private function updateEmail()
    {
        if (!LOCAL) {
            $ds = ldap_connect("addressbook.ic.ac.uk");
            $r = ldap_bind($ds);
            $justthese = array("mail");
            $sr = ldap_search(
                $ds,
                "ou=People,ou=shibboleth,dc=ic,dc=ac,dc=uk",
                "uid=".$this->getUser(),
                $justthese
            );
            $info = ldap_get_entries($ds, $sr);
            if ($info["count"] > 0) {
                $this->setEmail($info[0]['mail'][0]);
                return ($info[0]['mail'][0]);
            } else {
                return false;
            }
        } else {
            $email = $this->getEmail();
            return $email;
        }
    }