[bendmorris]

My email is a University address, so it has my full name and the name of my institution - that's more info than I want to give out arbitrarily.

Maybe HN could add a contact form to user profiles, to facilitate correspondence without sacrificing anonymity?

[bobds]

I made the mistake of using a university email address for some non-university stuff, they deleted my account when I left and I didn't get a chance to backup.

My point is don't use an email address, that you know is going to disappear in the future, as your main/general address. And if you use a University or company address make sure to find out the email address policy for people that leave the organization.