OF E-MAIL BOXES and BLOGS and WEB DOMAINS

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sapphoq reviews a few free e-mail boxes and more:

E-MAIL PROGRAMS

Google now offers free POP3 and forwarding. Storage is adequate. One can access groups from the mail page. Google has added some whistles which increase the attractiveness of its e-accounts. E-mail accounts are only available if one is invited by a friend or if one is willing to furnish Google with the phone number of one's mobile device. The ability to archive messages and i.m. conversations has been added; though that may not be the best idea due to personal privacy issues.

Blue Bottle is a company out of Australia that offers both free and paid accounts. One can configure to eliminate all spam, requiring senders to know either the name of the recipient or a special combination of numbers. Interface is plain but functionable. Server sometimes goes down. Blue Bottle recently had to replace its server so hopefully that problem will not happen as often.

MSN hotmail also has paid and free accounts. In order to get official POP3 access and decent storage capacity, one has to pay. Hotmail will also automatically lock any free e-mail user out who does not sign in at least once in a thirty day period.

Yahoo only grants free POP3 and forwarding to accounts outside of the Untied States which sign up to receive Yahoo ads. In the states, one must pay for legit POP3 service. One can have two mailbox addys dumped into a single yahoo box. On the minus side, Yahoo is offering the ability to guarantee senders [read: spammers] delivery of their unwanted e-mails to recipient accounts if they agree to pay a nominal fee per e-mail. The paid e-mail does not get picked up by the Yahoo spam blocker. Due to lax standards regarding on-line identities, Yahoo has now evolved its own form of internet troll.

My Way is free and one can decorate one's e-box with pretty scenery. Settings for things like mail filter are very user-friendly. On the downside is the way e-mails sent from My Way accounts appear. The system seems to disregard paragraphing, making e-mails originating from My Way difficult to read.

Medscape is available to physicians and has free e-mail accounts. The accounts are not POP3 accessible. It is easy to use, has recently begun offering simple stationary, and includes no outgoing ads. Physicians everywhere who mourn the merging/passing of physicians-on-line at least have the option of Medscape. POL used to check that physicians who signed on really were qualified medical personnel. Medscape does not.

BLOGS

Hands down the winner is Blogger/Blogspot. It is easy to use and offers versatility. Free templates are available on-site and elsewhere. Blogspot includes use of a free FTP for those who which to host elsewhere. A very attractive offering. Blogger makes most of its' money off of Google AdSense-- so those of us who are fans will sign up for simple text ads as a way of saying "Thank you".

Yahoo 360 blogs come equipped with a wide range of templates, employs an aggragate system so bloggers are assured an audience and can develop on-line buddies, and has many many options that can be customized by the individual user. Unfortunately, 360's rep is being marred by a noted tendency of Yahoo to censor pics and pull accounts of [mainly women] those who dare to write about anything other than god, church, and heterosexual families.

MSN spaces has some options which are real nice. Amazon associates can create lists of books and Amazon dot com will automatically furnish the book cover at the push of a button. MSN support staff are somewhat friendly and will look for signs of trouble. Recently, a b0ok came out with good simple instructions. It is reported that the staff do comment on a few blogs from time to time. The space itself is ugly and has limited functionality.

DOMAINS

GoDaddy is a fairly decent company and reportedly offers friendly customer service. I know a web designer who directs her clientele to GoDaddy for domain hosting.

sapphoq.com hosts her web domain with NetEasy. NetEasy is not that easy for the neophyte. Customer service is only available through e-mail. Aside from that small glitch, sapphoq does heartily recommend NetEasy to the aspirant who desires a home on the internet.

Til' next time, keep reading. Your brain cells will be tickled if you do.

~sapphoq

Looking Glass Court | neo-pagan rituals and reflections - inspired by Lewis Caroll; written and compiled by Shivian Balaris

Looking Glass Court neo-pagan rituals and reflections - inspired by Lewis Caroll; written and compiled by Shivian Balaris<---- the link will point you to a blog by Shivian Montar Balaris, creator of the Oh Gods! pagan comic strips. The Looking Glass Court blog connects one certain Alice's journey Through the Looking Glass with the witches' wheel. There are indeed neo-pagan rituals and reflections to be found; and a membership form also. Very well-crafted writing! Not to be missed.

The Oh Gods! comic strips at http://timerift.net can be delivered to one's e-mail box daily or almost daily to those readers who are seeking enlightenment through pagan humor. The characters are well-drawn with crisp lines. The conversation between them pokes gently at our witch buttons. A day without a good belly laugh is like a sandwitch without a pail or shovel.

At timerift, one can also seek out the forums and must-have symbols of fandom. Careful now or you might need the services of a witchdoctor!

~witchdoctor sapphoq

AVOIDING PRISON AND OTHER NOBLE VACATION GOALS by Wendy Dale

AVOIDING PRISON AND OTHER NOBLE VACATION GOALS by Wendy Dale. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2003. paperback, 326 pages.

Wendy Dale grew up in many places as her family was one which uprooted and moved frequently throughout her childhood and adult life. She viewed travel as a way of temporarily escaping her problems. Chance encounters led her to fall in love with a Columbian man in a Costa Rica prison.

A very enjoyable first book from Wendy Dale with much insight into egocentric cultural values.

~sapphoq

SHARE YOUR STORY: Blogging with MSN Spaces by Katherine Murray and Mike Torres

SHARE YOUR STORY: Blogging with MSN Spaces
by Katherine Murray and Mike Torres.
Redmond Wa: Microsoft Press, 2006. 196pp. including index. paperback.

For all of us blogheads out there, Microsoft Corporation now has a book of instructions and helpful hints for using MSN Spaces. Although I didn't really require the book, I bought it anyways and I enjoy leafing through it and extracting little tidbits from it that are useful.

Share Your Story pointed me to FeedBurner where I did indeed burn my http://radical.sapphoq.com blog into RSS and now it is featured on my own MSN Spaces at http://spaces.MSN.com/sapphoq . It also pointed me to some easier instructions for creating a playlist from the Windows Media Player and incorporating a certain affiliate program into my MSN spaces reading list.

The true techies among us probably will not need this book. The rest of us blogheads will enjoy the breezy style and having all of the instructions in printed form.

Happy reading!

~sapphoq

found poem from BART D. EHRMAN; LOST SCRIPTURES

The Shepard of Hermes Speaks
a found poem


Vision I. 1:1-9
I had nothing. Time, powerful, fell
and a spirit split the river.
The sky desired me. I said,
"Listen! Heaven is angry!"

A goddess laughed. Indeed, the heart
is great and everything. Captivity clings to hope and regrets.

Vision II. 5:1-4
Traveling, time remembered me.
I considered the things
I remember(ed) and I seized.

Vision III. 9:1-9
Was this the promise?
The hours arrived trembling
and terrified. Courage came
before righteousness and left
alone. Simplicity endured.


A found poem is words taken in order from a text, passage, or section of a book. When other words are skipped over, a poem is born.
This found poem was found in:
Bart D. Ehrman, Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It into the New Testament. New York, 2003, pp. 252, 254. 256.