Q: I've heard that the Baylor administration (or the CCIS) monitors and reads our email. Is this true?
A: No.
Q: I've recently gotten my Bear ID and password, but Mail Drop tells me that it's invalid even though I typed it correctly. What's wrong?
A: If you are a Baylor student, then your Bear ID and password should work (unless your email privileges have been revoked for some reason). Go to the Moody Garden Level Lab during advanced help hours for assistance. If you are Baylor faculty or staff, then you need to keep in mind that having a Bear ID does not necessarily mean that you have a BearMail account and can use Mail Drop. (Faculty and staff have QuickMail accounts instead.)
Q: My email and lab privileges have apparently been revoked. Why? And what do I need to do to get access again?
A: The most common reason why folks get their email privileges revoked is because they send a chain-letter or harassing message to someone and that person filed a complaint. The policies for email (and general Internet) use were mailed to you when you first activated your Bear ID. The policies are also available on via Baylor's gopher server. Read them. Contact the CCIS (ext. 2711) for more information. If you do get a chain letter, don't forward it on to someone else - just delete it.
Q: Is there a way that I can use my computer at home or the dorm and connect using my modem?
A: Baylor does not currently have dial-up access to the network for general student use, but we're working on it. Stay tuned.
Mail Drop Questions
Q: Mail Drop keeps quitting with a out of memory error. What can I do?
A: Sometimes Mail Drop handles low memory situations gracefully and lets you know if it doesn't have enough memory to do something. Other times, it just quits. You can increase the amount of memory that Mail Drop uses via the Finder's Get Info window.
Q: I'm having problems attaching a file. It tells me that the file is already open.
A: Mail Drop will not attach a file if it is currently open by another program. You will need to close the document in the other program then send the file. Note that Microsoft Word apparently keeps a file open even after you close the document window. To send a Word document, you will need quit Word (or possibly open another document).
Q: I have lots of messages in my INBOX and Mail Drop takes forever to open the INBOX or runs out of memory. I just want to delete them. What can I do?
A: Make sure you are running the latest version of Mail Drop. Earlier versions fetched message info for *all* the messages whenever the INBOX was opened. Now, message info is fetched from the server whenever it is needed to be displayed. This should allow you to delete and purge messages in pieces.
Q: When are you going to add support for multiple folders/mailboxes?
A: This will be added in the next full release (1.2). I don't know when this will be ready, probably sometime this summer...
Q: I can't type an address into the address field anymore.
A: This is a "list" and not a text field, so you can't type directly into it. Click the "To..." button and enter the address information in the dialog box that comes up.
Q: How do you get addresses from address books to a message?
A: Use Copy/Paste. Keep in mind that you should copy/paste the address(es) from/to the lists directly. Don't copy the text from the address edit dialog. You can also paste a "text" address directly into the lists. Eventually, Mail Drop will allow you to drag and drop addresses.
Q: How do I remove an address or attachment from a list?
A: Select the item(s) that you want to remove and choose "Clear" from the Edit menu or hit the delete key.
Q: Why can't I connect to our POP server?
A: Mail Drop is an IMAP client, not a POP client. Although I have thought about adding minimal POP support to Mail Drop, there are IMAP features that need to be added first.
Q: There is a preference setting for the IMAP server, but not one for my user name. Where do I set it?
A: It isn't necessary to specify your user name because Mail Drop will ask you for your ID and password when you open your INBOX.
Q: Lines in messages that I send with Mail Drop are too long and people who get them are complaining.
A: Mail Drop currently uses the width of the window to wrap the text before sending. It just so happens that the default width combined with the default font wraps lines at 80 characters. If you increase the window size, then the lines will be longer. A future version of Mail Drop will handle text wrapping better.
Address Problems
Q: Why does Mail Drop give me an error saying that "one or more recipients failed" when I send mail?
A: One or more recipients' email address was incorrect (possibly a typo) and the server did not know who to deliver the mail to. Check the session log to see which address was incorrect.
Q: I sent mail to someone on a different computer and Mail Drop said it was sent successfully. But the person never got it and/or I received a message saying there was a problem. What's up?
A: When you send mail to someone, Mail Drop isn't delivering it directly to that person's INBOX, but is just passing it on the the server which does the actual delivery. Usually, if there is something wrong, the server will let you know right away and won't even accept the message. But when the server has to forward the message on to another server to get it to its destination, it has no way of knowing if the address is correct or not. If there is a problem, you will probably get a bounced
message from the destination computer.
Q: How do I find someone's email address?
A: First of all, if you don't know someone's address, don't try guessing it. Email that is mis-addressed will probably have to be handled by someone (typically, the local "postmaster") to see why it wasn't delivered and that can be lot of tedious work. The best way to get a person's email address is to ask them. (They may not even know they have an email address.) If you want to get the email address of someone at Baylor, use the Baylor White Pages. Keep in mind that although Baylor uses First_Last@baylor.edu for email accounts, most sites do not.
Q: I sent mail to someone and got an "Undeliverable Mail" (or something to that effect) message. What is that all about? Should I just try it again?
A: When mail is mis-addressed, you will sometimes get a "bounced" message back from the destination server. That message should tell why the mail was not delivered. Usually, this is because the address was not valid on the destination computer. Don't send the message again until after you find out why it wasn't delivered the first time (see the previous question). Also, sometimes mail can't be delivered because of a network problem. In that case, you might get a message saying that therewas a problem sending your mail, but it would try again soon. Again, don't keep sending the message, because the new message probably won't get delivered either.
Miscellaneous Questions
Q: I heard about an email virus called "Good Times". Is this something I should be concerned about?
A: This virus is a hoax. Don't worry about it.
Q: I got a message from someone about a way to MAKE.MONEY.FAST. Is this for real? And should I do like it says and forward it on to other folks?
A: In addition to being a chain letter, this is a scam and may be illegal. (Do you really think you can earn $50,000 just by sending an email message?) Don't forward this message to others! Just delete it. Getting caught fowarding this message to people is a pretty sure way of getting your email privileges revoked.
Q: Is there anyway I can use the computer to talk interactively with my friends?
A: You're asking the wrong person. This really doesn't have anything to do with Mail Drop, which is an email program. Programs exist that allow you to chat with friends, but whether or not this service is available is up to the folks in charge of the labs and network. One thing to keep in mind is that programs like these tend to be somewhat resource intensive.
Q: There's something wrong with one of the computers in the lab. Could you fix it?
A: You're asking the wrong person. You need to contact someone who manages the lab. At Baylor, send email to
Computer_Lab_Comments@baylor.edu.
Q: How can I post to USENET?
A: You're asking the wrong person. The answer is: you can't unless you have an account on the VAX or possibly the CSI unix computers. The CCIS is currently working on modifying the news server so that you can use your Bear ID and password when posting news via NewsWatcher, but that isn't ready yet.
