Email Masker  Email Masker

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Why Not Clickable?

The email addresses on this website are usually not clickable. They are slightly fuzzy images, not text. I do this not to annoy you, but to discourage spam harvesters. You can use the same technique yourself with this Masker Applet. The following signed Applet will produce *.png files (variable transparency background image files similar to *.gifs, but smaller) that contain your email address. When you post them on your website, it is harder for spammer to harvest them. It will let you make transparent a graphic email icon like this: email Roedy Green  ⇐ png graphic icon, not text.
Make your Email Icon Extra security
Using the Icons Nexodyne
Doctoring Links
Notes
Sorry, you need Java 1.5+ to run this Applet.

If, masker, the above Email masker signed Java Applet does not work…

  1. This signed Java Applet needs Java 1.5 or later, best version 1.5.0_22 or later, version 1.6.0_17 recommended and a recent browser.
  2. You should see the Applet above looking much like the screenshot. If you don’t, the following should help you get it working:
  3. If you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer, try another browser. Seriously. Microsoft has taken great pains, over and over, to screw up Java and every other multi-platform standardisation.
  4. If you are using Internet Explorer 7 or 8, you must allow blocked content permission for Active X to run. This also gives permission to Java to run. Click the Information bar, and then click Allow blocked content. Unfortunately, this also allows dangerous ActiveX code to run. However, you must do this in order to get access to perfectly-safe Java Applets running in a sandbox. This is part of Microsoft’s war on Java. Don’t put up with it! Use a different browser.
  5. For this Applet to work, you must click grant/accept to give it permission to write the generated image files to disk.
  6. Optionally, you may permanently install the Canadian Mind Products code-signing certificate so you don’t have to grant each time.
  7. If the above Applet appears to freeze-up, click Alt-Esc repeatedly to check for any buried permission dialog box.
  8. If you have certificate troubles, check the installed certificates and remove or update any obsolete or suspected defective certificates. The only certificate used by this program is mindprodcert2009dsa.cer.
  9. Especially if this Applet has worked before, try clearing the browser cache and rebooting.
  10. To ensure your Java is up to date, check with Wassup. First, download it and run it as an application independent of your browser, then run it online as an Applet to add the complication of your browser.
  11. If the above Applet does not work, check the Java console for error messages.
  12. If the above Applet does not work, you might have better luck with the downloadable version.
  13. If you are using Mac OS X and would like an improved Look and Feel, download the QuaQua look & feel from randelshofer.ch/quaqua. UnZip the contained quaqua.jar and install it in ~/Library/Java/Extensions or one of the other ext dirs.
  14. If you still can’t get the program working click HELP for more detail.
  15. If you can’t get the above Applet working after trying the advice above and from the HELP button below, have bugs to report or ideas to improve the program or its documentation, please send me an email atemail Roedy Green.
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Using the Generated *.png Images

You can include the generated *.png image files in the HTML on your website with: code like this:
Rendering Email addresses
Effect How it Renders HTML needed
mailto text link Click to email Roedy Green at myid@mydomain.com
linked graphic Click to email Roedy Green
embedded graphic email Roedy Green at email Roedy Green

Some browsers (i.e. IE) may not render the transparent background of the email address correctly.
embedded graphic on coloured background
email Roedy Green at email Roedy
Some Some browsers (i.e. IE) may not render the transparent background of the email address correctly.
public posting
in a newsgroup		 Roedy Green’s email address is posted at:
http://mindprod.com/image/mailto/roedy.png		 Roedy Green’s email address is posted at:
http://mindprod.com/image/mailto/roedy.png

Doctoring

Internet Explorer 5 and 6 have a bug, (fixed in Internet Explorer 7+) in that they do not properly render the transparent *.png files that Masker generates. If you look at this page with IE 5/6, you will can see that the undoctored images don’t display properly. You can massage them so they IE 5/6 can handle them properly by using Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2. Load the image, and flatten it with layers ⇒ merge ⇒ merge all (flatten). Then use Image ⇒ palette ⇒ ⇒ set transparency ⇒ click on some white in the background of the image and save. Not many people still use IE 5/6, so you can just ignore the problem. For the technical details on the problem see the png entry in the Java glossary.

For very old browsers that have no *.png support at all, you can save the images as *.gifs. Doctoring this way will lose the nicely feathered transparency around the letters. The images will look best on a pure white background, unlike the originals that will work on any colour. On the other hand, doctored images are smaller.

undoctored png:email undoctored munged email image
doctored png:email png doctored munged email image
doctored gif: gif doctored munged email image

Notes

Extra security

You want to give automated spam harvesters as few clues a possible:

Nexodyne

If can’t or don’t want to use a signed Java Applet like Masker or if you don’t have a server to post the generated icon on the web, you could use the Nexodyne Email Icon Generator. Nexodyne stores the generated icon for you on their webserver, so you can include a link to it in newsgroup postings, emails or blogs without having your own webserver. With Masker, you have to upload the icon to some website before you can link to it. Nexodyne generates opaque images. Masker generates transparent ones. Nexodyne limits your choice of mailservers. Masker does not. Nexodyne is proprietary. Source is included free for Masker.
PackageVersionReleasedLicenceLanguageNotes 
masker
Masker		 1.8 2009-04-04 free Java
summary ❘ facts ❘ screenshot ❘ browse source repository for the current version of Masker. Helps hide email addresses from spam harvesters.
download Masker Java source and compiled class files to run on your own machine as an application or Applet.

First install the most recent Java.

To install, extract the zip download with WinZip, (or similar unzip utility) into any directory you please, often J:\ — ticking off the “user folder names” option.

To check out the corresponding source from the Subversion repository, use the TortoiseSVN repo-browser to
access masker source in repository with [Tortoise] Subversion client on wush.net/svn/mindprod/com/mindprod/masker/.

After you have installed the jar, you can run it as an application. Type:

java -jar J:\com\mindprod\masker\masker.jar

adjusting as necessary to account for where the jar file is.

download ASP PAD XML program description for the current version of Masker.

Masker is free. Full source included. You may even include the source code, modified or unmodified in commercial programs that you write and distribute. Non-military use only.
    
 
email
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mung
Nexodyne Email Icon Generator
other downloads
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spam
CMP homejump to top You can get the freshest copy of this page from: or possibly from your local J: drive (Java virtual drive/mindprod.com website mirror)
http://mindprod.com/applet/masker.html J:\mindprod\applet\masker.html
CMP logofeedback Please email your feedback for publication, errors, omissions, typos, formatting errors, ambiguities, unclear wording, broken/redirected link reports, suggestions to improve this page or comments to Roedy Green : feedback email
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