Skip navigation.

SafetyLit Help Page

Much of the information on this page was adapted from Fred Langa's newsletter subscription help page. If you are interested in receiving a free twice-weekly e-newsletter with very useful information for users of the Windows operating system, you may subscribe to the Langa List online: [Click to subscribe].



WHAT PROBLEM ARE YOU HAVING?


SafetyLit Website

1) The current SafetyLit Update doesn't appear on the menu of dates



SafetyLit Email Update

1) Duplicate messages once in a while
2) Duplicate messages every issue

3) Don't know How to UNsubscribe
4) Having Trouble UNsubscribing

5) Don't know How to Subscribe
6) Having Trouble Subscribing

7) Need Change of Address

8) My subscription stopped but I didn't unsubscribe or change addresses.

Just click above or skim down to find the information you need in the numbered section that matches the above problem area.



1)If you don't find the link for the current week's SafetyLit Update

The weekly email message isn't sent until the material is posted to the SafetyLit Web site and tested to verify that it is available. If you don't see the link for the current week on the "View the Abstracts" page:

Please connect to the SafetyLit home page and then click on "View the Abstracts." You will need to request that the page be reloaded to your computer from the SafetyLit server.

If you are using Internet Explorer, the screen button with the two green circular arrows should cause the page to reload. If you are using Netscape or Mozilla the reload button is a purple arrow that circles back-to-front. If you are using the standard Opera browser, the reload button is labeled with a pair of silver S-shaped arrows. If you are using Firebird the button is an icon of a page with a circular arrow surrounding it. If using OmniWeb the button is a circle shaped arrow in a counter-clockwise direction. iCab has a button labeled "Reload."

If you don't see the most recent week's update listed, hold down your control (CTRL) key and click the refresh screen button. If that doesn't work, you may try holding down the left shift key when you click the refresh button. (If you are using a Mac instead of the CTRL key you should use the OPTION key.)

The issue here is that your ISP, in an attempt to improve the speed of your browsing experience, has done one or both of two things: 1) implemented a cache system that stores web pages on a server very near you and feeds those pages instead of going to my server to get the most current page; or 2) has implemented a system that hard-wires the IP address of a Web site rather than following the standard practice of requesting routing from the Internet system of zone files and domain name servers. Each of these two strategies may sometimes save one or two seconds if everything works exactly as planned. Each, however, can cause a browser to display an outdated page. I believe that this is what is happening in your case.

If this maneuver didn't solve your problem, please let me know and I will work with you to find a solution.



1) DUPLICATE MESSAGES ONCE IN A WHILE

From time to time, servers or routers hiccup due to a temporary problem or transient overload, and a tiny handful of subscribers get extra copies.

There's no pattern to it, and no way to control it from my end because it's "out on the net" and not on the list server. Usually, the problem resolves itself and *does not repeat* for the same users.

Please note that any duplicates from me are unintentional not directed at you personally in any way, and are not something I personally can control. The remedies are (1) either to simply hit the delete key to kill the extras, or, (2) if it really bothers you, simply unsubscribe. Unsubscribing can't stop any in-route messages from being delivered, but it will prevent sending any new messages. Click here for info on how to unsubscribe.

Back to TOP of page

2) DUPLICATE MESSAGES EVERY ISSUE

The most common cause of constant duplicates are:

Aliases: Some email services (MSN, Netcom, Worldnet and others...) use "aliasing." They give you a FALSE but easy to remember email address. For example, an MSN member may think his email addresses is something like "USER@msn.com" but under the covers, the address *really* is "USER@classic.msn.com" or "USER@email.msn.com". Worldnet substitutes "USER@worldnet.att.com" as an alias for "USER@postoffice.worldnet.att.com" and so on.

Other IPSs that let you share accounts with other family members do something similar. You may think your email is "joe.blow@something.com", but your real address may be the general family mailbox at blow@something.com.

The problem is that it's possible to be signed up twice for the newsletter---once at your real address and once at your alias. Because these are in fact two different addresses, the list server doesn't see any duplication. If you don't know you've been aliased, it will seem like you're getting duplicates, although you're actually getting two copies sent to two different addresses!

TO SEE IF YOU'VE BEEN ALIASED: Look near the TOP of your last copy of the SafetyLit Update. You'll see a line that that starts "You are currently subscribed to the SafetyLit as YOURNAME." But instead of "YOURNAME," you'll see your exact, TRUE address--- your REAL email address, undisguised and unaltered in any way. If this address is not the address you think you have, or is not the address in your email "From" fields, you've been aliased by your ISP! (For more information on aliasing, see http://content.techweb.com/winmag/library/1998/0501/ana0008.htm .)

To see how to stop duplicates caused by aliases, click here.

Redirects: Other complicating factors that can confuse a list server are mailbox redirecting, auto-forwarding, or any similar techniques that might possibly mask or alter your email address or place multiple mailboxes contents into one master mailbox at your end. This is an *extremely* common problem now that many people have multiple mailboxes. You may be signed up via several different mailboxes; then, as each one of your mailboxes gets its one copy of the SafetyLit Update and forwards it to your master mailbox, it appears that you're getting duplicates even though you're actually getting one copy per subscription address.

Look near the TOP of your last copy of the SafetyLit Update. You'll see a line that that starts "You are currently subscribed to the SafetyLit as YOURADDRESS." But instead of "YOURADDRESS," you'll see the address that copy was sent to. If it's not the address you're reading it at, then the copy must have been forwarded or redirected to you.

The remedy is to log onto the mail accounts from which the redirects or forwards are coming, and send an unsubscribe email FROM THAT ACCOUNT to unsubscribe-safetylit@lyris.dundee.net . The offending address will be deleted immediately. If that won't work for whatever reason, note that most email clients let you CHANGE YOUR "FROM" ADDRESS to be whatever you want. You can temporarily change your From address to the account you wish to unsubscribe from, unsubscribe, and then restore your From address to what it should be. Here's how.

Back to TOP of page

3) HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE

Just send an email to unsubscribe-SafetyLit@lyris.dundee.net from the SAME ADDRESS you used to sign up with. (Look near the TOP of your last copy of the SafetyLit. You'll see a line that that starts "You are currently subscribed to the SafetyLit as YOURNAME." But instead of "YOURNAME," you'll see the exact, true address you've subscribed to the SafetyLit with.)

If the name/address that appears there does not match your current address, What to do.

If you have trouble unsubscribing, click here.

Back to TOP of page

4) IF YOU HAVE TROUBLE UNSUBSCRIBING:

Look near the TOP of your last copy of the SafetyLit. You'll see a line that starts "You are currently subscribed to the SafetyLit as YOURNAME." But instead of "YOURNAME," you'll see the exact address the list software has you subscribed under. Because this is how you're signed up, this is also the exact address you need to use to unsubscribe.

It's possible that the name/address that appears there will not match your current address due to any one of the following ISP or email problems. Please read down to understand what's going on, or just skip ahead to how to fix it.

ISP or Domain Changes: Sometimes, an ISP will change its name or domain, making the email you send out now have a slightly different address from what you used to sign up. Or, perhaps you changed ISPs and now are sending your mail from a completely different address from before. What to do.

Aliases: Some email services (MSN, Netcom, Worldnet and others...) use "aliasing." They give you a *FALSE* but easy to remember email address. For example, an MSN member may think his email addresses is something like "USER@msn.com" but under the covers, the address *really* is "USER@classic.msn.com" or "USER@email.msn.com." Worldnet substitutes "USER@worldnet.att.com" as an alias for "USER@postoffice.worldnet.att.com" and so on.

Other servers that let you share accounts with other family members do something similar. You may think your email is "joe.blow@something.com", but your real address may be the general family mailbox at blow@something.com. As long as you use mail only within the aliasing system it works fine. The system translates your FALSE alias to your real address and vice versa.

But to an external list server, "USER@msn.com" and "USER@email.msn.com" are completely different addresses. If you are on the list as USER@email.msn.com but try to unsubscribe as "USER@msn.com", it won't work---the addresses are not the same. Here's what to do.

Redirects: Other complicating factors that can confuse a list server are mailbox redirecting, auto-forwarding, or any similar techniques that might possibly mask or alter your email address or place multiple mailboxes contents into one master mailbox at your end. This is an *extremely* common problem now that many people have multiple mailboxes. You may be signed up via several different mailboxes; unsubscribing from one mail account will not unsubscribe copies that are being sent to another account. Here's what to do.

HERE'S WHAT TO DO:

The "From:" address you use to send an unsubscribe message must match the address the list server has on file for you. When the addresses match, unsubscribing happens instantly. With no match, the server will send an error message. If your current "From:" address does not match the address the list server has on file, you can force them to match:

Most email clients let you CHANGE YOUR "FROM:" ADDRESS to be whatever you want. (Outlook Express, for example, lets you change the From address via Tools/Account/Properties menu. Eudora uses Tools/Options/Sending Mail; and so on. Check your email client's Options, Tools, or Help menus.)

Simply change your "from" address to the address from which you wish to unsubscribe, send an email to unsubscribe-SafetyLit@lyris.dundee.net, then change your From address back to what it should be. This way, the list server will "see" your email as coming from the address you wish to unsubscribe, and will correctly unsubscribe you.

NAME ON FILE; NAME(s) TO USE TO UNSUBSCRIBE:
Look near the TOP of your last copy of the SafetyLit Update. You'll see a line that that starts "You are currently subscribed to the SafetyLit as YOURNAME." But instead of "YOURNAME," you'll see the exact, true address you've subscribed to the SafetyLit Update with. If you are receiving duplicate copies or can't unsubscribe because of aliasing or due to mail forwarding, this entry will show you the exact address you need to use!

Back to TOP of page

5) HOW TO SUBSCRIBE

Just send an email to:
subscribe-SafetyLit@lyris.dundee.net

The email can be empty, if you wish.

Back to TOP of page

6) IF YOU HAVE TROUBLE SUBSCRIBING

Send an email to:
david.lawrence@sdsu.edu

I will see that you get on the list.      

Back to TOP of page

7) CHANGE OF ADDRESS

Log onto your OLD account, and send a message to:
unsubscribe-SafetyLit@lyris.dundee.net

Then, log onto your NEW account, and send a message to:
subscribe-SafetyLit@lyris.dundee.net

Note: If you've changed ISP or can't get to your old account, click here.

Back to TOP of page

8 If You Suddenly Stopped Receiving SafetyLit Updates.

Your ISP or your email software may think that the SafetyLit Update is unwanted SPAM. There are several possible causes for this. Please send me an email from the address that should be receiving the updates. I'll try to help.

Best Regards,

David Lawrence

 

Back to TOP of page


Much of the information on this page was adapted from Fred Langa's newsletter subscription help page. If you are interested in receiving a free twice-weekly e-newsletter with very useful information for users of the Windows operating system, you may subscribe to the Langa List online: [Click to subscribe].