If there is a vcf attachment in email it is the person's "electronic
business card." It is a small attachment with detailed address info and
also is used to verify the integrity of the message. The people have
elected to digitally sign a message. This is NOT limited to MS products
but is an open standard created to combat spoofing of email. If you can
send email having signed onto the internet from a place other then your
own provider, then anybody can send email with your name on it and there
will be nothing to show otherwise. Even if they send it through there own
providers SMTP server it can be tough to tell.

Also, some programs attach other files which allow for more formatting to
be done with email. This is how HTML and RTF based email is sent. There is
one or more attachments for the extra stuff along with a text file. Again
it is a responce to demand by consumers. Some enterprise level systems
(Exchange and CcMail) do this transparently if setup that way. The user
has no control it is up to the administrator.

Now for the solution, delete it. The size of those files is small.
Further, in many programs all files are stored in a single file so you
need not worry about granularity of your storage system. If there is
nothing in the text of the message to refer you back to the attachment
thenignore it. This is good advice since blindly launching any attachment
is a good way to allow a virus onto your system.

On Wed, 20 May 1998, ORCUTT, KEVIN wrote:

> This is a test.  As I believe that Outlook does not always add the
> vcard.vcf.  I am using Outlook, and have specified that my signature is
> the "text" that is included down below not my vcard.vcf file.  So you
> can't really blame the software, not that I'm defending the dreaded
> Microsoft package, but I think those people who have this vcard.vcf file
> as an attachment have set it up that way explicitly.
>
> Well any, that's my $0.02 worth!
>
> included signature below....
> Kevin Orcutt
> Software Engineer
> Vickers E.S.D., Inc.
> 1151 W. Mason-Morrow Road
> Lebanon, OH 45036-9699
> (513) 494-5752 - Phone
> (513) 494-5400 - Fax
> kevin.orcutt@vickers-systems.com
> #include <stddisclaimers.h> // "It just doesn't Matter!"
>