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SPAM

Friday, December 6, 2002

• TITLE: "Spam"
  Here is what is alleged to be the first spam ever sent. It was an invitation from the from Digital Equipment Corporation to view it's new computer. The date in the header was 3-May-78:

   DIGITAL WILL BE GIVING A PRODUCT PRESENTATION OF THE 
  NEWEST MEMBERS OF THE DECSYSTEM-20 FAMILY; THE DECSYSTEM-
  2020, 2020T, 2060, AND 2060T.  THE DECSYSTEM-20 FAMILY OF COMPUTERS 
  HAS EVOLVED FROM THE TENEX OPERATING SYSTEM AND THE DECSYSTEM-10 
  (PDP-10) COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE.  BOTH THE DECSYSTEM-2060T AND 2020T 
  OFFER FULL ARPANET SUPPORT UNDER THE TOPS-20 OPERATING SYSTEM.
  

  Well, it's not exactly talking toilet paper but then again, what is?

• "... Spam ..." There are a number of theories about how the word "spam" came to mean unwanted bulk e-mail. It was first used to describe what is known as excessive "cross-posting" to newsgroups and chat boards.

  A likely theory is it comes from the Monty Python sketch about a luncheonette which serves only dishes including Spam, the meat product produced by the Hormel company. Here's a link to the Spam song.

  I have a friend who is a spam cop for an ISP. He has written this saga about the horrors of getting on spam lists.

• "... Magic Window ..." Here's the photo:
  
  

  Mullfoto of the Day:
  The top photo was taken yesterday morning from the window of an eighth floor office during a snowstorm. It is of a row of shops about five blocks from the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue.

  The bottom photo is the famous painting by Norman Rockwell of Main Street in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

  ---

  
  
  
          Soviet War II Poster
    "The Mother Land Is Calling!"
  

•     Mullings' Catchy Caption of the Day:
  

  
  A rare moment of peace and quiet

  (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds) ____________________________________________________________________________________