h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

A836877 have you got any comments on webmail service proviers

other than mentioning that hotmail and yahoo seem to cater to spam abusers, and thus a lot of people block anyone from them, and to mention that http://www.beeb.net/ also do webmail, no.

Oh and to pointout the usefullness of webmail.

I would include the Beeb webmail but as the Beeb web-site have very little hard info, every box would have a "?" in it ... The table is only meant to give an example of the types of service available.

In my experience I would have to say that you are also right about how the users of certain webmail services seem to be a lot more prone to junkmail & spam.

But Yahoo will filter out alot of it into it's bulk mail folder...I only get a few that get through this (and my own filters...I throw anything that wants me to call a "toll free" number straight in the bin)

I was proud to receive junk mail from Zimbabwe on monday (I've heard so much about these emails it was nice to actually see it in person) however it was through my work account not my yahoo account, the junk mail I get to yahoo generally consists of viagra/viagra substitutes and buying qualifications.

Anything with a generic domain name (yahoo, hotmail, etc) will get a LOT of junk mail. Even more so if you publish your email address on a website (even h2g2).

However, they're convenient and easy to remember, and relatively easy to access, so if you can put up with the spam it's OK really. You just need to learn to scan your messages every time you log in and delete the spam (which are generally very obvious - I don't even read the messages, just tick all the boxes and delete them en masse).

If you can't cope with spam at all, find an unusual domain name, and produce an unusual alias. I bet that [email protected] wouldn't get much spam but then who would remember it

Well they will get a bit more now that their address has been posted on a website

beeb.net info:

mailbox size: I don't know, but mine hasn't been full yet
pop acces: yes, on a beeb.net pay as you go dial in
advert supported: no, paid for by dial in
cost: dial in access cost (1p/min offpeak) but will let you check it from another connection.
sms notification: don't know
webtv access: don't know

I hope this fills in some of the options.

I actually don't get very much spam even though my main email is available on h2g2...

I want to get a decent web-based one for when my uni account goes defunct, though. Any suggestions?

Maybe I should start selling email addresses on my domain name... I have a web based mail system, no size limit, and haven't got any spam to any of the addresses I've set up yet.

So Peregrin can sort out Amy † problem then

H'lo! Useful entry; definitely gets right down to business. Perhaps a quick intro paragraph explaining the features? I knew what most of them were but was unfamiliar with "SMS notification": is that a notice on your pager or cell when you receive new messages?

(Also, regarding Hotmail: I have 3 accounts with them, and only the one that I use to post on Usenet really gets bombarded with spam. The custom filters I put on that one keep the bulk of the spam at bay. It all depends on how often you give out your address, whether it's posted all over the place or not. My other two addresses with hardly get any.)

My Hotmail account is two years old this month, and has still to be discovered by the bulk spammers. I guess I've been really careful about who I give the address to, and I don't post it on websites anywhere, though this hasn't been a deliberate policy on my part until recently.

The email addies which include my gender (agirlcalledben@etc) don't get nearly as much spam as my email addies whcih are bensurname@etc. I suspect that names that are clearly female get less spam than names that are neutral or clearly male. I cannot prove it though.

I prefer yahoo because I can use it to check my popmail accounts, and it does get much less spam than hotmail. The box is bigger too.

B

I think the generic one gets more spam because it'll be more predictable. A lot of spammers don't even bother trying to acquire lists of valid email addresses, they just send email to anything that is likely to be an email address. So johnsmith at hotmail.com is likely to get a huge amount of spam, but john_the_crazed_albatross at hotmail.com is safer. For example.

SMS are text messages to Cellphones (or as we like to call them in the UK Mobile Phones). The page is not meant to be an entry as such but just a quick comparison to kick start this thread off.

That said I'm adding two more services to the list

Speaking personally the big problem with Hotmail is the tiny size of the mailbox (2MB), I have in the past received attachments larger than that, gawd only knows what Hotmail would do in that scenario but then again I got a 100MB mailbox on my main account (which is webmail accessible ) so maybe I'm spoilt...

Ye-es, Peregrin, but I am willing to bet that I am the only person with my surname that you know.

My name is not quite a google whack (my maiden name was for a while). But if I put in 'exact phrase' 'Firstname Lastname' you only get one web page that refers to someone other than me.

Ben

Sorry to disappoint you Ben, but I went to school with three people with your surname... One of whom was actually called Ben (of the male persuasion tho')

Way to go! Are you from Nottinghamshire by any chance KA?

Excellent stuff!

B

Close: Derbyshire

Hmmm. That is what I remembered you saying. There is an enclave in Notts, and another in Lincs; I didn't know they had made it as far west as Derbyshire though. Well, well, you live and learn.

Wave to him on friends reunited for me, will you?

B