Allow programmers to communicate and you get information about information

Thankfully only once in a while do I receive a reminder that my magazine subs are due. I've a sub to a "listserv" that just too regularly reminds me, it reads as below. This odd piece of communication is a part of the history of academic mailing lists. It has nought to do with the organisation mentioned (becta) other than the fact that there are better ways to make yourself look good.

I can imagine how many million academic-minutes of time are used each time the list software fires off this facinating piece of information. I half-want to have a conversation with the person who programmed this and is responsible for IT crimes I have yet to list:

***** The message reads:

Please do not reply to this email.

This is an automated reminder, sent out once a month, about your lists.becta.org.uk mailing list memberships. It includes information about your subscriptions and how to use it to make changes to your subscriptions or unsubscribe from a list.

You can visit the link(s) below to change your membership details and settings, including unsubscribing, setting digest-style delivery, turning off these reminders or stopping delivery altogether (e.g., while you are on holiday). You will need the password(s) for your list
membership(s) which can be found below.

In addition to the using the link(s), you can use email to make changes. For more information, send a message to the '-request'
address of the list (for example, mailman-request@lists.becta.org.uk)
containing just the word 'help' in the message body, and an email message will automatically be sent to you with instructions.

If you wish to contact the person who runs a list send a message to the '-owner' address of the list. You can also find this address in the footer of the relevant list options page below.
To post a message to a mailing list simply email the address of the relevant list below.