# Dear fax prima donna: what the hell? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 11, 2008, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fax-prima-donna-what-the-hell/476706 "2008-12-11T12:51:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fax-prima-donna-what-the-hell/476706/41 "2008-12-13T10:54:18Z")
> [@sailor](#): > > Let me tell all those fools something. I am faxing or emailing a document which has a signature which I scanned years ago and which has gone out in dozens of documents. I have a blank document and I type whatever I need and it goes out as PDF or FAX without me ever really having signed it. I have my signature stored on my computer as a .gif with transparent background. Whenever there are PDFs that one is supposed to “print out, fill in the information, sign, scan, email…” I just fill out the entire PDF on my computer, export to Photoshop, add my signature, resave as new PDF and email. Works just as well with any file type: word, excel, etc. Like you, I just can’t believe how inefficient people are sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fax-prima-donna-what-the-hell/476706/42 "2008-12-13T14:24:35Z")
> [@CrazyChop](#): > > Government organizations (especially the military), are fixated with faxes from where I come from. I believe it is a matter of authentication (what with all the agencies’ stamps and approving officers’ signatures and etc.) Except, as I just said, that all those things are trivially easy to add and so provide no authentication whatsoever. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fax-prima-donna-what-the-hell/476706/43 "2008-12-13T20:24:50Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > My agency uses the services of an offsite technical editor. We are supposed to send documents to this person by fax, and they get faxed back. Your posts are sometimes so clever I had this mental picture of you as some Mr. Sophisticated type guy… but _faxing_ … to (of all people) a _tech editor_! Now I see you perched atop a brontosaurus at the quarry waiting for quitting time. ---
**Author:** ![JackofHearts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8c91f0/32.png) [@JackofHearts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackofHearts)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fax-prima-donna-what-the-hell/476706/44 "2008-12-13T23:13:37Z")
> [@Ruby](#): > > Another vote for [efax.com](http://efax.com). It’s reasonably priced and eliminates the need for a physical fax. If you’re regular joe just looking for a few faxes a month, their service is free! This is what I’m looking for but I can’t find that option on the website…could I trouble you for more info on the “regular joe” option? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![spinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@spinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spinky)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2008, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fax-prima-donna-what-the-hell/476706/45 "2008-12-14T00:45:06Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > It doesn’t? I wasn’t aware “professional” meant “charitable” these days. Well, gee, I guess if it doesn’t mean “doing the bare minimum (minimizing costs) while getting the most benefit (maximizing profits)”, as you claimed, then I must be claiming it means the exact opposite, right? You’re a friggin genius. Normally, I’d consider explaining this a bit condescending, but you obviously need it: being “professional” can refer to many different things: how you present yourself, how you behave, what kind of job you do, etc. For example, if you do a job which requires you to receive faxes, many would consider it _unprofessional_ to refuse to accept faxes during certain parts of business hours simply because you run your office out of your home. Or if someone recommends “professional” dress, it does not mean to minimize costs by spending the bare minimum on clothes in order to maximize profit. If your business cards have your email address listed as [hot\_bengals\_fan@hotmail.com](mailto:hot_bengals_fan@hotmail.com), you may have saved some money on your email service, but you’re certainly not being professional. > [@](#): > > And I’ve already said that it is usually not stated that baldly. Or badly. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2008, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fax-prima-donna-what-the-hell/476706/46 "2008-12-14T01:07:55Z")
**ntucker** : Well, you’re an obtuse little loser. If you can’t understand why dragging in unrelated senses of the word is utterly dishonest and a sign of intellectual defeat, I really can’t help you. (As if there were any help for you anyway.) ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2008, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fax-prima-donna-what-the-hell/476706/47 "2008-12-14T06:45:22Z")
> [@JackofHearts](#): > > This is what I’m looking for but I can’t find that option on the website…could I trouble you for more info on the “regular joe” option? Thanks! Try this link… > **[Free Fax Online | Send & Receive Faxes Instantly with eFax®](https://www.efax.com/free-fax)** > > Send and receive free faxes online with eFax®. Start your free trial today and enjoy secure, easy faxing from any device, anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![spinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@spinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spinky)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2008, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fax-prima-donna-what-the-hell/476706/48 "2008-12-14T21:07:38Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > If you can’t understand why dragging in unrelated senses of the word is utterly dishonest and a sign of intellectual defeat, I really can’t help you. Oh please. You are the one who decided to tell **Sailboat** what he meant by ‘professional’ and pulled in an unrelated sense of the word. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fax-prima-donna-what-the-hell/476706/49 "2008-12-15T12:35:06Z")
> [@atomicbadgerrace](#): > > Here I was, thinking I was the only one who’d figured this trick out. Sorry, I’m at least the third person here who’s been doing that. I also have my initials (for those people who insist that you initial every page or item in a contract), my National ID, my Passport and my Driver’s License all scanned up neat and pretty. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fax-prima-donna-what-the-hell/476706/50 "2008-12-15T20:14:14Z")
> [@sailor](#): > > The worst part is banks, lawyers and other bureaucrats who insist they need a SIGNATURE and will accept a fax. It was not an hour ago that I got a call from my lawyer asking I send him a signed authorization. (At least he ask I send it by email). He was amazed when, before we ended the conversation, I told him it had already gone out. “What? You already printed it and scanned it?” Yes, it seems people print a document so they can scan it. That the stupidity of this is not obvious to them is quite telling. > > Let me tell all those fools something. I am faxing or emailing a document which has a signature which I scanned years ago and which has gone out in dozens of documents. I have a blank document and I type whatever I need and it goes out as PDF or FAX without me ever really having signed it. I can also include my boss’s signature and even Bill Clinton’s if you like. If I have received a signed letter from you I can include _your_ signature as well. The whole “signature” thing is stupid but those bureaucrats will trust that signature like it means something. Okay, I’ll probably reveal myself as technical idiot - but don’t you need special programs for this? Not typing a blank document - that’s word or Open Office, I can do that. No, I mean filling in a PDF document when I only have free Adobe Acrobat Reader on my PC, and and old Linux system (a private PC, so I don’t have money for expensive professional or proprietary programs). So my only choice is to print out the PDF and then fill it in manually, and then possibly scan it. (I’ll have to look at the suggested e-fax site). ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fax-prima-donna-what-the-hell/476706/51 "2008-12-15T23:10:13Z")
Doh! :smack: I only just noticed that instead of hijacking this rant, I should’ve read [this GQ thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=497554). Unless somebody here has a better solution than suggested there? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-fax-prima-donna-what-the-hell/476706.md?page=2)