More on the Email Transition

Being a responsible netizen, I spent a couple of hours today going to the various web businesses that have me on their email lists, to update my info. Unsurprisingly, Microsoft's was about the hardest to do -- while they now admit that my new email address is now on file, I still have to use my old email address to log in to my account, and they wouldn't let me change that. Probably, I was being punished for visiting their site with a non-IE browser.

Duluth Trading and Osoft did not provide an automatic mechanism on their sites to update one's email address (boo!), but in both cases, an email to support got a fast, human response and resolution (mad props!).

Rixstep, who puts out a very snarky newsletter, provides a subscription management page on its site with just two buttons: subscribe and unsubscribe. The bad part of all of this gee-whiz automation is that, in order to unsubscribe, one must be clicking from the context of the address to be unsubscribed.* Clicking on "unsubscribe" from the context of my new email address provoked a long diatribe from Rixstep's "Otto Responder."

Hey, the guy's from Sweden. You make your own fun during the long, dark winter, I guess.

I decided that I didn't really need to go back and change all of my settings just to play nice with a bad-tempered and egotistical webmaster. Laziness led to a bright thought -- use Earthlink's Webmail service to unsubscribe. The unsubscribe button had shown me the correct "To" address, even as it took the wrong "From" address from me. And this led to yet another reason to be glad about changing my ISP.

To make sure that the Earthlink Webmail would show the correct "From" address, I sent myself a message, to my new address and various other webmail accounts. That was before 5:00 this afternoon. It is now past midnight. I just got the email.

To be fair about it, Earthlink Webmail prominently displays that this service is a beta version. But, come on. "Beta" is supposed to mean "all the usual stuff works fine, but there might be some obscure bugs buried in the little-used features." I think "Send" qualifies as a non-little-used feature for a webmail program.

But that's enough ranting. From me, anyway.

We now turn to our favorite master of the snark, one JoshuaE, who sent me some recent email about my new email address. I was sorely tempted to forward it to all the FriendsOfBrendan, but I decided that not all of them can play at JoshuaE's level. Here's what he had to say:

To: Brendan, FriendsOfBrendan
Subj: Re: My new email address

I am "replying to all" as a moderately adulterated act of science at the request of Brendan Himself.

Also, in the event this email actually reaches Brendan's "Friends" list, it might serve to flush a bunch of you out who were considering requesting that Brendan remove you from said list. That's right, he doesn't need friends who can't handle a little spam with their Dear Ones, so go right ahead and be haughty and snooty. You have your rights.

On one hand I don't expect the list to get this email because "FriendsOfBrendan@yahoo.com" is a single account to which Brendan has access, so I would think he would receive this email but not ALL YALL.

On the other hand, how the hell did he get "FriendsOfBrendan@yahoo.com" to mean his email should be sent to ALL YALL I have no clue.

I'm obviously confused and I eagerly await the results of this scientific inquiry. Feel free to confirm receipt of this email, if only for the sake of Brendan Himself who has Nothing Better to Do than collect data on buggy Windows apps and rant about how he hasn't become a Republican yet.

If you don't respond I will assume you are either haughty and snooty or you didn't receive the e-mail, at alternating 20-minute intervals.

Thanks! JOsh

and

To: Brendan, FriendsOfBrendan Subj: Re: My new email address

OMG I just realized if *I* receive the email then ALL YALL will as well, from lofty rational symmetry considerations.

Isn't he great? Let's give him a big hand. Or flame him in the Comments section.

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* Yes, web sites can read your email address through your browser. How else do you think all of those porn sites got you on their spam lists? Stop lying.

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