* * * * *
                                        
                                  Dumbfounded
                                        
> **From:** [some customer]
>  **To:** [support at The Company]
>  
> 
> http://www.XXXXXXXXXXX/subscribe.html
> 
> I tested this page with my own email address and did not do what it's
> suppose to do. Please check.
> 

That's it. No indication of what it's supposed to do or what was wrong with
it, just that this random script on this site didn't work. At least I got a
link to the script in question.

> **From:** [support at The Company]
>  **To:** [some customer]
>  
> 
> What is it supposed to do, and what did it actually do?
> 

> **From:** [some customer]
>  **To:** [support at The Company]
>  
> 
> Anyone who wanted to get on our mailing list could enter their email
> address on that webpage. Anytime we update our webpage, the people on the
> mailing list are supposed to be notified via email automatically.
> 

Okay, so I now know what it's supposed to do, but not what it actually does
right now. I took an educated guess:

> **From:** [support at The Company]
>  **To:** [some customer]
>  
> 
> So it's not mailing out notifications when the website is modified? Was it
> working at one point?
> 

> **From:** [some customer]
>  **To:** [support at The Company]
>  
> 
> Yes, it was.
> 

Yes, it's not mailing out notifications or yes, it was working at one point?
I assumed “yes” to both questions, then checked the page listed:

> <form method="post" action="/cgi-bin/cgiemail/mail_list.txt">
> 

Basically, it's trying to run a text file as the script. I then checked /cgi-
bin/cgiemail/mail_list.txt and it didn't exist. Oh, there was a mail_list.txt
file, but it wasn't in the /cgi-bin directory, nor was it a script, but a
literal text file.

Sigh.

I suppose I could have avoided the little back-and-forth there had I
immediately checked into this, but I just hate being told, “It's broke, fix
it.” What's broken? Where? What is it supposed to do?

There was some more back and forth clarifying a few issues (“no, you cannot
execute a text file”) and this is where we currently stand:

> **From:** [some customer]
>  **To:** [support at The Company]
>  
> 
> Unfortunately, the one who originally built the website left our office.
> There's got to be a way to make it work. During the past year or so our ftp
> folders with you changed several times. Somehow the subscribe webpage got
> affected. Is there anything you can do on your end to fix it?
> 

It's now a contest to see what's harder, my forehead, or the desk.


Email Sean Conner at sean@conman.org

.