IP: Fw: I don't know why to laugh or say we told you so

[David Farber <dfarber@earthlink.net>]

-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Jay Solomon <rsolomon@dsl.cis.upenn.edu>
Date: Tue, 1 Jan 2002 11:42:41 
To: farber@cis.upenn.edu (David Farber)
Subject: I don't know why to laugh or say we told you so

>January 1, 2002
>
>AOL Glitch Blocks Harvard Admissions
>
>By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
>
>Filed at 9:21 a.m. ET
>
>BOSTON (AP) -- Dozens of e-mail messages telling Harvard University 
>applicants whether they had been admitted never arrived last month 
>after America Online interpreted the messages as junk e-mail.
>
>``This wasn't exactly the instant response we intended,'' William 
>Fitzsimmons, Harvard's dean of admissions and financial aid, told 
>The Boston Globe.
>
>After anthrax spores were mailed through the U.S. postal system, 
>Harvard began using e-mail to inform applicants quickly of whether 
>they had been rejected or accepted. E-mail was used to notify almost 
>all of the 6,000 students who applied in the school's early 
>admission process.
>
>But for reasons that even AOL could not explain, the service blocked 
>between 75 and 100 of the e-mails in December because the servers 
>flagged the messages as ``spam,'' the unwanted e-mails that clog 
>users' mailboxes. The messages were bounced back to the university.
>
>``Spam is our number one problem. But it's hard to say what would 
>have caused the system to filter e-mail from Harvard,'' AOL 
>spokesman Nicholas Graham said.
>
>The problem proved to be more trouble for Harvard than it was for 
>the students. Most just telephoned the admissions office to find out 
>if they had been accepted.
>
>Admissions officers plan to begin posting a notice on the college 
>Web site telling students to make sure their Internet service 
>doesn't block Harvard e-mail.
>
>And, as ever, the college will continue to use the postal system to 
>notify applicants.
>
>
Copyright 2002 The Associated Press

Sent from Dave's Blackberry.

For archives see:
http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/