gnu, I have email accounts as part of my deals with ISPs (I use 2 - one is free but I have to pay the cost of phone calls - too expensive to use a lot but a handy back up) but I found it useful to open a Yahoo email account as it allowed me to read all my emails (including those from my other accounts) using a web browser rather than having to set up email accounts in mail programs - very handy when you don't have access to your own machine.

Jon