Date: Fri 19-Mar-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

iinfo-e-mail-headers

Full Text:

INTERNET INFO FOR REAL PEOPLE: E-mail Headers

By Bob Brand

E-mail is the oxygen of the Internet. We cannot live without it. It is

everywhere. Like the air we breathe, it gets taken for granted.

When e-mail arrives, usually the header information is not visible on the

screen. The header portion is that piece of an e-mail message that spells out

both its time line (from origin to destination) and path. Usually, this

information holds little interest. However, should one receive spam

(unsolicited commercial e-mail), header information, when sent to the ISP

(Internet Service Provider), is needed to lodge a formal complaint. Many ISPs

remain sensitive to spam complaints from subscribers (especially if the notice

is polite, well written and contains complete header details). The ISP can

filter e-mail from the domain (network computer) where the message originated.

Also, the ISP can contact the provider who permitted the spammer access to the

net. Frankly, too few people express their unhappiness with spam to the ISP.

As a result, e-pollution continues.

Good e-mail software (Eudora, Juno and others) allows the user to easily view

header information. For example, with Juno click Options, then Show Mail

Headers. Simple. Recently, I switched e-mailer software from Eudora to

Microsoft Outlook. In all honesty, the overwhelming number of features in MS

Outlook leads to confusion followed by frustration. When a user opens Outlook,

e-mail messages (both old and new) appear in the main window. However, it is

not possible to view header information from this screen. In order to see the

headers, a user must open a specific piece of e-mail, click view then option

and finally, the headers appear in one window. In my book this is poor design.

Who Are You

I receive over 150 e-mails a day. On occasion, a message arrives with no

greeting. The short message requests my opinion on a specific subject. Since I

do not recognize the sender e-address, the only available clue to identity of

the originator hides in the e-mail header. Here, it is deciphered. The

originator is often a listserv member. Without an introduction such as "Hi

fellow webmaster:" (or something similar), a quick punch of the delete key

vaporizes the message. As listserv software improves, it has become almost

commonplace to find an origin imbedded in the subject of the message. Perhaps

all such software will carry this identification.

Old Jokes

Every surfer I know has at least one friend (or family member) who sends them

a steady stream of jokes. In so many cases, the first part of the "haha"

contains old header information including more than 30 people who have

received the mildly humorous epistle. With this pedigree, the shaggy dog story

is now riddled with ">>>>" markings (called quotations). The distorted text

layout has reached a point of unrecognizability. In its many bounces around

the Internet, no one made an effort to "clean up" the paragraph warpage

generated by the numerous cyber-handoffs (read: replies). In all honesty, if a

story has been passed around that many times, it is a certainty that I have

seen it before. Usually I delete the whole mess. On rare occasions, I hatchet

everything, but the droll punchline and reply "Good one!" Right after hitting

the "send" key, I am overwhelmed with a sinking feeling that my meager attempt

at encouragement will result in a continuing stream of cyber-gibberish.

When licenses for driving on the Information Superhighway are issued, long

suspensions and stiff fines should result when anyone transmits even mild

humor but fails to include the word "joke" in the subject. Inclusion of one or

more ">" marks should result in caning.

HTML Tags

There is now a rising surge of e-mail containing imbedded HTML such as: [Hi

Bob,]. Frankly, it is almost out of control. I wish I had a nickel for every

e-mail message asking the sender to change the e-mailer settings to plain

text. The kid with his finger in the dike had an easier time. The annoyance is

heightened when extra junk arrives embedded in a listserv digest.

For me, this text-pollution poses a greater waste of precious bandwidth than

the spam epidemic. Perhaps we are all headed for a cyber-world where all

e-mail is read with web browsers instead of e-mail software. Well, that day

has not arrived. In fact, the recent problem with the Happy99.exe Worm gives

pause to consider this trend. Color me old-fashioned, but give me plain old

text e-mail any day. That's how the ARPARNET gods made the system, and, if I

have any say in the matter, that is the way it should stay.

URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) of interest:

http://www8.zdnet.com/pcmag/pctech/content/17/19/tu1719.001.html

http://www.isa.net/project-open/thedirt.html

(This is the 146th of a series of elementary articles designed for surfing the

Internet. Next, Fax to E-mail is the subject on tap. Stay tuned. Until next

week, happy travels through cyberspace. Previous issues of Internet Info for

Real People can be found: http://www.thebee.com. Please e-mail comments and

suggestions to: rbrand@JUNO.com or editor@thebee.com.)