SteveMart.in

I frequently recommend to my clients that they do not use the “free” e-mail accounts that their ISP offers them when they sign up for Internet service. At first glance you may think your ISP is being really generous to you, their new customer. I mean, who can beat free, right? For no extra charge, you can create and begin using several different e-mail accounts all @yourisp.com. You start thinking of the possibilities, myname@yourisp.com, or nynickname@yourisp.com. Too many to choose from. Well, let’s re-think creating them in the first place.

First of all, before you create even your first e-mail account @yourisp.com, think. How much are you paying your ISP each month for Internet service? Now, if you decide to stop paying your ISP for your Internet service, do you think they will still let you use your “free” e-mail account with them? That’s right, the answer is a big fat NO! Those “free” e-mail accounts are anything but free. It is a marketing ploy by your (and every other) ISP. They want to “give” you those e-mail accounts with the hope that you will actually start using them. They want you to give all your friend’s, family and clients your new e-mail address so that you become deeply entrenched in the use of their e-mail. Then, when you get that advertisement for competing Internet service at half your current cost, you will throw it away thinking “then I would have to change my e-mail address, what a pain”. And yes, what a pain indeed. You may have used that e-mail address with your online bank account, your prospective clients (what if they try to e-mail you), All your friends and aquantences. Even your family (Hmmm, that one might not be so bad….kidding (but only kind of)). If you switch your ISP, they will all get a bounce back message that the user account no longer exists. so, it is probably best that you never switch ISPs right? Wrong!

Even if you decide to stay with your current ISP, make the e-mail switch now. Stop using their e-mail addresses. You can create free e-mail accounts that truly are free, no matter who your ISP is. Use services such as yahoo.com, gmail.com, hotmail, or dozens of others. Most of them are browser based, which means you can access them through an Internet browser window using just about any ISP. So, if you were to switch ISPs, it would not affect your new e-mail accounts one bit. If you prefer to use an e-mail client like Outlook, Outlook Express, Windows Mail, or Thunderbird, you may want to look at gmail as I know they offer this capability (not all free e-mail services do). Just get away from your ISP e-mail addresses. They are only “free” if you continue to use them as your ISP. If not, they will remove your e-mail account the day you stop paying them for their service.

So, do yourself a favor and switch to a truly free e-mail account. In the long run, you will be very glad you did.

Posted in Computer Networking | No Comments »

The craze these days is to green up our lives. We are supposed to buy hybrid cars, put solar panels on our roof, buy more energy efficient appliances and light bulbs, in addition to buying only organic food (thanks John and Kate plus 8). I think it’s great. I am not a tree hugger or anything like that, not that I have a problem with those of you that dedicate yourselves to saving the planet. I think we really should be good to the planet that we all enjoy. I am just not fanatical about it. I do my part by recycling, but only because our city charges me for it whether I actually do it or not. And it doesn’t take any extra effort really. So yes, I’m doing my part.

I have been working on a project for a new company recently. The company is looking to distribute a brand new windmill technology that is much more efficient than the ones we are accustomed to seeing all over the place. So, I’ve had windmills on the brain and have had to do a little research into the benefits of wind electrical generation. It’s pretty interesting stuff.

Anyway, I was standing on my back deck looking out at the Salt Lake valley since the weather has been so nice. I looked out at the west part of the valley and noticed a big long line of power poles which I assume carry our electricity across the state, possibly into neighboring states. These aren’t the little utility poles we see in the neighborhood, these are the giant ones that are really tall and have lots of power lines on them similar to the ones in the picture.

It made me think of a GREAT idea. When a windmill is installed somewhere, a big chunk of the cost is the big tall pole that must be installed in order to get the windmill high enough to reach the higher, faster, more consistent winds. Well, why not use those poles that are already there? Lets stick a smaller sized windmill on each and every power pole out there. They are already pretty darn tall and typically in less populated areas with less wind obstructions. AND, you have a bunch of power lines to tap into right there. Each of those towers should be generating a bit of electricity as they carry the power to their various destinations.

I am guessing that there is at least a little power loss trying to send power over such long distances. By placing a highly efficient windmill on each tower, you could compensate for that loss and probably end up with more power at the destination than you initially put in at the source. The first portion of building a wind farm is already in place which means a lot of the initial cost is eliminated. And with the new generation of free power, we will all save some change each month on our power bill (my favorite part).

Now, all I need to do is get an investor or a grant from the government and make it happen. Anyone want to invest in my idea? It sounds like a winner to me.

Posted in Computer Networking | 4 Comments »