Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 13:14:37 -0500 (EST)
From: Larry Moss <moss@balloonhq.com>
To: Balloon Decorator List <balloondeco@balloonhq.com>
Subject: Re: subscribe

On Mon, 21 Feb 2000, Debbie wrote:

>  I forgot how to subscribe.  I have a friend who needs to re-subscribe
> because like me ---  somehow she is not receiving posts anymore!  

Instructions can always be found on the web site
(http://www.balloonhq.com).  From the main page of teh site, you can just
click on the link to the FAQ.  All of the answers to subscribing and
unsubscribing should be there.  If all else fails, send a note to
BHQ-Admin@balloonhq.com.  A person will read that and get back to you as
quickly as possible.

> It happened to me twice and I had to re-subscribe!!!  Why does this
> happen?

We have a couple thousand addresses on the mailing lists.  So, to handle
the load, most tasks are automated.  If your ISP (internet service
provider) has trouble, and your mail is unable to get through for an
extended period of time, our system automatically removes you from the
list.

Here's what happens, so you can see why we do this.  (A flow chart would
make a lot more sense here, but in email, this is the best I can do.)

1. Someone posts a note to balloondeco@balloonhq.com

2. The list software that "reads" the mail at that address sees something
coming in.  It determines if it came from a valid source.  If it is valid,
it moves on to the next step.  If it isn't, it either throws it out or
passes it on to a BHQ administrator to look at manually.

3. It now sends that message out to all addresses on the list.

4. If something can't be delivered, that message gets sent back to the list
software, basically returning to step 2.  This isn't valid this time
around, so it gets tossed aside, but the address that failed is recorded.

Now, over time, as this process is repeated, if a new note gets sent out
and returned for being undeliverable, the list software gets to step 4 and
sees that the same address has been rejected multiple times.  When the
count on rejections reaches a certain level (I can't recall what it is
right now), the address gets removed from the list.  

When email is undeliverable, it's supposed to come back with an explanation
of why delivery failed.  There are internet standards that describe how the
error should be reported.  Sometimes, however, the reason is very vague or
the software that generates the return message does so against the rules,
and the software "guesses" at the best action.  Sometimes the bounces are
ignored for a long time with the assumption that your mail will start to go
through again soon.  Other times, either because the bounced message asks
for this or because no other action makes sense, you are unbsubscribed with
the assumption that your mail will never be deliverable again.

Sometimes people change addresses and send a subscription request with the
new address, but don't notify us that the old one is no longer valid.
Other times businesses close and the owner just shut down an email account
without notifying us.  So we're stuck cleaning out list by watching for
bounced email.  

If you are frequently removed, you should really talk to your ISP and find
out why your mail is often undeliverable.  In a perfect world, your mail
would never be rejected as long as your address is valid.  On the Internet
(which is far from a perfect world), some ISP's are just better than
others at maintaining consistent and addressable connections.

Larry Moss
Balloon HQ