Date: Thu, 21 Dec 1995 11:23:06 -0600

From: Katherine Catmull kate[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]BGA.COM

Subject: Re: P.S. re the Long Message



Granted this is somewhat off the subject of this list, but perhaps others

are as computer-naive as I am and would appreciate some enlightenment,

namely: 1) What is "the first screen"?



Some messages are short enough that they are contained within the screen

that opens when you read a message. Others are longer, and you have to

scroll down past the first screen to read the whole message.





and 2) While my ignorance of how

to do it would prevent my decoding and downloading the binary file and I

wouldn't have had the interest in this one to prompt me to find out,

nevertheless I don't know why it would have been unwise.



A decoded & downloaded binary file can become an "executable file"--that

is, a piece of software. An executable can contain a virus, if the person

who sent it (or the person he or she got it from) is malicious enough to

have planted one. A virus could, for example, erase your entire hard drive,

or other unpleasant things.



Kate Catmull