e-mail SPAM that is. When I saw this via Darren Rowse on Twitter. Happy Birthday to e-mail SPAM I thought of the meat from Hormel first when I saw SPAM was having a birthday but I think the meat is from WWII.
I primarily use three mailboxes / addresses. The primary address the SPAM filter usually catches anywhere from 300 to 500 emails but this week on Tuesday there were over 1100 SPAM messages caught. There's two other mail boxes.... one does not get any spam... the other is a nightmare, not as much as the primary mailbox but... then there's my comment spam on my blogs... but that's different... or is it?
This article says the first SPAM email was not ill intentioned. It was just marketing. Using a new medium to market. The first SPAM was sent to 400 people to sell them computers. Many of todays e-mail SPAMs can be very ill intentioned. We've all got the emails from the African princes, the Nigerian scams. A European country was extorted via SPAM.. there are all kinds of new uses for SPAM today.
The article Rowse shared which is written by Karin Zeitvogel says:"But the most common form of spam remains the unsolicited message that tries to sell you a replica Rolex, a miracle weight loss formula, or medication to enlarge anatomical parts or enhance sexual prowess."
The article says the SPAM skit from Monty Python was the reason, that e-mail SPAM was called SPAM. I believe Wikipedia says e-mail SPAM was named SPAM because of the Monty Python skit. I don't really get the Monty Python skit... what do Vikings have to do with SPAM? Why are there Vikings in a restaurant in England? Why is there SPAM in everything on the menu? Or why it would be the source of the name of the icky stuff we have in our mailboxes.
I believe the first comment on the link that Rowse shared is him and he says he understood SPAM meant "S**t heads Posting Adds for Money" back in the early 80's on forums.
Will e-mail spams little brothers and sisters comment spam, link spam, splogs, mobile phone spam, forum spam, spamdexing, newsgroup spam, messaging spam, each get their own birthday? Or is it all the same thing?
Maureen I think they picked a great word when describing such a pain in the neck we all have to deal with. Afterall could anyone really say they liked spam as a kid :)
I tried it once when I was young...they called it the poor mans version of ham in a can and was very popular with the military..easy to make and easy to eat.
Once Neal? While we did not eat SPAM every day, we did have SPAM for a treat occasionally.... my parents would fry it and serve it with pancakes instead of bacon or sausage because it was cheaper.
I don't get the Monty Python angle - and frankly, I don't see what it has to do with email spam either.
BUT -
Spam, for most people, is an icky, unwanted, but sometimes useful thing (my brother in law loves the stuff though.)
Unsolicited emails are also, for the most part, unwanted, and icky, but sometimes useful because SOMEONE, like my brother in law, must love them and use them - otherwise, you'd think they'd go away, if they didn't work...
The guy I emailed about his comment spam said just that - he does it because in spite of the fact that most of us hate it, he gets clicks on it, and people do sign up for whatever the stuff is he's linking to.. (seminars maybe?)
Karen... your brother-in-law loves email spam? People buying from SPAM emails is why we get so much according to the article in the link, Happy Birthday to e-mail SPAM and that was before it degraded to what we have today which includes the scams and fraud.
I've seen a couple of Monty Python movies, The Holy Grail and Life of Brian and I know they are good movies but I need subtitles. I think they are lucky that email spam and now comment spam, link spam etc. are called spam because it's like ads for Spamalot. I would expect a geekier mind than mine might see a link between the Monty Python skit and email spam and why email spam is called spam.
Happy Birthday to Spam, now go away ! You are overflowing my email box, causing old people to link and get screwed, locking up computers with your trogan horses and an annoyance.
no, i meant to say that some people must love email spam like my BIL loves canned spam. He never even goes on the computer, but if there's spam involved he just may. LOL
"causing old people to link and get screwed" Old as in elderly? Like as in them getting an email asking for help getting money out of a country? Puppies? Charity that is not a charity?
Karen OK I get it now thanks... I love "salt and grease" personally. The animal pieces and parts being part of SPAM is what made me see the light. I'd rather eat a bag of chips than a piece of SPAM. When I was in high school we would make a sandwich spread like ham spread with SPAM.. I probably could eat that now if I was not told it was SPAM... or if I did not see the can.
Whenever I hear the word Spam I think of three things. One, I ate my fair share of it along with Vienna sausages in Viet Nam and two, the Spam Lamb episode in the M*A*S*H television series. The third of course is email spam. I'm glad you didn't end your birthday song with, "and many more."
I can remember the old days in online forums and on bulletin boards when any type of advertising or commercial promotion was considered highly uncouth, churlish, and downright rude. :-)
Maureen - I have also always heard that SPAM got its origins from the Monty Python skit, since they say the word so much. I have to admit that I like Darren's acronym, though.
Cheryl I was not online until the early 90's. I don't remember a lot of spam on BBs, forums.
Jason I really like Darren's acronym too. I plan in thinking of comment spam on ActiveRain as S**t heads Posting Ads for ME" from now on.. maybe the ActiveRain comment spam will bother me less if can think about the useless comments on"ActiveRain that say "Great Post Thanks for sharing I am the greatest (Realtor, Lender, Stager, Inspector, in __________" with their logo, links, mug, tag-line... of course I will continue to write the Rich Jacobson prescribed "please remove" email to new people, the innocents but the dyed in the wool, I'm here to promote myself.... the people who deserve the Report as Spam..
That is so funny. When I worked in AM Radio as a morning Disc Jockey in Elkton, MD, I wrote to SPAM for one of their birthdays. It was probably their 10th or so as it could have been 20 years ago or so now. They sent me hats, t-shirts, coupons for free cans. It was awesome. we had a big party on the air! Thanks for bringing back the 'ole memories!
Maureen, I was checking my email this morning,twittering, reading ar, and I stopped to read your post and thought... That's pretty funnyn but I wasn't going to comment. However, I clicked back to my email and in the time I read your post guess what I already had in my inbox... How appropriate!
I was a big Monty Python fan. The Spam skit is one of their best. Thanks for posting the video. It is right up there with the Dead Parrot and Ministry of Funny Walks. Don't look for any deep meaning in anything Monty Python. They specialized in taking the ridiculous to new depths.
You can find Spam on the menu in many local Hawaiian restaurants (or, at least you could until the last time I was there, in 2000.)
It was a staple of mine as a kid, and, even as a college student and young married.
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Maureen I think they picked a great word when describing such a pain in the neck we all have to deal with. Afterall could anyone really say they liked spam as a kid :)