Email names and addresses

[Carl S Zimmerman]

The "From" header on any e-mail message has this format:
From: "bellmaster" <andrew_higson at t...>
The first part (which may or may not be wrapped in quote marks) is 
the account-holder's chosen name, and may be changed at will via 
settings in the email program. The second part (which is wrapped in 
angle brackets) is the actual email address, and normally should not 
be changed.

Most email programs will display only the name, without the address, 
in a list of messages (such as the contents of an in-basket). Only 
when displaying the headers of an individual message will the address 
be visible in such a program. That difference can lead to the 
situation which John encountered.

One option which Mr.Higson might exercise is to change the name in 
his email settings to "Andrew Higson, Bellmaster". Another is to 
look at the options his email program might offer for appending 
various forms of signature. (I have ten different signatures, of 
varying length and content, for use in different contexts. On this 
message I chose to use none, because my personal name appears in the 
>From header of all messages which I send.)

I've only used Andrew as an example--the same options may be 
available to all subscribers to address the quite valid point which 
John raised.

_____
At 14:41 +0100 2004/05/18, bellmaster wrote (in the "Kettering" thread):
>..............Higson
>
>I don't know why the various computers involved picked up on 
>Bellmaster. I will attempt vigilance and less haste in future.
>
>Andrew Higson
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: John Camp
> To: bellhistorians at yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Tuesday, May 18, 2004 2:26 PM
> Subject: Re: [Bell Historians] Kettering
>
>
> At 14:13 on 18 May 2004, bellmaster wrote:
>
> > Andrew
>
> I may be alone on this list in not knowing who "Andrew" is, but could
> I please ask people to use their full name, if it isn't obvious from
> their e-mail address or "From" header. I quite like to know whose
> messages I'm reading, and it makes life a lot easier when I'm
> compiling "From the E-lists".
>
> Thanks.
>
> John Camp