From: Terry W. Colvin (fortean1@mindspring.com)
Date: Sat Jul 19 2003 - 16:18:45 MDT
At 4:59 pm -0700 18/7/2003, Terry W. Colvin wrote:
>< http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,111192,00.asp >
>
>Spam takes its name from a Monty Python skit about a restaurant that served
>the stuff and the Vikings who ate there while chanting the word "spam" over
>and over. According to Internet lore, the first spam attack took place in 1985
>inside a multiuser game. Some wannabe Viking sent the message "spam spam spam"
>(and so on) to every player on the system until he got booted. After that, the
>term was applied to mass advertisements posted to online discussion groups and
>then to unwanted bulk e-mail--all to the continuing dismay of the Hormel Foods
>Corporation.
>
>Editor's Note:
>Spam is nearly 20 years old...?
Spam is more than a century old! Check out _Inventing the Victorians_
by Matthew Sweet for an account of the Victorian dentists who sent
out reams of unsolicited ads via telegram, causing outraged letters
to The Times.
Very highly recommended book for this and much more; also includes
the line "Dante Gabriel Rossetti found him an excellent source of
wombats". You can't ask for much more than that.
Rachel
--
"But most women, when they feel free to experiment with life, will go
straight to the witches' Sabbath. I myself respect them for it, and do
not think that I could ever really love a woman who had not, at some
time or another, been up on a broomstick."
Isak Dinesen, _The Old Chevalier_
--
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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