[gluteus maximus]

People are sometimes worried about giving out their e-mail address to web sites that require registration, in case they end up on spam mail lists, or because their address may identify them too easily. There are many ways of getting round this problem - here are three.

1. www.fakenamegenerator.com will construct a fake identity for you with a few mouse clicks, and also provides a temporary e-mail address that you can use to register for sites that make you click on a confirmation message. www.mailinator.com gives you similar short term (i.e. a few hours' duration) addresses.
   
   
2. www.spamgourmet.com allows you an unlimited number of unique addresses, so you can use a different one for every site you use. If one of these addresses starts getting spammed, it will automatically self-destruct - and you'll know who sold your address to the spammers. It's a bit fiddly to set up, but it needs patience rather than expertise, and once you've got it going, all you have to do is white-list new trusted senders. Your incoming messages are forwarded to your normal e-mail address.
   
   
3. www.gmx.com is quite similar to Google mail, except that they don't read your messages in order to show you targeted adverts. You get up to ten addresses of your choice, at a variety of country domains: com, co.uk, fr, it - and they've just added ph, pt, com.my and sg. On the newer additions, you can get pretty well any address you want. (A quick check shows that jesus(at)gmx.sg is available, although god(at)gmx.sg "contains invalid characters".) If one of your addresses starts getting spammed, you can delete it and choose another. You can use web, POP or IMAP access for this service, and/or get it to forward your mail to your normal e-mail address.

All of these services are free, and none of them require you to prove your identity, although they will of course log the IP address of your computer. As usual: read the instructions. YMMV.

gm

[vikulenka]

Originally Posted by gluteus maximus

People are sometimes worried about giving out their e-mail address to web sites that require registration, in case they end up on spam mail lists, or because their address may identify them too easily. There are many ways of getting round this problem - here are three.

1. www.fakenamegenerator.com will construct a fake identity for you with a few mouse clicks, and also provides a temporary e-mail address that you can use to register for sites that make you click on a confirmation message. www.mailinator.com gives you similar short term (i.e. a few hours' duration) addresses.
   
   
2. www.spamgourmet.com allows you an unlimited number of unique addresses, so you can use a different one for every site you use. If one of these addresses starts getting spammed, it will automatically self-destruct - and you'll know who sold your address to the spammers. It's a bit fiddly to set up, but it needs patience rather than expertise, and once you've got it going, all you have to do is white-list new trusted senders. Your incoming messages are forwarded to your normal e-mail address.
   
   
3. www.gmx.com is quite similar to Google mail, except that they don't read your messages in order to show you targeted adverts. You get up to ten addresses of your choice, at a variety of country domains: com, co.uk, fr, it - and they've just added ph, pt, com.my and sg. On the newer additions, you can get pretty well any address you want. (A quick check shows that jesus(at)gmx.sg is available, although god(at)gmx.sg "contains invalid characters".) If one of your addresses starts getting spammed, you can delete it and choose another. You can use web, POP or IMAP access for this service, and/or get it to forward your mail to your normal e-mail address.

All of these services are free, and none of them require you to prove your identity, although they will of course log the IP address of your computer. As usual: read the instructions. YMMV.

gm

Reading of your email by google and targeted ads can be very easily circumvented by the CustomizeGoogle plugin for Firefox. Amongs other fantastic options you can make Gmail secure (https) and remove ads.

[rolly]

I have so many different email addresses with names other than my own,I lost count.
It only takes a minute or so to create one,than use it for a registration.
Once you never log into it again,they usually delete the account anyway.
But the forums,blogs,etc don't care.

I also have a few I use for "special" forums,like this one,or to give everyone I know,that is hit with spam hard.
Doesn't bother me none.
It goes directly to the delete folder.

When I first started using linux,I intentionally created a few email addresses and set myself up to be hit with spam.
I opened every email,every attachment I recieved for 6 monthes.
Nothing happened.Guess linux passed the test.
I even enjoyed replying to these emails telling them to send me more!

Then I have a few for the important things that very few know of.
I have had these for many years now,and they have never been hit with spam even once.

[solaris]

Originally Posted by gluteus maximus

People are sometimes worried about giving out their e-mail address to web sites that require registration, in case they end up on spam mail lists, or because their address may identify them too easily. There are many ways of getting round this problem - here are three.

1. www.fakenamegenerator.com will construct a fake identity for you with a few mouse clicks, and also provides a temporary e-mail address that you can use to register for sites that make you click on a confirmation message. www.mailinator.com gives you similar short term (i.e. a few hours' duration) addresses.
   
   
2. www.spamgourmet.com allows you an unlimited number of unique addresses, so you can use a different one for every site you use. If one of these addresses starts getting spammed, it will automatically self-destruct - and you'll know who sold your address to the spammers. It's a bit fiddly to set up, but it needs patience rather than expertise, and once you've got it going, all you have to do is white-list new trusted senders. Your incoming messages are forwarded to your normal e-mail address.
   
   
3. www.gmx.com is quite similar to Google mail, except that they don't read your messages in order to show you targeted adverts. You get up to ten addresses of your choice, at a variety of country domains: com, co.uk, fr, it - and they've just added ph, pt, com.my and sg. On the newer additions, you can get pretty well any address you want. (A quick check shows that jesus(at)gmx.sg is available, although god(at)gmx.sg "contains invalid characters".) If one of your addresses starts getting spammed, you can delete it and choose another. You can use web, POP or IMAP access for this service, and/or get it to forward your mail to your normal e-mail address.

All of these services are free, and none of them require you to prove your identity, although they will of course log the IP address of your computer. As usual: read the instructions. YMMV.

gm

Hi gm


Thank you for these useful links

Please remember NOT to type these links using bold fonts - If you do that, it will make the links inactive (at least in this forum)

[rolly]

If you do that, it will make the links inactive

Never tried that before,but it's something worth remembering(or tinkering with).
The bold tags are illegal after "a href".
The links are all the same when read by a browser. opera:illegal-url-28

Now there has to be a way to get around this.


http://<div style="margin:20px; marg...</pre> </div>

Well that didn't work.

[gluteus maximus]

Originally Posted by solaris

Please remember NOT to type these links using bold fonts - If you do that, it will make the links inactive (at least in this forum)

Good point, well made, duly noted

@rolly

Sounds like you've got it all under control, bud A recent survey showed that the average user has one 'spare' e-mail address, which presumably means that some users have none; they're the people I posted this for mainly.

gm

[Hirs Ute]

Originally Posted by vikulenka

Reading of your email by google and targeted ads can be very easily circumvented by the CustomizeGoogle plugin for Firefox. Amongs other fantastic options you can make Gmail secure (https) and remove ads.

Hi Vik, I never knew about that so thanks

[solaris]

Originally Posted by Hirs Ute

Hi Vik, I never knew about that so thanks

Thank you for NOT reading my post #5,000

[vikulenka]

Originally Posted by solaris

Thank you for NOT reading my post #5,000

That is one of the most informative posts I have ever read. Thank you, Dreamy. I don't know how I lived before it!

[Hirs Ute]

Originally Posted by solaris

Thank you for NOT reading my post #5,000

.....umm, the point of your #5,000 post (which, by the way I read whilst staying in a grotty hotel in Milan and no I can't remember where I was when John Lennon was assassinated - so ipso facto you must be more relevent than Lennon ) is that it was so incredibly comprehensive and full of information that it was difficult for a simpleton such as I to retain all the information. Most yes, all no.

I hope that has pulled me from the fire of your ire and that you may consider posting a techy 'tip of the day' starting sometime soon