JargonFile/entries/spam.txt

spam

vt.,vi.,n. [from Monty Python's Flying Circus ] 1. To crash a program by
overrunning a fixed-size buffer with excessively large input data. See also
buffer overflow , overrun screw , smash the stack. 2. To cause a newsgroup
to be flooded with irrelevant or inappropriate messages. You can spam a
newsgroup with as little as one well- (or ill-) planned message (e.g. asking
What do you think of abortion? on soc.women ). This is often done with
cross-post ing (e.g. any message which is cross-posted to alt.rush-limbaugh
and alt.politics.homosexuality will almost inevitably spam both groups).
This overlaps with troll behavior; the latter more specific term has become
more common. 3. To send many identical or nearly-identical messages
separately to a large number of Usenet newsgroups. This is more specifically
called ECP , Excessive Cross-Posting. This is one sure way to infuriate
nearly everyone on the Net. See also velveeta and jello. 4. To bombard a
newsgroup with multiple copies of a message. This is more specifically
called EMP , Excessive Multi-Posting. 5. To mass-mail unrequested identical
or nearly-identical email messages, particularly those containing
advertising. Especially used when the mail addresses have been culled from
network traffic or databases without the consent of the recipients. Synonyms
include UCE , UBE. As a noun, spam refers to the messages so sent. 6. Any
large, annoying, quantity of output. For instance, someone on IRC who walks
away from their screen and comes back to find 200 lines of text might say Oh
no, spam. The later definitions have become much more prevalent as the
Internet has opened up to non-techies, and to most people senses 3 4 and 5
are now primary. All three behaviors are considered abuse of the net, and
are almost universally grounds for termination of the originator's email
account or network connection. In these senses the term spam has gone
mainstream, though without its original sense or folkloric freight there is
apparently a widespread myth among luser s that spamming is what happens
when you dump cans of Spam into a revolving fan. Hormel, the makers of Spam,
have published a surprisingly enlightened position statement on the Internet
usage.