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X-Face
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{{short description|Bitmap image}} {{distinguish|Xfce}} [[File:Wiki-x-face.png|thumb|X-Face example.]] An '''X-Face''' is a small [[bitmap]] (48 Γ 48 pixels, black and white) image which is added to a [[Usenet]] posting or [[e-mail]] message, typically showing a picture of the author's face. The image data is included in the posting as encoded text, and attached with an 'X-Face' [[Header (computing)|header]]. It was devised by James Ashton.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://users.rsise.anu.edu.au/~jaa/ |title= James Ashton |first1= James |last1= Ashton |access-date= April 26, 2017 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091024084358/http://users.rsise.anu.edu.au/~jaa/ |archive-date= October 24, 2009 }}</ref> It is one of the outgrowths of the [[Vismon]] program developed at [[Bell Labs]] in the 1980s. While many programs support X-Face, most of them are [[free software]] and based on [[Unix]] or its variations, such as [[KMail]] or [[Sylpheed]]. The most common email programs though, as used in business and most domestic environments, do not handle X-Face natively, and the information is silently ignored. Even where Unix is widely used (university and research environments), it has never been adopted to maximum potential (for example, by searching for senders by X-Face). A further development is the Face header<ref>{{cite web |url= http://quimby.gnus.org/circus/face/ |title= The Face Header |first1= Lars Magne |last1= Ingebrigtsen |access-date= April 26, 2017}}</ref> developed in 2005, which also allows for color images in [[Portable Network Graphics|PNG]] format, and can be used by the [[Mozilla Thunderbird|Thunderbird]] addon Display Contact Photo,<ref>{{cite web |url= https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/display-contact-photo |title= Display Contact Photo |first1=Samuel |last1= Mueller |access-date= April 26, 2017}}</ref> as well as some other mail readers. Another approach to include the sender's picture in an e-mail was used by Apple: [[Mail (Apple)|Mail]] displayed the picture if the mail included the X-Image-URL header.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://gigliwood.com/weblog/MacOSX/Putting_your_pictur.html |title= Putting your picture into your mail messages |access-date= April 26, 2017}}</ref> In 1992, this feature was originally implemented in NeXTmail, Mail.app's ancestor. X-Image-URL accepts http or (anonymous) ftp to download the picture; typical size 64x64 pixels. As of Mail v4.5, the feature is no longer supported. == See also == * [[iChat]] has a similar though not compatible feature called ''picture icons'' * [[X BitMap|XBM]] is a general monochrome image format supported by ''xbm2xface.pl'' * [[FFmpeg]] and [[Netpbm]] tools can create X-Face images * [[Vismon]] * [[Brand Indicators for Message Identification]], a similar feature for brands, based on cryptographic authentication == References == {{Reflist}} == External links == * {{Freshmeat|compface|compface}} - utilities and a library for converting to and from the X-Face format * {{cite web|url=http://kinzler.com/ftp/faces/index.html|title=Faces Archive|author=Steve Kinzler|author-link=Steve Kinzler|year=2005|quote=applications that can use <abbr title="personal icon">picon</abbr>s and/or X-Face mail header entries|access-date=2014-01-06}} [[Category:Email]] [[Category:Usenet]]
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