25190: Re: 25188: SFclinics: Problems with attachments to notes: Corbett adds (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Haines Brown <brownh@hartford-hwp.com>

I don't want to drag out an OT thread, but would like to add that the
problem of attachments has another side to it. These days, more people
and servers are automatically rejecting or deleting messages with
attachments in order to block viruses.

And then there are those, like myself, also running a unix-like
machine, to use a simple text-only mail reader for the sake of speed
and efficiency. I do see attachments, but as MIMEd plain ASCII, which
I have to process through several steps if I'm interested in
them. Microsoft "pioneered" this attachment madness, and so many
attachments require a Windows machine to handle what's in an
attachment if the file uses a Microsoft format.

My impression is that among computer-oriented folks e-mail is not
considered the best way to transmit binary files (executables,
graphical images, etc.), but rather it is preferable to use methods or
protocols intended for that purpose. Further, there is very little
reason to format e-mail messages, which just takes up a lot of
bandwidth. And so the recommendation is that when using a
browser-based e-mail utility to disable the browser function that
either sends your messages in HTML format or duplicates them as HTML.

Some ISP's keep their prices low by automatically adding advertising
material to traffic. That may reduce one's bill, but at the expense of
recipients, who must endure the garbage. I always advise people to
avoid Yahoo, AOL, and other services that have this practice. Besides,
they sometimes block IP address ranges if you are using private
broadband (an anti-spam measure), which requires some effort to work
around.

Haines Brown