Spam on free email accounts?
From Lee Kilpatrick
I read your recent article on Low End Mac about the .mac alternatives. I want to sign up for an account
(or two) and was wondering about the amounts of spam you receive on the
various email services. You mentioned that howlermonkey has almost no
spam, but how do the others compare? Yahoo and Hotmail accounts, for
example, seem to have a lot of spam, or at least that is my
perception.
Lee
Hi Lee,
I don't think spam is really a problem of particular
email services per se, although some my do a more thorough job of
filtering incoming mail than others. I have very mixed feelings about
someone else filtering my incoming email.
I have had accounts with most of the services I
mentioned in the article for months or years, and I get essentially no
spam on ones where I give the address to only a select few people.
OTOH, my ISP email account, which I've had since 1997,
got so bad this spring that I was getting 50 to 100 spam messages per
day. I finally just changed the login name, only sent the address
change to people I want to hear from, and I don't think I've received a
single piece of spam at that address since the name change.
Charles
10 Free POP3 Email Services/GMX
From "DS"
Greetings,
I am writing to you because of your article on April 8 concerning
your picks for the Top 10 Free POP3 Email
Services. One of your picks was GMX, and a number of other sites
and free email directories have also cited GMX as a quality
provider.
I've been having trouble registering for the service, and I thought
perhaps you could provide some help. I try registering for an address
with and without the use of a translation site, and through both
methods I have been able to go through the whole registration process.
However, at the end, even when it says I am registered and gives me the
POP3 server information and my supposed customer number (the number
being -1), there is always an error message at the top of that welcome
greet, stating that a connection to the database cannot be made at the
time due to technical reasons and I should try again later.
So as the end result turns out, my registration never goes through,
and my email does not function. I would send an email to support
services, except it may be odd sending a letter in English, and if they
were to write back asking questions, I would not be able to write back
in German.
The network status under the Support page indicates that there are
no problems with the servers. Is there any possible way you could
provide some insight into this problem? After a week of multiple
attempts, it is getting frustrating, and I'd like to be able to have a
replacement address in order to receive mails from Yahoo! Groups,
instead of the MailAndNews.com address I have at present (whose lack of
change and news update since March is annoying). Any information would
be appreciated, and if not, thank you for listening anyhow.
:)
DS
Hi DS,
I did find it a bit of a challenge to get GMX signed
up and configured, but it hasn't missed a beat since.
-1 doesn't sound right for the Customer number. Mine
is eight digits.
Also, make sure that you use your entire GMX emails
address (i.e.: xxxxx@gmx.net) when signing in or configuring your POP3
client.
Perhaps it would be worth a shot to try going through
the signup process again.
Good luck!
Charles
MyRealBox and Yahoo groups
From E McCann
"However, MyRealBox will not accept any Yahoo! Groups email
messages."
Actually, they will.
- Incoming: I have about 1/3 of my groups going to my MyRealBox
account. It doesn't care and gives me space for more of my aircraft
walkarounds, etc.
- Outgoing: Here's where it gets tricky. It has the same problem as
NetZero (if you want to use them as an email service and not a full
ISP, you don't need their software). Some ISPs won't let you send mail
through other SMTP servers. Why, I don't know. It's the only
"advantage" AOL has over my ISP - AOL doesn't care, and I can connect
to MRB or NetZero's SMTP servers and send mail through them with no
problem. I also had no problem with them through broadband (when I had
it.)
It's not MyRealBox, it's the ISP.
Thanks for the correction. I wasn't able to test it
myself. Bad?/outdated? info, I guess.
Charles
Freemail
From Tony Rayner
Have you tried http://www.techemail.com
It's new & free
Also you can fw anything you want?
cool {;¬)=
Tony.
Hi Tony,
It looks like a good webmail service. Another one you
might like is http://www.junglemate.com.
However, I prefer POP3 email that is accessed with an
email client rather than a browser.
Charles
Mac-friendly ISP for travelers
From Russell Ain
Mac-friendly ISP for travelers
Hi Charles,
I recently came across your site while looking for POP3 email
providers and found it to be an interesting read.
I work for BAMnet (http://www.bamnet.com) who offers
nationwide Internet access via a single 800-number. There are no
monthly fees with our service - the only charge is 6.5 cents per
minute. Service can be prepaid for with a credit card or the charges
can be billed to the user's local phone bill. There is also no software
to download so BAMnet can be used with any operating system that can
utilize a modem - Windows, Mac, Palm OS, Windows CE/Pocket PC, etc.
Our service is ideal for those who have a home-based broadband
connection but still require a dialup service for
traveling. This may be for a quick two-day business trip or a two month
vacation down by the shore. BAMnet is also good for those who have a
local Internet provider that doesn't have nationwide service. Finally,
we benefit those who travel from other countries and desire Internet
access in the US but don't wish to establish a monthly account.
Let me know if you have any additional questions. Thanks for your
time!
Best,
Russell
BAMnet Corporation
Looking into a WallStreet purchase from Wegener
Media...
From Scott Strungis
Hi Charles,
I am contemplating a WallStreet purchase from the
above vendor. I am looking into the 12.1" model to save a little
weight. I just read your older article on the WallStreet. I am a
2400c user now, but I would
like something that is X capable. Did you ever get X on the WallStreet?
If not, what happens when you do try? Do you still have it? I would
feel really dumb if I plunked down some hard green and was in the same
OS boat as my 2400c.
Thanks!
Scott Strungis
Hi Scott,
I never did get OS X to install on my now-deceased
WallStreet, but I never tried after my marathon attempt to install the
Public Beta. The CD would mount, but the machine wouldn't recognize the
installer or vice-versa. I don't know if I would have had the same
trouble with the final releases or not.
However, I hear from folks all the time who are
running OS X (including Jaguar) on WallStreets. The problem that I
had was not unheard of, but I deduce that it was rare.
That said, I can't guarantee that OS X will work with
a WallStreet that you purchase, but I think David Wegener does have a
satisfaction guarantee policy.
Charles
Re The 'Book Review: "Replacement Hinges for G4
PowerBooks":
From: Andrew Main
Charles,
Re The 'Book Review, 2002.09.27:
"Replacement Hinges for G4 PowerBooks"
When I clicked on the link, I got the following message:
JavaScript Alert: This site can be viewed at 800 x
600, however best viewed at 1024 x 768 or above. This website is
optimized for Microsoft Internet Explorer only. If you use Netscape,
versions 6-7RC1 would be best, formatting of this website might be off
if you are using Netscape or you are NOT using the latest version of
Internet Explorer (6), this is available now on Microsoft's website,
version 5.x of IE will show an uproperly formatted page.
My default browser is iCab, and indeed not only was the above
message truncated (got the whole thing in Opera, below), but the page
showed nothing but white space, bordered by a scroll bar with a large
"thumb." Though iCab does seem to have trouble with a lot of Web pages,
I prefer its effort to maintain nonproprietary, public standards
(though it does seem to have more trouble with JavaScript stuff than
perhaps it might).
I use Opera for second tries; it showed the same message above,
complete, and did display what appeared to be the desired page, with a
big IE 6 logo and a bunch of other Micro$loth junk on it. (Is there an
IE 6 for Mac? I don't use it myself, but I haven't heard of one.) Yeah,
my "antique" G3 PowerBook has a 1024 x 768 display, but I don't usually
cover every square pixel with some egomaniac's jerk-off Web page. If I
don't have the right 16-digit M$ registration number tattooed on my
forehead, he doesn't have to take my money.
Whatever the quality of this guy's work (his command of the English
sentence is hardly confidence-building), he appears to be a real M$
fascist (well, at least he's honest: this is the most blatant
M$-sycophant, anti-standards attitude I've seen), hardly deserving of
recommendation on a Macintosh site. I can provide an alternative
referral: For years I've been using DT&T Macintosh Service of Fremont,
California (first discovered in an ad in Macworld in the mid-90s) for
hardware repairs and component swaps of all kinds. They're fast,
helpful, inexpensive and reliable. I'm not certain they do the exact
repairs in question (never having needed them myself), but they'd be
worth a query.
Andrew Main
Hi Andrew,
I have to wonder if he's getting some sort of
compensation for the MS promotion or whether he just likes IE a
lot.
There is no IE 6 for Macs. Netscape 7.0 brought up
most of the content on the page, and displayed it quite decently.
However, the left column remained blank, and certain "applets" refused
to load.
I too use iCab as my browser of first reference, but
Netscape is there to pick up the slack.
Charles
Editor's note: I got exactly the same message when using IE 5.x, so
I emailed the owner. He says it's a JavaScript that displays for anyone
not running IE 6 at 1024 x 768 or greater. He doesn't apologize at all
for offending people who don't use his choice of browser or screen
resolution. dk
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