[Shaku] Size matters

From: Windsor Viney (viney@enso.ca)
Date: Wed Feb 04 2004 - 05:45:50 PST


Dear list,

Several subscribers have recently suggested that it makes no difference that files of photographs be attached to messages to this list. To at least some other subscribers -- this one, for instance -- it most certainly does: here is what one of the recent images looks like as displayed in my e-mail client; it begins:

> Content-Id: <a05200f17bc4568dfc6a1@[196.40.50.249].0.0>
> Content-Type: image/jpeg; name="Kinya_flute.jpg"
> ; x-mac-type="4A504547"
> ; x-mac-creator="474B4F4E"
> Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="Kinya_flute.jpg"
> Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
>
> /9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQEASABIAAD/4RBMRXhpZgAATU0AKgAADlIgICAgICAgICAgAE5J
> S09OAEUyNTAwAAAAASwAAAABAAABLAAAAAFFMjUwMHYxLjAAMDAwMDowMDowMCAwMDow
> MDowMAAAAAAKAAABQwAAABsAAAAKMDAwMDowMDowMCAwMDowMDowMAAwMDAwOjAwOjAw

and after a thousand or so similar lines, it ends:

> aBgnr+VFFMYFggOeoGBUEU53OJVKgnhqKKBE+Y1BYPkYqKOdZOQwA6cnFFFFgHSTII8K
> RuqNXkU5457UUUhkgkJH3cU5GBOQaKKBERwXK5yPWpQNgJ6k96KKGMaTksQeCMHNHJ2D
> GAOPrRRQICwEhXPSn+Yo4zxRRQMQlG4HJppyCBj60UUCFHy9jiiiigD/2Q==
> --============_-1136279936==_============--

I receive the digest version of the list, so have to scroll through all this in order to find the next message.

One might say, "Well, get a different client." But this is an e-mail list, not a photo-sharing list. (Some of us think that even HTML-formatted images should be banned from e-mail lists, but that's another topic.)

I think players and appreciators of the shakuhachi are familiar with the notion of elegance, which surely includes an awareness and practise of economy (in the several senses of that word). The parallel nerd precept for this kind of situation is, "Don't waste bandwidth": rather than send scores of copies of the same file to many people (a considerable number of whom might have no interest in it, if only for reasons of their finances), please just post a URL.

With respect,

Windsor Viney
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

PS It is my understanding that it is, in fact, a stated policy of this list that photos not be attached to messages hereto. If I am wrong about that, I'd appreciate being set straight.
_____________________________________________

List subscription information is at:
 http://communication.ucsd.edu/shaku/listsub.html



This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Feb 23 2005 - 15:42:32 PST