Wi-Fi Tip: Sending email with Outlook

Sending email is handled with a setting called the SMTP server. It used to be that any SMTP server on the Internet would send whatever mail was given to it. All that has changed with the proliferation of SPAM. Now, many ISP's (Internet Service Providers) don't even offer outgoing mail (SMTP) services because they don't want to be liable for spam. Those that do offer outgoing mail will ONLY deliver mail from users who are authenticated to their system. When you are at home and you are connected to your home ISP, your Outlook SMTP setting is also set to your ISP. You are authenticated to them because you are logged in to their service. They know who you are and they are happy to deliver your email. When you are on the road and using a Wi-Fi signal to connect to the Internet - your Outlook SMTP setting is still set to your home ISP, but since you're not connected thru your home ISP they don't know who you are and refuse to deliver email. There is an advanced setting in Outlook 'Accounts' under 'Outgoing Server' that can help ... find and check the box that says "My Outgoing Server (SMTP) requires authentication" and "Use same settings as my incoming mail server". This will solve the problem in many situations, but not all. If you're only away from home occasionally, using Webmail is the best way to go. You visit the website that your email provider offers and log into your mailbox. Since you're logged in there - it knows who you are and will happily deliver your email. If you really want to use Outlook (as I do) and the above setting doesn't help, you will need to talk to your email provider. If they don't have a solution, check out the service provided by www.smtp.com. I know one person who has used it, and say it worked great. AOL mail: even AOL now says you can receive and send your AOL mail with a third party email client like Outlook. Here's what they say about outgoing mail:

The outgoing e-mail server is an SMTP server. The SMTP server requires authentication, and you will have to select this feature at some point during the setup process. Using an authenticated SMTP server means that in order to send e-mail you must log in the SMTP server with a user name and password. The user name and password are the same as your AOL screen name and password. In addition, you need to change the outgoing mail (SMTP) port number to 587.

Chris the Magic Techie

Jim has a cold ... poor baby. So I did his 'rounds' for him yesterday. I figured it wasn't good for him or the other people for him to be going out to their homes and sitting at their computers. I visited 3 folks with Wi-Fi problems yesterday afternoon and I had fun! I was a little apprehensive, cuz Jim is much better at this techie stuff than I am, but the moment I walked in the door - each of them said, "Well, what do you you know, it's working great right now!" Hah! Just like when you go to the doctor and it doesn't hurt any more, or take your car to the mechanic and it won't make the noise. It's magic! They still had lots of questions and I could answer 90% of them - pretty cool. One guy was quite distressed tho when I told him that his cordless phone was on the same frequency as the Wi-Fi (2.4 gigaherz) and would cause problems when being used near the computer. It's true. Our new convection oven (which I still have to tell you about cuz it's SO Cool) is also 2.4 gigaherz and it knocks us offline whenever we use it! Another woman wanted to get her AOL software set up correctly to use with Wi-Fi. I had the sure-fire solution for her ... remove AOL! It stopped raining finally, and the sunshine here at Palm Creek is blinding. But it's COLD. 44 degrees out there.

New Year's Resolution

Blew it already! What was yesterday? the 3d day of the year ... and I couldn't follow thru on my resolution. I vowed to do 15 minutes of Kundalini yoga every morning. That's one thing I miss about living in Ft. Lauderdale is my Kundalini Yoga classes - and my dance classes and our scuba diving. I thought this life on the road would be filled with exercise ... but it's not. We sit at the computer a lot, we drive a lot - you tend to get stiff. We walk a lot too, but it's more like strolling – not real exercise, and certainly not stretching. In any case, I've come up with just 15 minutes of yoga that I can do sitting on the floor in the 'living room'. There's just enough space. I figure there's nothing that can't wait for 15 minutes. Well, yesterday the phone started ringing at 7am (people on the east coast don't know where we are) and I just never got around to it. Oh well, I won't beat myself up ... I did my 15 minutes today and I'm raring to go! Now, if it would only stop raining. Yes, you heard right ... it's been raining for 2 days. We're in the desert in Arizona. Now I know why it's green. I'll just give you a picture thru the window, cuz I don't feel like going outside. If you notice that thing stuck to my window .. that's my Wi-Fi adapter. I have it stuck to the window with that putty-like stuff that you use for posters. We're in Casa Grande, Arizona at a Coach Connect park named Palm Creek. This is a big place. We plan to stay here for the whole month of January to give seminars and help folks get connected to the Wi-Fi.

Apache Trail

We happened to trade emails with Bob from Enchanted Valley Ranches - when he heard we were in Apache Junction he wrote, "Have you ever taken Apache Trail to Roosevelt Dam?? Nice drive." From that innocent beginning came a very memorable New Year's Day. Thanx Bob! We thought we were taking a 30-40 mile drive to see a dam. Little did we know we were taking a road described as "a narrow dirt road for much of the way, clinging precariously to the sides of the cliffs of the Superstition Mountains. The trip is truly not for anyone with a weak heart or who really hates heights." According to Theodore Roosevelt:

"The Apache Trail combines the grandeur of the Alps, the glory of the Rockies, the magnificence of the Grand Canyon and then adds an indefinable something that none of the others have. To me, it is the most beautiful panorama nature has created."

What a great way to start 2005. We didn't get a good picture of the dam, but, how about this bridge?!? The Roosevelt bridge. And then ... just around the corner is Tonto National Monument. There's cliff dwellings here!

Happy New Year

Our goal for New Year's Eve was to find an RV park with a spa. We found Carefree Manor, it has a spa AND it's a Passport America park. What we didn't bargain for is the beautiful 'Superstition Mountains' that are nearby. You can see them in the background: The 'Lost Dutchman State Park' is very close and has some really nice hiking trails. Correction to last weblog post: as the commenter correctly pointed out - adding leaf springs will not change our Gross Vehicle Weight Rating. We will not magically be underweight. But, it does 'beef up' the rear end and, as a practical matter, make it much safer to carry the weight we do. If this issue is important to you, I highly recommend participating on the "Open Roads Forum". This is a large group of RVers with questions - and answers - on everything to do with the RV lifestyle.