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Stop Microsoft users sending 'reactions' to email by adding a postfix header

neilzone.co.uk

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Re: Stop Microsoft users sending 'reactions' to email by adding a postfix header

#71

Post by lilyball »

stratocumulus0 wrote: post #31

I remember seeing that some people in the corporate world put a capital J instead of a dot in some sentences. I first brushed this off as some artificial corporate level of politeness that's not too forward (the hook of a J does indeed look like a smiling face). Turns out that 4xA, the value of J in ASCII, is occupied by a smiley face in Wingdings. I still struggle to get it how did the Outlook email client know whic…

Perhaps the emails have both html and plain text representations, and you've configured your client to only show the plain text version?

Re: Stop Microsoft users sending 'reactions' to email by adding a postfix header

#72

Post by rtpg »

utensil4778 wrote: post #28
p51-remorse wrote: post #11

I kind of get why we don’t like this in email, but for SMS and Slack I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reactions. They’re a way to say “I received this and have a positive reaction to it, with no further communication necessary”. Replaces a lot of useless typing I had to do to sound polite when saying “fine, no further comment”. And then getting a notification from the other party acknowledging my acknowledgment… yuck.

It should be entirely socially acceptable to respond to any trivial message with "ACKNOWLEDGED" á la Picard

Well that's what the reactions are for, right? Because then we have this sort of division between acks (and other reactions really) vs "actual messages". Combine that with specific emojis in certain social/professional circles and you've got yourself an extra layer of nuance in an otherwise tricky-to-navigate space!

Re: Stop Microsoft users sending 'reactions' to email by adding a postfix header

#73

Post by viraptor »

valcargo wrote: post #56
yjftsjthsd-h wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps it would be better to ask, how do you expect people to communicate to you those things that would be expressed as reactions?

Using words. Same as here on Hacker News.

Ok. (Followed by 20 other people responding with just "ok", filling the screen with spam)

Re: Stop Microsoft users sending 'reactions' to email by adding a postfix header

#74

Post by santoshalper »

p51-remorse wrote: post #11

I kind of get why we don’t like this in email, but for SMS and Slack I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reactions. They’re a way to say “I received this and have a positive reaction to it, with no further communication necessary”. Replaces a lot of useless typing I had to do to sound polite when saying “fine, no further comment”. And then getting a notification from the other party acknowledging my acknowledgment… yuck.

I don't even mind reactions to email inside a corp network where it can be handled gracefully, but sending an email like that outside onto the public internet is absurd.

Re: Stop Microsoft users sending 'reactions' to email by adding a postfix header

#75

Post by viraptor »

JohnFen wrote: post #53
logicprog wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except, by turning them off, you are therefore forcing people who want to communicate with you to adapt to your communication preferences because you have, by fiat, decided that you simply don't want to perceive the communication method they prefer. Coming to an agreement with others about how you want to communicate with them as fine, but communication is a two-way street, and so it has to be bilaterally negotiated…

> by turning them off, you are therefore forcing people who want to communicate with you to adapt to your communication preferences because you have I don't see how. All it means is that I won't see the reactions. That's my loss. I'm not forcing anyone else to do anything differently. If it actually begins to interfere with communications too much, I can turn them back on. > it's somehow unethical or abusive of the u…

> All it means is that I won't see the reactions. That's my loss. I'm not forcing anyone else to do anything differently.

"Are we ok doing ...?"

(People reacting with :+1:)

Now you have to figure out if you're being ignored or people don't have an answer. You ask them again directly, which they may also simply react to.

By bothering them again, you are asking them to do things differently for you.

Re: Stop Microsoft users sending 'reactions' to email by adding a postfix header

#76

Post by karaterobot »

whyoh wrote: post #65

This kinda reminds me of a feature Windows (Phone) used to have, where it would share your Wi-Fi password with the device's contacts automatically. To opt-out you had to add _optout to the SSID name. https://www.theregister.com/2015/06/30/windows_10_wi_fi_sens... It looks like this feature was removed eventually, but it's just one of those tasteless things that MS does every once in a while.

From that article:

> (So if you want to opt out of Google Maps and Wi-Fi Sense at the same time, you must change your SSID of, say, myhouse to myhouse_optout_nomap. Technology is great.)

I knew about the Google Maps thing, I didn't know about this. That kind of stuff is so presumptuous and user hostile it's outrageous.

Re: Stop Microsoft users sending 'reactions' to email by adding a postfix header

#77

Post by theamk »

lilyball wrote: post #71
stratocumulus0 wrote: post #31

I remember seeing that some people in the corporate world put a capital J instead of a dot in some sentences. I first brushed this off as some artificial corporate level of politeness that's not too forward (the hook of a J does indeed look like a smiling face). Turns out that 4xA, the value of J in ASCII, is occupied by a smiley face in Wingdings. I still struggle to get it how did the Outlook email client know whic…

Perhaps the emails have both html and plain text representations, and you've configured your client to only show the plain text version?

you almost got it!

This was likely winmail.dat/TNEF[0], Microsoft's proprietary replacement of HTML.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_Neutral_Encapsulatio...

Re: Stop Microsoft users sending 'reactions' to email by adding a postfix header

#78

Post by Red_Leaves_Flyy »

whyoh wrote: post #65

This kinda reminds me of a feature Windows (Phone) used to have, where it would share your Wi-Fi password with the device's contacts automatically. To opt-out you had to add _optout to the SSID name. https://www.theregister.com/2015/06/30/windows_10_wi_fi_sens... It looks like this feature was removed eventually, but it's just one of those tasteless things that MS does every once in a while.

Opting out via ssid is pull the table cloth off at a wedding level absurd. Effectively this design is we saying we respect you so little that you might be able deactivate this feature if tattoo your choice on your face but we might might ignore that too because fuck you for disagreeing.

Iirc the same optout method is used opting out of WiFi scanning.

Blanket behavior like this should always be opt in with explicit informed and uncoerced consent. A laughable proposition in this corporate world but a worthy aim nonetheless.

Re: Stop Microsoft users sending 'reactions' to email by adding a postfix header

#79

Post by easton »

stratocumulus0 wrote: post #31

I remember seeing that some people in the corporate world put a capital J instead of a dot in some sentences. I first brushed this off as some artificial corporate level of politeness that's not too forward (the hook of a J does indeed look like a smiling face). Turns out that 4xA, the value of J in ASCII, is occupied by a smiley face in Wingdings. I still struggle to get it how did the Outlook email client know whic…

Apparently it was the tag in the emails (guess it had to be a HTML email): https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20060523-10/?p=31...

Re: Stop Microsoft users sending 'reactions' to email by adding a postfix header

#80

Post by signal11 »

p51-remorse wrote: post #11

I kind of get why we don’t like this in email, but for SMS and Slack I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reactions. They’re a way to say “I received this and have a positive reaction to it, with no further communication necessary”. Replaces a lot of useless typing I had to do to sound polite when saying “fine, no further comment”. And then getting a notification from the other party acknowledging my acknowledgment… yuck.

Gmail now has emoji reactions too. Eg see the smiley face here: https://imgur.com/a/0cYSLMQ

They launched it last year[1].

[1] https://blog.google/products/gmail/gmail-emoji-reactions/

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