hi, i have some background in programming and find it pretty easy to pick up the basics of a new language. the best way to learn is to get thrown in the deep end, so i have thought up a cool program to make, probably in perl (?), and i was wondering if it is possible.
my idea is to make an email client, hopefully with a GUI, that has all the usual features plus some more. what i want to do is 'bug' the emails sent, so that the user can be notified exactly when the email is actually viewed (as opposed to recieved), also the location(s) where the email is opened. the way i plan to do this is to insert a very small picture tag into the email that links to a picture (like 1 pixel or something insignificant) on either a server or my (the users) computer. the idea being that when the email is viewed the picture will be downloaded from the server/users computer, therefore proof it has been opened. obviously the person recieving the email will have to have HTML enabled, but seeing as outlook has this on by default (?) and just about all web based email services (hotmail etc) have it on, it should work.
it will work the same way counters on webpages work, only the pictures in the emails will link to the relevant picture in a database on server/users computer, so that the email client knows which outgoing email has been viewed.
i know it is a bit unrealistic but its something i really want to attempt. also it would be a great project to get used to a language - databases, GUI, networking, it has it all
.
anyway if anyone thinks this is a totally stupid idea that will never work please speak now or forever hold ur peace. also has this been attempted before?
thanks,
CHarlie
