Frommer's Scotland 8th Edition - To Parent Directory

40CHAPTER 2 . PLANNING YOUR TRIP TO SCOTLANDWITHOUT YOUR OWNCOMPUTERIt’s hard nowadays to find a city thatdoesn’t have a few cybercafes. Althoughthere’s no definitive directory forcybercafes—these are independentbusinesses, after all—three places tostart looking are at www.cybercaptive.com, www.netcafeguide.com, andwww.cybercafe.com.Aside from formal cybercafes, mostyouth hostels nowadays have at leastone computer you can get to theInternet on. And most publiclibraries across the world offer Internetaccess free or for a small charge.Avoid hotel business centers, whichoften charge exorbitant rates.Most major airports now haveInternet kiosks scattered throughouttheir gates. These kiosks, which you’llalso see in shopping malls, hotel lobbies,and tourist information officesaround the world, give you basic webaccess for a per-minute fee that’s usuallyhigher than cybercafe prices. Thekiosks’ clunkiness and high pricemeans they should be avoided wheneverpossible.To retrieve your e-mail, ask yourInternet Service Provider (ISP) if ithas a web-based interface tied to yourexisting e-mail account. If your ISPdoesn’t have such an interface, you canuse the free mail2web service (www.mail2web.com) to view (but not replyto) your home e-mail. For more flexibility,you may want to open a free,web-based e-mail account with Yahoo!Mail (mail.yahoo.com). (Microsoft’sHotmail is another popular option,but Hotmail has severe spam problems.)Your home ISP may be able toforward your e-mail to the web-basedaccount automatically.If you need to access files on youroffice computer, look into a servicecalled GoToMyPC (www.gotomypc.com). The service provides a web-basedinterface for you to access and manipulatea distant PC from anywhere—evena cybercafe—provided your “target”PC is on and has an always-on connectionto the Internet (such as with RoadRunner cable). The service offers topqualitysecurity, but if you’re worriedabout hackers, use your own laptoprather than a cybercafe to access theGoToMyPC system.WITH YOUR OWNCOMPUTERMajor Internet Service Providers (ISP)have local access numbers around theworld, allowing you to go online bysimply placing a local call. Check yourISP’s website or call its toll-free numberand ask how you can use your currentaccount away from home, andhow much it will cost.If you’re traveling outside the reachof your ISP, the iPass network has dialupnumbers in most of the world’scountries. You’ll have to sign up withan iPass provider, who will then tellyou how to set up your computer foryour destination(s). For a list of iPassproviders, go to www.ipass.com andclick on “Reseller Locator.” Under“Select a Country” pick the countrythat you’re coming from, and under“Who is this service for?” pick “Individual.”One solid provider is i2roam(www.i2roam.com; & 866/811-6209or 920/235-0475).Wherever you go, bring a connectionkit of the right power and phoneadapters, a spare phone cord, and aspare Ethernet network cable.Most business-class hotels throughoutthe world offer dataports for laptopmodems, and a few thousandhotels in the U.S. and Europe nowoffer high-speed Internet access usingan Ethernet network cable. You’ll haveto bring your own cables either way, socall your hotel in advance to find outwhat the options are.USING A CELLPHONE INSCOTLANDThe three letters that define much ofthe world’s wireless capabilities are