This is a bit on how to go about changing your web address without dissappearing from the world.

At 10:23 AM 8/1/03 -0400, Allen Hefner wrote:
>.... Thanks to all for the private comments, which ALL said I should drop AOL.
>.... everyone knows my e-mail addresses, so it will be an inconvenience, ....

Changing your address is not such a big deal. I just went through that (again) starting last December (2002), after having one e-mail address and one web address for five years. The problem with changing is in having your address piggybacked on someone else's server address, like being . When you switch service you have to give up the server domain name.

If you don't want to ever have to change your address again, you should register a domain name, like "mydomain.com" for instance. This you can redirect to any web server in the world, and again redirect at will if you should ever want to relocate to another server, or if perchance the server should change names. Then you can have an e-mail address like myself@mydomain.com, which will never change again for the rest of your life, no matter how many times you might relocate on the net.

Once you have set up your account on the new server you can impliment automatic mail forwarding from your prior e-mail address to your new e-mail account. You can also impliment an auto-response for incoming messages to let the sender know your new address (if you want to). You may choose not to do that if you are trying to hide from the spammers when changing your address. In that case you just respond to any message from a friendly source to inform them of your new address. If you currently have a web site, you can impliment automatic forwarding from your old web pages to your web site on the new server.

Then you can put AOL on the minimal $5/mo plan (3 hr/mo dial-up access) for about 6 months, just to maintain the old address and forwarding while people get used to using your new address. After that you can pull the plug on AOL permanently.

You can register a domain name for as little as $7.95/yr. You can get ad-free local dial-up service for as little as $4.95/mo. Then you can contract for internet service with any provider in the world. You can get ad-free 100 MB on-line space for a web site and virtually unlimited e-mail accounts for as little as $9.95/mo. Our club currently has a 500 MB service for $16.95/mo including a Virtual Domain Server, capability for parked domains (hosting on a small scale), and unlimited POP accounts. Ed Kayler (Just Brits) recently mentioned that he has an ad-free 1000 MB web space for $96/yr ($8/mo). If you don't need a web site, or only have a very small web site, then on-line space could be cheaper (and will likely get cheaper yet with time). If you don't mind the advertising (like you already have on AOL),. then you can get everything, the dial-up service, up to 10 MB of on-line space (probably equal to your current AOL limit), and e-mail service as cheap as totally free.

I currently use the $7.95/yr domain registry and the $4.95/mo ad-free dial up service. I currently have my web site and e-mail POP account piggybacked on the club server for free (as long as there is space available there going unused). Total expense to me is currently about $68/yr for ad-free web service and unlimited e-mail. If I had to pay for the space on the server, I think I might find a 50 MB (or larger) ad-free space for about $7.95/mo, as my personal web site is now about 35 MB. If/when it exceeds 50MB I could switch to 100 MB service for $9.95/mo (or less), or by that time the increased space might be included for the same price. Our space allowance on the club service has increased from 300 MB to 500 MB in recent years without even asking, where in years past the traditional space allowance would have been more like 10 MB.

With server space as cheap as it is these days, there is no reason to put up with advertising. Or if you don't mind the advertising, there is no reason to pay for any of these services, as they can all be free. Just register a domain name, and never change your address again.