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Get Your Own Hippos.com Email Address |
What does "my own
hippos.com" email address mean?
How does it work?
What does it cost?
How do I sign up?
What does "my own hippos.com"
email address mean?
You can have an address like myname@hippos.com. The part before the hippos.com can be
anything you want. There are a few common-sense restrictions, but other than
that, you can pick whatever you want.
What restrictions?
Nothing obscene or profane. And they have to be unique, so if someone else is
already hippobreath@hippos.com, then you can't be hippobreath. You
can be hippobadbreath, or hippobreath2, or anything else as long
as it's unique. And a few names are reserved, but it's unlikely you would want
to be them anyway (sysop, etc.)
At the time you register, if someone has already taken your name, I'll let you know so you can pick another. Also, while I basically follow the first-come, first-serve rule, I also believe in seniority. If a long time member of our group has been using a certain nickname, they have first shot at it.
How does it work?
This uses a feature on the hippos.com web server called redirection. Think of it
like an alias. You don't actually have an email account with the name you pick.
The hippos.com web server is simply taking all the incoming email, checking to
see if the alias exists, and if it does, forwarding it on (redirecting is the
techie term) to a real email account.
Why do I care about how it works?
Actually, you don't need to. Except
for one thing (you knew it couldn't be that easy). Because it is really
just forwarding the email to a real email account, when you register for a
hippos.com email name, you have to tell me a real email account to forward the
messages on to.
Explain that in English; computerese
makes me nervous.
No problem. Let's say you want the name cutiepie. Once you register, you can
then use the email address cutiepie@hippos.com. You can tell all your
family & friends (if you have any left after this) to send you email at that
address. When you registered, you also told me your real email address is leftfield@jellohead.org. Every time a piece of mail comes in to
cutiepie@hippos.com,
it will automatically be sent to leftfield@jellohead.org. This means you
don't have to check a second email address; it will appear in your normal email.
But the person who sent the email doesn't know this. To them, everything appears
normal.
Think of this as a vanity email address. Without having to give up your regular email address.
What does it cost?
There is a $10 charge, good for 2 years. This covers an unlimited number of
forwarded emails during those 2 years. At the end of two years, you will be sent
a reminder, asking if you want to renew.
How do I sign up?
Easy. Just let me know. Here is what I need:
1) What name you want (i.e., your alias). No spaces allowed.
2) The real email address you want it forwarded to.
If you use Paypal, you can Paypal the $10 to stuart@hippos.com. If you use Paypal, you will need to send me an email with the info I need. If you use cash/checks, just mail it to me, along with the info. Either way, I will let you know when it is set up for you.
Stuart Feldman
POB 445
Houston TX 77001-0445
And that's pretty much it. So sign up today, and get your very own hippos.com email address!
I have had a few questions asked, mainly email/technical ones, that are common enough to make it worth our while to cover here:
Will this work on Macs? Yes, this has nothing to do with the computer itself. This is an Internet function, so it doesn't matter what type of machine you use.
How about AOL? Same thing. It doesn't matter whether you use AOL, Netscape, Outlook, whatever.
When I test it, it doesn't work? When testing your e-mail forwarding, watch out for looping. For example, you get an alias account called tickles@hippos.com, and have it set up to send to Sam123@aol.com. If you try to test it by sending a message to tickles@hippos.com from your Sam123 account, it will not work. The email would loop endlessly, so the Internet doesn't allow it. You need to try testing it with another account. Or have someone else send you an email to your new address.
How can I get people to reply to my new hippos.com email address? You need to make some simple changes in your email program. I can't get too specific, as the various programs are all slightly different, but the concept is the same.
Go into the settings, or preferences, of your email program. Change the Identity to your new email address. Also change the Reply-To to your new email address. Do not change any of the smtp or pop settings.
Can I have more than one hippos.com email addresses? You can have as many as you want. They are $10 for one, $20 for three, $25 for five. If you want more than that, email me. All for two years.
Why would you want more than one? You might want to use one for personal emails, one for ebay, one for...you get the idea! And when the emails are received, it shows you which one of the aliases it was sent to. With a little tweaking of your email filters, you can have ebay emails go direct to one inbox, other emails to another, and so on.
Feel free to email me with any other questions you might have. I'll be glad to help if I can.
posted September 17, 2000