I have several email addresses but one of them is my favourite. It is justmyname@#####.com. Yes, just my first name! How lucky is that? No weird characters or spelling or random digits at the end of my name. I signed up for it years ago but I did not use it regularly until about two years ago. Now it is almost my main email address.

The problem is that other people out there with my name seem to think it is THEIR account. I get shipping confirmation emails from potterybarn.com, amazon.com, requests for renting the same dub equipment that is used on The Hills (?), etc. Someone even tried to reset my password since they could not "remember" it. Um, you cannot remember it because it is my account!

So what happens to your information/emails/stuff when you can not remember your password (or perhaps even email account)? I heard an interesting program on NPR last month about computing "in the cloud" which is what it is called when you work and store documents, emails, files, pictures on the internet. Problems can start when you forget your password and cannot get it reset. How do you access your information? What rights to you have to that information or those files? Ever read the user agreement? Probably not (who does?!) so you'd be surprised by the answer!

Anyway, if you are interested in reading (or hearing the article, you can find it here.

And all of you who think you own the account that is mine? Hands off!