SPAM
\spˈam], \spˈam], \s_p_ˈa_m]\
Sort: Oldest first
By Princeton University
By DataStellar Co., Ltd
-
Internet slang for unsolicited bulk email, primarily unsolicited commercial email (UCE). Spam has been linked with fraudulent business schemes, chain letters, and offensive sexual and political messages.
By Oddity Software
-
1. (From Hormel's Spiced Ham, via the Monty Python"Spam" song) To post irrelevant or inappropriate messages toone or more Usenet newsgroups, mailing lists, or othermessaging system in deliberate or accidental violation ofnetiquette.It is possible to spam a newsgroup with one well- (or ill-)planned message, e.g. asking "What do you think of abortion?"on soc.women. This can be done by cross-posting, e.g. anymessage which is crossposted to alt.rush-limbaugh andalt.politics.homosexuality will almost inevitably spam bothgroups. (Compare troll and flame bait).Posting a message to a significant proportion of allnewsgroups is a sure way to spam Usenet and become an objectof almost universal hatred. Canter and Siegel spammed the netwith their Green card post.If you see an article which you think is a deliberate spam, DONOT post a follow-up - doing so will only contribute to thegeneral annoyance. Send a polite message to the poster byprivate e-mail and CC it to "postmaster" at the same address.Bear in mind that the posting's origin might have been forgedor the apparent sender's account might have been used bysomeone else without his permission.The word was coined as the winning entry in a 1937 competitionto choose a name for Hormel Foods Corporation's "spiced meat" (now officially known as "SPAM luncheon meat"). CorrespondantBob White claims the modern use of the term predates MontyPython by at least ten years. He cites an editor for theDallas Times Herald describing Public Relations as "throwing acan of spam into an electric fan just to see if any of itwould stick to the unwary passersby."Usenet newsgroup: news:news.admin.net-abuse.See also netiquette.2. (A narrowing of sense 1, above) To indiscriminately sendlarge amounts of unsolicited e-mail meant to promote aproduct or service. Spam in this sense is sort of like theelectronic equivalent of junk mail sent to "Occupant".In the 1990s, with the rise in commercial awareness of thenet, there are actually scumbags who offer spamming as a"service" to companies wishing to advertise on the net. Theydo this by mailing to collections of e-mail addresses,Usenet news, or mailing lists. Such practises have causedoutrage and aggressive reaction by many net users against theindividuals concerned.3. (Apparently a generalisation of sense 2, above) To abuseany network service or tool by for promotional purposes."AltaVista is an index, not a promotional tool. Attempts tofill it with promotional material lower the value of the indexfor everyone. [...] We will disallow URL submissions fromthose who spam the index. In extreme cases, we will excludeall their pages from the index." -- Altavista.4. To crash a program by overrunning afixed-size buffer with excessively large input data.See also buffer overflow, overrun screw, smash the stack.5. (A narrowing of sense 1, above) To flood anychat forum or Internet game with purposefully annoyingtext or macros. Compare Scrolling.
By Denis Howe
Word of the day
Quinones
- Hydrocarbon rings which contain two moieties position. They can be substituted in any position except at the ketone groups.