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Important notes | Other notes | Anticipated questions | How to use | Disclaimer



  XORmail is a JavaScript program to render text to 
  be sent by e-mail into an illegible mix.



Important notes
---------------

* This version of XORmail has been tested with the 
  Windows versions of Netscape Navigator 3 and 4 
  and Internet Explorer 4 and 5. 

* The program is case sensitive
  example:
  Globetrotter and globetrotter are different key words.

* The security improves with the key length. 
  The key should be as long as your original text and 
  can be longer. You can copy and paste a longer key text 
  from another page or document. 
  example:
  You have the text:  Let's make something crazy
  You have the key :  Jane
  The program uses :  JaneJaneJaneJaneJaneJaneJane
  This would be very insecure, nearly as normal text. 

* There is no warning if you use the wrong key!
  example:
  You have the text:  wGJYQ"¥{\`|LS[`M¥]P[¥^>IK§
  You have the key :  at the conference tomorrow
  You type the key :  Jane
            Result :  (curses)

* Don't use XORmail to process pictures or programs. 
  That does not work. XORmail supports only a part of 
  the iso-8859-1 (= Latin 1) characterset and does not 
  support all the special characters of some languages. 
  A text or key like åþÐÞðÅ®Æ does not work.

* Your and the recipient's e-mail programs and browsers 
  have to support the iso-8859-1 (= Latin 1) characterset 
  and you both need to have a font installed with these 
  characters. If you live in Europe or North America and 
  you use MS Windows chances are good your system meet 
  these requirements. The very common MS TrueType fonts 
  Courier, Arial or Times contain the needed characters.

  This picture shows independently from your present font 
  display the characters which should work for text and key.



Other notes
-----------

* On a slow PC the program is quite slow. More than a 
  few words on a slow PC are not a good idea.

* If you choose to copy a key text from an internet page 
  because your recipient has also access to that page, 
  you should consider that the internet page can change 
  in the meantime. 

  Also keep in mind that you and your recipient may have 
  different screen sizes and browser default fonts. 
  Your browser's representation of the key text may be 
  different from that seen by your recipient. If the length 
  of the displayed key text lines vary between the two 
  browsers, the line break characters would be at different 
  locations and XORmail wouldn't be able to correctly 
  translate the text back.

  Often you and your recipient may get around this problem 
  by displaying the source of a page and choosing the key 
  from a part of it. 

* Send your e-mail as text, not HTML.

* The used principle is a xor implementation intended to be 
  backward compatible to Netscape Navigator 3. 

* Errors are a fact of live. If you find an error or 
  you have a suggestion to improve the program please 
  write an E-mail with XORmail in the subject line.

* Program history
  19991107 First version: one button processing.
  19991124 Online version: two button processing.
  20000406 Minor cosmetic change: no effect on previously processed texts.
           Now there is a warning if the special characters Ë and Ï, used 
           for the end of line translation, appear in the original text.
  20000408 Small adaption: no effect on previously processed texts.
           Originally written for Netscape Navigator 3 and 4, 
           XORmail should now also run on Internet Explorer 4 and 5.



Anticipated questions
--------------------

Q: Why the name XORmail? It isn't a mail program.
A: XORmail was written for the occasional use like   
   someone wants to sent quickly a private e-mail 
   that shouldn't be sent in clear text over the 
   internet and who has not a program like PGP at hand.
   This person would paste the e-mail text in the form, 
   process it and copy/paste the illegible text back 
   into the e-mail program.
   Maybe one of the next versions will have a direct 
   e-mail option.

Q: Sometimes the illegible text is a little bit longer 
   than the original text?
A: At the end of a text line in DOS/Windows are two 
   invisible characters. These are the 'Carriage Return' 
   and 'Line Feed' characters. If your text contains these 
   characters, they mix up into visible characters during 
   processing. So there are no additional characters, 
   you only see characters that have previously been 
   invisible in your original text.

Q: After illegible text has been processed back to its original 
   form the additional characters Ë and Ï appear in the text.
A: This happens when you have pressed the '-> Xor' 
   button instead of the '-> Text' button to process 
   an illegible text. What you see are the XORmail 
   replacements for the 'Carriage Return' and 'Line Feed' 
   characters. There were line breaks at these positions 
   in the original text.

   In case you press at first the '-> Text' button to make 
   a text illegible, you might not be able to correctly 
   transform it back. 



How to use
----------

XORmail works only if you enable JavaScript in your 
browser's options menu. 


* You want to send a private text:

  Start your browser and open the XORmail page.

  Start your e-mail program, write your message as a 
  plain TEXT e-mail, not as a HTML e-mail. 
  
  Mark your text and cut it. Paste it into the XORmail window. 
 
  Choose a key. The key should be a long sentence or 
  even better a longer text that you copy from another 
  page or document. The key can be larger than the 
  displayed key fields. A secure key is at least as 
  long as the main text. For higher security, you can 
  put together a meaningless key text from the 
  supported character set and use every key text only once. 
  The recipient of your e-mail needs the same key to 
  read your text. 
  
  You can use the lower part of the screen to display 
  a document or page to select and copy a longer text as 
  a key. Keep in mind the document location and the start 
  and end position of your key text within the document.

  Type or paste your key text into the first key line. 

  Type or paste the same key into the second key line.

  Press the '-> Xor' button. Wait.

  Mark and copy the new illegible text. 

  Paste the illegible text into your e-mail program. 

    Optional step: You may want to enter the key again 
    and press the '-> Text' button to make sure the 
    backward translation does work with your key without 
    an error. 

  Press the 'Erase' button on the XORmail page.

  Send your e-mail as a TEXT e-mail, not as a HTML e-mail. 



* You receive a private text:

  Start your browser and open the XORmail page.

  Open your e-mail message as TEXT, not HTML.

  In your e-mail program mark and cut the illegible text. 

  Paste the text into the XORmail window. 

  Type or paste the correct key into the first key line.

  Type or paste the same key into the second key line.

  Press the '-> Text' button. Wait.

  Read the now legible text. You may want to cut and paste 
  the text into another application.

  Press the 'Erase' button on the XORmail page.



Disclaimer
----------

This program is not intended for critical work. 
We exclude any liability for the use and the consequences 
of use of the XORmail program. This includes, but is not 
limited to, the loss of data or exposure of confidential 
information and resulting personal and financial damages. 
When you use XORmail you do it at your own risk. 

The online availability or accessibility of XORmail may be 
restricted or terminated at any time without prior notice.



XORmail copyright 1999 by Austria Information Switchboard. All rights reserved.