems for surveillance purposes. This is the first time in 13 years a major change has been made to the ASIO Act 1979.

While the legislation gained bipartisan support, some members expressed concern that bill was rushed through Parliament. Senator Bolkus noted yesterday that the Senate had waited four or five months to debate the bill. "We could have spent more time in the analysis period," he said in Parliament.

Labor has also expressed concern that the law allows ASIO to add, delete or alter data on remote computers. An amendment has subsequently been made that says data can only be altered if it is "necessary" to obtain access to data.

The change hasn't appeased the Democrats, who claim that the new law is a serious breach of Australians' privacy. Deputy leader Senator Natasha Stott Despoja said that the laws could be intentionally misused to plant evidence. "The government has found quite a convenient excuse for significant new excursions into personal surveillance," she said.

Privacy groups are angry that the bill gives ASIO the power to tap into private computer systems. Consumer group Financial Services Consumer Policy Centre has previously called on the Senate to reject the bill, claiming it contains "serious flaws" (see story).

[deep] schrijft: "Komt ADSL nu eindelijk?":

Aankondiging Persconferentie

In de turbulente wereld van de telecommunicatie staat KPN aan de vooravond van de lancering van een compleet nieuwe breedbandfamilie. Wij willen u graag deelgenoot maken van deze opwindende technische hoogstandjes.

Dinsdag 30 november aanstaande om 10.00 uur zal Ir. Paul Smits, KPN's Chief Operating Officer en beoogd bestuursvoorzitter, de toekomst voor u uit de doeken doen. U kunt de persconferentie live volgen via deze site.

Darkhawk schrijft: "Werd er laatst op deze site al aangetoond dat PC133 SDRAM wonderen doet voor een Athlon-systeem, nu blijkt dat een Athlon van een 400 Watt voeding nog veel gelukkiger wordt.":

The Compaq RAM is marked "PC100 3-2-2" and as you'd expect the CAS was detected in bios as 3, so it was definitely slower than either of my old sticks of RAM (both the Siemens and NEC were CAS 2). I left the machine running overnight with Prime95 torture test and several other applications (just to use up all free RAM), until tonight when I got home from work. Upon switching the monitor on, I found that everything was still ok after more than 24 hours of intensive use. I can only conclude that the power supply has made all the difference.

Check de hele guide hier.

Insane schrijft: "Op het forum van Messiah werd een bericht gepost over waarom er (nog) geen 3DNow ondersteuning in het spel Messiah zit. Dit is de reactie van de programmeur:":

If AMD sends an engineer (like intel did) it should take somwhere between 1-2 days. We don't really have a preference, if it helps the performance in any way, we are all for it. (hint hint)

Torgeir Hagland, Messiah Programmer

"Ik vind dit wel een arrogante gedrag van AMD, omdat ze (nu) een superieur CPU hebben wil niet zeggen dat ze er zijn. Intel is gewoon vriendjes aan het maken dat kan soms heel nuttig zijn "

Een anonieme Harry stuurde een nieuwsbericht in van de Haagsche Courant over grote problemen i.v.m. de overstap van Gironet naar de gratis internetprovider Freeler. Hieronder een gedeelte, de rest lees je hier.

Honderden, duizenden, misschien zelfs wel tienduizenden klanten van de Postbank zitten in de penarie omdat ze geen e-mail meer kunnen ophalen en verzenden, geen toegang tot het internet meer krijgen of - erger nog - omdat hun thuis-pc kuren vertoont doordat instellingen zijn veranderd of onderdelen van het besturingssysteem zijn weggegooid. De oorzaak van al die narigheid: hun overstap van Gironet naar de gratis internetprovider Freeler.

Die overstap moest in de afgelopen weken vrij plotseling worden gemaakt, omdat Gironet eerder dan zij hadden verwacht de dienstverlening staakt. Die overstap verloopt moeizaam: het regent klachten van mensen die geen software hebben gekregen, die hun inbelverbinding niet voor elkaar krijgen of andere problemen ondervinden. De helpdesk van Freeler is door al die problemen vrijwel onbereikbaar en wie wél antwoord krijgt op het nummer wordt soms tientallen minuten in de wacht gezet, tegen een tarief van meer dan een gulden per minuut.