Java application - MailFaces (for Win95, NT, Mac, Unix and OS/2)

John Thomas (jthomas@cruzio.com)
Thu, 10 Oct 1996 20:33:35 -0700

Hi
I used to use a derivative of xfaces when I used to do all of
my work on an AIX workstation. Now that I sit in front of
a Windows 95 screen all day, one of the things that I miss most
is the little display that pops up a familiar face when I get
important mail.

So I finally decided to do something about it! I now have a
Java application (not an applet) that will periodically
check a POP3 mailbox and put up a Picon for any mail that
it recognizes. It uses the piconsearch at www.cs.indiana.edu
to locate Picons. It will also search any of the mail headers
with Regular Expressions and if matched will use your specified
URL to access an image either from your file system or from the
net.

It seems to be working OK for me, and I am now ready for some
Beta testers. To start with, I would like to find a couple
of volunteers that are willing to try it out and give me some
feedback on problems. Ideally, I would like to have someone
on a Mac, someone on Win95 or NT and someone on some flavor of
Unix. The only requirement is that you have Java 1.02 installed and
get your Mail from a POP3 server. And most importantly have
time next week to install it, give it a try, and
send me some feedback. If I get some volunteers, I will send
out a distribution file this weekend. If all goes well, I
will make this code available on the Web in a couple of weeks and
also add it to the Picon archive.

You can volunteer either by private e-mail or via this mailing list.

-- 
John Thomas 
E-mail: jthomas@cruzio.com 
Web:    http://www.cruzio.com/~jthomas