Electronic mail, often abbreviated as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages, designed primarily for human use. E-mail systems are based on a store-and-forward model in which e-mail computer server systems accept, forward, deliver and store messages on behalf of users, who only need to connect to the e-mail infrastructure, typically an e-mail server, with a network-enabled device (e.g., a personal computer) for the duration of message submission or retrieval. Rarely is e-mail transmitted directly from one user's device to another's.
An electronic mail message consists of two components, the message header, and the message body, which is the email's content. The message header contains control information, including, minimally, an originator's email address and one or more recipient addresses. Usually additional information is added, such as a subject header field.
Originally a text-only communications medium, email is extended to carry multi-media content attachments, which were standardized in with RFC 2045 through RFC 2049, collectively called, Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME).
The foundation for today's global Internet e-mail service was created in the early ARPANET and standards for encoding of messages were proposed as early as, for example, in 1973 (RFC 561). An e-mail sent in the early 1970s looked very similar to one sent on the Internet today. Conversion from the ARPANET to the Internet in the early 1980s produced the core of the current service.
Network-based email was initially exchanged on the ARPANET in extensions to the File Transfer Protocol (FTP), but is today carried by the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), first published as Internet Standard 10 (RFC 821) in 1982. In the process of transporting email messages between systems, SMTP communicates delivery parameters using a message envelope separately from the message (headers and body) itself.
For more information about E-mail, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with e mail
T-Mobile resumes sale of Sidekicks after data loss
Electronics / Consumer & Gadgets
Nov 17, 2009 |
not rated yet |
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(AP) -- T-Mobile USA resumed selling Sidekick phones Tuesday, more than a month after a server meltdown at Microsoft Corp. caused contact numbers, pictures and other personal information to disappear from ...
T-Mobile says phone service outage resolved (Update)
Nov 04, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Wireless provider T-Mobile USA Inc. says it has cleared up service problems that were interfering with calls and text messaging for about 5 percent of its customers.
Internet believers: Pastors open online churches
Nov 02, 2009 |
3 / 5 (4) |
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(AP) -- Church volunteers greet visitors entering the lobby. The worship band begins its set and a pastor offers to pray privately with anyone during the service.
Ariz. court rules records law covers 'metadata'
Oct 29, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (3) |
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(AP) -- Hidden data embedded in electronic public records must be disclosed under Arizona's public records law, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday in a case that attracted interest from media and government organizations.
Review: Motorola's Cliq is a snappy smart phone
Electronics / Consumer & Gadgets
Oct 21, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Imagine how you'd feel if you peaked in middle school. That's pretty much what happened to cell phone maker Motorola Inc., which had a megahit in 2005 with its Razr handset but has since failed to ...
For music buffs, Zune HD strikes right tune
Electronics / Consumer & Gadgets
Oct 15, 2009 |
2.3 / 5 (4) |
1
In the two years I've been reviewing gadgets, I've never tested Microsoft's digital music and video player, called the Zune. The device only accounts for a tiny fraction of the market, and it had always struck ...
New Wi-Fi technology to let gadgets talk directly
Oct 14, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (2) |
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(AP) -- Starting in mid-2010, new versions of gadgets like cameras, cell phones and computers will be able to talk to each other using Wi-Fi without needing to connect to a wireless network first.
Beware of highway robbers on Wi-Fi
Oct 12, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
1
As the number of Wi-Fi hot spots grows, travelers might want to heed a word of caution from the Wi-Fi Alliance, a nonprofit industry group that promotes Wi-Fi technology: Think security.
It's phone over sex for some
Oct 12, 2009 |
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Who needs foreplay when you have a cell phone?
New Giorgio Armani Samsung smartphone
Electronics / Consumer & Gadgets
Oct 12, 2009 |
1 / 5 (2) |
0
Giorgio Armani and Samsung Electronics have presented the new Giorgio Armani-Samsung smartphone.
Microsoft's Rx for health care
Oct 08, 2009 |
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You can pay your phone bill online, but you still need a pen and clipboard to fill out forms at a doctor's office. You can check in for a flight on the Internet, but you have to carry around a slip of paper with handwritten ...
Tech tinkers with daily routines
Oct 07, 2009 |
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High-school classmates from 30 years ago connect daily on Facebook. Cable customers report outages on Twitter. A father text messages his daughter to gently tell her it's time for her boyfriend to go home.
Calling All Smokers: Cell Phones Could Help You Quit
Oct 07, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Hooked on your cell phone and cigarettes? Fortunately, your mobile device could help you kick the nicotine habit, according to a new review from New Zealand.
Prof Warns of Risks on Social Network Sites
Oct 07, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The data that can be easily extracted from people’s online social networking activities could be either a blessing or a curse, says a UT Dallas researcher.
Yahoo looks to improve search experience
Sep 30, 2009 |
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When Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz announced a $100 million global brand campaign in New York recently as the company launched its new Internet search "experience," research scientists like Preston McAfee, Duncan Watts and David ...
