I used Knology when I lived in South Huntsville and I found them to be very reliable and their tech support was superb when I needed it. Since moving out to the country in New Hope I have to rely on local DSL and it is much slower than cable, but at least it's better than dial-up. I keep waiting for our representatives to understand that so far as internet connectivity is concerned we are a 3rd world nation and most of the industrialized world has far surpassed us in faster connectivity at a much lower cost. Just another case of corporate greed!

Thanks for the tip, but I guess I'll stick with the cable account in spite of no backup alternative. What I really need for a backup is a wireless account for the laptop, but I haven't wanted to spend the extra money without more support - and quite frankly I'm afraid the old Mac laptop is about to become obsolete. Not even sure if the new wireless cards from Sprint, etc. will work on this laptop, but I've got to check on it soon.

Nice Website by the way, although now that the New York Times has stopped charging for its columnists, that might be a better op/ed page to check than the Washington Post. The Post's political coverage is sometimes better, but the op/ed page sux. I've told them this and offered to help, but they don't give me the time of day : )