Terry Smythe asks about computer compatibility in Europe.  Funny he
should ask.

I thought that I was prepared for everything when I left for Paris and
London last month.  I brought my entire system on a zip drive and set up
web-based mail in advance.  Everything worked, almost.  The power supply
to the drive failed the first day, due to its inability to run on 50 Hz.

It was just a thermal fuse, but enough to stop everything.  The instruc-
tions with the drive did not mention that 50 Hz was a problem and there
was no (easy) way to test the supply in advance.  I assumed that it would
work and was wrong.   I now have a universal supply that plugs into
anything from 100 to 250 volts 50 - 60 Hz.

So, things to consider:  Do you have a power supply that will work on
European supplies, usually 220 volt and 50 or 60 Hz?  You can change 220
to 110 with a small transformer and you can buy adapter plugs, but you
can't change the frequency.  The phone lines are similar enough.  The
plugs will vary from place to place and by age of manufacture.  You can
pick up adapters locally when you determine what you need, or you can buy
a universal adapter kit, which is quite expensive and most of which you
won't need.

If you feel comfortable with a screwdriver and soldering iron, you can
make an adapter from modular plug to alligator clips, and attach to almost
anything.  Your modem or software might not like the local signals for
dial tone, etc. -- especially if there are custom calling features or
voice mail in effect -- so learn how to teach them to ignore these things.

For example, you might need to dial without waiting for the dial tone if
your modem doesn't recognize it.  Some places (e.g., France) use a double
ring which might screw up things that count number of rings, but this
would only be a problem for certain fax receive situations.

If you can't get your machine to work, check out the cyber cafes.  London
is full of them.  The one right near Victoria Station has machines that
work, good cheap food and drink and both a dimly lit basement for the
real nerds and upstairs for the pseudo's.  For about $10.00 per hour you
can get Internet access or run anything you can bring on disk.

They had Eudora and a good connection which allowed me to get my mail
with no trouble.  Eudora Light is probably the most common e-mail access
program you will find, so it might be worth learning.  You can get it
free anywhere.  Make sure you bring the particulars of you account and
server information or you won't get your mail.

You can also set up a web-based account, such as Hotmail and get your
mail via the Internet.  This is slower and cruder since the software
resides on the host machine.  You will need a machine with at least 8
megs of memory if you are running Windows 3.1 and Netscape 2, and you
will have to configure disk caching etc.  optimally or you will spend all
of your processing power running the Java Applets.  Web based mail is not
great for an antique or poorly-configured machine.

Spencer Chase