This mailing list is for the discussion of anything and everything related to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). The list is public; anyone may join. The list is also unmoderated; unless it becomes a problem in the future, no one will review what you post to this list for appropriateness. Please restrict the messages you send to the topic of SIDS!
Thanks to Chuck and Deb Mihalko of the SIDS Network for their sponsorship of this list.
1) Using this listserver
2) Subscribing to and unsubscribing from the list
3) Creating/Changing your password
4) Four different ways to get messages from the list
5) Three different ways that the listserver can acknowledge your posts
6) List "topics", and how to use them
7) How to find out who else is subscribing here
8) Archives of past postings to the list
9) What/Who is a "List Owner"?
10) Posting Guidelines
11) Helpful Hints
12) Pointers to other SIDS resources on the Internet
To use this mailing listserver program you send email to one of TWO DIFFERENT email addresses: the list and the listserver. To accomplish what you set out to do -- and to avoid annoying other subscribers to the list -- it is important not to get these two addresses mixed up.
To send a message to all the people currently subscribed to the list, just
send your message to sidsnet@home.ease.lsoft.com.
This is called "sending mail
to the list", because you send mail to a single address and the list
server makes copies for all the people who have subscribed.
Other than sending messages about SIDS to other subscribers, your
other interactions involve sending mail to the listserver itself:
listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com
To subscribe to this list, send mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com. In the
body of your mail message type:
You will be able to send messages to everyone else who has subscribed to the list, and you will receive all the messages the other subscribers send to the list.
To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com. In
the body of your mail message, type:
You will no longer receive copies of the messages sent to the list.
It is useful to define a password for yourself to use in connection with the SIDSNET list. Some of the commands you send to the listserver require either a password or confirmation by email. A password is also necessary to use the web interfaces for reading and posting list messages, and for setting subscription options.
The password you create for yourself is good for any of the lists served at
home.ease.lsoft.com; it is not just for the SIDSNET list.
If you give someone your password, and they know your email address, then they can act in your name on the SIDSNET list!!! They can read posts using the web interface!!! They can unsubscribe you!!! So don't tell anyone your password!!!
Neither the list owner nor any employee of LSOFT will ask you for your password. We don't need your password to accomplish any necessary list maintenance.
To create a password, send email to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com,
with the following message:
To change your password, send email to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com, with the
following message:
By default, you will receive each message sent to this list as a separate message. This is one of four "mail modes" the list processor uses to communicate with you.
To change the way you receive messages from the list, send email to
listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com.
In the body of your mail message, type:
If you include your password at the end of the command, e.g.
By default, you will receive copies of the posts you yourself make back from the list. If you don't want this to happen, you can configure your subscription to receive only short acknowledgments, or none at all.
To change the way the list acknowledges your posts, send mail to
listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com.
In the body of your mail message, type:
If you include your password at the end of the command, e.g.
The SIDSNET listserver has a feature which allows you to filter out (or filter in) posts on certain topics. At this time, there are four special topics defined:
By default, new subscribers to the SIDSNET list are subscribed to All
topics. To set your subscription to receive mail on only some of the
topics, send email to
listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com,
with the following message:
Here are some examples:
If you include your password at the end of the command, e.g.
To Use Topics in your Posts
If you wish to post on a particular topic (or set of topics), topics
keywords should appear in the subject line, followed by a colon. For example:
Some additional tips:
To receive a list of all the subscribers to the SIDSNET list, send mail to
Note that you yourself will be included in this list. If you do not wish
other subscribers to know that you are a subscriber, send mail to
Until you SET SIDSNET NOCONCEAL, no one (except the list owner)
will know that you are a subscriber.
If you include your password at the end of the command, e.g.
You can also locate an individual subscriber by sending email to
Only subscribers to the SIDSNET list can obtain information about
who is subscribed.
Messages sent to the SIDSNET list are automatically archived. You can
retrieve these archive files using the GET command. Send mail to
where <archive file name> is the name of the archive file. "But how do I know what the archive file name is?" you ask. You can
receive an index of the archives by sending mail to
This information may not tell you very much about actual topics or
subtopics discussed in the various archives. But you can also search the
archives for a particular topic. To do this, send mail to
where <topic(s)> are the topics you are interested in. For example, if you
wanted to search the archive for messages concerning autopsies, you
would issue the command: It doesn't matter whether you capitalize the search topic or not. The
listserver will send you a reply message, listing archive files
containing the word "autopsy" and the sentence containing the word
(for context). You can then GET any archive files which appear to
contain information relevant to your search.
You can receive a tutorial about searching by sending the following
command to
To: SIDSNET@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM
From: nedb@slip.net
Subject: Controversy, Autopsy: The medical examiner told me that my baby
had been exposed to cosmic rays!
Hello everyone,
I just got a bizarre fax from our medical examiner . . .
etc.
It's pretty simple to use topics.
How to Find Out Who Else is Subscribing
to the List
listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com. In the body of your mail message, type:
This list will be sorted according to the hostname of the
subscriber. You can receive it in other sort orders by adding a "BY"
argument after the command, for example,
listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com. In the body of your mail message, type:
then you will not need to confirm the command with a second email
message.
listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com,
with the command:
For example, sending the commands:
or
would tell you that I am subscribed to the list.
Archives of Past Postings to the List
listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com. In the body of your mail message, type:
listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com. In the body of your mail message, type:
listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com. In the body of your mail message, type:
listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com:
or on the World-Wide Web at http://www.mindspring.com/~jaredmarkw/search.htm.
The "listserv" software requires that at least one person be designated the "owner" of a list maintained by listserv. "Owner" is probably a misleading term for this position; administrator or manager might be more appropriate.
I am the list owner of the SIDSNET list. My name is Ned Balzer, and here is my homepage. To reach me, you can send email to sidsnet-request@home.ease.lsoft.com.
The list owner's job is to solve problems that the software can't solve for itself. For example, sometimes a subscriber loses his or her internet access, or a node somewhere along the route between the listserv and the recipient goes down. Then mail from the list to that recipient cannot be delivered and so it "bounces". The list owner must decide whether this is a temporary or a permanent condition; if it looks like it is permanent, the list owner can unsubscribe the user so that the listserver doesn't have to deal with bouncing email messages. The list owner is also there to help educate subscribers about how to use the list, and to help you to solve problems with your subscription.
Usually a list owner is somewhat knowledgable about listserver software, the internet and email. Often, s/he is also interested in the list's topic and subscribes for personal reasons as well. Some list owners take a very active approach to managing their lists, even to the extent of acting as "moderators", gatekeepers who determine which posts are on topic and appropriate to be passed on to the rest of the subscribers.
I view the SIDSNET list as the property of all its subscribers, and I believe that questions about what is appropriate for discussion here should be resolved consensually by all of us. My only stipulation is that posts should be related to SIDS. I neither want to serve as moderator of this list, nor am I qualified to do so, so I will rarely speak up about a discussion thread being inappropriate, personal or off-topic; only if the noise-to-information ratio becomes high, and then usually as a subscriber rather than as an owner. As a list subscriber, you too should feel free to speak up if you feel that a discussion thread is becoming inappropriate.
As it says in the message you get when you first subscribe, "This mailing list is for the discussion of anything and everything related to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)." That means it's for the entire SIDS community: parents, grandparents, siblings, doctors, PHNs, SIDS program directors, peer support givers, support group facilitators, coroners, funeral directors, EMTs and so on. It also means that the list is for several purposes, including both support for bereaved loved ones of SIDS victims and for discussion of the latest research findings.
The following rules are not intended to make you feel unwelcome; rather, their purpose is to help conversations on the SIDSNET list run smoothly and to eliminate debates and disagreements that make us feel bad about being here. Some of them may seem technical at first reading, but I don't think they should be too hard to remember or follow. There are only eleven of them. If you have any questions at all about them, please email me privately at sidsnet-request@home.ease.lsoft.com.
There are several other good sources of information about mailing list "netiquette" on the web:
1) Keep it compassionate. We have all been through enough pain. Especially keep in mind the effect your post might have on someone whose loss is very recent.
2) Keep it on the topic of SIDS. Please consider this carefully. Ask yourself, "Is this post really about SIDS, or is it just peripherally about SIDS?" If the latter, please consider sending it privately.
3) Please give the potential readers of your posts helpful clues as to
the subject of your post, in the subject line. If the subject of your
post is vaccinations and SIDS, or other controversial and speculative
theories of SIDS causality, it is strongly recommended that you
specify this, by starting your subject line with the word "Controversy: ".
If your post is about the appearance of an infant's body after death,
and thus likely to upset some readers, please start your subject line
with the word "Autopsy: ". If your post is about theories of SIDS,
start your subject line with the word "Theory: " (note: this is the
equivalent of DOCTALK on the old SIDS list). If your post is a question
to the doctors or researchers who read this list, start your subject line
with the word "Doc_Q: ", so that they are more likely to notice and read
it. Two or more of these keywords can be combined, for example:
"Controversy, Autopsy:".
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!!!!! specify these topics in your posts when
appropriate! If someone has gone to the trouble of unsubscribing from
those topics, they won't appreciate getting email from you on those
subjects! At the same time, please recognize that there are gray areas
in life, and what might seem controversial to one subscriber might not
seem that way to another.
4) If you don't want to read posts about controversial subjects or possibly containing graphic descriptions such as those mentioned above, you can filter them so that you never receive them, or simply discard those posts from your in-box. Do not complain about them to the list. If you feel that a list post is truly off-topic, please complain to the list owner, rather than to the list. For more information about filtering out certain topics, see the section about this above, or contact the list owner.
5) Keep it confidential. Don't repeat what you read here outside the list without the author or authors' permission. Never post someone's private email to the list, unless they asked you to.
6) It is a breach of confidentiality to give someone else your password. Why? Because they might breach someone else's confidentiality in your name. It is very easy on the Internet to pretend to be someone else, especially when it comes to sending email. So don't give your password away to someone else. If you think someone might have found your password out accidentally, change it.
7) Carry on private conversations off the list, especially if they are likely to become personal and/or off-topic. Pay close attention to the "From: " line of the email you receive -- if a message is from an individual, don't post your reply to the list, because this would violate the above-stated confidentiality of the original author. What people say to you in private email is "off the record", and unless you have explicit permission from them to forward it to others or to the list, don't.
8) Keep in mind that our conversations here are limited to text on a screen, so we don't get any of the usual non-verbal cues about the true meaning of what someone says.
So, when posting try to make your meaning as explicit as possible. If you are trying to say something funny, don't assume that the other subscribers will realize it. Use "emoticons" such as ;) (Smiley face with wink) :( (sad face) etc. if you like.
At the same time, when reading a post, if something strikes you as unfunny or offensive, stop and consider whether the poster really meant it that way. Give the person posting the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes the feelings we express after the death of a child are not what might be termed "socially acceptable", and we should make allowances for that too.
9) Although confidentiality is our goal here, remember that the Internet is an inherently unsecure environment and that the list is public. So it is impossible to guarantee that what you say here won't be read by "outsiders". Try not to say what you might regret later; try not to regret later what you said.
10) Try to keep your posts as short as possible. If you reply to a lengthy post, don't quote it in its entirety. Consider summarizing it rather than quoting it at all. If you have something to add, go ahead, but if all you want to say is "ditto", consider just replying to the individual who made the original post.
11) Do not post binaries or pictures to the list. They are a major inconvenience for other subscribers, and an additional burden on the listserver software. If you want to send a picture or binary to someone, do it privately and make sure you have their permission first.
1) Don't send commands to sidsnet@home.ease.lsoft.com! Send them to
listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com.
2) Don't send posts to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com! Send them to
sidsnet@home.ease.lsoft.com.
3) If you change Internet Service Providers (ISPs), please unsubscribe
from the SIDSNET list
first. Otherwise, the list will continue to send postings to your old, now
defunct, address. These postings will "bounce" and I will get lots and
lots of error messages in my mailbox. You can always resubscribe from
your new account.
4) Make sure you always post from the same email address as the one
you subscribed with.
5) Don't "forward" mail from other people (or the list) back to the list.
The list server will probably reject your post. If you want to quote
someone, use your mail system's "include" command instead of its
"forward" command. The reason is that "forwarding"
includes email headers in the body of the message. Some mail
programs' "reply" function includes these headers too, so you will either
need to configure your mail program not to do this, or edit them out by
hand.
6) The listserver prefers receiving commands with nothing in the
"Subject: " line of the message. But some service providers (eg.
Prodigy) don't allow this. It's OK to put somthing in the subject line,
but try to avoid the use of commands themselves or the word "test".
For example, if you wanted to send the command INFO SIDSNET, in the
subject line you could write "I need some info".
7) If you use an automatic signature when you send a command to the
listserver, make sure that your mail system adds a double-dash
("--") before the signature. If it doesn't, you can add the double-dash at
the beginning of your signature yourself. When you send a command to the
listserver at listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com, it's best to disable your
signature entirely.
8) You can combine several commands to the listserver in a single
message to it. Just put them on separate lines.
9) Don't hesitate to email me for help at sidsnet-request@home.ease.lsoft.com. I am glad
to help out.
While not on the Internet, a 24-hour hotline is operated by the SIDS Alliance. Its number is 1-800-221-7437 (1-800-221-SIDS)
There is an excellent source of information about SIDS accessible
through the World-Wide Web. It's the Sids Network Home Page at
http://sids-network.org/.
The following information is accessible from this site:
Answers to frequently asked questions (FAQ) on SIDS are available
from
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/misc-kids/sids/faq.html..
This FAQ was originally posted to the misc.kids USENET forum.
Top of SIDSNET List Information File
Back to SIDSNET Mailing List Main Page