FAQ about Mboxes(tm)
These Questions are answered below:
Q: Why would I need a "Lifetime Email Address(tm)"?
Index
The one thing that identifies you to the rest of the world is
the Email Address of your Internet mailbox.
Most of us don't have our own server systems, or guaranteed access
to the WWW "forever".
In fact, if you are like many people, you have already changed your
Internet Service Provider (ISP) at least once.
This typically requires that you change your Email Address.
In many cases, you have correspondents, mail lists, vendors, and
other Web acquaintances who need to be notified of your new Email address.
Often, business cards and literature must be reprinted - not only a bother,
but expensive.
Worse, all the old literature, which is already in the hands of others, still
refers to your old (and now "dead") Email address.
Wouldn't it be lovely to have one Email Address that you can use "forever"?
Q: Will I need to get Email from several Mailboxes?
Index
No, you could choose to have all your Email go to your present mailbox at
your service or access provider's location, even
though it is initially sent to your "Lifetime Email Address(tm)".
This is called Email Forwarding - a feature that
you may control at Mboxes(tm).
With an Mboxes(tm) Mailbox, you have complete control over your Email Forwarding.
You may login (with your password) to change or
remove your forwarding address at any time.
Q: Do you read or censor my Mail?
Index
No, you are totally responsible for the content of your Email.
We believe that you have a right to privacy, but
there might be others who do not believe so.
We recommend using Email wisely.
We also believe that you have the responsibility to avoid overly offending others.
We reserve the right to terminate any Subscription that is overly offensive.
We do prohibit use of any part of the Mboxes.com system for illegal or immoral
purposes.
Such use, when discovered, will usually result in termination of
the mailbox subscription, with no refund.
Also, subscriptions with obscene or overly offensive
Mailbox Names will be terminated with no refund.
If you have any doubt, please ask our
Sales Department first.
Q: How long will you hold my Mail?
Index
While you are on vacation or even on a summer break from school,
you might not check your Email as frequently as you would like -
maybe not at all!
Although we have not set a fixed time limit yet,
we anticipate holding Email for at least 6 months - much
longer than many access providers will hold mail
(some will hold mail for approximately 30 days, some for a shorter period).
If your mailbox gets "too full" (holds too much data),
we might declare it "full" and accept no more Email until it is
substantially emptied.
If a subscription expires or is terminated, we may "close" the Mailbox,
accept no more mail for it,
and eventually archive (or delete) any remaining contents.
In that case, we would usually attempt to notify you at your "Other Email Address".
Q: How much can my Mailbox hold?
Index
Although we have not yet set a fixed size limit for an individual mailbox,
we anticipate holding hundreds of messages, and several megabytes of
information - more for short periods of time.
If your mailbox gets overly full (for too long of a time),
we might declare it "full" and accept no more incoming Email for it until
it is substantially emptied.
In that case, we would usually attempt to notify you at your "Other Email Address".
Q: Do you handle Attachments, and how Large can they be?
Index
Yes, we do handle attachments.
We think that they are an important part of modern Internet usage.
However, large files can be very slow to transfer as attachments.
Since the maximum size permitted varies throughout the Internet,
we cannot tell you a size that will always work.
It is usually best to limit yourself to under 1 MegaByte,
but many systems will handle more, although it might be somewhat slowly.
Sometimes, several smaller attachments go through the network
better than one large one.
Also, when compressed files (for example, "zipped" files) are significantly
smaller than the large uncompressed originals, it may be beneficial
(in terms of a significantly shorter transmission time) to compress
the files before they are attached.
If you need to transfer large files frequently,
we can set up an inexpensive private (password protected) FTP site for you.
Ask our Sales Department for a quote.
Q: Normally, what is involved in changing my ISP?
Index
Typically, you need to know your new Email Address - on the new provider's Email server.
Then, you need to try and remember all of the people who may want to contact you
via Email.
Finally, you need to tell them all that your Email address has changed.
It's like changing addresses with the Postal Service, but without their
convenient forwarding capabilities.
Since you cannot change your Email Address in catalogues, trade references,
phone books,
on business literature, or on business cards, you might "need" to pay the old
provider to maintain the old account for you, just for the mailbox address.
And, $20 per month (or even $5) is a lot (for the little guys) to pay just for an obsolete address.
Further, you might have the inconvenience of fetching your mail from two mailboxes.
Inevitably, you are going to miss one or two important people,
and there's not a good way to remedy that -
unless, of course, you never had to change your Email Address!
Q: With a Lifetime Email Address, is changing my ISP easier?
Index
You bet! All of your literature should have your "Lifetime Email Address(tm)"
(i.e. somebody@mboxes.com) on it, and possibly your "Lifetime URL(tm)" also.
The, whenever you change providers, nobody except you needs to know!
You may choose to get your mail directly from your Mboxes(tm) Mailbox, or
forward it to the new provider's mailbox, once you have the new address.
Without a new address, or when it "dies", you can stop the forwarding
and use your Mboxes(tm) mailbox directly.
As an individual, a business person, a business, a student, a traveler,
or just a person who always looks for the best bargains,
you never have to be tied to a particular ISP again!
With a "Lifetime Email Address(tm)" to an Mboxes(tm) mailbox and
a "Lifetime URL(tm)" auto-link, you can move anywhere in the world and
never have to worry about missing another message because somebody
got their message rejected at your "old" Email address.
Of course, sometimes a message does get "lost" somewhere in the
vastness of the Internet ...
Q: Is having my "Own" Mailbox expensive?
Index
Not at all! Does approximately $1.00 to $1.50 a month sound like a value?
We think so. Our rates should be low enough to be afforded by
virtually any Internet user, even the "little" guy.
In fact, our rates are so low that we have to charge by the year to afford
to do the paperwork and process payments.
Q: Will you just "hook" me with low rates, then raise them?
Index
No! Although rampant inflation could change things,
we hope to be able to maintain our low regular subscription rates indefinitely.
They were selected to be low enough to be afforded by virtually any Internet user.
In fact, if our regular rates have gone up when you renew,
we will let you renew with the
lower regular rate that was in effect when you signed up.
However, it is possible that our current discount rate
might not be available forever.
Q: Why subscribe for a longer term?
Index
First, you may be getting a discount rate that might not be available later.
Second, you do not have to bother with the renewal as frequently.
Third, there is a small "handling fee" with each billing (see our Fees).
A 3-year subscription only pays the handling fee once, whereas
three 1-year subscriptions would pay the handling fee 3 times.
Only a small savings, but a little.
As the government might say, "A Billion here, a Billion there, ...
pretty soon it adds up to real money!".
Q: How about the places that just charge a one-time fee?
Index
Well, if an auto repair "business" said that you could pay them $2000 now,
and they would fix your car forever,
would you expect to come back in 6 months and find them still there?
True, they might be. But, they might be (with your money) in Brazil.
If you really believe they would be there, then I have a
really great deal for you ...
(just joking) ... send me all your money, and I
will use it, invest it, and possibly give it all back to you (with 15%
or more per year interest) sometime in the future when you need it ...
(sort of like a "Savings and Loan" or a "Mutual Fund" or "Social Security")!
: )
Q: Who is Video Image Presentation Systems?
Index
Video Image Presentation Systems
(VIPS) has been building interactive applications since it was formed, in
1985. VIPS designed and now runs the Mboxes.com Subscription system.
VIPS has been in business, at the same location in Laguna Hills, California,
since late 1985.
We do reliable, quality work, and are here to serve our clients.
We have produced many interactive applications and systems, in museums, at trade
shows, for retail stores, and in kiosks,
drawing on design and implementation experience that
goes back to near the "dawn" of (transistor) computers - in our case, the 60's.
Gary Giddings has a Ph.D.
in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
from the University of California, Berkeley.
We have teamed with a trusted, long-time friend and colleague to implement the full
Mboxes(tm) service, with our own server at his location, in Texas.
Q: Why did you start Mboxes.com?
Index
We started it for three important reasons:
- To make some money offering you a good service at an affordable price
- To serve a real need in the fast-paced world of the Internet,
your Own "Lifetime" Mailbox and URL
- To use and demonstrate some of our Website Creation skills
Q: Why don't you have more Graphics and Glitz on your pages?
Index
We have designed the site to load quickly on your computer.
Large graphics are nice, but they tend to be slow to load.
So, for your convenience in using this utility,
we have minimized their use on this particular site.
There are lots of very nice pictures and effects at other Internet sites.
Q: Why is your site's response time so variable?
Index
Our Subscription pages, while they are being developed and tested, are
on a very busy "community" server. Occasionally it is very heavily
used, and at those times our response can be 4 minutes instead of 2 seconds!
We will soon move to our own (less busy) server.
Until then, please be patient with us.
Hint: The early morning hours (in California)
seem to be much less "crowded" on this server,
since the response times we experience then are usually quite good.
If you get frustrated, please try again at an "off hours" time, or wait
a few days until we move.
Q: Why don't you move to the Faster Server now?
Index
Our first goal was a reliable Subscription system, with its speed being secondary.
However, we have found that the very slow speeds during the heavily loaded hours
makes the Subscription system virtually "unusable".
So, we will be moving soon (within a few days) to our own
private server, in Texas.
Q: Can you provide a "Lifetime" Web address for my Web Site?
Index
Yes, with our "Lifetime URL(tm)" auto-link feature.
When your web site is at a provider's location, and you change providers,
you have the same "I've moved ... again" problem with your URL (your
Web page address)
that you have with your mailbox address.
Typically, your pages at http://www.oldprovider.com/oldname/
will be abandoned and you will
put new copies of the same (or slightly modified) pages at your new Web Site
on the new provider's server.
Perhaps a new URL (address) of
http://www.newprovider.com/newname/ will be needed to access your site,
unless you have your own domain name ... but those cost $50.00 per year just
to register it with Internic!
We can provide you with a "Lifetime" Web site address of something like
http://www.mboxes.com/al/yourmailname.htm which will (when accessed)
quickly "auto-link" the requestor to your "current" URL.
It is relatively easy for all to see that this is not the real URL of
your site. It is not meant as a replacement for a real domain name.
But, when your site moves,
you just modify your "Current URL" at Mboxes(tm) and
everybody else (at least those who use your "Lifetime URL(tm)")
will not "lose" you, but will be auto-linked to your new site.
Of course, those who have bookmarked ONLY your old site directly ...
might still be "lost".
For example, try this auto-link
http://www.mboxes.com/al/pmm.htm
as a way to link to http://www.pleasemailme.com/ - a sister site.
Of course, Please Mail Me (tm) would not need a "Lifetime URL(tm)" because they have
their own Internet domain name (pleasemailme.com) from Internic. If they move,
they use Internic and DNS to point their domain name to their new location.
While you have a current Mboxes(tm) Mailbox, you may specify your "Current URL"
with our Modify your Subscription function.
After you enter (or change) your "Current URL", as quickly as is practical,
we will establish (or update) your "Lifetime URL(tm)" auto-link.
Of course, if your mailbox is discontinued, your auto-link will
also be discontinued.
Q: Will the "Lifetime URL(tm)" handle huge volumes of traffic?
Index
The Mboxes(tm) Lifetime URL(tm) is not intended for high volume web sites
(many hits per hour).
High volume sites are expected to get their own Internet domain names
that will point more efficiently to their sites.
The "Lifetime URL(tm)" is intended as a
convenience to our Mailbox holders when they move their personal
or small business pages from one provider or server to another.
Q: Do I have to pay extra for a Lifetime URL(tm) auto-link?
Index
No, the Mboxes(tm) auto-link service to your "Lifetime URL(tm)" is provided as a
convenience to our Mailbox holders because they may need to move their personal
Home Pages or smaller business Web Sites from one provider or server to another.
Thus, it is a "free" benefit to being an Mboxes(tm) mailbox holder.
Typically it is only useful to those who have pages on the Web.
Many access providers allow their users to put personal pages on the
provider's Web server, as part of the provider's normal access fee.
However, if your access provider does not allow you use of "free"
Web pages, you may rent space from us at a very nominal rate.
We can also design and install Web pages for you, at any location.
We do sites both large and small, simple and complex.
For more information and estimates, please Email our Sales Department with
a description of your needs.
Q: Does Mboxes(tm) benefit from providing a Lifetime URL(tm)?
Index
Yes. We provide this "free" feature along with your Mailbox
for three main reasons.
First, there is a need for the service, as users move their sites.
Second, the "Lifetime URL(tm)" feature is attractive
to many of our mailbox holders, so it helps us get satisfied customers.
Third, during the brief "auto-link" interval, while waiting for your server
to deliver your first page,
our name shows on the screen along with an "Auto-Link in Progress" message.
So, we get a very quick, relatively unobtrusive "exposure" whenever an
"auto-link" is used.
A slight pause before the initiation of the "auto-link"
appears to be necessary so that users can more
conveniently get "Back" through the "auto-link" page with their browser.
We believe that this simple "auto-link" scheme will work with most browsers.
Please Email the details to us if it does not.
If you find the Mboxes(tm) brief exposure in our complimentary auto-link
objectionable, a custom auto-link page and URL can be arranged
for a small fee. Please Email our Sales department, giving
the details of what you want on your custom "auto-link" page.
Q: Might my group qualify for the Discount Rate?
Index
It might, if it is large enough and the members are likely to have
enough interest in our services.
We also have special Corporate rates for mass Sunscriptions.
Please see our
New Group Qualification information.
Q: Does Mboxes(tm) provide on-line Subscription forms?
Index
Yes, we have on-line Subscription Forms available on the
Mboxes(tm) Subscription pages.
You may link through http://www.mboxes.com/ or go directly to the
http://www.wwwsite.com/mboxes/ mail Subscription page.
Look for the "New Mailbox Subscription" option there.
Q: Does Mboxes(tm) accept Credit Cards for payment?
Index
We do not take Visa or MasterCard directly, but you can pay with a
credit card through First Virtual(tm), which is referenced and linked on our pages.
You register your credit card with them (they charge you $2.00 for a year)
and then buy from people (like us) on-line with your FV Buyer ID
instead of your credit card number.
Using FV is not very expensive, not too difficult, and a bit safer, since your
credit card number never goes over the Internet.
Q: From CompuServe, can I get my Email from Mboxes(tm)?
Index
We do not yet know if you can configure the CompuServe mail services
to get mail from a non-CompuServe mailbox. With a quick look, the
CompuServe pages on-line
do not seem to address that question.
Assuming you cannot get mail from your Mboxes(tm) mailbox directly,
you would probably use the "Forwarding" capability
that is part of your Mboxes(tm) mailbox controls. It is easy:
- First, go to the Mboxes(tm) Subscription pages,
either through http://www.mboxes.com/ or directly at
http://www.wwwsite.com/mboxes/
- Then, choose the "Configure your Mailbox" option,
fill in your Mboxes(tm) Mailbox name and Mailbox Access Password,
and click the button there.
- Finally, enter your CompuServe Email address: (100115.323@compuserve.com or some such)
in the "Forward To:" box and click the "Update" button at the bottom of the form.
Immediately, any further mail sent to your Mboxes address
will automatically be forwarded to your CompuServe mailbox.
So, you get your mail even though everybody is sending mail
to your "Lifetime Email Address(tm)" at Mboxes(tm).
NOTE: If you find a way to configure your CompuServe mail program
to get mail directly from the Mboxes mailbox, please let us know,
and we will put the information on-line. Thanks.
Q: I could sign up a lot of people. May I become a Sales Rep?
Index
Yes, we do have an "Independent Sales Rep" program for those who
believe that they can get a sizeable number of people to sign up
for Mboxes(tm) Mailboxes.
Our "New Subscription" page allows any new subscriber
to select a "Referred by" entry from a list that we provide.
If you are accepted for our "Independent Sales Rep" program,
we will add your "Rep-Name" to the "Referred by" list.
Then, each new paid subscription which indicates a referral by
your "Rep-Name" will earn you a small "referral fee".
If you are interested, please Email our Sales department
with details of why you believe that you should become
an "Independent Sales Rep" for Mboxes(tm) services.
Q: My site is frequently visited. Could it be a "Sales Rep"?
Index
Yes, if you give us sufficient reason to believe that exposure at
your site might get a sizeable number of people to sign up
for Mboxes(tm) Mailboxes.
If you are accepted for our "Independent Sales Rep" program,
we will add your "Site-Name" to the "Referred by" list.
Then, each new paid subscription which indicates a referral by
your "Site-Name" will earn you a small "referral fee".
If you are interested, please Email our Sales department
with details of why you believe that you should become
an "Independent Sales Rep" for Mboxes(tm) services.
Q: What does the "Don't Deliver" checkbox do?
Index
If you are Forwarding your mail, the "Don't Deliver" checkbox
should usually be checked to avoid leaving copies of the Forwarded
mail in your mailbox.
While copies of the mail are being Forwarded, if you want
the original message to be left in your mailbox,
then you would not check the "Don't Deliver" checkbox.
But, remember to empty your mailbox occasionally!
If you are not Forwarding your mail, the "Don't Deliver" checkbox
would usually be left unchecked to allow mail to be delivered
normally to your mailbox.
If you want to reject all mail (to "close" your mailbox), then you would
check the "Don't Deliver" checkbox. This would be unusual.
Q: Is this a phony group mailbox, with long processing delays?
Index
No, the mail is handled by mail servers that we attempt
to keep on-line 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.
The SMTP servers send and receive mail, the mail is held in
individual "mailboxes" on a big hard disk,
and the POP3 server fetches your mail from your mailbox when
you login and ask it to. All the mail comes in,
is forwarded or stored, and goes out completely automatically.
We work to improve the system and to keep it going,
but our mail servers handle the individual pieces of mail.
There might be minor delays if the load is heavy,
but there is no manual checking of a phony mailbox and resending stuff.
Occasionally there is some downtime, just as there is all over the Internet.
Q: As you get more subscribers, will the system "overload"?
Index
Our goal is to provide an excellent service at a very affordable
price. Any successful service will "slow down" if it does not expand
sufficiently to meet the growing demands placed upon it. The provider's
system where our Subscription Service pages run might be an
example. During the busy hours of the day,
tasks that take only a fraction of a second to execute sometimes wait
minutes to "happen". During the less busy times,
the same tasks are often complete in a few seconds.
However, it appears that they provide service to a lot of people,
and apparently continue to try to upgrade their facilities.
We believe that they are trying hard to keep up.
As our Subscriber base grows we know that we will need to "upgrade"
two systems.
First, the Subscription Services pages and CGI will need
a more uniformly responsive server.
Second, the mail server machine (our own system)
will eventually need expansion and upgrading.
We work to improve the system and plan ahead for expansion.
We hope to grow enough to require several machines.
Q: Occasionally I get no response. Is your system down?
Index
Occasionally we do have some system downtime, particularly when a new
"improved" version of some software turns out to have some new
"unannounced features that will not be available on future versions"
(sometimes called "bugs").
At times there is some system testing or maintenance that we just cannot
do responsibly with all of the servers on-line.
We attempt to keep these delays as short as is practical.
Occasionally the "upstream" parts of the Internet "break" and
it looks like we are down because data packets are not getting
through to us. Sometimes, even the "big links" of the Internet network
cease to pass data for one reason or another.
However, most users of the Internet eventually learn
to compensate for these events.
Basically, that is the current nature of the Internet "beast".
Q: Is arriving mail "lost" when your system is down?
Index
Not at all. There are several backup systems that will hold incoming mail
until we are back up again. When a mail SMTP "sender" cannot get mail to
the final destination, it typically reads a list of "alternate"
destinations, and sends the mail "onward" to one of them.
If a mail "sender" cannot send the mail to another machine "closer" to us,
it usually holds the mail and will try again later, even
for several days.
Although it is rumored that a piece of mail can be "lost" somewhere
out there on the Internet, we hope that is actually quite rare.
Q: How do I send mail when your system is down?
Index
You can configure your mail "client" program to send its outgoing
mail through virtually any SMTP server that you choose to use.
Although you should not specify a server that you do not
have permission to use, you typically may use
the SMTP server of your access provider (the one that comes
with your "Other Email Address"), or you may use
ours, if it is available.
If one SMTP server is "down", either wait a bit, or simply use another.
Since the service we provide is primarily for incoming mail,
and you usually have other good options, we encourage you
to mail "from a location near you"
(usually, your access provider's SMTP server).
That probably makes better use of the Internet.
For example, if your mail is from Germany to a German destination, it
is a bit wasteful of bandwidth to send it to the United States and back.
Q: May I ask another Question?
Index
To find out more about our rates and services, see Mboxes(tm) Home Page.
E-Mail to: Sales@mboxes.com
Last revised 20 Sep 1996, © Copyright (C) VIPS, 1996. All rights reserved.