What email-format do current government departments want?

[no.to...@gmail.com]

This baby-talk query, composed for other fora:

When we started email, some decades ago: each key-press generated one
character, which became one byte in the email. Later, methods evolved
to encode and wrap pictures and pdf-documents, as attachments to email.

An original document keyed-in as plain text, uses from 2 to 10 times the
number of bytes, when converted to a pdf file; which also slows the
search process and email transmission rate.

Of course, this increase in size is encouraged by the software industry,
as part of the continual pressure to *upgrade* [buy my stuff].

A new government department [in South Africa] is failing to respond to
my emails, and the telephones have an answering-machine only.
This department's [www.cipc.co.za] publications show an attempt to be
internet based; and they would obviously follow the current practice
as sold to them by their "software vendors".

Their written instructions are to email completed Form X, which is
available as http://............pdf

Since Form X must be signed, it must be converted to paper and back to
bytes. How else would you do this?

Since Form X states: "attach to this form a typed document..";
must the several of such needed "typed documents" be converted from
plain text, to pdf, and be attached to the email?

Do I understand correctly that this government department cannot/will-not
read plain-text email; they require all text to be delivered as separate
attachments?


==TIA.

[Joe Beanfish]

On Wed, 08 Apr 2015 04:42:14 +0000, no.top.post wrote:
> Their written instructions are to email completed Form X, which is
> available as http://............pdf
>
> Since Form X must be signed, it must be converted to paper and back to
> bytes. How else would you do this?
>
> Since Form X states: "attach to this form a typed document..";
> must the several of such needed "typed documents" be converted from
> plain text, to pdf, and be attached to the email?
>
> Do I understand correctly that this government department
> cannot/will-not read plain-text email; they require all text to be
> delivered as separate attachments?

The signature is graphical and can't be represented in old-school
text only. Your related message to them about the pdf document
could still be plain text.

Adobe and others have some forms of electronic signing, but that's
probably not what the gov you mention wants. As you say, to sign you
have to print it out, write your signature, scan it in. Then attach
the resulting image or pdf to the email you send to them.

[Aleksandar Kuktin]

On Wed, 08 Apr 2015 13:47:55 +0000, Joe Beanfish wrote:

> On Wed, 08 Apr 2015 04:42:14 +0000, no.top.post wrote:
>> Their written instructions are to email completed Form X, which is
>> available as http://............pdf
>>
>> Since Form X must be signed, it must be converted to paper and back to
>> bytes. How else would you do this?
>>
>> Since Form X states: "attach to this form a typed document..";
>> must the several of such needed "typed documents" be converted from
>> plain text, to pdf, and be attached to the email?

Isn't snail mail an option? It looks like it could be a more optimal
solution in this case.

[Ant]

>>> Their written instructions are to email completed Form X, which is
>>> available as http://............pdf
>>>
>>> Since Form X must be signed, it must be converted to paper and back to
>>> bytes. How else would you do this?
>>>
>>> Since Form X states: "attach to this form a typed document..";
>>> must the several of such needed "typed documents" be converted from
>>> plain text, to pdf, and be attached to the email?
>
> Isn't snail mail an option? It looks like it could be a more optimal
> solution in this case.

Or fax!
--
"Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw
from us. We need hours of aimless wandering or spates of time sitting on
park benches, observing the mysterious world of ants and the canopy of
treetops." --Maya Angelou (b. 1928) American writer and entertainer
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site)
/ /\ /\ \ Ant's Quality Foraged Links: http://aqfl.net
| |o o| |
\ _ / If crediting, then use Ant nickname and AQFL URL/link.
( ) Chop ANT from its address if e-mailing privately.
Ant is currently not listening to any songs on this computer.

[no.to...@gmail.com]

From: Aleksandar Kuktin
...
> Isn't snail mail an option? It looks like it could be a more optimal
> solution in this case.

...
From: Ant
> Or fax!
..
This wasn't a technical question as is seen by my careful wording
[that's why i *HATE* Debian 'lose talk': "you may want to..tra..la..la"]
"What email-format do current government departments want?"

It's a socio/political question.
Since nothing works in Africa other than by bribery, one could start
by asking what system the big vendor/s would have 'sold' the South
African government, to be able to claim to have the latest most
modern computerised-system. [Which is non-functional like the rest...
form above function: shave your head & wear 60's pointy Italian shoes,
and if that doesn't work, try a suit & then a Mbenz....]

I suspect that eg. 5 'documents' are expected to be sent as 5 separate
attatchments, and NOT as I've done here by just pasting the essential
contents of the 3 responses [above].

So perhaps I could find out if/how the same system is actually working
somewhere.

Or as the lawers say: "why use ten words, when ten thousand will do".

==WDYS?

[Keith Keller]

["Followup-To:" header set to comp.os.linux.networking.]

On 2015-04-10, no.to...@gmail.com <no.to...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> It's a socio/political question.

It's trolling from a long-time troll. You're catching fewer and fewer
fish with every troll.

--keith

--
kkeller...@wombat.san-francisco.ca.us
(try just my userid to email me)
AOLSFAQ=http://www.therockgarden.ca/aolsfaq.txt
see X- headers for PGP signature information

[Aleksandar Kuktin]

Troll or no troll, I'll like add some personal closure.

On Fri, 10 Apr 2015 03:26:17 +0000, no.top.post wrote:

> In article <mg3bib$4p4$1...@dont-email.me>, Joe Beanfish
> <joebe...@nospam.duh> wrote:
>
> From: Aleksandar Kuktin ...
>> Isn't snail mail an option? It looks like it could be a more optimal
>> solution in this case.
> ...
> From: Ant
> > Or fax!
> ..
> This wasn't a technical question as is seen by my careful wording
> [that's why i *HATE* Debian 'lose talk': "you may want to..tra..la..la"]
> "What email-format do current government departments want?"
>
> It's a socio/political question.

Oh, okay. Ain't interested that much is discussing obtuse government
practices. Otherwise, I would begin with a tract on ineffectiveness of
signatures as an authentication mechanism.

> Since nothing works in Africa other than by bribery,

Nor anywhere else - don't flatter yourself.