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Random thought:

Pretty pictures in your e-mail messages

Anybody with a camera and an e-mail account has probably wanted to create an e-mail with photographs in it. Depending on what e-mail application you use, the task might be easy or difficult and the results might be successful. Or not. More times than often it was "or not." Now there's help.

Novatix (www.novatix.com) has a program called SendPhotos that will help. The program's sole shortcoming is that it works only with Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Outlook Express, or via the Novatix website. I don't like using any version of Outlook and I don't much care for sending mail via a website, but SendPhotos makes it easy anyway. I have set up one account on Outlook Express and, when I want to send an e-mail with embedded photos, I start Outlook Express and click on the SendPhotos icon that Novatix put in place when I installed the program.

The results are excellent, even with e-mail programs that often choke on embedded graphics. The best thing is that it's so easy to use. First, you chooses the photos you want to send. Next, you select the stationery design. (Novatix provides 50 templates and you can download more.) The third step involves adding a title, text, and captions. The final step is sending the message -- either via Outlook (Express) and your standard POP3 account or -- if you use AOL, Hotmail or Yahoo -- via the Novatix website.

The receiver can see your photos immediately. They are, of course, sent as attachments, but they appear within the body of the e-mail's text. You don't need to be a computer guru to send photos or to view them when they arrive.

SendPhotos isn't a shareware program. You'll pay $40 (introductory price $30) for it, but there's a 30-day guarantee. And besides, it's the kind of program that, once you've tried it, you won't return.

When I first tried using SendPhotos (version 1.11) I quickly noticed a frustrating bug: After I carefully typed clever and witty captions for my pictures (well, half-witty, anyway) the captions disappeared and messages arrived with photos captions this way: "Type here to insert caption." Not good. But relief was quick to arrive.

I received an e-mail message telling me that version 1.13 was available. When I clicked on the link to download the new version, the installation was automatic (I think I like that) and immediately my half-witty captions stayed with my messages. What a relief!

Besides being able to buy SendPhotos on the Novatix website, you can also have the system automatically send you 1 to 3 sample e-mail messages with images embedded. If you like to share pictures with your family and friends, but the process is needlessly confusing, give SendPhotos a try.

New e-mail address

The address you may have used in the past (wtvn@blinn.com) is going to be phased out. A spammer got his dirty little hands on the address and suddenly it's being filled with the typical spam crap. At the bottom of this page, you'll find the new address. You can read it. You can copy it and paste it. You can click on it. That's because you're a human

Being inhuman, spammers can't read it. Or at least their little spambots can't. Spambots scan websites looking for addresses. Automating the search is easy: You just look for something in the format name@domain.com. This is so easy that even I could write a program to do it.

But spambots can't read Javascript. More accurately, they can read the Javascript (if they can find it) but the address can be disguised so well that no spambot will be able to figure it out.

If you have a website and your address is posted "in the clear", now would be a good time to make sure that the address is in a separate Javascript file that's included and that you use the Javascript wherever you want your address to appear. Don't post the address in plain text even once.

As a public service, let me tell you how to do it.

Break your address up into three pieces. Using the above example, those three pieces would be name, domain, and com. Then create a text file using UltraEdit or BBEdit (or Notepad) that looks like this:

var nm = 'name';
var dm = 'domain';
var sf = 'com';
var as = '@';
var dt = '.';
function WriteMyAd() {
 		document.write('<a href="mailto:'
		+nm+as+dm+dt+sf
		+'">'+nm+as+dm+dt+sf+'</a>');	}

Be certain that you don't include any line breaks between sets of 'single' quote marks. Also, remember to replace 'name' with your e-mail user ID, 'domain' with your domain, and 'com' with your top-level domain if it's something other than "com". Leave the single quote marks and the semi-colons alone. Save the file as "address.js" in the same directory with the rest of your website files.

In the <head> section of each website page, include this line to load the file:

<script language="JavaScript" TYPE="text/javascript" SRC="address.js"></script>

Then, wherever you want your address to appear, include this little snippet of code (exactly as shown):

<script language="JavaScript" TYPE="text/javascript">WriteMyAd();</script>

So you might have a section that looks like this: Send me an e-mail if you wish. My address is <script language="JavaScript" TYPE="text/javascript">WriteMyAd();</script>. And that's all the spambot will see.

People who are reading the website will see this: Send me an e-mail if you wish. My address is name@domain.com. In other words, people will see and be able to use a functional link.

Meanwhile, you'll note that I've left "wtvn@blinn.com" at the bottom of the page. It's essentially a decoy. Do you think we'll ever find a real solution to the scourge of spam?

E-ticketing flies high

I haven't had a standard airline ticket for a couple of years. Electronic ticketing makes the whole process of getting through the airport easier and airlines seem to like it. In January, for example, Northwest Airlines established a new company record when 88.2% of its domestic customers used electronic tickets.

Now Northwest has launched "interline" electronic ticketing capabilities with Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air. Those who have had to travel on multiple airlines haven't been able to use electronic ticketing -- at least not easily. Now Northwest customers can use a single e-ticket for travel involving both Northwest and two of its largest alliance partners.

There's already an agreement in place that allows interline e-ticketing with Northwest, American, United, Delta, and Continental. Customers will no longer need to obtain a separate e-ticket for each carrier or obtain a paper ticket.

For more information, see http://www.nwa.com/.

Nerdly News

Broadband continues to soar

Home networking may still be in its infancy, but it is gaining in popularity among all demographic groups. That's the conclusion of research by In-Stat/MDR, a high-tech market research firm reports. Some 10% of US homes have a network, that's up from 8% in 2001. That doesn't look like much of an increase -- from 8% to 10%, but it is a 25% increase -- 10% is 125% of 8%. (Does your head hurt yet?)

In-Stat/MDR says this means home networking is past the "early adopter" phase and is now spreading into the mainstream, mass market. The primary reason for home networking is to share an Internet connection -- often a fast connection (cable modem or DSL) -- but others use the technology to move files around the house or to share even a modem connection.

Ethernet is the most common technology for home networking today, but wireless is expected to surpass wired networking in shipments soon. Both current network owners and non-owners say they will deploy wireless networks within about 2 years.

The report is based on survey results of 961 US households and examines the demographics of the home network owner, compared to non-home network users, the usage of technology by home network owners, the reasons for home networking, the types of technology used for networking now and in the future, the purchase and usage patterns of networked and non- networked consumers and the opportunities for service providers in offering home networking related services. You can have your very own copy of this report. Contact the folks at http://www.instat.com/catalog/cat-rc.htm and have your credit card ready. The report costs $2,495.

A surprise that shouldn't have been
& a lot of executive babble

I was more than a little surprised when I learned about Microsoft's decision to acquire Connectix. Connectix is the company that makes Virtual PC -- an application that allows Mac users to run Windows applications -- and that also allows Windows users to run several different versions of Windows simultaneously.

Microsoft says it's another vote of confidence for the Mac platform.

The company says that customers can easily migrate to next-generation operating system platforms while leveraging investments in their existing applications. In plain English, that means you can buy a new computer and continue to use older applications, even if they won't run on the new operating system, by installing a "virtual machine" that runs the old operating system. (My version is a little more wordy, but I think non-geeks might actually understand what's at stake.)

A news release from Connectix quotes interchangeable Microsoft people who speak in typical business babble about "best-of-breed" solutions and "legacy Windows applications" and about being "committed to delivering this solution for our customers and providing the support they need both today and in the future." Do business people really talk like this? If so, they should be committed!

Over at Connectix, we have "This agreement will enable advances in virtual machine technology and applications through expanded resources for research, development, professional support and services," from president and CEO Roy K. McDonald. McDonald brings up the always-popular "seamless product and support transition for our current customers" and the belief that "Microsoft will produce the very best-in-class virtualization solutions on Windows and Macintosh platforms for a long time to come."

"Best-of-breed" or "best-in-class"? Are we on a farm or in a school? Why do the PR agencies make people who probably can speak plain English appear to talk this way?

They might have said, "With any amount of luck, Microsoft will continue to provide an excellent product based on Connectix code." But that would have been too easy.

Let us know what you think about this program! Write to:
Bill Blinn --
(wtvn@blinn.com still works)
Joe Bradley --

Joe
(Photo by Sally)

Bill
(Photo by Scampi)

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Annoying legal disclaimer
My attorney says I really need to say this: The Technology Corner website is for informational purposes only. Neither Joe nor I assume any responsibility for its accuracy, although we do our best. The information is subject to change without notice. Any actions you take based on information from the radio program or from this website are entirely at your own risk. Products and services are mentioned for informational purposes only and their various trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners. Technology Corner cannot provide technical support for products or services mentioned on the air or on the website.