Delayed delivery for daily doses of ... uh ... me?

June 20, 2007 7:38 PM

I'm out of the country with my family for the next few weeks, and don't want my boyfriend to get too lonely back home. How can I schedule pre-written emails to be automatically sent to him?

I don't think I will have regular internet access while I am away, so I want to write a bunch of emails and schedule them to be sent on specific days.

I don't have a dedicated email program, but I have Hotmail, Gmail and Yahoo! Small Business email accounts. I could sign up for another free web based service that offers this feature if none of those do.

posted by yellowbinder to Computers & Internet (15 answers total)

I haven't tried this myself, but:

http://www.timecave.com/timecave/about.jsp
posted by gauchodaspampas at 7:51 PM on June 20, 2007

Hmmm... Time Cave would work except it only lets you schedule 2 messages per day unless you get a paid account. It's fairly cheap, $12 for a year, so it's an option, but there has to be something free out there. Isn't there?
posted by yellowbinder at 7:59 PM on June 20, 2007

Would FutureMe.org work? Just address the e-mails to your boyfriend rather than yourself...
posted by Lucinda at 8:01 PM on June 20, 2007

After looking through their FAQ, it says this:

"Can I write FutureMe e-mails to other people?

As of FutureMe 2.0 (spring 2007) you can indeed write to others, but only if you are a registered user. when they get the email, it will include that it was sent from your e-mail address. this policy is a bit strict perhaps, but unfortunately there are Internet hooligans out there that would abuse FutureMe otherwise."

It looks like it doesn't cost anything to register.
posted by Lucinda at 8:04 PM on June 20, 2007

Or you could send him electronic greeting cards (most of the reputable sites offer free cards, customizable text AND they let you choose the date of delivery, so you can create them ahead of time and then schedule them to be sent whenever you want)... I like the Hallmark site, but I've also used Regards and a few others whose names escape me... Google around and find some that you like, and I'll bet your boyfriend would love receiving them.
posted by amyms at 8:07 PM on June 20, 2007

Thanks everyone! FutureMe should work great, and it would be nice to send a few e-cards to mix it up!
posted by yellowbinder at 8:29 PM on June 20, 2007

does he know that you're prescheduling all these?

i'd be weirded out if i didn't know !
posted by Salvatorparadise at 9:08 PM on June 20, 2007

Also for future reference, TimeCave absolutely works -- been using it for several years to send reminders and letters to the future me.
posted by superfem at 10:00 PM on June 20, 2007

FutureMe should work great...

Last time I tried, FutureMe rejected any submission set to delay less than 1 year. Right now it appears to be set for a 90-day minimum — so no, it probably won't work for your "next few weeks" purpose.

On the other hand, I can confirm that it does work for periods >1 year.
posted by cribcage at 10:52 PM on June 20, 2007

To echo what cribcage said... I tried FutureMe a while back for a email to be sent under 90 days; I wasn't alerted that it wouldn't accept my submission (that may have changed), but all said, it never reached it's destination. If you want these messages to arrive, I think the e-cards are a great idea. (& probably TimeCave from the other replies).
posted by Laura in Canada at 4:41 AM on June 21, 2007

...or you could just call him?
posted by tjvis at 8:31 AM on June 21, 2007

Not only that, futureme sends a verification message before it sends the actual message (assuming that the message is for yourself and you are able to verify it) so it might not be the right option to send messages to third parties.
posted by micayetoca at 8:32 AM on June 21, 2007

Sort of previously.
posted by amber_dale at 8:38 AM on June 21, 2007

futureme sends a verification message...

I've used it a couple of times, both to send e-mails to myself and to surprise others, and I've never received or had the surprise spoiled by any verification message.
posted by cribcage at 9:38 AM on June 21, 2007

FutureMe actually won't work, as some have posted it won't send messages inside of 90 days. Looks like Time Cave/greeting cards are the best solutions.

I would and probably will call him, but much of the time I'll be bouncing around the Galapagos Islands, so probably not much in the way of accessible phones ;)
posted by yellowbinder at 3:23 PM on June 21, 2007