NavList:

SHORT SUMMARY:
1) "at" sign masking has changed.
2) type d in square brackets as a shortcut to get a degree symbol, °, in messages.
3) avoid using text with colors, e.g. 'red for my comments'.

For many years in NavList messages, "at" signs and some following text were masked to reduce automatic collection of email addresses by spammers. Since other users have become more common in NavList messages and this masking has become a nuisance, I have now changed this: "at" signs will be replaced by {at}.

For example, I shot Sun LL @14:10:30. This text had an at sign in it as written. You can contact me by email at Frank@ReedNavigation.com. This email address had an at sign as written.

And now something useful! AT LONG LAST, an easy way to add a degree sign in messages. We all know that we can copy and paste or use various keyboard shortcuts or use something like Character Map to find the degree sign. But it's annoying. So now all you have to do is type the letter d is brackets, like this ° except with a lower case "d". Just type that in a message, either by email or in a message board post, and it will automatically be translated into the usual degree symbol before it is displayed and before it is sent out as a NavList email (this won't work in message subjects or anywhere in messages sent as a "reply-to-author" from the message boards).

For example, my location here is 41° 29' N, 71° 22' W. That text was entered using "d" in square brackets --no degree symbol look-up required. Note that you CAN still enter the degree symbol manually. This is just a shortcut.

Regarding text colors... Several times in the past few months a few NavList members have used different colors of text to add their comments inline in a copy of a message, e.g. original author's comments in black, my replies in red. I would suggest that you avoid this practice. First, some people with visual defects can't see it. Many people are color-blind to some extent and at least find color differences difficult to detect in on-screen text. Second, text color is not considered 'syntactic' in the online world. Web browers and email readers are free to ignore or change text color without warning since it's considered a presentation feature --cosmetic rather than expressing meaning. Third, many NavList members receive copies of messages by email in plain text format ONLY. For them, there are no colors at all. You can use color in NavList messages in addition to some other notation. Just don't count on color as the only means of distinguishing one bit of text from another.

-FER

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