Gmail username availability tip

So I got an Android phone and am being slowly sucked into the Google nexus... I even have a gmail account now.  But I created it for some app that needed a gmail account and since it was for the app (damn demanding bastards, those apps), I used a joke username.  I wondered recently if I were not stuck with it now since all the good usernames are taken including most variations on what I normally use if the email address is to be tied closely to my real identity... so how to find a decent username without in frustration just mashing keys until the google server spits out "foxyknobsjkl; is available"?

https://www.google.com/accounts/CheckAvailability?Email=username

Replace "username" with your preferred username and plug the url into your browser.



Pfft, the days of simple clean usernames are gone.  Us slow adopters have to go by.... goddamit!  I was just checking "johnshaft" when up pops a Captcha "please type the characters you see below" step.

How does one choose a username these days?

At the risk of sounding like an advert, I really recommend Runbox (www.runbox.com). For a few bucks a year you get top quality customisable ad-free email. Plus they're cool carbon-neutral tree-hugging Norwegians, and you'll probably be able to get whatever username you want, as they have tens of thousands of members, not tens of millions like gmail. For a few bucks more they'll also host your website(s).

Hmmmm.....

Is Runbox or has Runbox ever been a www.Fastmail.fm company?  Their front page looks like a mirror of how fastmail used to be set up.  And they both claim 1999 as their start dates?


Anyhoo, getting gmailed is all part of the Android smartphone experience.  Like Microsoft MSN Passport (or whatever it is).  And whatever else the converging software/media monoliths do to keep you in their web.  I still blame Steve Jobs.

Is Runbox or has Runbox ever been a www.Fastmail.fm company?

In answer to the above - dunno.

I found the native email app on my Android smartphone unreliable and a bit annoying, so I switched it over to K9, a free, open-source alternative. Still not entirely glitch free, but more features and generally better all round. You don't need a Gmail account as long as your regular email is available through POP/IMAP (most are). It's easy to find it in the Android app store.

At the risk of sounding like an advert, I really recommend Runbox (www.runbox.com). For a few bucks a year you get top quality customisable ad-free email. Plus they're cool carbon-neutral tree-hugging Norwegians, and you'll probably be able to get whatever username you want, as they have tens of thousands of members, not tens of millions like gmail. For a few bucks more they'll also host your website(s).

Thanks for the info.  I have setup an account and so far so good.  I looked into fastMail but did not like the selection of @ sites available (XXXXX@guymail.com?)

But it has pissed me off .... tried to transfer my yahoo emails to the new one .... surprise surprise ... basic yahoo email won't transfer, the $20 Plus package will however!

B@st@rds!