[ARSCLIST] HTML posts (was Re: [ARSCLIST] Washington DC TV Doc. - Video Restoration)

[Mike Richter <mrichter@xxxxxxx>]

At 09:30 AM 9/23/2004 +0000, Don Cox wrote:

> Please could you try to post in plain ASCII on this list?
>
> Some of us deliberately use email programs which do not display
> HTML.

YES!

I subscribe to a half dozen (or more) lists and 'own' a few. This is the
only one which permits HTML and I have often considered unsubscribing for
that reason. We have had no problem with trolls, spammers or infected
subscribers since I have been here, but if we should then the awkwardness
and poor legibility of HTML will be compounded by the security risk it poses.

Well over 90% of my e-mail (over 95% if one does not count ARSCLIST) is
spam; less than 30% of my ASCII e-mail is spam. In my preferred mail
reader, most HTML must be denatured - stripped of its formatting - to be
read conveniently. At the least, HTML posts are discourteous, imposing the
writer's choice of font, style and color on the reader.  I suspect that few
if any of us use dialup, so the fact that ASCII conveys the same
information in substantially less "bandwidth" (typically, one third the
number of bytes) is of academic interest only.

Then again, many of us appear to be in academia, so academic interest may
apply.

I submit one vote to the listowner to *disable* HTML and any other
attachment as a safety measure. I join Don in his plea that until/unless
that happens, we post only plaintext as a courtesy.


Mike
--
mrichter@xxxxxxx
http://www.mrichter.com/