Thanks a lot for your replies!

I am not sure I get it entirely (in fact i'm a non-techie and all that sounds strange). readnotify, claim that the sender sees nothing. I have checked it myself with an alernate e-mail address and indeed, I was not prompted to give any permission to notify the sender.

Is there a way to open (e.g.) gmail with a primitive text-based program (as HomelessScientist does? Sorry for my ...primitive (and stupid) questions but I really have no clue how these things work!

Thanks again!
A.