You should create a fictional character when registering for a free e-mail account. And never post your real e-mail addresses on the web (the addresses you use to communicate with your friends or potential employers).
 
When you need an e-mail address to post to a message forum use a disposable e-mail address. When faced with compulsory registration borrow an identity from bugmenot.

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For real (read and send) e-mail these are sites thought to be in use by library staff or patrons:
 
care2 mail
a portion of the ad revenue goes to "green" charities including FONZ, also a good account for those who like to send e-cards.
 
DC Email
Has links to DC area info, aggressively pursues spammers.
 
Graffiti
simple sign-up, little advertising, 100MB of storage space. Good control of spam and virus checking on all attachments.
 
Gurlmail
Designed for teenage girls. Like purple?
 
Hot Mail
Please be aware that if you use hot mail on public computers it sometimes causes problems and the staff cannot assist you. You are on your own. Want an example? Click on the hot mail link above. It may inactivate the back button in the browser. You may also have trouble with fonts.
 
Juno
You can remotely access the Juno mail account you use at home.
 
Lycos Mail
5Mb storage, effective spam-fighting tools.
 
Netscape's Webmail
All mail going in and going out is scanned for viruses. 250Mb of storage. This is also where you go to pick up your mail if you subscribe to Netscape Internet Services.
 
Postmark
simple and fast but works only as a second account
 
Yahoo Mail
lots of very positive reviews, people are generally very happy with it. 250Mb storage. You e-mail account also includes free file storage and free bookmark storage, though they may be hard to find.
 
WebTV requires its own proprietary software and so can be used only on a webtv unit.
 
For AOL you should be able to use this gateway if you are on a library computer.
 
Pick up your Compuserve mail here.

 
Disposable Accounts: 
 

Disposable addresses that temporarily forward to a real e-mail address
spam gourmet
(self-destructs after a certain number of messages)
spambob.net
for simple forwarding (doesn't self-destruct, you will eventually need to wipe it out)

Short term use - for receiving a single message or just a few. You don't need to preregister. At a party? Posting a question on a forum? Invent a mailinator.com (or spambob.com or dodgeit.com or wuzup.net) address on the spot.

• pick up your mailinator.com message
• pick up you spambob.com message
• pick up your dodgeit.com message (FAQ)
• get your wuzup.net messages (you can also get the messages by RSS feed)

 

If you wish, you can store files online so that you can use them from various computers without carrying around floppy disks or flash sticks.

name of service	cost	includes e-mail ?	storage size and notes
swiftdesk	free	e-mail account   included	30 MB & bookmark storage
Yahoo briefcase	free	e-mail account   included	30 MB & bookmark storage
For each of these you use one account name / password for all services. Both were checked, working and accepting new accounts 10/15/2005

 

You can also store bookmarks online, making them if available from any computer that you use.

Try del.icio.us if you want the option of sharing your bookmarks with others and if you want to tag your bookmarks with keywords. Accounts are free.

You can save them for your own use with Far Fetch, which has a slightly cleaner interface.

Of course if you have an existing account with one of the file storage sites listed above, just use that - though with Yahoo, the bookmarks option is a bit hard to find.