if($debug) { print STDERR "going to connect to $ssph->{host}\n"; }
 my $smtp= Net::SMTP->new
  (Host=> $ssph->{host},
   ($ssph->{port} ? (Port=> $ssph->{port}) : ()),
   ($debug ? (Debug=> 1) : ())
  ) || die "open SMTP $ssph->{host}: ".$!;
 if($debug) { print STDERR "connected to $ssph->{host}, going to auth\n"; }

 if($ssph->{user} and $ssph->{pass}) {
  $smtp->auth($ssph->{user}, $ssph->{pass}) || die "at auth: ".$smtp->message();
 }
 if($debug) { print STDERR "auth to $ssph->{host} successful\n"; }