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AOL will not support Mailing
Lists - Part Four Chucking AOL
DearREADERS,
I couldn't believe it, I just can't believe in AOL anymore. I decided to see
what suggestions AOL had to get around the "no more mailing list"
policy. AOL Keyword: Newsgroups stated this morning:
AOL NOTICE:
"Please note: Beginning early 2005, AOL will no longer be providing
direct access to newsgroups. We apologize for any inconvenience. For
members with a separate high-speed Internet connection, we recommend
contacting your service provider to confirm if they offer access to
newsgroups. Newsgroup services from your high-speed provider can be
accessed through a third party reader, such as Mozilla Thunderbird http://www.mozilla.org/projects/thunderbird/
. Alternatively, you can access Newsgroups via Google at http://groups.google.com/.
To connect with others who share your interests, visit AOL Keyword:
People Connection where you can find and learn more about AOL Journals
(blogs), message boards and chat rooms." |
WHAT CAN'T I BELIEVE IN AOL ANYMORE?
For years, you've heard how AOL just cannot handle the volume of email it's
members receive. In separate tests, two or three years ago, I have observed that
only 7 out of 10 emails sent from outside AOL to my own @aol.com email account
actually gets delivered. Dick Eastman www.eogn.com
reports similar findings. Seasoned AOL users in our local society know that
AOL-to-AOL email sometimes gets delayed 2-5 days, and that perhaps 1-2 emails of
this "member-to-member" variety never get delivered. I could handle
that because it isn't a perfect world, and things fall through the cracks
sometimes. The US Postal Service isn't perfect either.
Now we are informed that the world's largest internet service provider has
decided to cut off full access to everything internet, by eliminating the
delivery of incoming messages from mailing lists (aka newsgroups). This means
that although AOL subscribers pay top dollar in the industry for dial up
service, they will no longer receive the full benefits that every other online
service provides. I can't think of another ISP that charges as much for dialup
service as AOL.
IF YOU WISH TO LEAVE AOL, here are some of my thoughts. They are by no means ALL
the alternatives, but let's just get some concrete ideas on the table for our
AOL friends.
WHATEVER YOU DO, GET THE NEW SERVICE
WORKING BEFORE PHONING AOL TO TURN OFF YOUR MEMBERSHIP
DIAL UP SERVICE
DSL
- This is available through your local telephone company. You can then be online
and talking on the phone at the same time. Only a little faster in most cases
than dialup service.
The phone company provides an external modem, and your computer will connect to
it via an Ethernet cable. Most newer computers have Ethernet 10/100 ports, but
you can get a an external converter cord about 6 inches long that goes into a
USB port with the Ethernet port on the other end. All of your telephones need a
shield cable (provided for free by the telephone company in your DSL package) to
go between the wall and the telephone. This shield prevents the phones from
interfering with the internet connection and vice-versa.
HIGH SPEED - very fast internet
access.
This is available through your local cable company. We have Bright House, yours
might be Comcast. Both offer high speed cable at a slightly reduced rate to
subscribers of their cable television basic packages. In my area, Bright House
offers:
- RoadRunner High Speed
- EarthLink High Speed
- AOL HighSpeed - Remember, though, AOL doesn't
offer full email, so don't choose it.
I chose RoadRunner high speed a few years ago, and
never regretted the decision. Two of us split the cost of service, and we can be
online at the same time with no difficulty. Our computers each have an Ethernet
cable that plugs into a router. The router is a box with an electrical
connection, that has several ports in the back. One port has an Ethernet cable
that runs to the external cable modem provided by the cable company. Because of
this home network, we are able to directly share files and printers without
using floppy disks or CDs.
-----------------------------------------------------
There is such as thing as a satellite connection to the internet, and there are
alternative small local ISP (Internet Service Provider). Sometimes you don't
have much of a choice, particularly if you live in a remote area. Good luck.
I am seriously considering canceling my AOL service, though I hardly ever use it
for email at all. I did it to protect the use of my screen name -- but then how
many nefarious genealogy columnist wanna-bes are there in the world who would
jump at picking up my screen name 6 months after I cancel?
For
Further Reading:
Happy family tree climbing!
Myrt :)
DearMYRTLE,
6023 26th Street West PMB 352
Bradenton, FL 34207 |
