I'm having a lot of issues sending email via my yahoo ymail address from my phone. I'm thinking that I'd like to switch to gmail but my concern is that all of my references know me by my ymail email address... Is this an issue or should I just go ahead and switch it and just let people know that it's changed?

Thanks.

They may be getting a reference request using your new email..I would look into Hushmail also..

Use an e-mail that is just e-mail and isn't trying to get up in your business. Hushmail and Crawler work well. I have changed my e-mail. I e-mail those who need to know about it by sending them an e-mail from the old account giving them the new account. Then I e-mail them from the new account reminding them of the change. With the account I use for hobby business I PM them on TER in order to assure them it is me.

I suggest to stick to email programs that do not include your ip address in the header file.  Yahoo and hotmail both include your ip address in the header of the email. If you use a yahoo account log into it via a web anonymizer proxy or get TOR on your computer or PDA.  Gmail does not include your ip in the email header, but google does have a tendency to grab info if you are not careful with the privacy settings.  

In terms of references - you can always email an old reference from your historic yahoo account (after logging into it via a web anonymizer.

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Gmail is used by many and has convenient features but as XYZ23 said that is also it's downfall.