[Sigia-l] favorites / groans

[Jay Luker]

Here's one: signing up for e-mail discussion lists == Groan.

In a bit of irony, the worst I've experienced recently was trying to
get on the CHI-JOBS list. Like most these days it requires double
confirmation in the form of an email that you must

1) remember to check for and process within 24-48 hours,
2) if you're lucky there's an easy, but ugly, confirmation link to
click on, otherwise you're stuck deciphering instructions on how to
reply (in this case it was put the word "ok" as the body of the
message.)

There's also frequently a password accound that must be generated:
why? I mean, I understand why because I myself have installed and run
a mailman list server, but seriously. It is not, as Don Norman would
say, a "visible" system.

In the case of the CHI-JOBS list my first attempt resulted in a
cryptic confirmation error because I had only used my first name when
subscribing. The system *required* me to have a surname. It was also
an unrecoverable error as I couldn't figure out how to get a second
confirmation message. I was forced to start from scratch.

--
Jay L.