On Fri, 09 Dec 2005 15:43:36 GMT, Gene Kearns
wrote:

I've finally narrowed down what is happening with ASCII Art vs. modern
newsreaders. They are using variable pitch fonts.

This has been true for quite the many years.

I've had a sport
fishing ASCII art picture in my sig for a while.

Yes...the '80s called, and wants it back.

Initially it
displayed wrong and I diddled around with it only to find that I
ruined the picture for some and corrected it for others. If you are
running Agent you can see this first hand by clicking "View" and
toggling between "Use Fixed Font" and "Use Variable Font." Not sure
how to do this on other newsreaders.

This "issue" was first noted when Windows "True Type" fonts became
more popular.

Another choice in most viewing fonts is "true" or "raw" ASCII...this
will display the art too.

You can also see a similar effect when people try to "highlight" above
text using the carrot (^) symbol...many times, it doesn't line up.

How many people see this boat correctly?

I'm running Agent now with "variable fonts", and can see it fine.

Should this be the end of ASCII Art

Well...the true "end of ASCII art" was in the mid '90s.

or does it make sense to view your
USENET postings in Fixed Font (assuming that is an option).

I think it would make more sense for everybody just to shorten their
sig-lines. It would save bandwidth, and not force everyone to look at
the same picture over and over.

If you have something to share, post a link...that way, the reader can
decide if they want to look at it.
__

"It's just about going fast...that's all..."

http://home.columbus.rr.com/ckg/

"Netsock" wrote in message

I think it would make more sense for everybody just to shorten their
sig-lines. It would save bandwidth, and not force everyone to look at
the same picture over and over.

Yes, now that we've left the 80's and 90's behind, the bandwidth of
100 ASCII art characters is probably really slowing things down
and overwhelming servers