Spammer Alert

**ts1n1ta** · May 19th, 2005 05:33 PM

anong trolling?

makapag spam nga mamaya....

**the_wildthing** · May 19th, 2005 05:38 PM

Why is it called spam?

I found a few links.

Q. Why is it called spam?
From Apryl Duncan,
Your Guide to Advertising.

A.
The name goes back to a Monty Python sketch where customers at a restaurant could only order Spam, the canned meat from Hormel. You could get Spam with Spam on the side. The sketch created a whole new meaning in the real world, making spam the word for tons and tons of things you don't want.

From http://advertising.about.com/cs/spam/f/spamname.htm

The same explanation is given here: http://www.lifeway.com/lwc/article_m...200245,00.html

and a host of others...

**Bogeyman** · May 19th, 2005 05:39 PM

Originally Posted by ts1n1ta

anong trolling?

Trolling = intentionally starting a thread or making a post that is clearly designed to create a stir or cause a flame war.

Some sites explicitly prohibit multiple accounts and hacking, as well as publicly arguing with the mods and admin over policy decisions made in the line of duty. Kasi nga naman, that's what the PM feature is for...

**mikaztro** · May 19th, 2005 05:57 PM

A Brief History of SPAM, and Spam

Attention everyone who uses the word "spam" to refer to an unwanted influx of junk e-mail.
Hormel Foods -- maker of the famed tinned lunchmeat of the same name -- is no longer a force to be reckoned with.

The Minnesota company, which took modest legal action a few years ago to keep its brand name from being used as a synonym for unwanted e-mail, has quietly abandoned its trademark protection campaign.

In a policy statement on SPAM and the Internet posted on its website, Hormel now says that it "does not object" to use of the slang term "spam" to describe unsolicited commercial e-mail.

Instead, the company asks only that people writing specifically about square, canned pork follow a set of trademark guidelines. The suggestions, posted on the site, appear simple enough:

"Please Do: Always put the trademark SPAM in all capital letters. Follow SPAM with "Luncheon Meat" or other descriptor. Remember, a trademark is a formal adjective and as such, should always be followed by a noun."

The policy, which has been in place at Hormel for a little more than a year, represents quite an about-face from just a few years ago.

In 1997, the meat processing company got some attention when it sent a letter to Sanford Wallace, a notorious e-mail spammer, objecting to his use of the word "spam" and his registration of the website "spamford.com". Wallace used his unique set of skills to make sure the contents of the letter got passed around to plenty of people.

Nowadays, Hormel makes it clear that while it doesn't mind use of the word "spam" for junk e-mail, it still abhors and has never engaged in the practice of spamming. That's probably a relevant point to make, since Hormel's catalog of websites includes, among other things, "spam.com."

The canned-meat monolith also eschews all blame for the fact that its most recognized product came to be associated with what is arguably the greatest scourge of the information age.

According to Hormel, culpability for the adoption of "spam" as a synonym for junk e-mail rests squarely with British Comedy troupe Monty Python.

It all started with an old Monty Python skit in which a group of Vikings sing a chorus of "SPAM, SPAM, SPAM..." at increasing volumes in an attempt to drown out other conversation. The analogy to modern-day spam applied, Hormel said, because unsolicited e-mail is seen as drowning out normal discourse on the Internet.

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary also used the Monty Python story to explain the etymology of the word "spam," which it defines as "unsolicited commercial e-mail sent to a large number of addresses." The dictionary noted that the word is also a trademark for a canned meat product.

The bottom line from the linguists seems to be that whether it's clogging your arteries or your inbox, spam (or SPAM) is a recognized element of conversation in the modern age. And given the rapidity at which "spam" has entered the general lexicon in English and several other languages, trademark experts say Hormel would be foolish to fight the trend. After all, the word has even inspired poets and would-be poets to write endless haikus about this meaty slice of Americana.

"It would be very difficult to get everyone in the world to call it something different," said Jason Drangel, an intellectual property attorney with Bazerman & Drangel. "They would have to come up with something else to call it."

That's not to say that an aggressive campaign against trademark infringement never works. The company Rollerblade, for example, did a pretty good job getting people to use the phrase "in-line skating" instead of "rollerblading" to protect its brand name. Xerox has also been vigilant in preventing publications from using the word "xerox" as a generic synonym for photocopy.

In Hormel's case, however, the pressure to protect its trademark is less pronounced. The reason is that the thing its name is being used for -- unsolicited e-mail -- has nothing to do with pork.

Drangel mused that the new use of the company's top brand might actually benefit Hormel. The theory is that having more people talk and think about spam will cause more people to buy and eat SPAM.

After all, deleting e-mail all day builds up an appetite. And what better way to fill that craving than with a protein-rich square of salty, pink pork.