text reader

[Tom Rush]

On Mon, 19 Feb 1996, Tom Thompson <TrptPlayer@aol.com> wrote:
>
> I have suddenly begun to get all of the "control" characters when I download
> the condensed version of pianotech.  I don't believe that this has happened
> before..  I'm on AOL, and am downloading to the download folder, then reading
> it using my Windows '95 text reader.  Any suggestions on how I can download
> these files and read them in a more recognizable form.  All the text is
> there, but I am distracted by all the = at the end of lines, etc.
> Tom Thompson
>
This problem, which many may not notice, is caused by trying to read mail
in 'MIME' format with a regular text reader or a mail reader that does not
handle MIME properly.

MIME means "Mail with Multimedia Extensions", and is used for a variety
of purposes, including sending audio and video files via e-mail, or
sending mail to be read with a different character set.  While this
has exciting possibilities, I don't feel it has any place on a mailing
list.

The 'control characters' you see are caused by the sender having his
mailer set to send mail in "QUOTED-PRINTABLE" format.  If you get the
list in digest form, and the first message in the digest is in this
format, then the entire digest is "contaminated".

Not all mailers handle MIME mail well (including mine!).  Only 1 or 2
users on the list are sending mail in this format (Pianocraft@aol.com,
for one--no offense), but I would like to request that list users check
the following:

- set your mailer to use '7-BIT' format, not 'QUOTED-PRINTABLE'
- try to keep the width of your text under 80 columns.

Thanks.
--
Tom Rush
tom@tarush.chattanooga.net