On Oct 16, 2010, at 4:42 PM, <[email protected]> wrote:

> That's what I get for trying to save a step by replying to someone else's 
> post, but forgetting to change the subject :-[

That's called "thread hijacking", and the problem with it is that the mail you 
create will show up in everyone's inbox and every list archiver as a part of 
the thread that you hit "Reply" to and change the subject.  It's a much bigger 
problem than you realized!

The cause of this is an SMTP header called "In-Reply-To".  Most mail readers 
will allow you to "Show All Headers" so you can see it for yourself.  If you 
don't remove that header before sending your new inquiry, you'll inadvertently 
join hijackers everywhere!

Practically, it takes just as much time to remove that header as it does to 
create a new email to the list.  That's why most people do it (and keeping the 
mail list archives clean in the process).

Please, don't hit "Reply" to start a new thread!  

Cheers, Brian
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