SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM
SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM

Peter Popov wrote:

> Can anyone point to me a good source to learn about Netiquette? I'm quite
> new to the Net and I am afraid I might unintentionally offend somebody (in
> case I already haven't). Also, what does SPAM mean? I have a vague idea and
> try to avoid it, but a clear definition is the real thing.
>
> TIA,
>
> Peter

I found this for you Sir Peter,

My Isp has this description listed as part of their
"What to do about all this spam email I'm recieving"
FAQ.


 Where did the term 'Spam' come from?

 The prevailing theory is that it is from the song in Monty Python's famous
  spam-loving vikings sketch that goes, roughly, "Spam spam spam spam,
  spam spam spam spam, spam spam spam spam..." The vikings, who were
  sitting in a restaraunt whose menu only included dishes made with spam,
  would sing this refrain over and over, rising in volume until it was
impossible
  for the other characters in the sketch to converse
  (which was, of course, a large part of the joke.)

The term is rumored to have originated, as far as the Internet is concerned,
  from the MUD/MUSH community. Blue-haired former newsadmin Nathan J.
   Mehl tells the most reliable story known to date...

             Well, briefly summarized:

            My friend-who-shall-remain-nameless was, ah, a younger and
            callower man, circa 1985 or so, and happened onto one of the
            original Pern MUSHes during their most Sacred Event -- a
            hatching. After trying to converse sanely with two or three of
            the denizens, he came quickly to the conclusion that they area
            all of bunch of obsessive-compulsive nitwits with no life and
            less literary taste. (Probably true.)

            So, as the 'eggs' were 'hatching', he assigned a keyboard macro
            to echo the line:

            SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM
            SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM

            ...and proceeded to invoke it once every couple of seconds,
            until one of the wizards finally booted him off.

            ...which would have probably been that last that anyone ever
            heard or thought of it, except that it apparently ingrained itself
            into the memory of the PernMUSHers, and forever after there
            was the legend of 'that asshole who spammed us.'

            Every once in a while, this story makes it back to my friend,
            and he tries very hard to keep a straight face...

       Another theory is related to throwing a "brick" of the luncheon meat at a

       rotating metal fan. However, none of the long-time "spam watchers"
       have any idea where that theory was from before it showed up in a
      Time magazine article.

 The term wasn't first used to describe mass news posting, however. See the
   Hacker's Jargon File for previous uses of the word.

[(Snip) more boring definitions snipped and discarded]

SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM
SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM
SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM

Ken

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