PostBop

OK, humor me. Let’s say you’re doing some work at Palo Alto’s Main Public Library. You’re working on your Powerbook and you need to send an email message. You write the message in the email client of your choice (for me that’s Entourage at the moment). You select your office account and hit send. Oops, there’s an error:

This is a new error for me given the hundreds of emails I’ve sent from the library. I consulted a librarian and found the Library blocks emails sent using SMTP out of concern that such email might be seen as coming from the library (or at least the Library’s IP address). Nothing about this restriction on the Library’s Wireless Internet Access FAQ or Internet Use Policy.

Equally confounding: I resent the message using my gmail account (same client via SMTP) without a hitch! Maybe only certain SMTP accounts are authorized??

Again, no documentation. It’s new. It’s a surprise. And it’s a timewaster…

Perhaps it protects the library from being associated with illicit email, but it also makes the library a bad place to work if you have to respond to a business-related email message. And since you can use gmail via SMTP, hey, it doesn’t even protect the library.

Oh well…