Come home from work. Log into Gmail. 32 new messages! Woo, I’m popular!
Alas, no 
Paul Graham may have saved the world from spam back in 2002, but where is he now that my inbox is being bombarded from all of the random websites that I once signed up for?
image: niallkennedy/Flikr
The Problem
Websites all over the internet require you to register if you want to comment on a blog, upload a photo, or super poke your Aunty. Each one of these sites gives you the ability to “opt out”, but only after you search until the end of the internet for the option. I’m usually pretty good at this, but you try unsubscribing from WheresWally.com! And once you do find it, there’s those websites that just choose to ignore you. It’s an all too common problem, but what can a simple guy like me do? After all, I’m just one person…
The Solution
Mailinator is an instant throwaway email inbox that you can use as an alternative to your regular account.
- Simply make up a random email address @mailinator.com when you sign up to those pesky websites.
- Go to www.mailinator.com and use your made up address to check your inbox.
- Open the email you receive and confirm “your account”
The emails will only last for a few hours, and will automatically delete themselves. It’s wise to choose a fairly unique address, because you wouldn’t be the first person to think of using “test”. And obviously you definitely should not use it for personal information, because it’s not secure in the slightest!
There’s lots of bonus features if you check out their FAQ, including address aliases (so that you can prevent the sender knowing the location of your inbox), and the ability to subscribe to your inbox via RSS. Aside from keeping your inbox clean, you could use it in development for testing your email/signup systems.
With over 25 million emails being received per day, Mailinator is standing strong in the wake of its popularity. Next time you need to post a question to a forum, or sign up to order some of those *cough* pills, save your inbox, and let them eat spam!
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