• Communicating with Family and Friends

Almost everyone we know has an e-mail account. Communicating via e-mail while traveling is drastically cheaper than international phone calls.

• Travel Information and Reservations

Flight schedules, lodging, travel agents, news, phone numbers, etc. are all available on the Internet. Many sites also allow bookings with a credit card number. The Internet is an excellent supplement to the Lonely Planet guide when traveling.

• On Line Banking and Managing Finances

Many banks, credit card companies, and stock brokers have web pages where personal finances can be managed on line. Credit card transactions and balances, bank check writing, stock trades, and cash transfers between banks and brokerage accounts can all be completed on the Internet.

Internet Access through an Internet Service Provider

Subscribing to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) only makes sense if you are carrying a modem equipped PC. Many ISPs offer Global Roaming, a feature that allows you to connect to your ISP with a local call from most cities in the world. There are two major international networks of ISPs: GRIC http://www.gric.com and iPASS http://www.ipass.com. A good way to select an ISP is to visit the GRIC and iPASS web sites, choose one based on their international coverage, and then choose an ISP member of your preferred international ISP network provider. Most ISP accounts come with one or more personal e-mail accounts and some web host space.

Internet Access at an Internet Café

For a per-minute charge, the Internet can be accessed at an Internet Café. Rates tend to vary between US$0.02 - US$0.10 per minute depending on the country. Over the past few years, Internet Cafés have become more prevalent than bank cash machines. In most countries, Internet Cafés can be found in all cities and some remote towns. There are a handful of free web-mail providers. Two of the most popular are Yahoo http://www.yahoo.com and Hotmail http://www.hotmail.com. We find Yahoo web pages to display much faster than Hotmail pages, so given a choice, we'd choose Yahoo. With web-mail, you can send e-mail messages and keep your inbox online, accessible from any Internet connection.

Web Host

There are several free Web Hosts and many more paid Web Hosts. A Web Host provides disk space to post web pages; it does not give you Internet access - that's what ISPs and Internet Cafés are for. When connected to the Internet, files can be transferred to a Web Host using a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) utility. Free web hosts to consider are Bravenet (web: http://www.bravenet.com) and Hypermart (web: http://www.hypermart.net). All free Web Hosts place ads on web pages uploaded to their web server.

Paid Web Hosts have a wide range of fees and services. If looking for cheap web hosting without banner ads but limited service features, consider Bravenet's paid web hosting (web: http://www.bravenet.com).
A web host with more features than Bravenet yet nearly as cheap is PowWeb (web: http://www.powweb.com). I use PowWeb because with my www.atwtravel.net domainName, PowWeb lets me create up to 100 email addresses @atwtravel.net, and use these addresses on PowWeb's webmail and PowWeb's POP3 SMTP server. This means that without an ISP subscription, I can configure a mail client on my laptop, plug into an Internet Cafe, and use my @atwtravel.net mail just as I would, were I paying for an ISP connection.
If looking for a robust web host with enough features to run an online shopping business, consider http://www.jdshost.com.

Each Web Host restricts the amount of disk space that can be used per account. Often there is no restriction to the number of accounts a user can subscribe on a free Web Host. Generally, if multiple accounts are requested immediately after one another, they are created on the same physical disk. (Remember, a web hosting company may have thousands of computers and disks networked together.) In case the size of a single web site exceeds the disk space limit of one account, a second account can be used for overflow with reference links between web pages loaded on the two accounts. Having two or more accounts that have linked pages on the same disk is faster because bandwidth bottlenecks in the web host company's network are avoided. Some web hosts, however, try to restrict this practice.

Web Host Policy

Web Host companies exist under some governing company policy. Some only accept web sites that have personal interest content. Others promote commercial sites. Based on the Web Host policy, the kinds of services provided vary greatly.

Domain Name Registration

Many Web Hosts support the linking of a purchased Domain Name to a web account on their web server. Free web hosts FortuneCity, HyperMart, and Bravenet support this action. Almost every paid web host supports Domain Name linking. The only paid web host I know of that does not support Domain Name resigration is AOL. If you want to promote your web site widely, purchase a Domain Name and choose a Web Host that supports Domain Name registration.

Learning HTML and Creating a Web Page

• All essential HTML needed to create a basic web page can be learned in a weekend. We used a tutorial CD called "Web Page".
• NetObjects Fusion MX makes web page writing faster and easier. NetObjects Fusion MX is the most fully featured web site development tool on the market. It has everything needed to build, manage, and promote a web site.
• An image utility like Photoshop is invaluable to create and size .jpg and .gif files that fit nicely into the web page layout. Use Adobe ImageReady to create moving images (called Automated GIFs).

Order software needed to build your web site here.
Order software through Amazon.com In association with Amazon.com.
Order NetObjects Fusion MX software. NetObjects Fusion generates HTML and JAVA in a professional and appealing look. With NetObjects Fusion, build an exceptional web site with ease.

  Copyright © 2000-2002   Wes and Masami Heiser.   All rights reserved.