Robert Nansel <PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU> wrote:

> To anyone who was inconvenienced by my posting the GIFs of the
> ultrasonic schematics: my apologies. I posted them because of the
> large number of requests I received from other members of the list.

    Keep in mind, Robert, that there are over 1200 PICLIST
    subscribers.  Even if you received a HUNDRED requests, that still
    means that over 90% of the list membership DIDN'T ask for your
    files.

> Perhaps a more constructive way to respond to this issue would be to
> define what is "too large" a file to attach (or if one should attach
> files at all).

    One should NEVER attach files to PICLIST messages... People who
    receive the "digest" form of the list can't decode your
    attachments without going to a whole lot of trouble, and many of
    the others can't decode attachments even if they receive PICLIST
    messages one at a time.

    Also, many PICLIST members pay for their internet access by the
    byte... When you send them 81K of data that they don't want,
    you're costing them money.

    And... The PICLIST is archived on the web.  If your attached
    files aren't filtered out by the archiving software, they take
    up valuable space there.

    Finally, it's inconsiderate to force the listserver to mail out
    94 megabytes of your data (81K of images * 1200 subscribers),
    especially since the recipients are overwhelmingly NOT
    interested in it...

    The best way to distribute binary files is to put them up on a
    web page or ftp site somewhere, then just post a short message
    to the list which describes the files and their location.

    -Andy

=== Andrew Warren - fastfwd@ix.netcom.com
=== Fast Forward Engineering - Vista, California
=== http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/2499