Subj : Enabling embedded pictures in Messages
To   : Tim Schattkowsky
From : Carol Shenkenberger
Date : Sat Mar 05 2022 03:47 pm

  Re: Enabling embedded pictures in Messages
  By: Tim Schattkowsky to All on Thu Feb 10 2022 02:42 pm

 > Hello All,
 > 
 > when using Fido today I regularly hit the wall when I notice that I would li
 > to *attach at least a picture* to illustrate something. Also, people keep
 > sendig me fido messages that refer to pictures put on their web space. This
 > feels odd.
 > 
 > Also, the current practice for *text styles is limited* in application and n
 > well-defined. Still, this seems to be the minor of the two issues.
 > 
 > I think this is really something that could/should be addressed in some way 
 > enable relevant contemporary communication through fido.
 > 
 > To adress this, I see _at least_ two options:
 > 
 > 1) Do it fully email-style by using MIME with HTML text and embedded/referen
 >    pictures. This will be a lot to implement and particularly difficult to
 >    handle in 16-Bit software due to memory restrictions and lack of framewor
 >    Also, memory comes to mind when considering the size of the resulting
 >    messages. Using @SPLIT, these could be extended beyound 63k, but the
 >    resulting messages might be considered an annoyance.
 > 2) Define a simple fidonet-compatible way that is more in line with existing
 >    fido technology (particularly a maximum message length of 63k) but still
 >    enables including at least a picture and maybe simple text styles while
 >    maintaining readability on non-compatible systems.
 > 
 > I find both alternatives interesting, but currently I prefer the latter with
 > focus on embedding the picture. The idea would by to have something that is
 > more like the ability to post a picture on social media platforms. So instea
 > of providing half a text processor for creating formatted text, people can j
 > include the picture with their fidonet mail and ideally the editor will
 > recompress the picture as needed to a jpg to limit the resuling message size
 > including the encoding picture to 63k.
 > 
 > My idea for the latter would be to include the .jpg as Base64 and add a klud
 > to it for inline-display. This could also be done for multiple images.
 > 
 > An alternative would be including a link to the picture like we do today, bu
 > enabling the reader to automatically download such pictures and maybe includ
 > automated upload/linking of the image in the editor. However, that would be
 > quite dependent on other services.
 > 
 > *What do you think?*
 > 
 > Regards,
 > Tim

Tim, I like the last one.  An OLR that would then include the picture from a
posted link, if I follow you right.

  xxcarol
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