On 9 Oct 99, at 1:03, Michael Wolfes wrote:

> Question:  Where/how can I get a "Pictures.mim" program file which
> my computer says I need in order to open ".mim" files that are
> emailed to me? Can one/they be downloaded free of charge I hope?

  MIME is one of two common ways of encoding binary files as text so
that they can be passed across legacy network connections.  [The
other is called UUENCODE.]  Both are commonly used to send email
attachments.
  However, it sounds like your correspondent has used some package to
encode the picture using MIME, and then sent that encoding as an
attachment.  [Their mailer should do the encoding for them; they are
trying to help it, and it shouldn't need their help.[*]]

  There are some pieces of shareware out there that will decode MIME;
I use a package called ESSCode that I ran across years ago; there's
probably something newer/better out there.
  You *may* also be able to see the picture by dragging the file into
a browser window.  Graphics and sounds and so on downloaded over HTTP
are routinely encoded using MIME, and so there are reasonable odds
that a browser will decode and display it -- and may allow you to
save it as a .GIF or .JPG file.

[*]  In Ted Nelson's "Computer Lib", there's a story of a college
which replaced their enrollment forms -- which had worked fine for
over a decade -- with confusing "enrollment cards", the year before a
new computerized enrollment system was to be installed.  When asked
why the change, the answer was that "computers use cards, don't
they?" -- they were trying to "make it easier" for the computer.
It's the kind of thing that people who are just learning about
computers sometimes do.

David G

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