Related topics: google , microsoft , gmail
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 email
Science not faked, but not pretty
Dec 12, 2009 |
3 / 5 (57) |
95
(AP) -- E-mails stolen from climate scientists show they stonewalled skeptics and discussed hiding data - but the messages don't support claims that the science of global warming was faked, according to an ...
United Nations to probe climate e-mail leak
Dec 04, 2009 |
3.1 / 5 (9) |
20
(AP) -- The United Nations will conduct its own investigation into e-mails leaked from a leading British climate science center in addition to the probe by the University of East Anglia, a senior U.N. climate ...
Regret that email? Gmail gives users chance to call it back
Mar 20, 2009 |
2.8 / 5 (9) |
3
Just about everybody has sent an email, noticed a mistake as they hit the "send" button and wanted to call it back.
How to improve email communication: Developing strategies to mimic face-to-face interactions
Nov 25, 2008 |
4.7 / 5 (3) |
0
In a new article in the current issue of American Journal of Sociology authors Daniel A. Menchik and Xiaoli Tian (both of the University of Chicago) study how we use emoticons, subject lines, and signatures to define how we ...
New research finds workers more prone to lie in E-mail
Sep 25, 2008 |
4.3 / 5 (3) |
0
A pair of recent studies suggest that e-mail is the most deceptive form of communications in the workplace–even more so than more traditional kinds of written communications, like pen-and-paper. More surprising is that people ...
Microsoft releases IE8: adds shortcuts, security
Mar 19, 2009 |
2.6 / 5 (5) |
0
(AP) -- Microsoft Corp. released a new version of Internet Explorer Thursday, adding features meant to speed up common Web surfing tasks and bringing the browser's security measures in line with those of ...
A few pennies for your thoughts -- and credit card
Apr 14, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (3) |
0
(AP) -- One economy apparently isn't hurting these days - the one run by identity thieves in the dark corners of the Internet.
Nokia E71x with AT&T in stores across the U.S. today
Electronics / Consumer & Gadgets
May 04, 2009 |
4 / 5 (3) |
0
Nokia announced that the slimmest smartphone on the market (.39 inches thick), the Nokia E71x, will be available in AT&T retail stores and online beginning today. Priced at $99.99, this much-anticipated full ...
Hypertouch vs ValuClick Spam Email Case: It's Not Over Till Somebody Screams Ouch
May 07, 2009 |
3.7 / 5 (3) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- The recent decision by the Los Angeles Superior Court in Hypertouch vs ValuClick, LCO81000 decided on May 4th by Summary Judgment found that the Federal CAN-Spam Act preempted California's rigorous anti-spam, ...
Google hoping Web surfers will ride its 'Wave'
May 28, 2009 |
3.7 / 5 (3) |
0
(AP) -- Google Inc. is hatching a new species of e-mail and instant messaging, but the Internet search leader first wants the hybrid service to evolve even more with the help of independent computer programmers.
Is neighbor's Wi-Fi signal free for me to use?
Nov 11, 2009 |
3.7 / 5 (3) |
4
Q. The other day, my Internet service went down as it does from time to time. But this particular time, I needed to check my e-mail for an important reply I was expecting. After some frustrating time passed, I happened to ...
Teachers cutting paper usage; kids loving it
Mar 30, 2009 |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
In some school classrooms, paper is becoming more of a relic than an educational staple.
End of the e-mail era? I'm not buying it
Nov 19, 2009 |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
I don't know about you, but I'm overwhelmed by e-mail. Yes, I know. The Wall Street Journal has declared that e-mail's reign is over. It's supposedly being replaced by technologies such as instant messaging, social networking ...
Google adds automatic translation to Gmail
May 20, 2009 |
3 / 5 (3) |
0
Google added automatic translation technology to Gmail on Tuesday, allowing users of its email service to translate messages in another language with a single mouse click.
MySpace launches myspace.com email
Jul 31, 2009 |
3 / 5 (3) |
0
MySpace launched its own email service, MySpace Mail, for the 130 million users of the social network.
