Due to no one realizing that the tape hadn't been started to record the meeting, most of the discussion is presented here from memory. The Q&A is from the tape.
Brian Smither spoke to the audience for the first time as SPCUG's new Editor-in-Chief. He said that his first issue was a bit hairy, but should have the kinks worked out for the next issue of Sacra Blue.
Q. A question about animated graphics. What I've discovered that, in Outlook, I can't send GIF files of a certain size nor can I expect it to be animated at the recipient's end.
A. If you are doing it as an attachment, it is up to the recipient to detach it and view it using the graphics viewer utility of their choice. But as an embedded (in-line) image, it should be animated provided the recipient is using an e-mail program set up to do this.
R. If I receive an animated graphic in Outlook, I can see it animated. If I use Outlook Express to send an embedded animated GIF, then it works in the recipient's e-mail program. Also, how can I get that animated graphic to be animated in Microsoft Word?
A. To make sure the recipient can deal with an embedded animated graphic properly, be sure to send the message using HTML and not Microsoft Outlook Rich Text (Tools, Options, Mail Format, Message Format = HTML). By default, Outlook is set to MS Outlook Rich Text. Unfortunately, mail sent in this format will not display correctly if the recipient is using a different mail client, such as Eudora, Lotus Notes, ccMail, etc. Plus, Outlook 97 may not be able to display HTML formatted messages, anyway.
Word does not have the capability to animate GIF animations. The closest you have in Word is "Fancy Text," but that isn't what you are asking about.
C. Last month I was asking about GoBack. Well, I installed it, it trashed my hard drive, I spent money getting the mess straightened out. Be forewarned. My experience with the light version that comes with Norton System Works says to avoid it (running Windows 98).
