[TN-Bird] Re: ARRGHH!!!


Wallace:

I too was one of the subscribers "put on vacation" for several days.  An
email was sent to me from the listserver stating that I was being put on
vacation -- and I ignored it knowing that I had not made such a request.

Because a day without TN-Bird posts is like a day without sunshine, I
eventually started checking out the archive page to stay updated.  Please
tell your subscribers that if they believe they are missing out on bird
messages to click on this link, http://www.freelists.org/archives/tn-bird/,
to read the latest posts.  Also at that link, the subscriber can login and
change their subscription settings -- which I what I finally did after I
realized that something had "glitched up" my account.

Thanks for all your hard work in keeping this list up and running.

Regards,
Terry Thornton, Rinnie, TN (North of Crossville on the Cumberland Plateau)

----- Original Message -----
From: "Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, October 28, 2002 9:01 PM
Subject: [TN-Bird] Re: ARRGHH!!!


>
> Dean Edwards and TN-Birders:
>
> Yes!  We did have problems with the listserver recently.
> Rick Knight was the first to detect trouble and notified me
> right away.
>
> Rick said he received a message from the list informing
> him that his subscription status was set to "Vacation" and
> he had not requested such a status.  Sure enough, he was
> correct.
>
> In the next few days, more people wrote me to ask about
> their status.  I checked the list and found 49 subscribers on
> the Vacation status which prevented them from getting mail.
> But I had no way of knowin who had selected that status or
> who hadn't.  I didn't know what was happening.  I did know
> that was far more than the usual number on vacation and
> that something was going astray.
>
> By Saturday I had discovered the problem.
>
> Many of you have internet service providers which are not
> always accepting mail.  Sometimes your mail reception
> may be down,  the system may be down, or your system
> may be just a little silly.  We have that with hotmail all the
> time.
>
> When your e-mail network service provider has trouble
> it refuses to accept mail from the TN-Bird Network
> server which is located in Ohio.  The TN-Bird Network
> servers continues to try to send the messages and
> does so for several days.  If your mail eventually goes
> thru, then it forgets all about the problem.  If it doesn't
> go thru, the server keeps trying for so many days and
> then eventually unsubscribes you and takes you off the
> mailing list.
>
> So many people have so much trouble with their own
> providers that they are constantly having that problem
> and they get unsubscribed and then I have to put them
> back on manually which takes a lot of time.
>
> So,  I set the list options to not unsubcribe those persons
> but simply put them over on to Vacation status.  I thought
> that fixed the problem.  Now all I would have to do is just
> open the list and unclick the Vacation status and they
> would be back without my having to resubscribed them
> by their e-mail address, etc.
>
> Well, 49 persons had too many problem and instead of
> being kicked off the list, they were parked on vacation.
>
> I usually get a printout every day or so showing the names
> of people having trouble and how close they are to being
> booted.  I also get an e-mail message that informs me of
> everyone booted off the system by unsubscribing.
>
> I didn't get any messages about Vacation status because
> I don't normally get a notice when someone sets their
> status to Vacation.
>
> To prevent this problem, we've had to go back to letting
> the system boot people off who have e-mail addresses
> that or incorrect, not working, or whatever else over a
> period of days.  I don't really care to do that but that is
> what I am doing.
>
> When I went into the list to reset all the Vacation flags,
> I didn't know who was really on vacation and who was
> not.  I did have personal knowledge of some who were
> actually flagged for legitimate Vacation status.
>
> So,  I had to turn off almost ever single Vacation flag.
> This means some people will come home eventually
> and find that their mailbox filled up with mail while they
> were gone on vacation and they had set it for Vacation
> and now why did they get all these message to download?
>
> They will be madder than those of you who missed a
> few days worth of messages.
>
> Take Dean Edwards, for example.  Dean is troubled by
> missing the spoonbill messages.  He sends a message
> to the list telling everyone what had happened to him but
> his message is sent from the e-mail address kde@xxxxxxxx
> But he is not subscribed to TN-Birds under that address.
> He is subscribed to TN-Birds under the address of
> kde@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  Guess what?  When he
> sends his message in about being concerned about missing
> his e-mail,  the TN-Bird Net server didn't recognized his
> message as coming from a legitimate subscriber to the
> net and refused to let him post.  It sent his message to me
> and said who in the heck is this kde@xxxxxxx guy?  It
> says we don't have a subscriber by that name but he wants to
> post.  What do you want to do with that message,  the listserver
> asked.  Well,  I had to readdress it with a special code that will
> allow the list server to go ahead and send Dean's message
> even though it is from an unsubscribed address.
>
> I know everyone is not interested in knowing all the inner workings
> of managing a list like this but it just goes with the territory of
> being the list owner and moderator.  The list owner has to keep
> the mailing list operating, deal with the listserver owners,  be
> the list owner, write people about trying to run the list in a smooth
> and understandable and useful manner and call timeout on people
> who abuse the network and others.  I like providing the services
> and have been doing it for seven (7) years.  I will keep on helping
> birders communicate on TN-Birds and I hope everyone stays
> reasonably happy.
>
> That brings you up to date on where we stand.  Some will now get
> mail while they are on vacation and be unhappy.  Some will  get
> booted off the list when their network e-mail providers can't accept
> TN-Bird message and they will be upset also.  It goes with the turf.
>
> Let's go birding this weekend at Columbia.
>
> Wallace Coffey
> Owner
> TN-Birds
> Bristol, TN
>
>
> =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER=====================
>
> The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with
> first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation.
> -----------------------------------------------------
> To post to this mailing list, simply send email to:
> tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> -----------------------------------------------------
> To unsubscribe, send email to:
> tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
> Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp
> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
>      Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
>           web site at http://www.tnbirds.org
> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
>     TN-Bird Net Owner: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN
>         jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx      (423) 764-3958
> =========================================================
>
>
>

=================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER=====================

The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with
first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation.
-----------------------------------------------------
To post to this mailing list, simply send email to:
tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
----------------------------------------------------- 
To unsubscribe, send email to:
tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
     Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
          web site at http://www.tnbirds.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
    TN-Bird Net Owner: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN
        jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx      (423) 764-3958
=========================================================

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