Web archiving is difficult. Few sites consist entirely of static, self-contained content. Most use JavaScript, often from external sites. Responsive pages are designed to look different in different environments. An archive needs to make a snapshot that reflects its appearance at a given point in time, but what exactly does that mean? Should an archive pick an appearance for one reasonable set of parameters, or should it try to keep the page’s dynamic nature? Will the fact that it’s an archive rather than an interactive browser affect what the server gives it?
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- Gary McGath
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The curse of HTML mail
It’s been most of a year since I last posted here, but I wanted to rant about HTML mail, and this is the right blog for it. People complain about the intrusiveness of Web tracking, but email tracking is even worse. I’ve noticed this especially after subscribing to a couple of Substack newsletters. They’re sent as HTML, and whenever possible, I click the link to the equivalent Web page, which is less intrusive. Every link in a Substack newsletter is a tracking link, with the odd exception of the link to the Substack page.
The links in a Substack newsletter don’t go to the target page but to a Substack redirection URL. Their purpose is to let Substack know about everything you click on. There are no terms or privacy policy in the email telling you what Substack uses the information for.
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Tagged email, HTML