[CQ-Contest] phantom attachments

[Bill Coleman AA4LR]

On 2/22/98 21:03, Pete Smith at n4zr at contesting.com wrote:

>For some time now I've been noticing that some e-mails are arriving with
>what I call "phantom attachments."  These are attachments that are not
>mentioned in the text of the incoming e-mail , but are nonetheless decoded
>and placed in my Eudora\attach subdirectory.  When viewed with Netscape,
>they are almost all HTML - in some cases, with headers indicating the HTML
>generator, in other cases not.  Those that are HTML appear to be simple
>repetitions of the content of the e-mail.  Those that are not HTML appear
>to be just ASCII junk.

Unfortunately for many who use Netscape as their mail client - it 
defaults to sending HTML with every message. There are other clients that 
have equally annoying habits that send various attachments.

>OK -- so why am I wasting the reflectors' time with this?  Because
>attachments can also be a prime transmitter of viruses. 

Not likely.

>I'd like to propose a 3-part solution.  First, can one of the computer
>gurus out there tell us why some messages arrive both as e-mail text and as
>MIME-attached HTML "echoes?"

Because that is the way they are sent.

>And can the same guru also explain to us
>lay-people how to prevent sending attachments when we don't mean to?

Set up your client properly? It varies so much from client to client, 
that it is hard to say exactly what the settings are.

>  And
>third, how about amending the FAQ to explain to people how to do step 2,
>and the "do's and don'ts" of attachments in general?

Attachments have been "disallowed" on this and other lists, but that 
hasn't stopped people from sending them.

--

PROPOSED SOLUTION - Many mail list servers have options that prevent 
attachments from being circulated to the list. I propose that such 
software be used to eliminate attachments entirely from this list, as 
well as the scores list, and perhaps others.

Comments?




Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL        Mail: aa4lr at radio.org
Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!"
            -- Wilbur Wright, 1901



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