FWD: Garbled digests figured out

[ddr11]

>===== Original Message From Jeffrey Kopp <jeffreykopp at att.net> =====
Hi, Dave. I've received enough digests now to see what's happening. You can
forward this to the group if you wish. Alternatively, if you want to try
getting it fixed at the list server, send it to only to them, so the digest
subscribers won't change their delivery method unnecessarily. (Hopefully,
we'd learn quickly whether or not it can be fixed.)

The list server is not decoding the emails it combines into the digest.
This is probably a holdover from the days when all email was straight 7-bit
ASCII ("plain text"), and a few years after that when plain text remained
the preferred format for email lists and USENET groups.

This effectively makes the digest useless due to today's multi-format usage
in email. The problem is less likely to be seen by individual email
subscribers, as the recipient's software should decode the messages
correctly when received one at a time.

However, I do notice the Web archives are properly converted from the
various formats to HTML, so something on their end can do it; the
conversion technique just hasn't been applied to the digest generator as well.

I suspect some using older email software may not be able to read the
base64-encoded emails when received individually. (No, that's not what
Esperanto looks like, folks ;-))

[Geeky details for the curious; workaround is beneath.]

MIME-encoded email (an early modification to add a few 8-bit non-US
characters) is what you're seeing when you have equals signs followed by
two digits sprinkled throughout, particularly at line breaks. (I'm sure
most of us have seen =20 at line ends occasionally; many of the old
messages we converted from the Tincan list contain these.)

I see some posts employ inline-base64 encoding alone for the message body,
and these turn up in the digest as complete gibberish.

HTML-formatted emails are those you see in the digest with codes contained
between angle brackets.

I am "guilty" here, too, as I have my email client set to send out every
message in both plain text and HTML; the recipient's email client picks
which it can handle. I notice emails via Yahoo.com are sent in this fashion
also.

I doubt most of the list members can change the formatting of the emails
they send. Indeed I haven't figured out myself how to set mine to
automatically use one format or another depending upon destination address
(which is why I go belt-and-suspenders).

----the workaround:-----

So unless/until the digest generator is upgraded to handle these formats,
the workaround I would suggest is for digest subscribers to switch to
individual emails (we average only 5-6 posts a day), or alternatively, put
themselves "on vacation" (i.e., remain subscribed and can still post, but
just not receive list emails or digests), and read the list at the Web 
archive.

(Reading the Web archive would be the only solution for any whose email
client is not decoding emails received individually, and can't or don't
wish to upgrade the software.)

To go on vacation status, go to
http://cf.linguistlist.org/cfdocs/new-website/LL-WorkingDirs/lists/join-list.cfm?List=16
and choose the second option, just under unsubscribe (it's not called
"vacation" there, but "Stop sending issues until further notice").

To switch from digests to individual emails choose the fifth option, "Stop
sending me issues in digest form. Send them to me as individual issues
instead." (Oddly, "issues" is used here for "messages" or "emails.")

To get to the subscriber control page, if the link above does not work, go
to http://linguistlist.org/lists/get-lists.html, find "Chinook," and click
on "Join."

After changing your delivery method, you will receive an auto-generated
confirmatory email, which must be returned to effect the change.

Best regards,

Jeff

To respond to the CHINOOK list, click 'REPLY ALL'.  To respond privately to the sender of a message, click 'REPLY'.  Hayu masi!