kerouac

In my neighborhood, the rate is 0.50€ an hour. What are they charging at your places, Christina?

Kay2

May I just say that I enjoy/admire reading threads like this one?
Although much of our time on this board is spent exchanging ideas about tourist places to visit, eat, etc., I enjoy seeing folks helping fellow travelers/strangers with problems.

I've benefited in the past from advice on this board about technical problems such as credit cards, ATMs, and ticket machines as well as local information about customs or, in this case, specific stores.

Just last week I helped some international visitors in person to find a store to buy a national flag and a specific type of flashlight (we all have odd requests at times). You guys are doing the same for a virtual acquaintance/stranger. Thanks.

Areala

THANK YOU...THANK YOU ...THANK YOU ALL.

I did find an open FNAC on the Champs Elysee today and that had exactly what I needed and I now turn on my computer and I have a full charge...

Praise the Lord..,..


You have all been so helpful

By the way...it wasn't the keyboard so much as the sites I went to were all in French and I can't read a work of it.

I even went to Yahoo and it was in French. I did try asking the guy who worked there as well as other clients who were there but no one was of much help to me.

So when I finally got into our apartment they have wi-fi here and I used my own computer to post on Fodors and a few other things then I got off just in case I couldn't find a cord.

But I now am up and running and I have a new cord that plugs directly into their wall so I don't have to use a converter or anything....too cool...I can use this in the future as I do try to come to europe at least once if not twice a year so it won't be a waste besides it was only 7.40 euro and for the convenience...that was cheap in my eyes !!!

Thanks again to all you fodorits you guys are so helpful...

Love and Kisses to You all...you know...French kioses on each cheek...

uhoh_busted

YAY! I was hoping to see that your problem was solved! I've noticed that the cyber cafe seems to be a business that is dying quickly off due to wifi. I've seen fewer and fewer of them with each recent trip so we're going to travel with an iPad next time. 7.4euro is just over $10 today, and I agree cheap for the solution it provides.

Areala

Your right uhoh...I thought the price was nominal in relation to the solution.

I know what you mean by fewer and fewer cyber cafe's I always bring my laptop even though a bit cumbersome so I too wanted to bring the new iPad 2 but I have been unable to find one in Florida. I am with Verizon now, just switched to them a few weeks ago I was with AT&T but service in Florida sucks big time and dropped calls just became to much like every other call...so annoying..I even went to the Apple store to get an iPad but they tell me they only get a few everyday and you have to be there early because they open at 9 and by 9:15 they are gone....I went twice early and the lines in the morning while not too long they are long enough to wipe them out because both times they tell me yes and go in the back room and come back and tell me this guy next to me got the last one...sorry,....so that's me...a day late and a dollar short !!! Best Buy says it will 3 weeks before they get any in...and Wallmart says they get a few everyday but they go within 5 minutes..so timing is important...oh well, it will slow down eventually...I hope...but by then the iPad 3 will be out then I will want that....can't win !!!

kerouac

Areala, all of the websites -- Yahoo, Google, etc. -- have the option of allowing you to go to the English language version.

Areala

Kerouac...your probably right...but at the time I was rther frustrated with my whole situation and probably not functioning at 100% but now I have my own computer with a european cord and all is working well...

However, I will have an opportunity to test your theory today because I need to print up our boarding passes. I have already checked in and had my boarding passes emailed to me so now I need to go to a cyber cafe go to my hahoo email and print up my boarding passes. We shall see how this works out.

Oh and another mis-hap....lost my cell phone in the Louvre on Wednesday and no one has yet to turn it in....buggers...thank GOD for insurance. I shall replace it once we get home.

se la vie

xyz123

btw...just for future reference to make your life easier (I discovered this by accident)...almost all lap tops and notebooks have an accessory which is a car charger...I got a couple for my acer...no more than about $5 each on ebay....I then have a bunch of these little things that go into the AC (dual voltage of course) on one end and take the car charger on the other end....voila...done...weighs nexgt to nothing and works perfectly. Perhaps you can get them in a computer store.

spaarne

There are very few cyber cafes now but more and more libraries offer internet service for free or a nominal charge.

Christina

I was going to tell you that Yahoo doesn't magically know it is in France, the reason French yahoo was on the screen at the cybercafe is just because that's what people there mostly use. I use it myself a lot because I like to read the French news and have my homepage set up that way. It isn't a theory that there is Yahoo for different languages, it's a fact.

It's just a different URL, maybe you don't know that. For English yahoo, you use www.yahoo.com, for French it is www.yahoo.fr Just change the URL. It's the same for Google, www.google.com vs. www.google.fr

J62

Actually sites like yahoo and google DO know that the computer is in France based on the IP address or maybe it's the ISP.

Even when I use my own computer in other countries and access those sites through hotel wireless I'll often times bring up the local site. Not always, but quite frequently. I don't recall the language being anything other than English, but the computer knows it's general location.

xyz123

Well I had an issue with CBS radio....about a year and two months ago, for no reason I can figure out, they stopped allowing you to stream their radio stations when outside the USA so evidently there is something in the IP address that tells them you're out of the USA...(it happens at home too. I might want to watch Hockey Night in Canada streaming on the CBC and when I try, they tell me the games are only available in Canada). I am told there is software available, however, that can mask where you are and fool services into thinking you're in a different place than you really are. I will be trying it out when I go to Europe in June as I miss being able to listen to WFAN on my computer while lying in bed in a hotel room in London (as a side issue, I don't understand how all this garbage works...I mean once you put some radio station's streaming on the internet, does it cost more to have somebody listening outside the USA????)

YankyGal

It definitely knows where you are. On my iPhone, I can turn off "location services", but I couldn't figure out how to do that on my laptop in Paris a couple months ago. No matter what I did, google would return all of my search results in French. It wasn't a big deal because I can read French - it just takes me 10 times longer! ;-)

Sarastro

When in France, www.google.com changes automatically to French (probably a function of the ISP you are using).

Depending upon your browser, you should be able to manage your search engines and including access to the English search version of Google while in France. I use both the default English Google search engine at home and I use Google France (the URL is www.google.com/search . . . ) which returns information in French and information targeted for France. Depending upon the object of my search, using the appropriate version of Google can result in more precise information.

As I use the Firefox browser, the search window has a drop down panel from which I can choose Google USA, Google France, Yahoo, Wikipedia, or a host of other options. This capability means more accurate and faster searches.

apersuader65

It definitely uses your local address for where it sends you. Nephew tried to use a free movie service on-line through his cable company. His Apple computer pulled up everything fine, but the cable company wouldn't proceed, as "Service outside the continental US is not authorized at this time." came up as the prompt. Only difference was he was wifi in Paris vs. his house, or our house in a different state, where it always works.