[LINK] Conflating multiple concepts into the single word "email"

Ivan Trundle ivan at itrundle.com
Thu Nov 21 18:03:12 AEDT 2013


And I got it in my email, so all is well with the world…

iT

On 21 Nov 2013, at 12:22 pm, Marghanita da Cruz <marghanita at ramin.com.au> wrote:

> So, you chose to email us about it!
> 
> Marghanita
> Robin Whittle wrote:
>> This has been a pet peeve of mine for some time.  Today I found the
>> trifecta - a site which uses the term "email" on its own for three
>> separate concepts:
>> 
>>  1 - Email address.
>> 
>>  2 - Email account accessed via website or desktop/cell-phone/tablet
>>      client software.
>> 
>>  3 - Email message.
>> 
>> The page http://www.photonicsonline.com/hub/bucket/homelatestheadlines
>> invites me to:
>> 
>> "Get the latest news, product offerings and industry updates
>>  delivered to your in-box.  Enter your email. [1]"
>> 
>> After I entered my email address a window popped up with:
>> 
>> "Thanks for signing up for the Photonics Online newsletter! You
>>  need to confirm your subscription before you'll start receiving
>>  the newsletter. To do so:
>> 
>>    Check your email [2] for a message from Photonics Online.
>>    Click the confirmation link in that email [3].
>>    If you don't see the email [3] in about 10 minutes, please
>>    check your spam filter.
>> 
>>    Add info at photonicsonline.com to your list of "safe senders"
>>    in your email program. [Now they are being specific, but they
>>    should use "email account" whether or not it is accessed by a
>>    a program on a PC, tablet or whatever.] Otherwise, the
>>    newsletter might end up in your spam folder instead of your inbox.
>> 
>>  Once you do that, you'll receive the newsletter the next time it
>>  is published."
>> 
>> Their message did fall foul of my (not recently updated) Spamassassin
>> system and was dumped into "Spam Marginal", due to it containing an
>> image linked from a remote website and being HTML only.  There was no
>> further use of "email", just the perfectly apt term "message".
>> 
>> Despite being HTML, the link address was not a link - I had to copy and
>> paste it into a browser window.
>> 
>> Whoever created this system seemed to think that just having
>> "http://www.xxxx . . ." in an email message would transform it into a
>> clickable link.   Email systems tend to do that for plain text messages,
>> but not (as far as I know) for HTML messages.  Maybe that is changing
>> now that everyone and their gnat is using cellphones and the like for
>> email communications, with what I assume are inherent difficulties doing
>> things like copy and paste to a browser window.
>> 
>>  - Robin            http://www.firstpr.com.au
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> Link mailing list
>> Link at mailman.anu.edu.au
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>> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Marghanita da Cruz
> Ramin Communications Pty Ltd
> http://ramin.com.au/
> Phone:(+61)0414-869202
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Link mailing list
> Link at mailman.anu.edu.au
> http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link





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