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Internet Online LapTop Warrior Discussion List
I - L-A-P-T-O-P W-A-R-R-I-O-R D-I-G-E-S-T

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August 7, 1998 Issue # 022
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.....IN THIS DIGEST.....


// -- TIDBYTE -- //

Laptop Theft Increases
    ~ Edupage


// -- MODERATOR COMMENT -- //

Web-based Email


// -- NEW -- //

Archives of the I-Laptop Warrior list?
~ Mark Harvey

International Internet Access
~ svchama@aol.com


// -- CONTINUING -- //

Burnt Up Modems
~ Kevin Prince

Checking non-AOL Email from within AOL
~ RJMcGarvey@aol.com


// -- MODERATOR'S CORNER -- //

Up-close and Personal: Web-based Email


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// -- TIDBYTE -- //

LAPTOP THEFT INCREASES

Computerworld reports that an escalating crime wave in laptop thefts has tacked an extra $150 on the cost of every machine, and cites statistics from the Safeware insurance agency in Columbus, Ohio, indicating that Safeware-insured companies filed $1 billion worth of claims for stolen laptops last year, a 28% jump from 1996. A common technique used by the criminals is simply to walk into office buildings and walk out unnoticed with unguarded laptops.
(Computerworld 3 Aug 98)
Source: Edupage


// -- MODERATOR COMMENT -- //

Web-based Email

I'm back from my trip to Switzerland and France. As you may recall, I did the unthinkable for this trip and left my laptop home (see I-Laptop #19). I decided to rely on Web-based Email to check my Email while traveling and I have a few tales to tell. You'll find my comments near the end of this digest in the "Moderator's Corner" section.


// -- N-E-W -- //

From: Mark Harvey <Mentor@pemail.net>
Subject: Archives of the I-Laptop Warrior list?

I have really been enjoying your discussion list since I first subscribed to it, and I would really like to access back-copies -- or archives -- of it, if there is any possible way for me to do so.

I believe that the very first issue I ever received was issue number 16, and I would really like to read the earlier issues!

Once again, I would like to express my compliments to you, on compiling and moderating such a fine discussion list.

Mark R. Harvey
Homepage - http://ppage.net/?Mentor
PCard - http://pcard.net/?Mentor

++ Moderator's Note ++

Past issues of this discussion list are available at: http://www.audettemedia.com, the publisher of this list. Once at this site, go to the I-Laptop Warrior section (using the pull-down menu). If you then look to the bottom of this page, you'll see a keyword search function. Use this to search for particular subjects. If you search for a generic word, such as "laptop," you should get a full list of digests (although we always lag behind just a little). In the future, archives will also found on the http://www.roadnews.com web site, the creation of yours truly, Bob Lawson.


++++ next post - new topic ++++

From: svchama@aol.com
Subject: International Internet Access

I am presently living in Venezuela but I travel all over the world for business. Can you recommend a good internet provider that has good international coverage?

svchama@aol.com

++ Moderator's Note ++

We've mentioned quite a few providers of roaming Internet access here on I-Laptop Warrior, but which is the best? I think we'd all welcome a discussion of services and why you use the system you use.


// -- C-O-N-T-I-N-U-I-N-G -- //

From: Kevin Prince <kevin@warrior.com>
Subject: Burnt Up Modem Post

In response to Henry Mensch's post concerning his burnt-out modem (I-Laptop #20), instead of carrying a spare PCMCIA modem (cost $99 to $299), I have a better suggestion. Use the new Modem Saver Plus or Modem Saver International made by our company, Road Warrior.

Unlike previous line testers (including IBM's) that only detect if an unknown phone jack is potentially dangerous to a modem, these brand new products also provide surge protection while connected. The Modem Saver International also filters-out tax impulses found in some European countries, including Germany and Switzerland.

These new products are available from Laptop Travel, the sponsor of this list, at

http://www.laptoptravel.com

or directly from Road Warrior at

http://warrior.com.

The prices range from $35 to $59, depending on where you buy.

Kevin

PS: I really enjoy the I-Laptop digest. I just wish I had time to participate more.

----------------------------------------------------------
Kevin Prince | Visit the Road Warrior Outpost
kevin@warrior.com | at --> http://warrior.com <--
714-434-8600 x 101 | Gear for the Mobile Professional
----------------------------------------------------------

++ Moderator's Note: ++

Kevin has written an article entitled "Why Modems Get Fried, and How to Prevent It." He has offered to make it available to I-Laptop Warrior subscribers, so we will carry it as a special supplement to the list. Look for it in a few days.


++++ next post - new topic ++++

From: RJMcGarvey@aol.com
Subject: Checking non-AOL Email from within AOL

In I-Laptop #20, RFine312@aol.com asked:

>If I am at home on AOL, how do I access my Email at work which is on
>mindspring.com?

Just install an Email client on your computer. Eudora Lite is a good choice and can be downloaded at no charge from Eudora at: http://www.eudora.com. Go through the setup routine (you need to
know your user name, password, etc. for MindSpring).

Then dial up with AOL. Tell Eudora to get your MindSpring mail and, whoosh, you get it.

Note: this won't work when mail is behind a firewall (as with AT&T WorldNet), and it works only to get mail, not to send with some ISPs (EarthLink , for instance). But I've used it with Netcom and others.

I talk about this at more length in some past Techno Traveler columns at BizTravel.com (check the archives).

Robert McGarvey
"The Techno Traveler"
BizTravel.com (http://www.biztravel.com)
Home Page: http://members.aol.com/RJMcGarvey/


++++ Moderator's Corner ++++

Up-close and Personal: Web-based Email

To lighten my load on my recent trip to Switzerland and France, I decided to leave my laptop behind. I was going to have access to PCs with Internet access while there, I reasoned, so why lug my laptop across the ocean when I could simply check my Email with a Web-based Email system such as HotMail.

I have mixed results to report. On the positive side, I'm glad I was free from my laptop when the weekend arrived and I headed for Chamonix for some hiking with a friend. When it was time to hike, I took my business clothes and brief case and shipped them, all in a large bag, ahead to the train station at the Geneva airport. If I had had my laptop, I certainly wouldn't have felt comfortable doing this. I'm not sure what I would have done.

But on the negative side, I have quite a few draw-backs to report about Web-based Email.

I first set up an account with HotMail (http://www.hotmail.com). It was easy enough to establish an account, complete with user name and password, and I immediately had use of my new Email address. I checked it out, sent a few test messages, and was favorably impressed with the bells and whistles, including an address book and spell checker.

I also saw that you could configure HotMail to retrieve Email from POP servers, in fact three POP accounts at a time, if you so choose. This is exactly what I needed in order to check my mail at my regular Email address. So I plugged in my mail server address, user name and password and…nothing. No matter what I tried, I couldn't get it to fetch my mail.

So next I tried Yahoo's free Email service (http://www.yahoo.com). Sign-up was equally easy as HotMail. Yahoo also offers the option of checking Email at up to three POP accounts, so I configured it to check my POP Email and indeed it did. I was pleased.

But I was less pleased when it came time to actually read and respond to my Email. Since it is a Web-based system, it meant that every time I wished to read a message, I had to wait for a page to load over the modem at 28.8. It didn't take long before I was quite frustrated by the slow pace.

I also missed my Eudora address book. Sure the web-based systems have address books, but your own addresses are only going to be there if you put them there. I didn't see any way to import addresses and I wasn't going to start typing in 100 Email address, so in most cases I was simply forced to do without.

My last major problem had to do with the keyboard. The office where I was used a European keyboard with symbols such as "@/':" all in different places than I was accustomed. And worst of all, the Z and the Y were reversed.

Soon, I was missing my laptop in a big way.

Certainly there are conveniences to Web-based Email and it can serve as excellent backup if you should have trouble getting online with your laptop, but in the end there's no substitute for having your own system in your own hands.

~ Bob Lawson, Moderator

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