37 lines
4.9 KiB
HTML
37 lines
4.9 KiB
HTML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" standalone="no"?>
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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>spam</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="../../jargon.css" type="text/css"/><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.61.0"/><link rel="home" href="../index.html" title="The Jargon File"/><link rel="up" href="../S.html" title="S"/><link rel="previous" href="spaghetti-inheritance.html" title="spaghetti inheritance"/><link rel="next" href="spam-bait.html" title="spam bait"/></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">spam</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="spaghetti-inheritance.html">Prev</a> </td><th width="60%" align="center">S</th><td width="20%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="spam-bait.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr/></div><dt><a id="spam"/><dt xmlns="" id="spam"><b>spam</b>: <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="grammar">vt.,vi.,n.</span></dt></dt><dd><p> [from <i class="citetitle">Monty Python's Flying Circus</i>] </p></dd><dd><p> 1. To crash a program by overrunning a fixed-size buffer with
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excessively large input data. See also
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<a href="../B/buffer-overflow.html"><i class="glossterm">buffer overflow</i></a>, <a href="../O/overrun-screw.html"><i class="glossterm">overrun screw</i></a>,
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<a href="smash-the-stack.html"><i class="glossterm">smash the stack</i></a>. </p></dd><dd><p> 2. To cause a newsgroup to be flooded with irrelevant or
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inappropriate messages. You can spam a newsgroup with as little as one
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well- (or ill-) planned message (e.g. asking “<span class="quote">What do you think of
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abortion?</span>” on <tt class="systemitem">soc.women</tt>).
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This is often done with <a href="../C/cross-post.html"><i class="glossterm">cross-post</i></a>ing (e.g. any
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message which is cross-posted to <tt class="systemitem">alt.rush-limbaugh</tt> and <tt class="systemitem">alt.politics.homosexuality</tt> will almost
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inevitably spam both groups). This overlaps with
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<a href="../T/troll.html"><i class="glossterm">troll</i></a> behavior; the latter more specific term has
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become more common. </p></dd><dd><p> 3. To send many identical or nearly-identical messages separately to
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a large number of Usenet newsgroups. This is more specifically called
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<span class="firstterm">ECP</span>, Excessive Cross-Posting. This
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is one sure way to infuriate nearly everyone on the Net. See also
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<a href="../V/velveeta.html"><i class="glossterm">velveeta</i></a> and <a href="../J/jello.html"><i class="glossterm">jello</i></a>.</p></dd><dd><p> 4. To bombard a newsgroup with multiple copies of a message. This
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is more specifically called <span class="firstterm">EMP</span>,
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Excessive Multi-Posting. </p></dd><dd><p> 5. To mass-mail unrequested identical or nearly-identical email
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messages, particularly those containing advertising. Especially used when
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the mail addresses have been culled from network traffic or databases
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without the consent of the recipients. Synonyms include
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<a href="../U/UCE.html"><i class="glossterm">UCE</i></a>, <a href="../U/UBE.html"><i class="glossterm">UBE</i></a>.
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As a noun, ‘spam’ refers to the messages so sent.</p></dd><dd><p> 6. Any large, annoying, quantity of output. For instance, someone
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on IRC who walks away from their screen and comes back to find 200 lines of
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text might say “<span class="quote">Oh no, spam</span>”.</p></dd><dd><p>The later definitions have become much more prevalent as the Internet
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has opened up to non-techies, and to most people senses 3 4 and 5 are now
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primary. All three behaviors are considered abuse of the net, and are
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almost universally grounds for termination of the originator's email
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account or network connection. In these senses the term ‘spam’
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has gone mainstream, though without its original sense or folkloric freight
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— there is apparently a widespread myth among
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<a href="../L/luser.html"><i class="glossterm">luser</i></a>s that “<span class="quote">spamming</span>” is what happens
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when you dump cans of Spam into a revolving fan. Hormel, the makers of
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Spam, have published a surprisingly enlightened <a href="http://www.spam.com/ci/ci_in.htm" target="_top"> position statement</a> on the
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Internet usage.</p></dd><div class="navfooter"><hr/><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="spaghetti-inheritance.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="../S.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="spam-bait.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">spaghetti inheritance </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="../index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> spam bait</td></tr></table></div></body></html>
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