When You're Away From Home:
Chebucto on the Road

 by
Barbara Langille
 Beacon Correspondent
with
Andrew D. Wright

          Recently, on a brief trip to Ottawa, I was visiting relatives who had a computer with an internet connection, and wondered if there was a way that I could check my email on my Chebucto account.

          Because I'm a novice at this kind of thing, I had to seek expert help from my teenaged daughter! A quick email telling her that the computer I was using had Windows 98 brought a simple response from her:

    How to get on to Chebucto with telnet on Windows 95/98:

  • Start Button
  • Programs
  • Windows Explorer
  • Click on the Windows folder (under C:)
  • Click on the telnet application
    That will open the application. Then go up to telnet's menu bar to connect
  • Click on remote system
  • Where it says Host Name: type in 'www.chebucto.ns.ca' (without the quotes) and hit Connect. It will bring up your Connection to the Internet window (if you're not already connected) and that's it. You're in.

          Well, that seemed easy enough for me to handle, and after a quick try, it was just that easy.

          Since then, I've learned that there is an even easier way.

    The easy way to do it:

  • Start Button
  • Run
  • Type in the window: telnet www.chebucto.ns.ca
  • Hit Enter. It will bring up your Connection to the Internet window (if you're not already connected)

          Bearing in mind that not all users are blessed (or cursed) with Windows 98 or 95, I should point out that telnet doesn't come with Windows 3.1 or older Macs. Those people will have to download a telnet program. Chebucto has links to download such programs.

             

  • Windows 3.1 and 3.11 users can find a telnet program that they can use, pre-configured configuration files for it, and instructions here.

             

  • Macintosh users can find a telnet program for their computer here.

          Another way you can access your Chebucto email account is through the Web-based email at http://imp.chebucto.ns.ca which will let you login from any JavaScript enabled web browser on the internet (such as Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer), no matter where you are. You just go to the page, put in your Chebucto login ID and your password, press the log in button and you can read your email right there on the screen. You click on the subject of the letter to read it, then click on Back to inbox to see the rest of your email. You can save email, write to someone and delete mail (you have to mark it deleted then hit the Empty trash link to actually erase it). When you're done, you press the Logout link on the left of the screen to finish and no one else can see anything you've done. It isn't saved on the computer's disk and if you try to go back in the browser to read it, it won't let you.

          Still another way you can get your email, especially if you have your computer with you is to POP3 it. You have to have access to an internet connection that supports PPP and an email program like Eudora, or Pegasus Mail, or Outlook Express. POP3 means that the email program downloads the email from Chebucto to your computer. You can then go offline and read it at your leisure.

    How to POP3:

  1. Set up your email program (you should only have to do this once):
    • Put in your name: e.g. Jane Smith
    • Put in your Reply-to address: e.g. aa000@chebucto.ns.ca
    • Put in your POP3 (receive mail) Server: www.chebucto.ns.ca
    • Put in your SMTP (send mail) Server: Ask your Internet Provider
    • Put in your Login ID: e.g. aa000
    • Put in your password
  2. Open an internet connection
  3. Download your email
  4. That's it! You can close the connection and read your mail.

          Most POP3 programs will allow you a choice of whether you want to automatically erase the messages from the server once they're downloaded or leave them there. It is usually best to leave them on the server until you are sure you have them all safely in case your connection gets disrupted while downloading.

          A surprising number of Chebucto users keep their Chebucto accounts even when they have moved far away. For some it's a touch of home and for others, it's because Chebucto is better than what they have available locally. Many keep their Chebucto accounts as their main email account so they always have a "permanent home address" that their friends and families can find them at. For some people it's the sense of community that keeps them renewing their accounts.

          Whatever the reason, there are many users of Chebucto who are living all over the world and some of them have never even been to Halifax before. Chebucto has users who have signed up from Chile, Ecuador, Japan, Iran and many other countries besides. Home is where your modem takes you.

 

You may direct comments or suggestions about this article to:

Barbara Langille,  ax952@chebucto.ns.ca

 

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