Internet Hygiene

[debka_notion]

I just did most of one of those strange internet hygiene related tasks- I copied all the emails that were hanging out in my brandeis email's inbox because I wanted to keep them into a word file. It was a truly strange experience, as such always is when I've done so before. It's a bit like time-lapse photography. There were a few emails from freshman year, a few from sophomore year, a chunk from junior year and a bunch from last year. Many of them were from my parents or grandmothers, and it was rather lovely to see them reacting to me as I grew through those 4 years. Another chunk of the stuff saved there was from some folks I'm no longer in touch with, for one reason or another- that part really was a reflection of some of the different 'places' that I've been over the last 4+ years, and how those things were meaningful (and yet to still fly through them in the process of a general housecleaning type task). It was a really interesting balance of experiences.

Comments

[elfsdh.livejournal.com]

I think there's an easier way to save your email.

Most (but not all) email clients store their data in a standard format. The format is a single large text file containing the mail headers, the texts of the messages, and any binary attachments converted from 8-bit to 7-bit format.

If your email client stores email this way, the easiest way to back up email is to just store the mail folder somewhere else on disk.

Unlike closed-format, flat Word documents, the data is still indexed as individual email messages that are readable by almost any email program that supports the same format. The mail folders are also just text documents, so, in the worst case, they can be read with any text editor.

[debka-notion.livejournal.com]

Wow. That's a really nifty idea. Of course the practical details still elude me, but I'll have to try it. Thanks!