FWD [forteana] Another missed anniversary [S*P*A*M]

From: Terry W. Colvin (fortean1@mindspring.com)
Date: Fri May 09 2003 - 00:26:03 MDT

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    < http://www.templetons.com/brad/spam/spam25.html >

    Reflections on the 25th Anniversary of Spam

    (Note: You can hear me (briefly) interviewed about this anniversary
    on the May 2 edition of NPR's "All Things Considered.")

    While many only encountered spam (junk e-mail or junk newsgroup
    postings) in the mid 1990s, my research has found it goes back much
    further than that.

    In fact, the earliest documented junk e-mailing I've uncovered was
    sent May 3, 1978 -- 25 years ago last Saturday. (It was written May 1
    but sent on May 3.) And in a surprising coincidence (*), just a month
    ago marked the 10th anniversary of March 31, 1993, the first time a
    USENET posting got named a spam.

    I learned of that first spam through a report from Einar Stefferud
    who read a history I prepared of the term "spam" and how the name of
    the canned ham became our name for junk e-mail. I had original set
    out to research the history of the term, but it became impossible not
    to research a bit of the history of the act.

    That first spam was sent by a marketer for DEC - Digital Equipment Corporation.

    [etc at site. He's wrong, though; check out Matthew Sweet's
    _Inventing the Victorians_. 29th May, 1864, a firm of dentists
    spammed various MPs via telegram, inspiring huffy letters to the
    Times. Great book BTW, I recommend it highly.]

    -- 
    "I'm a paranoid agnostic. I doubt the existence of God, but I'm sure
    there is some force, somewhere, working against me."          Marc Maron
    -- 
    Terry W. Colvin, Sierra Vista, Arizona (USA) < fortean1@mindspring.com >
         Alternate: < fortean1@msn.com >
    Home Page: < http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Stargate/8958/index.html >
    Sites: * Fortean Times * Mystic's Haven * TLCB *
          U.S. Message Text Formatting (USMTF) Program
    ------------
    Member: Thailand-Laos-Cambodia Brotherhood (TLCB) Mailing List
       TLCB Web Site: < http://www.tlc-brotherhood.org >[Vietnam veterans,
    Allies, CIA/NSA, and "steenkeen" contractors are welcome.]
    


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