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ted.com

27

Apr

2008

Down With The Man | Part 5

Why being fake has never been easier. Welcome to the Down With The Man issue: Part 5.

MMM, MEATY

Privacy. Between spam, phishing and the daily wear-and-tear of your email, it’s no wonder many of us craft alter egos for the Interwebs and open email accounts specifically designated for worthless emails. But even that can be too much work. Well, time for a break: say hello to Mailinator, the no-signup, no-registration, no-hassle fake email address generator.

Why is it better than a made-up invalid email? Because it allows you actually get past that first step of email validation when you register for forums, fill out web forms, get free trials, and are otherwise spam-endangered by various one-time signup processes.

Here’s how it works: you just make up an @mailinator.com email on the spot — could be anything, from eatspam@mailinator.com to iheartoatmeal@mailinator.com — and Mailinator generates a temporary email account when mail arrives for you. You can check it on the site, via RSS, through a widget, or straight from your browser toolbar — just enough to validate your email for each signup and forget about it.

Word.

  • Spam as Art: Top 3 3 examples of artists transforming one of modernity's greatest annoyances -- spam -- into beautiful works of art...

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