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At 10/21/2004 08:35 PM, "c" wrote:
I need an email address that i can forward/download from any provider. This
way i can get all my important stuff while i change ISP's to get better
deal/rates and better service and better backup providers. Also so i can
just have the one email address for the rest of my life.[unless i want to
become a vagrant rastifarian and drop out of society, which is another valid
option]
I need am on a budget so what I need has to be cheap [until i am rich and
successful].
Web site hosting accounts come with email capability that gives you
everything you ask for. I have been very happy with the email services
provided by my hosting service:
http://www.pair.com
It looks like the current price for the lowest plan, which should be plenty
only for email, is $5.95 per month plus $20 setup:
http://www.pair.com/services/web_hosting/
This will let you change ISPs at will, because your email is being handled
on the hosting service servers, not your ISPs servers.
But you will still have an email address based upon the "pair.com" name, so
if you change hosting services your email address will change. So, the next
step is to purchase your own domain name. Then you can use
me@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx as your email address.
Here is current pricing for domain names at pair's domain name service:
https://www.pairnic.com/pricing.m
So, a domain name costs $19 for 1 year up to $65 for 5 years. And I believe
the domain name adds $1 per month to your hosting fee.
When you own your own domain name, you have status on the Internet :-). You
then have the ability to change hosting services without changing your
email address. If you are dissatisfied with your hosting service you can
move your domain name to a new service.
This gives you all you seek, complete flexibility, and from my experience
you will have top notch email services.
There are other advantages to having a hosting account. Even if you don't
want to create a full web site, you can upload files to your account. So,
for example, if you want to make a screen snapshot or a file available with
a post you make to the omega list, you can upload the file to your account
and only give the address in your post. Anyone on the Internet will be able
to view the screen snapshot or download the file.
Also, even the lowest pair account supplies 5 mailboxes. Notice that this
post is coming from "bob4olist". This is a separate mailbox I use
exclusively for the omega list (and I have other mailboxes for other
lists). The advantage is that I check my main mailbox frequently during my
work day. However, I check the omega list more as a work break, only once
or twice a day. With separate mailboxes, I can poll my main mailbox and not
have the omega list posts intermixed with my primary address emails.
(Although I believe ISP accounts also often supply multiple mailboxes, with
the intention being so that each family member can have their own email
address.)
Also, I have recently picked up on something Alex said (Thanks, Alex!) that
he reads his email via Telnet on his mail server. I have started doing this
also, using the command line "pine" mailer that the hosting service
supplies. This way I can delete the spam without risk of infection from
viruses that attack Windows. From the Telnet command line mailer I delete
all but the non-spam emails, then I POP only the non-spam emails with
Eudora for the more feature rich Windows user interface that Eudora
provides. But the Telnet command line character based pine mailer is fine
(and safe) for deleting the spam. It is safe because it is running on the
hosting service's UNIX host, not your local Windows computer.
But it looks like Telnet access requires a higher account, for $9.95 per
month rather than $5.95 per month.
If you want to go cheap, start a free Yahoo email account. Yahoo will
hopefully be around forever, so your email address will be around forever,
but the web based mailer interface isn't at the same level as a program
like Eudora (or Outlook or The Bat!)
Bob Bolotin
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