Free e-mail services

Sure, e-mail can be a bother. But, hey, with our second contest prize, it's worth it!!! SM:TMT fanfic writing is fun, crazed... although you do get stuck with the worst partners Earth and beyond... (Michelle: Aren't you talking about YOURSELF here?!?!)(Meeshy: Yeah, what kind of a partner are you, anyways?)(Who asked YOU?!?! -Cheryl)

All of these services are free, you can sign up and use them from just about any computer (unless it's someplace, say, the public library, and they've restricted access to areas such as e-mail and anime...). These services are free as long as you put up with the advertisements that keep them alive. So, choose any of these: (comments are there as well...)(And most are internet mail- you can check/send mail from anyplace with internet access)

Hotmail.com: http://www.hotmail.com

This is one of the most popular sites, which allows you to choose between frames and no frames, you can set up filter preferences, folders, and even add signatures to certain letters with a bit of JavaScript. It works with all the browsers I can think of, although loading images is usually a must. If you'd like to know, it's currently owned by Microsoft, so it'll probably work well with various Microsoft e-mail programs.

Juno.com: http://www.juno.com

I haven't used this e-mail service myself, but it sounds okay. However, this does NOT appear to be internet mail (like most of the other services- which means you probably cannot check your mail from anyplace with internet access), and you need to order the free software.

Rocketmail.com: http://www.rocketmail.com

This is an okay site, although Cheryl hasn't been able to access her rocketmail account at anyplace but home so far. (I think it has to do with security/privacy purposes- only being able to access your account from certain places? A possible plus and minus. -Cheryl) Interestingly enough, it's owned by Yahoo, so I don't know how it'll work out besides adding both Rocketmail and Yahoo ads at the end of sent e-mails. I'd rate this about an A-. (Hey, I LIKE doing things from school!!!)

USA.net: http://www.netaddress.usa.net/

This is probably the second most popular (or equal). We use this service (SilverRiver@usa.net) and it's fairly reliable, and sort of fast when you can actually get to the site. It has a nice forwarding option that will automatically forward mail to you at another address. It also has increased security options, although sometimes the cookies will tend to drive you nuts when it gives you "Intruder alert" notices. *sigh* It's irritating and slow sometimes, but without that forwarding option I'd scream. I'd give this anywhere from a B+ to an A.

Yahoo.com: http://mail.yahoo.com

This is Yahoo's nice e-mail service, which doesn't stress images like others and yet still has a nice presentation. Yahoo e-mail accounts are nice because you can also use the same name for Yahoo's other services, like stock quotes or games. (I like this one more nowadays, although sometimes when I download an attachment from here with my pokey AOL, it slows my connection to the point where I can't look at other pages at the same time. Not always, though. -Cheryl) I'd give this a full-fledged A.

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