spam

1. messaging (From Hormel's Spiced Ham, via the Monty Python

"Spam" song) To post irrelevant or inappropriate messages to

one or more Usenet newsgroups, mailing lists, or other

messaging system in deliberate or accidental violation of

netiquette.

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. any

message which is crossposted to alt.rush-limbaugh and

alt.politics.homosexuality will almost inevitably spam both

groups. (Compare troll and flame bait).

Posting a message to a significant proportion of all

newsgroups is a sure way to spam Usenet and become an object

of almost universal hatred. Canter and Siegel spammed the net

with their Green card post.

If you see an article which you think is a deliberate spam, DO

NOT post a follow-up - doing so will only contribute to the

general annoyance. Send a polite message to the poster by

private e-mail and CC it to "postmaster" at the same address.

Bear in mind that the posting's origin might have been forged

or the apparent sender's account might have been used by

someone else without his permission.

The word was coined as the winning entry in a 1937 competition

to choose a name for Hormel Foods Corporation's "spiced meat"

(now officially known as "SPAM luncheon meat"). Correspondant

Bob White claims the modern use of the term predates Monty

Python by at least ten years. He cites an editor for the

Dallas Times Herald describing Public Relations as "throwing a

can of spam into an electric fan just to see if any of it

would stick to the unwary passersby."

Usenet newsgroup: news:news.admin.net-abuse.

See also netiquette.

2. (A narrowing of sense 1, above) To indiscriminately send

large amounts of unsolicited e-mail meant to promote a

product or service. Spam in this sense is sort of like the

electronic equivalent of junk mail sent to "Occupant".

In the 1990s, with the rise in commercial awareness of the

net, there are actually scumbags who offer spamming as a

"service" to companies wishing to advertise on the net. They

do this by mailing to collections of e-mail addresses,

Usenet news, or mailing lists. Such practises have caused

outrage and aggressive reaction by many net users against the

individuals concerned.

3. (Apparently a generalisation of sense 2, above) To abuse

any network service or tool by for promotional purposes.

"AltaVista is an index, not a promotional tool. Attempts to

fill it with promotional material lower the value of the index

for everyone. [...] We will disallow URL submissions from

those who spam the index. In extreme cases, we will exclude

all their pages from the index." -- Altavista.

4. jargon, programming To crash a program by overrunning a

fixed-size buffer with excessively large input data.

See also buffer overflow, overrun screw, smash the stack.

5. chat, games (A narrowing of sense 1, above) To flood any

chat forum or Internet game with purposefully annoying

text or macros. Compare Scrolling.

(2003-09-21)