From Chris Richardson
foop@sg4.pcy.kcl.ac.uk
You mentioned Peter Robinson’s “receipt advice” e-mail from “Postman Pat”
(Feedback, 17 January).
I suspect this is the programmer’s reaction to a
well-known phenomenon in the computer world, which is often discussed in a
systems administrator’s newsgroup I read.
When e-mail messages bounce, the bounce message is automatic and comes from a
specific address (usually “postmaster”). Many recipients of bounce messages,
unaware that the process is automatic, send a reply. These replies are often
long and complicated, and almost invariably amusing.
Their tone varies from pleading (“I know she worked at a university in
London, and her name is `Tracy’. PLEASE help me find her e-mail address”) to
abusive (“Don’t tell me that it doesn’t exist. It *does*!!!!! I sent a message
only a week ago and it got through!! You’re obviously trying to censor
me!!!!!!”).
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Bounce messages were originally fairly terse—designed by computer geeks
for computer geeks. Now, they’re becoming more readable and often offer helpful
information as to what the reason for a failure might be.
