Email from a Flash Disk - no computer! well...
 

Spotted this note on Lockergnome today, and thought I'd put it out for comment - I know zero about Flash Disks, so maybe someone would like to check this out and report back? My main question was how does the Flash Disk connect to the internet cafe's computer - USB or ??

From http://www.lockergnome.com/
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PFC Justin Sloan writes to us from where he's stationed among the swaying date palms and shifting sands of Baghdad, Iraq:


"In response to your call for knowing what us Gnomies have been up to, I decided to share what my experience has been here in Iraq. Amazingly, but not really surprisingly with today's technology, all of the soldiers here have Internet access available to them primarily just for e-mail. My experience with it, however, has been extremely frustrating. Not only do we have to use Windows machines (eww!), but the access, in general, is incredibly slow. Now, I can't really complain too much because I am grateful that we even have access to e-mail, but being the geek that I am, I had to find a better, faster, more efficient way to get to it than waiting for Web mail to load.

"I went to a computer store in central Baghdad and purchased a Flash Disk that I could carry in my pocket everywhere I went. Then the hunt was on for a reliable e-mail program that I could install on the Flash Disk and use on any machine. Believe it or not, Eudora was the solution! On a CD that came with PC Magazine was a copy of the latest Eudora, which solved the problem of having to download it. We are limited to 30 minutes of use when we sit down at the machine, and the speed would require many hours of download time (I mean, we are talking around 300k slow)! Anyway, what I ended up with was a copy of Eudora installed on a Flash Disk that I can use on any machine. I simply go to the local Internet Cafe, download my e-mail, use a machine that does not have Internet access to write responses and new messages, then head back to the Cafe to send and receive new messages; thus I overcome the speed, 30 minute time limit, and limited functionality of Web mail!"



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Grant Johnson

Seek, and ye shall find.
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One world, Two wheels.
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

Flash Disks use USB and they’re plug ad play. You just plug them in the USB port while Windows is running and it’s identified them immediately. They appear as a regular hard drive (Ex: “E:”). The whole thing is pretty straight forward and very useful.

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A.B.

OasisPhoto.com – Images from the Magical Sahara.
ShortWheelbase.com – Jeep preparations.

That's not a bad idea... At the moment I use a cheapo 64mb USB "memory stick" to transport large presentations. Generally speaking they're small, cheap and very reliable. Unfortunately this doesn;t get around the problem of paying to sit and write messages...

My solution may be to carry a USB Sony Memory Stick reader with me. My MS is 128mb, and I can write docs / emails onto it with my Palm device. That means I can spend hours in teh tent / under the stars writinig messages and articles - only limited by the touch screen - and quickly send the text out.

Not quite an alternative to a laptop (limited website maintenance capability) but a solid state step in the right direction...

Re website - if you're using blogging software as we do for the Travellers Stories, it's easy enough to just write up the text, then it's a simple copy and paste at the i-cafe.

Photos are a straight upload, so that should be easy too.

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Grant Johnson

Seek, and ye shall find.
------------------------

One world, Two wheels.
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

With regard to PFC Justin Sloan information on use of Flash Disk and internet. At our coffee meeting today, we do not believe that this is possible. Unless you have the Eudora program on the Flash Disk or Memory Stick, then you will have to load it on to the computer in use. If this is correct, then will the I-Cafes in different cities allow you to load the program on to their computer. I know the library here will not. Then what use is it to have the program on the memory stick? Any informatio from anyone would be helpful. -23C with blowing snow and 1/2 mile vis at the present time here.

I tried running Eudora from flash on a different PC to that I installed it on. It didn't work.

Although it is possible to take your personal configuration file (Eudora.ini) and your data (emails) from PC to PC by removable disk (floppy, flash, etc). It seems Eudora needs to be formally installed first.

This requires a copy of the application, permission, administrative rights (2000/XP) and time - which may defeat the object; saving time. Although if you are in 1 place for a long time, this may be a path worth pursuing.

It would be nice to confirm the above with Eudora support and submit an enhancment request to allow program execution without installation (à la drtcp etc). But they only talk to those with a licensed copy. So if anyone has a license - please ask.

Regards,

Ian

Hi All

The new Eudora version is too "big" for this type of application. Ian's right, although you do not need admin-rights to install it (or at least not in all circumstances), it needs to be registered in windows which requires an installation procedure. Besides this, it's not freeware.

The good news: Long time ago there was a Eudora version called "Eudora 3.0.x Light" which was freeware and is still available for download: ftp://ftp.eudora.com/eudora/eudorali...s/english/306/

This version is a lot "lighter" and should work without any further installations. To start, install it on your machine and then move the installation folder to your memory stick. Eudora 3.0 seems to work fine on secondary machines, although I haven't tested it on older windows versions or in limited enviroments. Just give it a try.

A few hints:
- Eudora 3.0 does not support IMAP, supports POP only
- Does not support encryption and other "modern" stuff
- Make shure you're not loosing any mails trying this! Always enable the "Leave mails on server" option in Eudoras configuration.
- You will always have to configure "local" SMTP servers to be able to send any messages from an icafe

I'd suggest this solution only for experienced users who need to access an account without web access or for users who need to read their messages offline. Writing messages offline is easy as you can write them in any tool and just copy/paste them later when back online. If you're only having connection speed/time problems with your web-mail account try to disable graphics and other multimedia stuff in the browser (IE: Tools -> Options -> Advanced). This will usualy increase download times by factors!

This topic gives me an idea... the same technology will work to store and download GPS maps, routes and tracklogs...

Save rides, Kudi