No Recall.

I used to work for a company that used a mainframe based email system, with a feature where you could send a mail and then recall it, if you changed your mind, without the recipient ever knowing it had been there. You can see where this going right?

Therefore when incensed by someone else in the office you could (especially if working nights) vent your spleen and then recall it once you'd calmed down. Someone I worked with recieved a mail from a manager, a lady who looked like a weebl and was going through a divorce. The colleague in question took offence to her mail (long story) and in a blinding rage sent a response covering topics, such as why her husband left her, her size, her hair, her personal hygeine (having a mimsy that rat wouldn't choose to live in, was a phrase that sticks out), something about her having a fondness for rough sex with sailors and few other items and sent it whilst on a night shift at 2am, safe in the knowledge that said manager was at home asleep in bed, and he had plenty of time to recall it.

This mail was sent almost exactly 30 seconds before the system was taken down for routine maintenance, by the time it came back up said manager was in the office and at her desk. She did not enjoy the aforementioned email, that he was unable to recall before she read it, he also didn't enjoy being fired....
(repooc, Wed 9 Nov 2011, 15:40, 17 replies)

Now that is playing with fire
click
(TheManWithThePlan cussed your mum on, Wed 9 Nov 2011, 15:43, closed)

playing with fire?
That's employment russian roullette!
(Greencloud Wanted to go fishing on, Wed 9 Nov 2011, 15:48, closed)

I'd like to say that I'm surprised that anyone could be that stupid,
but I'm really not.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Wed 9 Nov 2011, 15:54, closed)

For the record....
I only used to use this for comedic purposes. Such as sending someone an email with the title: "Pay rise info", then watch their screen and just as they went to read it, recall it, so they get an error saying it doesn't exist.
(repooc, Wed 9 Nov 2011, 15:59, closed)

That is a feature I would never use
for just this reason. Like hitting mute on the telephone and slagging off the person on the other end- sooner or later you're not going to hit the mute button hard enough or accidentally hit it twice, giving them an earful. It's a very stupid risk to take for minimal reward.

I'd say he got what he deserved.
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Wed 9 Nov 2011, 16:07, closed)

Oh aye
my thoughts exactly
(TheManWithThePlan cussed your mum on, Wed 9 Nov 2011, 16:09, closed)

Quite.
At my first office job, a colleague and I used to use the Novell network messaging feature for general chit chat (we were in seperate offices), and occassionally make disparaging remarks about our coworkers.
Boss took me to one side to explain that everything we sent was logged by IT, and that we should probably stop, lest we find ourselves in real trouble.

Later on, I had another talking to, after decorating my desktop with pictures of naked ladies.

Looking back, I was a bit of a tool.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Wed 9 Nov 2011, 16:20, closed)

No argument from me...
He wasn't the sharpest tool in the box at the best of times.
(repooc, Wed 9 Nov 2011, 16:28, closed)

agreed
i've only ever used recall for things like forgetting to attach things. at worst i'll look like a numpty who's a bit uptight.
( Slippery Mick ‏, Wed 9 Nov 2011, 16:59, closed)

We've had our system upgraded to Outlook 2010 lately
I casually mentioned at lunchtime the other day that it's got a special security feature, so that if you try to send a mail to the boss with "You are a cunt" as the subject line, it automatically detects and blocks it...
( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Wed 9 Nov 2011, 17:05, closed)

That's been around for a while.
Back when I worked at Honeywell I sent an email asking a friend if he knew what his unborn baby's sex was, and instantly got a message that it had been flagged as inappropriate and sent to the IT department. This happened numerous times when I included words that were on the Naughty List but were used in innocuous ways.

Never got into trouble for it, but it was irritating to have to come up with alternate terms or use asterisks.
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Wed 9 Nov 2011, 17:31, closed)

i fear you may have missed his trap.
tauc is quite a good one i find.
( Slippery Mick ‏, Wed 9 Nov 2011, 19:03, closed)

My Godd
You really are a bunch of pissant IT's.
(the other guy not the one that gave you coochie warts, Thu 10 Nov 2011, 1:07, closed)

I'll have to remember that phrase "having a mimsy that a rat wouldn't choose to live in" - that's a classic.
(Maclir, Wed 9 Nov 2011, 16:35, closed)

Why in the fuck would anyone do that? Couldn't you just as easily type up said email in notepad and save it locally? If all you are looking for is a way to vent, this seems unnecessarily risky...
(tyrellsOwl, Wed 9 Nov 2011, 17:37, closed)

This is IT people* you're talking about....
...most of which have a tenuous grasp on reality at best and the social skills of a chimp with dysentery. Myself included, probably...


*Present b3ta IT type people excluded (honest!)
(repooc, Wed 9 Nov 2011, 21:30, closed)

That's actually a 'feature' that was developed as part of the
overall spec for the SMTP protocol, AKA a standard email system.

Right from the beginning it never worked, because most email servers by default are set up to stop it. By enabling it, you are effectively giving a remote mail server permission to delete mails from your system. There is as far as I can see, no argument whatsoever in favour of enabling it.

So, what you really see as the recipient is a dodgy email, then shortly afterwards another message sayig 'xxx has recalled mail with subject [blah blah blah]', which just makes sure you go and properly check the mail that they didn't want you to see.

Moral is, well, it's obvious really isn't it? Think before you send . . .
(username failed moderation, Thu 10 Nov 2011, 8:55, closed)