Posting email addresses and internet links

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Posting email addresses and internet links

March 19, 2003, 02:04:42 pm

Yahoo Message Number: 20028

It appears that many in this group are confused about posting email addresses and Internet links to web sites. If you want to protect your email address so spammers don't send you email type your address as you normally would. Yahoo will truncate the address to protect it and anyone wishing to send you email can but will be required to use the Yahoo email software. Their email software is what you are using when you visit the group site and click Post or Reply to reply to a post. It prevents people that send spam because they typically don't want to use the Yahoo email software. Yahoo made the software so any use of the ampersand it understands to be an email address and will truncate it to protect it, it isn't intelligent so it doesn't know the difference.

If you want others to be able to email you directly using their preferred email software you can spell out the address and instead of using the ampersand use the word at that it implies instead. You could also either use the period or type the word dot; both will give result in the same end result. Just remember that this can open you up to Spam. If you see someone has posted their address the normal way you can email them but will have to use the Yahoo software until they reply. When you send the email your address will be shown and when they reply you'll have their address also. The Yahoo software warns of this when you send email from the group using this format.

When you post an Internet link you type it exactly how it would be typed into the address area of the browser. Yahoo will automatically make it a clickable link to that site provided it isn't longer than they have allowed for. If the address is long only the portion within the length parameters Yahoo assigned will be made an active link. In that case people would need to copy and paste the link in order to go directly to that page. Otherwise if it is short enough just type it or copy and paste it exactly like it should be in the address area of the browser.

By following this guide to posting it will make things easier for those that want to visit the recommended site or send email to you.
Every member should decide for themselves if they want to spell out their email address normally to protect their address from Spam and requiring others to use the Yahoo software at least initially or use the abc at any.isp or abc at any dot isp format. With Internet addresses it is best to type them exactly as they are typed into the address area including the http://

I hope this clears things up for anyone that doesn't understand how Yahoo groups works.

Mike

Re: Posting email addresses and internet links

Reply #1 – March 19, 2003, 02:23:15 pm

Yahoo Message Number: 20029

Thanks, Mike, for the thorough explanation.

Let me add one clarification. Yahoo does not truncate addresses in messages to members who receive their posting via email.
If I type (jsmith at domain dot com), I think it displays on the web site as jsmith@d But when I receive my copy of the posting (in my email) the complete address will be displayed.

Of course, Yahoo! could reduce the confusion if they did the truncation when one 'preview's a message, prior to sending it, but they don't.

/noel/

Re: Posting email addresses and internet links

Reply #2 – March 19, 2003, 06:47:12 pm

Yahoo Message Number: 20045

Thanks for the helpful explanation, Mike. One minor correction: the character @ is called "at." An ampersand looks like this: &. Ampersands are not used in email addresses.

Andy Baird :-)

Re: Posting email addresses and internet links

Reply #3 – March 19, 2003, 07:52:10 pm

Yahoo Message Number: 20051

Andy, I always called the @ an "at" symbol until I was told by a computer teacher it was called an ampersand. I always thought that & was an ampersand but she told me technically both were considered an ampersand. I never thought that sounded correct but from then on because she gave out the grades I started calling it what she wanted it called. It didn't sound correct to me, why have two different symbols meaning two different things right? How can you tell which one someone means? Well I figured it can happen since there are so many other things like that in the english language so it stuck.

Does anyone know what the actual name for @ really is? Is it just the "at" symbol like I originally thought for years and Andy is also saying or is there a specific name for it like the name for & is ampersand? I can't find anything on the web in several searches so if you know the answer to this trivia question enlighten me.
Sorry this doesn't have anything to do with LDs or RVs but it has now piqued my interest and there's such a wealth of knowledge in this group some might actually know!

Mike

Re: Posting email addresses and internet links

Reply #4 – March 19, 2003, 08:17:26 pm

Yahoo Message Number: 20052

My Webster's dictionary signs and symbols section defines @ as "at." The symbol & (ampersand) means "and." Nowhere does the dictionary state that the symbol @ also is an ampersand. Perhaps the computer teacher was confused.

John

Re: Posting email addresses and internet links

Reply #5 – March 19, 2003, 08:29:30 pm

Yahoo Message Number: 20053

Maybe none of you are old enough (including the computer teacher) to remember the good old days when one was required to hand write sales orders, purchase orders and the like -- even before typewriters...an order for geegaws would read: 18 geegaws @ $.02ea $.36 It's just shorthand for "at", always has been, always will be.
Lorna's two cents' worth @ $.01 each!

Perhaps the computer

Re: Posting email addresses and internet links

Reply #6 – March 20, 2003, 05:42:01 pm

Yahoo Message Number: 20068

John,

Thanks for checking that and giving me the idea to look at the fullsize Webster's. I hadn't thought of looking in our BIG Webster's dictionary before your post. I had looked in my pocket version but it doesn't include symbols though it has a lot of other info. The BIG Webster's does have them and a lot of other interesting info I never really knew it contained before. I was careful though in picking it up so as not to get a hernia!

I'm sure the computer teacher was confused, but since she gave out the grades and things had to be her way to get a good one I started calling it what she wanted it called to get a good grade and it stuck all these years, until now! Now I'll go back to calling it what I always did before, the "at" symbol.

Mike

Re: @ and &

Reply #7 – March 21, 2003, 06:33:24 pm

Yahoo Message Number: 20092

I know this has already been answered (thanks, John and Lorna!), but I can't resist adding a little more about the history of the &, which is actually a very old symbol.
The ampersand is actually a combination of the letters "e" and "t," and that's because "et" is latin for "and." ("Et tu, Brute?" --"And you, Brutus?") In the most common modern form it's a little hard to see, but if you keep your eyes peeled you will often notice that in script fonts such as Zapf Dingbats the ampersand character's resemblance to "et" is still very obvious.
Medieval scribes invented this handy shortcut symbol, just as computer users have invented shortcuts like IMHO ("in my humble opinion"). They referred to it as "and per se, and," meaning "and by itself, and"--'per se' being Latin for "by itself." This was eventually corrupted to "ampersand," which is how we wound up with that name for the & symbol.

Andy Baird :-)

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