InchPitch@aol.com wrote:
> Hey, just what the heck is all this gobledygook? Is it an attempt to be cute
> by using some sort of "in-crowd" code? Maybe some kind of a computer
> interface glitch?
>
> "=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Re:=20[CR]49=20CM=20bike=A0=20has=2031"=20standov?=
> =?ISO-8859-1?Q?er=3F=20Is=20this=20possible=3F=20Please=20explain?="
This is encoded text, such as might be produced by using e.g. "Microsoft
Word" or some other word processor program to compose a message, and
simply attaching the resulting file as the message. Most email programs
will try to create a text-only version of such a file to send in
addition to the pretty formatted copy (using extra bandwidth to send two
copies of essentially the same information), but sometimes things can
become misconfigured and only the encoded copy gets sent.
> I find it so difficult and time consuming to decipher that I just skip it,
> and I'm sure I'm not alone. That's too bad because maybe the writer has
> something important to say. So to whoever is sending these on a regular basis, give
> us a break. And give yourself the recognition you deserve by getting people
> to read what you write.
If all you're sending is text, there's no reason to send a pretty, encoded version of the message. Configure your email program to convert your messages to plain text, and everybody will be able to read them, from the fanciest, most expensive computer to an ancient coal-fired text terminal to screen reader software for the visually impaired. Uses less bandwidth that way as well!
--
John (john@os2.dhs.org)
Appleton WI USA