Experiment with alternatives to e-mail

From: Gene Michael Stover

To: “the usual guys”

When: 2021 December 11

Hi guys.

This is an experiment with an alternative way of sending e-mail. I've placed the body of the message in an S3 bucket as well as on my web site.

I have another message in the works that I'll send similarly.

Q. Gene, why are you doing this?

It's a good question. Answers include (I'm being brief, not snarky or rude, just brief)...

Web clients are getting difficult for me to read, even to read a message as I compose it. Main problem is that fonts are small, but there are other difficulties.
Yeah, I could set a minimum font size in my browser (already done), or could move to a bigger screen (which I do often, but often I want to read or write as I chill on the couch).
In the end, it's difficult for me to read, so I'm trying something different.
I prefer to compose in a markup language instead of WYSIWYG. (In this case, I'm using a subset of HTML enforced by self-discipline.)
Just plain want to try something different.

If it actually creates a problem for any of you (other than violating the Principle of Least Astonishment), let me know.

Problems or dangers I already foresee include...

It's impossible to use your e-mail client's search feature to find message like this one based on content in their bodies.
Since anyone in the world with the URL can read the message, it's inappropriate for anything even kind of, sort of, remotely, possibly even the tiniest private.
Could be mitigated with access control on a web site. There might be some other mitigations that suggest better alternatives to e-mail. (I'm already thinking about them.)
Some of those ideas remind me of something Pavel (Hi, Pavel!) said to me a few of months ago.

I apologize for violating the Principle of Least Astonishment with this & the next message or two.

End