Spam seems to be an unavoidable part of the hyperspace hitchhikers diet. But it doesn’t have to be. There are many services out there I have seen being advertised as disposable email. However, most of these are alias forwards, spam protection services, and even some are paid services. To me, these miss the point entirely. Mailinator, is unique that it never asks for you to register, ever! and its functionality is so simple, its beautiful. Create a random string (or not so random) string at mailinator.com:

noemail4027@mailinator.com

You then use this email to register for a website service you want to try, but do not wish to commit your information until your sure you like it, you think it may bee scam, or you simple wish to maintain your anonymity. Now go to Mailinator’s website and type noemail4027 ino their “Check your inbox!” field, and you get the activation email with the activation link. Another, way to use is to leave comments on websites you may not trust, such as my site (I could be a cleverly disguised spam bot).  Sometimes your forced to register for different file-sharing services to download a software link on another website (such as some internet forums). Give it a try your self and send an email to nomail4027@mailinator.com Now login to Mailinator like described above. You see you email, and you can read it like any other email client. Mailinator also provides via a web widget and an rss feed.

The point is, it seams at every turn on the World Wide Web someone want’s your email for what ever nefarious or not so nefarious reason. I have been using Mailinator in this way for many years, and it greatly reduces the amount of unwanted filler and spam email I get. I am in no way being sponsored or reimbursed by Mailinator in any way . . . I’m just passing along the word.