Apparently it's 25 years ago this weekend since the sending of the very first spam email. It was sent by a company called the Digital Equipment Corporation to promote their latest range of 'mini'computers. Their email was both badly written and unwanted by its recipients - in which case very little has changed in spamworld since 1978. It's good to hear that DEC have since been taken over by Compaq, so presumably the spam email didn't do them a lot of good in the end.
Spam is now estimated to account for up to 40% of global email traffic, up from 8% only two years ago. At this rate the world is going to be completely overrun by spam in the very near future, unless something can be done to stop it. Most of the world's email spam comes from the city of Boca Raton in Florida, and not from Nigeria as many people believe.
Here's a selection of spam (and Spam) related weblinks. And don't worry, none of these sites will send you unsolicited email.
• Here's some reflections on the 25th anniversary of email spam.
• Here's a spam timeline.
• Here's a site devoted to ridding the internet of spam.
• Here's a program designed to stop spam getting through. Maybe it'll work better for you than it has for me.
• Here's a top 10 of the most annoying spam of 2002, featuring sex, drugs and central African countries.
• Here's a site which collect fraudulent spam, including this rather brilliant email exchange with an unsuspecting Nigerian.
• Here's a fun inbox full of the sort of spam that sadly you never get sent.
• Here's some information about the real Spam, and you can even join the official Spam Fan Club.
• Here's the manufacturers of meaty SPAM getting annoyed at being associated with internet spam.
• Here's where to visit the official Spam museum (it's in Minnesota).
• Here's a page written by someone who collects anything and everything about Spam.
• Here's a lot of haiku about Spam. Oh tin of pink meat, I ponder what you may be: Snout or ear or feet? • Here's the script of the legendary Monty Python Spam sketch, and you can listen to the pink pork masterpiece as well.
