>   OK mail gurus, why do I get some mail with the text "=3D" or "=20"
>   interspersed in various messages?  Is it the mailer, my mail reader,
>   8 bit codes, viewing the screen at the wrong angle?
 
It's the fault of the mailer used by the sender of the message.
 
What is happening is that the receiving end (the SMTP server) is having to
break the lines because they are too long.
 
The mailer program (Microsoft Exchange) included with Win95 tries to send an
entire message as a single line (!!). The receiving end doesn't like this
much, and ends up breaking the lines, inserting the "=3D" and "=20" that you
see.
 
Microsoft seems to play hard and fast with the internet RFCs, breaking them
where they feel like it.
 
People who use Microsoft Exchange for sending email generally get flamed to
death until they get a real mailer, e.g. Eudora.
 
-Dan
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|Dan Hollis -- Pharmacy Computer Services, Inc.|
[log in to unmask]      -     (503)476-3139|
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