Need a valid e-mail address to register but don't want the spam?

Try this Seam-based Web app
By Paul McNamara

Here's yet another way to dodge the irksome requirement of presenting a valid e-mail address to register for a Web site: 10 Minute Mail, a Seam-based Web application that fills the bill just long enough to get you onto the site … and then disappears. No fuss, no muss, and best of all, no spam.

Reminds me of Anonymizer Nyms, a somewhat controversial product that debuted at our DEMOfall 2006 conference. However, unlike that $20-a-year offering, 10 Minute Mail is free. It's also reminiscent of PrefPass, another Demo debut that aims to ease registration pains.

Here's what 10 Minute Mail developer Devon Hillard has to say about it on his Digital Sanctuary Tech blog.

"My first Web application built using Seam is now live. It is called 10MinuteMail and you can see it at www.10MinuteMail.com."

"It gives you a temporary e-mail address, and lets you receive and reply to e-mail sent to that address. The e-mail address expires in 10 minutes (or more, you can extend it as you need more time). Basically I created it to learn Seam, and to provide an easy way to avoid giving your real e-mail address to Web sites which require an e-mail from you to sign up. Think of it as spam avoidance."

The site has been an instant hit, too, with the help of bloggers -- which Hillard clearly digs.

"Anyhow, I’m proud," he writes. "Check it out, click on a Google ad or two if you would, and let me know what you think!"

Obviously, the utility here is extremely limited and the cloak-and-dagger crowd will have fun conjuring up all manner of nefarious uses for such a transient communications vehicle.

Bottom line, though, is I think I'll wind up using it.