It seems that as technology advances, the file size limits of email attachments keep getting smaller and going downhill. I remember at one point when AOL was king of the hill, file size limits were about 15mb for attachments, this was reasonable and worked well for the times and most items.

The problem today is, most photos from your camera will exceed that limit very fast and depending on your camera settings, 35mb or larger per photo is not uncommon anymore.  Comcast has always allowed bigger file sizes at about 25mb per attachment, but that has changed too.  There is nothing more frustrating than sending off a photo to someone just to get it returned because their email provider is skimpy and will not handle the attachment size.

Here is a quote from one provider; “Email is a critical business communication tool, encompassing 28% of a typical user’s day. Not only is email the most common communication vehicle in the enterprise, it has also become the primary method for email attachment transfers within and outside the organization. Many of these files are quite large, up to five megabytes or more. And that’s a problem, because email systems were never designed to manage very large file transfers, and they do not manage them well. From poor server performance to data integrity issues, organizations need to learn how to better manage large file transfers.”

I am not going to run all over the internet to discover which provider allows what size limits for sending emails, but there are a few ways to make mailing larger files easier. First, you can compress the file(s) using 7-zip, Winzip or Tugzip; or any reputable compression software should work. But be aware some file types compress better than others and certain files may not compress at all, depending on the compression method. Check the file size before and after compression to see if there has been a notable size reduction. Then there are those folks you send these attachments to who are unable to open them. Yes, in this day and age there are still lots of people in the world who have never seen email, let alone know how to compress or decompress a file attachment download. It’s sad but true.

Second, you can use an external provider for your large emails like – Noipmail.com which allows the largest size email attachment at a whopping 50 megabytes per email which is five times larger than the top two providers being Gmail and yahoo. This is a free service (Unknown if a pay service allows more.) So head over to Noipmail.com and checkout what’s available.  When I took a look my first impression was “Spammers’ Paradise? Try these places as well; www.Emaillargefile.com – www.Yousendit.com – www.Axway.com – www.Transferbigfiles.com – These are just a few of the places I found.

Free or pay for use, this is just a reminder that we are soon going to be paying extra for everything unless we do something now to prevent it. Like the bandwidth tiers for internet access, providers want to charge more for speedier packages. AT&T had attempted this at one point and created so much customer backlash that they put the tier concept on the back burner for a while. Comcast is already doing this with its internet service, but there is legislation in the works to eliminate this type of packaging for consumer’s use of the internet.

Still it’s just a matter of time before it costs us more money no matter what.  My hope is that the major email providers don’t wimp out altogether and drop attachments to 5mb. But I’m sure they will figure out how to put the squeeze on all of us for large file transfers, simply by thinning out our wallets! That’s democracy hard at work for ya.

CHICAGO, West Side — MMmmm, Doh!!

Marge Simpson has done something that Homer might not like, or will he? It has led some women’s rights organizations into a tizzy over the whole deal, screaming that it will attract kids to porn like Joe Camel did to cigarettes.

Those who find Marge sexy will enjoy this Playboy spread, no pun intended, and interesting. In the past Playboy has featured women like Marilyn Monroe and several others on its covers, but now Playboy for the first time have given the spotlight to a cartoon character. And the magazine is treating her like a star, with all the specific information about any model that is normally displayed, maybe now we can actually find out what state the Simpson’s live in, but I doubt it.

This may be the oddest thing that Playboy has done, and FOX certainly had hand in it, they had to okay it in the first place. The most interesting thing is how much protest has evolved with this particular release. Seems that some people have too much time to think about the impact of this on kids rather than more important issues affecting the world. The women’s groups that are protesting this are going after the retail stores selling the publication, like 7 Eleven Stores instead of FOX TV who actually gave approval in the first place! But a bit of misdirected anger always seems to sell more of whatever the fuss is about, and the protesters seem to never learn.

Hugh Hefner had a few choice words about Marge saying “She is a stunning example of the cartoon form..” For Playboy, putting Marge on the cover should attract younger readers, where the average age is 35, while not chasing off the older readers. Playboy hopes to turn the November issue into a collectors’ item. Playboy convinced 7-Eleven to distribute the magazine in its 1,200 corporate-owned stores, something the company has only done once before in more than 20 years. “We love Marge..” said 7-Eleven spokesman Margaret Chabris.

The minor children will have to find this issue stuffed under a mattress somewhere, the magazine comes sealed in the mail and is still an adult publication. So “7 Eleven” or any of the other stores will not sell it to minors. “We knew that this would really appeal to the 20-something crowd..” said Playboy spokeswoman Theresa Hennessey.

For those who do collect Playboy magazines this cover should bring to mind another first that occurred in 1971 when a black woman appeared on the cover in exactly the same pose as Marge. “We knew it was something all of our readers would get a kick out of..” said Hennessey.

“The cover celebrates the 20th anniversary of the TV show..” he said there was an episode in which “Marge bears all..” which suggested that she, or at least the people who drew her, would be comfortable with the Playboy treatment. Most important, the idea seemed like a good one to Hugh Hefner. “He’s a huge ‘Simpson’s’ fan, and has even been on the show.”