Recently I have received a few e-mails with .vcf file attachments. When I try to open these files, my operating systems (both NT and Win95) don't recognise the application necessary to open them. I suspect this is a virtual business card. Am I correct? Does the application to read these virtual business cards already exist within Windows? What software will allow me to read these cards? OBBIE PET I had to turn to Web guru Neil Taylor for this one. He thinks you must know someone who works at Netscape, 'because nobody else uses these things'.
The virtual business card concept is a really nice idea in theory - attached to your e-mails is a little Rolodex card with tabs for comments, address, etc.
They are only tiny files and the idea is that if you use Netscape Mail, your organiser will be updated automatically with all the data.
If you don't use Netscape for mail, you would have to move to the organiser you use. Netscape's homepage will offer some guidelines about how to do this and what programs work with them.
This is a cool idea, like HTML e-mail, but, as Neil points out, while everyone uses different e-mail programs, it won't take off.
In this column on February 19, I answered a question about a couple of hang-ups with the 3Com/US Robotics Sportster 56K external modem. Graham O'Neill has pointed out another 'oddity' that causes problems.