Web interface for spinweb

November 27, 2004 5:19 AM

Italian ISP: I'm trying to simplify communications within a professional organization. One member insists he must use three email addresses: one for each location where he might be checking email. Obviously inconvenient, I am trying to steer him to a web interface for his preferred address, which is with spinweb. Often, I can find these things without speaking the native language but I can find nothing on the spinweb site. Help?
posted by Dick Paris to computers & internet (8 comments total)

Welcome to the little-known 10th level of Dante's Inferno - Italian 'ISPs' and their webpages.

Your question is a bit vague; as I understand it, you are looking for information on Spinweb's site reguarding whether they provide a web interface for their email addresses. After perusing their Macromedia designed afterbirth of a site, I can tell you that www.spinweb.it is merely a pretty, vaguely worded virutal brochure on the various categories of services they offer. No tech help whatesoever. I'm afraid to find the information you are looking for, you will have to contact Spinweb directly.

I'll check back if you need further help or if you would like a brief rant on the byzantine system of Italian telecommunications in the 'post-monopoly'* era.

*think really heavy sarcasm here
posted by romakimmy at 6:40 AM on November 27, 2004

Dick, I have to run out in a few moments, damn Real Life interfering with my MeFi schedule -- feel free to e-mail me if you still need help, tomorrow I'll carefully check out the Spinweb site for you, and I'll be happy to call their offices on Monday on your behalf.
posted by matteo at 7:25 AM on November 27, 2004

As ever, I'm humbled by the effort and generosity.

Yes, Romakimmy, you guessed correctly: a web email interface is what I seek for this person. When I poked around the spinweb site I even wondered if it was an ISP.

To add more: I am certain this person's Italian must be very good (he has lived in Italy for some time) but I do doubt his tech savvy. He has been telling our adminitrator for years that he needed to receive email at all of his addresses. I've just now decided to look into this and then thought of the MeFi community to see if I could unravel this conundrum.

Matteo: I will ckeck back with you. My email address is in my profile if you find something out and want to contact me directly.
posted by Dick Paris at 7:52 AM on November 27, 2004

Would mail2web work?
posted by blag at 8:26 AM on November 27, 2004

I realize this doesn't pertain to the question, per se, but the best solution (if possible), would be to give him one email address that he can access with IMAP (over SSL, of course) from anywhere.
posted by thebabelfish at 8:52 AM on November 27, 2004

Point out to this guy that having one e-mail address would simplify his life and dramatically reduce the amount of time wasted sifting through 3 copies of every single letter.

In a somewhat similar situation in the past ... when a server went down, notifacation had to be sent to two different people's email accounts and page their cell phones. I handled this by setting up an email forward: [e-mail] --> [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], etc.
posted by fourstar at 10:21 AM on November 27, 2004

He has been telling our adminitrator for years that he needed to receive email at all of his addresses.

This is where I get confused. He needs to receive mail from all 3 email accounts at different physical locations?

Reguarding the "What the hell is Spinweb" aspect, I present to you.... *cue trumpets*

....The Not-So-Merrie Tale of Italian (so-called) ISPs and Italian Telecommunications Infrastructure

N.B. Based purely on my experience, present and past

Once upon a time there was a big bad ogre named Telecom Italia who had cast a Monopolising spell on the web of telecommunications equipment in the land. Service wasn't great, but what else was one to do when there's no competition?

In addition, there were many shysters who called themselves 'ISPs' and offered varied 'Computer Services.' Some were actually good-hearted, but the majority would take advantage of the ignorance of the populace, using smoke and mirrors to make their higher-priced services more attractive. Can we say opaque, boys and girls? I thought we could.

In reality, the shysters' services were more or less the same as the ogre's and the shysters had to pay for access to the ogre's web, thus the higher prices of their services. And lo the populace did suffer and lo was technology lagging.

In the end, as most big bad ogres are wont to do, Telecom Italia was eventually defeated by the brave and valorous Sir Deregulation and technology slowly began to advance. *cue cheers from the populace*

Except Sir Deregulation wasn't really *that* brave nor valorous, and the big bad ogre was actually chopped up into one medium-large bad ogre who had a Semi-Monopolised spell over the land's physical lines and a bunch of little fly-by-night, headache-inducing bad ogres with names like Albacom & Infostrada whose true ugly aspects were shown once you got your first bill.

These little ogres turned quite nasty once one realised that the medium-large ogre would cause fewer headaches and attempted to switch back; the little ogres would throw up a thick briar of red tape, tolls and buerocrasy on the path back to the medium-large ogre and only the tencacious eventually made it through.

And so it remains in the land even today; though technology slowly advances little ogres and shysters continue to hop in a maliciously merrie dance around the now medium-large ogre, forcing the populace to jump through a multitude of hoops.

Yo, I only wish I was kidding.

Spinweb seems to be one of these dinky third tier 'ISPs'; they'll provide one with everything from Word classes and software to websites and a spectacularlly crappy shopping portal to computers and Intranets. From their WHOIS info, looks like they in turn rent space/connectivity from this company, which doesn't really surprise me as (IIRC) Milano is a major hub for most of Italy's backbones.

/this fable brought to you by today's addition of 1.5 hrs to the incredibly long Time Wasted in my Life Column cutting through red tape bullshit, billing mistakes, and 3 hour long calls with techs who wouldn't know a 'ping' from their wangs column
posted by romakimmy at 10:23 AM on November 27, 2004

Nice tale, Roma. I would use it as a bedtime story but it would just generate nightmares.

But, as you suggest at the start, you are not actually confused: he has no concept of checking his email account from one ISP through another ISP.

This even applies, as far as I can tell without being on his back for a day: one email address at the office, one email address at home and one email address in another office in Paris. I'm a bit puzzled by his choice of one over another, as I know his two other addresses do have web interfaces. (Wanadoo and Virgilio). He even complains about the spinweb receiving the most spam but it is his preferred address. I am not sure why except that he associates it with his "main office" and is therefore the one he is most interested in using.

Argh. Maybe I should have stayed out of this. :-\

All that said, I know, even without a laptop traveling with him, he could set his email client to access all of these accounts but I thought getting him onto a web interface would be easier. Maybe not.

Blag: that might work.

Fourstar: I think he knows it is inconvenient. Not because he receives three copies of everything but because he has to chase after three email addresses.

Maybe a combination of getting one email account into each client and email forwarding from the others would be a decent approach and not too difficult for him to understand.
posted by Dick Paris at 11:15 AM on November 27, 2004