Contents

• Useful Listserv Commands
  • HELP! My mail stopped coming!
  • Setting MAIL and NOMAIL
  • DIGEST/INDEX mail options
  • Listserv Searches (finding posts in the archives)
  • CHANGE Command (or, "I'm changing my service -- would you please add my new address?")
  • REVIEW ("I've lost a listmember's address")
  • Subscribing and Unsubscribing
• Email Viruses and Other Hoaxes
• Unwanted Private Email
• Problems Not Covered Here
• Automated help services

NOTE: new subscribers, look in the setting MAIL section below to change your subscription options.

Useful Listserv Commands

*** NOTE *** MANY of the most common "Listserv" command functions can be performed by you in a more user-friendly and convenient fashion, via the AutoHelp on this web site. If you choose to use AutoHelp, then you can safely skip this Listserv intro portion and jump ahead to the HELP! section below. However, if you wish to issue these commands "the old fashioned way", or do not have web access, read on:

All of the listserv commands mentioned this FAQ need to be sent to the Listserv address: listserv@listserv.icors.org, and not to the list address (asperger@listserv.icors.org). Queries to the listowners should be sent to asperger-request@listserv.icors.org, not to the list.

The correct format for sending a listserv command is to leave the subject line blank, and have the listserv command -- and only the listserv command -- in the body of the message.

Example:

  To: listserv@listserv.icors.org
  Subject: 
  Message: SET ASPERGER NOMAIL
 

Send commands in exactly the format specified. This is being read by a computer, not a human, and the program doesn't recognize words such as "please," "thanks," or anything other than the one format. You do need to specify that it is Asperger that is being referenced. Maelstrom (the list's server) runs hundreds of lists, and will not know which list to execute the command for unless you specify it.

Sending the command to the list or to Asperger-request will only delay the processing of it until a listowner sees it. The list will treat it as a regular post and send it to all subscribers.Asperger-request goes to all the listowners (assuming that you received and responded to the confirmation message -- (see note under "***VERY IMPORTANT NOTE*** " about confirmation messages), and one of us will eventually see it and take care of it, or send you another copy of this so you can take care of it yourself. Sending it to the listserv address will enable it to be taken care of automatically, without having to wait for human intervention.

You may also use the AutoHelp feature on this web site. AutoHelp will enable you to execute basic listserv commands flawlessly, with just a couple of clicks.

In addition, there is a file of common list abbreviations, and an idiom dictionary here.

HELP! My mail stopped coming!

When list mail stops coming to you, it is usually for one of the following four reasons.

There is nothing that can be done about #2 , #3, and #4 but to wait. If you have tried to set yourself back to MAIL after emptying your full inbox and did not receive anything from the listserv, then chances are your mail is being held up somewhere along the way.

We listowners are able and willing to set you to MAIL and NOMAIL. But it is better for you to do it yourself so it can be done when you need it. None of us are on the list continuously -- we've got families and lives, too -- and it may take a while before we see and respond to your request.

If you've done all this, and are still having problems, write to asperger-request@listserv.icors.org, (see note under "***VERY IMPORTANT NOTE*** " about confirmation messages) instead of to the list. There is no need for mail problems to be posted publicly and be archived forever :-). All the listowners see what is posted to asperger-request, and the problem will be taken care of.

Setting MAIL and NOMAIL

    SET ASPERGER NOMAIL
    

to the Listserv address. When you are back at your computer, use the AUTOHELP feature of this web site and choose the "Set yourself to: MAIL" option. Or, if you'd prefer to handle it manually, send the command

    SET ASPERGER MAIL

to the  Listserv address. 

If you have forgotten to set yourself to NOMAIL, were away unexpectedly, your server had problems, or anything else
caused your mail to bounce, the head  listowner will set you to NOMAIL. If your mail stops coming, the first step 
is to perform the SET ASPERGER MAIL command (either via  AUTOHELP  or manually as described above). If that
doesn't work, contact the ASPERGER-REQUEST address about the problem (see note under 

"***VERY IMPORTANT NOTE*** " about confirmation messages).  Including copies
of what you sent the Listserv and  the Listserv's response will help in solving the problem.

Digest/Index

If 100+ posts landing in your mailbox is daunting, you may want to set yourself to DIGEST or INDEX. DIGEST groups the messages into one large post and sends it out in 1-3 batches a day, depending on that day's posting volume. INDEX gives a daily list of posts; you choose the ones you want and follow the instructions given with the INDEX posting to retrieve them.

To set either of these options, use the AUTOHELP feature of this web site and choose the "Set yourself to: DIGEST" or "Set yourself to: INDEX" option. Or, if you'd prefer to handle it manually, send a message to the Listserv address. The message will read:

SET ASPERGER DIGEST

-- or --

SET ASPERGER INDEX.

If you decide you want to go back to individual mail postings, use the AUTOHELP feature of this web site and choose the "Set yourself to: NODIGEST" or "Set yourself to: NOINDEX" option. Or, if you'd prefer to handle it manually, send the command:

SET ASPERGER NODIGEST

-- or --

SET ASPERGER NOINDEX.

Listserv Searches

It is possible to search the list archives and retrieve posts for a specific time period, a specific author, or a specific subject.

Searching by Date

If fewer than 100 messages are expected, one command will work (date is in YY/MM/DD format): Send an email message to the Listserv address (with anything you like as the "Subject:") and this for the first message:

    search asperger * from 03/05/23 to 03/05/23
    

If over 100 messages are expected than you will have to send more than one command. For example, if close to 300 messages appeared in 2 days, the following commands could be used:

    search asperger * from 03/05/23 00:00 to 03/05/23 15:59
    

...this for the second message:

    search asperger * from 03/05/23 16:00 to 03/05/24 7:59
    

...and this as the third:

    search asperger * from 03/05/24 8:00 to 03/05/25 00:00
    

Each of these will generate an email message back to you, containing a list of messages that looks something like this:

    Item #     Date      Time     Recs  Subject
    ------     ----      ----     ----  -------
    007474     03/05/23  04:09    19    Re: appearing normal
    007477     03/05/23  00:44    18    genetic responsibility
    007478     03/05/23  00:55    29    Re: ADHD/AS
    

...and so on. When you've found which messages you would like to see, send another message to the Listserv address (with anything you like as the "Subject:") and something like this as the message:

    GETPOST ASPERGER 7474 7477-7478
    

...this command will get message numbers 7474, 7477-7478.

Note that the time and date the listserv uses is not necessarily when the post was received. The time/date stamp is taken from the sending computer. People are sending from different time zones, and some computers are not set to the correct date or time. If the search comes back with message numbers that are much lower (older/earlier) than the bulk of the message numbers, these are probably old messages with incorrect date information. If there are gaps between numbers, then the time/date stamp of those messages is probably in the future -- even though the listserv received it between the other messages. The safest way to retrieve all messages is to get all posts between the first and last consistent batch of numbers.

In the example above, it is a safe bet that 007475 and 007476 came in during that time period, but have a later time/date stamp. The command would be:

    GETPOST ASPERGER 7474-7478
    

Searching by Author and/or Subject

Say you want to find all the posts that discuss IEPs. You might send the command:

    SEARCH ASPERGER "IEP"
    

Listserv will return a list of all postings that match your search command. This may return more than 100 posts, so it might be wise to narrow the search by time, sender, or subject of the postings. Here are four sample search commands.

In the first example Listserv lists all postings that have the word IEP anywhere in their body and were posted to the ASPERGER list since July 24, 2003.

In the second example Listserv lists all postings containing the word IEP in their body that were ever posted to the ASPERGER list and had SMITH anywhere in the "From:" mail header line.

In the third example Listserv lists all postings containing the word IEP in their body and had LAW anywhere in the subject line.

In the fourth example the asterisk (*) means to list all postings which contain the word LAW anywhere in their subject header.

This will return the same type of info as the day search example, and posts can be retrieved the same way.

CHANGE Command

or, "I'm changing my service -- would you please add my new address?"

Subscribers can change their address themselves when they switch internet providers. Use the AUTOHELP feature of this web site and choose the "Change the email address that your subscription to our list should go to" option. Or, if you'd prefer to handle it manually, send the following command (to the Listserv address), from the current (subscribed) address:

    CHANGE ASPERGER 
    

For example, if Joe Blow is subscribed to the list as joeblow@old.address.com, and is switching to joeblow@new.address.com, he would send the message:

    CHANGE ASPERGER joeblow@new.address.com
    

The message must be sent from the current address of joeblow@old.address.com. If the listmember no longer has access to the subscribed account, a listowner must do the change.

REVIEW

or, "I've lost a listmember's address"

Any subscribed member can find the address of other subscribed members. Use the AUTOHELP feature of this web site and choose the "Get a list of the subscribers (REVIEW)" option. Or, if you'd prefer to handle it manually, send the command:

    REVIEW ASPERGER BY NAME
    

to listserv@listserv.icors.org

This will return a list of everyone who is subscribed to the list. Note that this is available only to those who are subscribed to the list -- even if they are set to NOMAIL. It is not available to spammers, unless they are subscribed to the list. If a list member ever did spam the addresses on the list, they would be promptly removed from the list.

Subscribing and Unsubscribing

If you have a friend who is interested in joining the list, have them send a command of the form:

     SUBSCRIBE ASPERGER firstname lastname

to listserv@listserv.icors.org

Actual names should be used instead of the 'firstname lastname' shown above. Two names are required, however the last name may be an initial. The following two examples are acceptable:

     SUBSCRIBE ASPERGER Joe Bellow

     SUBSCRIBE ASPERGER Joe B.

This will send a message to the listowners, one of whom will contact the prospective list member. Be sure to let your friend know that the subscription process is not completely automated. A real human listowner should be in contact with them soon. As the listowners are all volunteers, they must sometimes wait until work/family/life offers a break before they get the chance to reply to your friend's request.

If you want to leave the list permanently, with no intention of ever coming back, use the AUTOHELP feature of this web site and choose the "Sign off the list" option. Or, if you'd prefer to handle it manually, send the command:

     SIGNOFF ASPERGER

to the listserv@listserv.icors.org.

If you are planning to come back to the list at some point in the future, follow the instructions for setting NOMAIL under heading #2 -- Setting MAIL and NOMAIL. If you send the SIGNOFF command, you will need to go through the listowners to begin receiving mail again.

Email Viruses and Other Hoaxes

There is now a possibility that your computer can be affected by a virus while reading email -- if you are using older versions of Windows (Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT 4, and Windows NT DEC Alpha) with IE5, Outlook, or Outlook Express and the message is in HTML format (which is not supposed to be sent to the list, and is automatically stripped off if it is). The fix for this is at http://www.microsoft.com/msdownload/iebuild/scriptlet/en/125795.htm.

Otherwise, the only way a virus can be transferred through email is if it includes an executable attachment, and you execute it.

Before doing a well-intentioned post to the list about the newest virus, modem tax, cookie recipe, or other scare, check the following sites to make sure that you aren't being conned.

(By the way, just to save you the trouble, "Good Times" is a very well known hoax.)

Unwanted Private Email

Should you receive unwanted or inappropriate correspondence from someone on the list there are several avenues open to you.

First, kindly notify the listowners of the incident by forwarding such correspondence (with full headers) to asperger-request@listserv.icors.org (see note under "***VERY IMPORTANT NOTE*** " about confirmation messages).

Second, provided the contact is merely unwelcome and not abusive, reply to the sender asking them politely and with all due restraint to cease corresponding with you.

Third, should you receive abusive correspondence or should it continue after you've asked it to cease, a formal complaint to the sender's Internet Service Provider is appropriate. The proper form for doing this is to forward a copy of the undesired correspondence, with a brief and polite explanatory memo, to postmaster@. For example, if JoeBlow@erols.com is sending me nasty messages, I would write to postmaster@erols.com to complain. You may do this yourself, or the Asperger listowners will do it on your behalf if you so request _and_ we agree that it is an appropriate action in your circumstance. Please understand that doing this is a very strong action and that if the sender's postmaster receives more than one complaint, or if he receives even a single complaint accompanied by a genuinely abusive or damaging post from the offending party, that the offender's internet access account may be terminated for cause. Thus this last action must not be undertaken lightly or in retaliatory anger.

You may also choose to filter or block the sender's messages, so that you never see them. Filters can usually be found under the edit menu of your email software, but you may have to look elsewhere. Simply set up a filter that anything coming from the offending sender's address goes straight into the trash.

Problems Not Covered Here

Any problems with (not) receiving mail, searches, wanting another copy of the FAQ, and anything that doesn't need to be seen by the entire list should be sent to asperger-request@listserv.icors.org, where a listowner will take care of the problem. Please include copies of anything you have sent, as well as the listserv's response (if any).

Karen Reznek
head-listowner, Asperger