Forum Archive Index - September 2000

["tennyson@caverock.net.nz" <tennyson@caverock.net.nz>]

Well Marilyn,

Seems like you have got some on this forum that support posting in 
HTML only and some against.  I guess that is to be expected in any 
forum.

For those not familiar with what HTML looks like in plain text, look 
at this (I munged the HTML code so that it no longer works):

& &p&For those not familiar with HTML mail;
& &p&        &b&you can format 
text
& in bold,&/b& &p&&i&        you
& can format text in italic, and&/i&
& &p&&i&        &/i&&u&you can
& format text underlined.&/u& &p&Additional text features are;
& &p&        &font
& color="#FF0000"&coloured text,&/font&
& &p&        &font
& face="Haettenschweiler"&different fonts, and&/font&
& &p&        &font
& size=+2&different font sizes.&/font& &p&Techies can also insert 
& into their e-mail, for example; &p&&font face="Courier
& New,Courier"&Private Sub RegistrationNumber_AfterUpdate()&/font&
& &br&&font face="Courier New,Courier"&' code by Marilyn&/font&
& &br&&font face="Courier New,Courier"&Me!Text9 = DLookup("Make",
& "Fleet")&/font& &br&&font face="Courier New,Courier"&Me!Text11 =
& DLookup("Model", "Fleet")&/font& &br&&font face="Courier
& New,Courier"&End Sub&/font& &p&A well presented table can also
& ensure that relatives or staff at the branch office know when to
& pick you up at the airport, &br&  &center&&table BORDER COLS=6
& WIDTH="88%" HEIGHT="1%" BGCOLOR="#FFFFCC" & &caption&&b&Flight to
& Aussie&/b&&/caption&
&
 
Very hard to make any sense of that at all.

By vowing to post only in 'overcomplicated' HTML you are guilty.  
Just as guilty of 'overcomplication' as those overjavaed sites you 
complain of as being unnecessarily complicated in your previous 'too 
much java is bad' post. .

What really started me about your post on 'over-javaed' sites was 
that I totally agreed with your original point.  And 'Sharechat' is 
indeed an example of a share site that doesn't need to indulge in the 
latest java gimmicks to do the job well.   The question is, who sets 
the standard of what is 'overly complicated'?

It would seem that you want to.   

Now I could understand, without agreeing with you, if you were in 
favour of just using the latest web technology available.  I could 
also understand if you were a retro technology freak who would use 
the oldest, most backward compatible technology available to get the 
job done.  As you stand, I find the shear hypocrisy of 
your attitude (complaining about techno-heavy sites, yet in the next 
breath expecting everyone else to be exactly like you and post in 
pure HTML with all the associated whizzbangs), well, breathtaking!

>
>So with the advantages of HTML format e-mail why is everybody 
>not using it? 
>

Advantages?   Just because a feature is present doesn't mean it is 
advantageous.  And what about all the features you haven't got?

Can you colour incoming message indicators from different sources to 
give a visual indication of priority?
Can you have list mail only moved from your inbox automatically 
depending on whether it has been read or not?
Can you set up separate identities so that more that one user can 
keep their e-mail separate from another, or so that you can retrieve 
mail from different sources without having to redo your computer 
settings?
Can you delete junk mail from your server before you have to download 
it?

I think with Netscape 4.6, the answer to all these questions is 'no'. 
 So who is it that is 'shovelling coal', as you put it, here?

However, you do make a couple of valid points.   Italics or bold text 
is useful for emphasis.  I looked back at your previous message 
where you had done this.  I use a pair of asterisks to do the same 
thing highlighting a point *like this*.  Not better or worse than 
your method.  Just another way of doing things.

And if you want to put up illustrations or graphs why not set up a 
free web page somewhere and just post your link to it in plain text?  
That way people can choose to go to it or not.  Why ram everything 
through the e-post in such a way that *you* dictate how it should be 
read?  Why take away the choice of others to view the material in a 
way they see fit?

>
>So no excuses I expect you all to empower
>your e-mail communications by switching from plain text to HTML.
>

Unless you are Will Bryant in drag, I don't think you'll be 
dictating 'Sharechat' protocol anytime soon.  

I prefer my messages to download as fast as possible, with no excess 
baggage.  This means plain text, using the words to create the 
colour and language to create emphasis.  Posts take up less storage 
space this way too.  As far as everyone else goes, each to their own. 
SNOOPY







---------------------------------
Message sent by Snoopy 
e-mail  tennyson@caverock.net.nz
on Pegasus Mail version 2.55
----------------------------------
"Sometimes to see the wood from the trees, 
you have to cut down all the trees."



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