Duff email addresses

[Capt PPRuNe]

Every day I get four or five passwords bounced back to me because the email address that the someone puts in their profile is either incorrect or just plain non-existent. What this means then is that I have to spend time every day looking for the profile and then deleting it because the person who registered will never receive their password.

Occasionally I get a bounced password from someone who has been a member for quite some time and they often have a substantial number of posts but because they changed the email address in their profile and the new address is not working for whatever reason they will never receive their password. Now I am loath to delete someones profile if they have been a contributor for some time but I will do it.

The biggest culprit of these duff email addresses used to be Hotmail but since they have been banned for other reasons the new league winner is Yahoo. I have come close to banning Yahoo addresses for some time because of this problem but I have to weigh up the extra work involved in deleting profiles with duff addressess and the inevitable mountain of email I would get from all the currently registered Yahoo addressed members.

Anyway, back to my point. I will occasionally post the Username of someone who has changed their email address in their profile and not received their new password because of a possible error in their address or with their postbox. I will only do this for members who have a substantial history of posting on PPRuNe.

To give you some idea of the scale fof the problem, we have over 42,000 registered members but we have actually registered nearly 48,000. That means that nearly 6,000 usernames have been deleted.

So please be careful if you change your email address in your profile as it generates a new password which is sent to the new address for verification purposes. You can of course change your password to something easier to rememeber after you receive your computer generated one which brings me to another point.

The number of you who write to me and tell me you have forgotten your password. It just shows that you have not bothered to read the <a href="http://www.pprune.org/cgibin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=faq" target="_blank">Frequently Asked Questions</a>. Please try and keep my workload down by doing your bit to help yourselves.

[ 03 January 2002: Message edited by: Capt PPRuNe ]</p>

[Capt PPRuNe]

I 'll start the ball rolling with this one:

ehwatezedoing who registered 23rd March 2000 and has 265 posts to his or her name. You changed your email address in your profile earlier today and your email host has bounced your password because the 'user is unknown' which usually means you entered part of your address incorrectly.

Please email me at [email protected] within 48 hours otherwise your profile will be deleted.

[Paterbrat]

Starting the New Year with a bang Danny? Happy New Year by the way.

[twistedenginestarter]

Capt P

You may be exacerbating this problem yourself.

I originally registered with a hotmail address but now I can't change my profile as hotmail addresses are rejected as part of your validation.

Should I wish to own up that I am really a child molester spending time at Her Majesty's Pleasure I would be also forced to change my address to [email protected], or whatever - surely unneccessary scope for error and thus hassle for you?.

[Robert Vesco]

I think that the whole problem could be avoided by letting members CHOOSE their own password.

Let´s face it, most of us simply create an email address only to receive a password. When that password is lost and a new password needs to be issued, the old email address proves to be invalid because it expired.

Chosing our own password will also probably reduce the number of usernames, as people need to create a new username (for the reason mentioned above) when their passwords gets lost.

Maybe another suggestion could be to allow more usernames to be registered to ONE email address. This way we can manage our ´multiple personalities´ <img src="wink.gif" border="0"> in a better way.

[Sensible]

Surely you are not suggesting that PPRuNers have more than one identity now are you?

[The Guvnor]

Don't let OzDude hear you say that you have 'multiple personalities'. He'll automatically assume you're all me! <img src="rolleyes.gif" border="0"> <img src="eek.gif" border="0"> <img src="rolleyes.gif" border="0">

[G.Khan]

The size and nature of the problem can best be appreciated when a rhetorical post from the Boss generates six, (make that seven), replies! <img src="wink.gif" border="0">

[ 03 January 2002: Message edited by: G.Khan ]</p>

[snooze_ya_lose]

Yes, all very salutary, but it isn't rumour or news, so off to "Aircrew Notices" with it!!!

PADLOCK!!!

:) :) :)

[El Grifo]

Tell me Cap'n, was it me who finally broke the camels back. If so I will order the wife to give me 20 lashes. OOOOOOOOOOh. Then I will really be "owe you one" Fnarr Fnarr.

PS since I live in lanzarote, I was thinking of changing my login to "03 ACE" Geddit ?

[El Grifo]

Or, Eh, does simple old "3 ACE" sound better. Let me think!!!!!

[DownIn3Green]

Everyone should hope Gooberner's address and password get lost forever.

[4llA]

DI3G:
What is a 'goober'?
And why is 'goobernor' a suitable corruption of 'guvnor'?
I think we should be told.

[ 04 January 2002: Message edited by: 4llA ]</p>

[18-Wheeler]

Works both ways too.
I've had my valid password not work at least twice, and so had to change my handle twice.
The forum software does screw up from time to time.

[Capt PPRuNe]

The software does not screw up your password. Many people do not have the correct settings in their browser. This board uses cookies to remember sessions so that next time you come here your Username and password is remembered in your browser. If you use your computer only at home then there is no need to log-off as is only a cookie setting exercise. If you use a publically accessible computer such as at an internet cafe then you must log off otherwise the next person to use tht browser and log onto this board will be logged on as you!

Many people do not bother to change their initial, computer generated password to something easier to rememeber. What happens next is they either change their browser software or change ISP and email address with no access to their previous email address and suddenly they find that they cannot get in because they can't remember their password and have no access to their previous email where the password will be sent if they have not changed it in their profile.

99.99999999% of the time when someone experiences a problem with their password it is because they are not entering it correctly. You password AND your Username are BOTH case sensitive and also if you add any leading or trailing spaces that will not work either. This tends so happen when people copy and paste from their email with the password details, they inadvertantly pick up the space by misuse of the cursor with their mouse.

[18-Wheeler]

Yeah, I've heard all that before.

I did type in my user name and I did type in my paswords totally correctly, and so far twice they have not been accepted.
I have not touched the 'cookies'.
I have not logged out.
I haven't changed a single solitary thing.

The fault is certainly not mine.

[Robert Vesco]

THX Captain PPRuNe, I was not aware that a password could be changed ! <img src="redface.gif" border="0"> <img src="redface.gif" border="0"> <img src="redface.gif" border="0"> <img src="redface.gif" border="0"> <img src="redface.gif" border="0">

Another question (without getting too technical I hope), how do you configure your computer so that it will remember my password ?

[ironbutt57]

Robert Vesco....still own the "silver Phyllis"?

[ehwatezedoing]

:) I'm back in the air, thank you Capt P :)

Moral of the story, don't change your profil late in the night (or early in the morning) after a long journey.
You will probably screw up something, like I did will trying to get away of my former Hotmail address.

[pied piper]

It has been a while since I last logged in, but I got in first time. Joy ;-)