EBRIEFS E-Mail List Freqently Asked Questions

1. How do I subscribe to the NTSB Bar Association EBRIEFS Email List? Send a message addressed to ebriefs <at> ntsbbar <dot> org with "subscribe" (without the quotes) in the SUBJECT LINE and you should receive an automated acknowledgement. The robot disregards whatever is in the message body. You can only have one subscription. If you get an "is already a member" error message, check the other FAQ's below for further details.
    
   
2. How do I unsubscribe from the NTSB Bar Association EBRIEFS Email List? Send a message addressed to ebriefs<at> ntsbbar <dot> org with "unsubscribe" (without the quotes) in the SUBJECT LINE and you should receive an automated acknowledgement. The robot disregards whatever is in the message body. If you get an error message, check the other FAQ's below. You can not simply "change" e-mail address used. First, UNSUBCRIBE the old one and then SUBSCRIBE the new one!
    
   
3. Why can I receive, but not post messages or reply to the EBRIEFS Email List? Some subscribers of our rapidly growing list have indicated problems relating to being able to subscribe and receive posting from the list, but unable to send or reply to anything to the subscribers. I know this e-mail stuff is new to many of you, and hope this will explain the phenomena and solve your problem.
   
   A "Robot" (program) monitors the subject line of all messages, looking for the key words. Note that, like Morse code, every dot and dash is significant in an e-mail address, so be sure you enter them EXACTLY as given and NO SPACES. (TIP: use "cut and paste" to put them in your computer’s e-mail address book so that once you get it right, you never have to look it up again!) To keep unwanted mail, like spam, from appearing to our subscribers, the Robot only allows existing subscribers to post messages. When you subscribe to our list, the Robot looks at the potential subscriber’s "Internet Headers" to determine their e-mail address. The Robot will use either the the "Reply To:" address (if given) or the "Return Address". The "Reply To:" address is a more recent e-mail development always optional in any e-mail. In most cases, these addresses are identical.
   
   Some e-mail programs provide the ability for you to set these addresses to be different. If they are different, you would not notice any changes as you always get your e-mail from the same "mailbox" in most cases.
   
   When checking regular submissions to the list at ebriefs<at> ntsbbar <dot> org, our picky Robot it only uses the "Return" address to check to see if you are an existing subscriber. This is mostly because "Reply To:" addresses are optional but "Return" is not! Another reason is to allow users to unsubscribe old e-mail accounts (see below). Thus if you subscribed to the list with "law-lover@myservice.com" as your "Reply To" address and with "law-lover@mail.myservice.com" as your "Return:" address, you will be subscribed as "law-lover@myservice.com" and receive mail, but be unable to post because "law-lover@mail.myservice.com" is not a member!

   HOW TO SOLVE THIS
   For most users, you can easily configure your e-mail program to either:
      a) use the same address
      b) not use any "Reply To:" address
   Both have the same result. Anything that you send will be Replied back to the Return Address which is rarely a problem.

   If you use Netscape Communicator, click "Window" -> "Netscape Mail" -> "Options" -> "Mail and News Preferences" -> "Identity Tab" and either change your "Reply To" address to be the same as your regular address, or remove the "Reply To" address completely. If you use another e-mail program, look for similar items under Preferences, Options, Configuration, etc. Of course at last resort, RYFM (Read Your "Fine" Manual) or drop me a note and I will try to help.

   If you are an advanced user and feel you need to have a separate "Reply To:" address, then the only recourse is to subscribe again using your second e-mail address. The problem with this is that every message posted to the list will be sent to you in duplicate. Since the "Delete" click or key is by far the most useful thing about e-mail, this should be a minor inconvenience. If you have a real problem with this, you should consult your e-mail service provider. Any state-of-art service provider (like us) should allow you to change configurations to eliminate the secondary address.
    

4. How do I know if my addresses are different? Check your Internet Headers. For Netscape Communicator click the "View" -> "Headers" -> "All". For Microsoft Users, click "File" -> "Properties" -> "Internet". (TIP: You can also use these methods to view the instructions on how to unsubscribe from the list).