Spam: Delicious, Monotonous, and Bearable.

I have what most would view as an overwhelming amount of the electronic version, and honestly, it is doable. In finding and researching hundreds of websites, I have had to sign up for a variety of services to meet the requirements to be paid. Of course I care nothing of advancing my education, or finding an approved loan, or playing online games, but I utilize these and many more for my own purposes. Of course I personally know what I am getting into. If I am receiving “spam” mail it is at my own behest, and frankly, it is easy to delete them as they come. But others find it severely annoying, and, a major turn off.

But first, a little history of the scrumptious staple of our society: Spam.

First canned in 1937, Spam (shortened for spicy ham) became popular after WW2. Troops would refer to Spam as “meatloaf without basic training” as they woofed down the salty meat. In 1946, a female group called the Hormel Girls banded, and two years later, continued to spread the good word of the wiggly meat coast to coast. The gelatinous substance – aspic, if you will -- encases around the bouncy, pinkish mold is actually natural, formed by the cooling of meat stock. After seven rather successfully years of gallivanting around the state, the girls called it quits and hung up their uniforms in 1953. Hot

Spam is tremendously popular in the Pacific Isles, Japan, and China. First introduced by U.S. soldiers during the World War 2 occupation, Spam gained popularity among islanders as “poor people food”. On average in Guam, each native consumes ten cans of mystery meat annually. Okinawa’s chanpuru is a local favorite, consisting of tofu, luncheon meats, and vegetables. And if stir fry is not for your palate, then a chain called Jef offers spam as a delicious burger. Then of course, if you find yourself in England, friend spam is always on the menu in most traditional places.

The traditional flavor has evolved to more than just the briny, durable mold of processed shoulder and white pig meat. Eleven flavors total the Spamily, with feisty Hot and Spicy Spam, Health conscious Spam Lite, and Guy Fieri’s personal favorite, Spam with Bacon. I don’t know if that is true or not, but one would assume. A 3.5 oz serving of Spam yields 310 calories, 13 grams of protein, and 10 grams of saturated fat. Spam is normally packaged in 12 ounce metal tins, and is a universal symbol for compressed hog parts.

I am hungry all of the sudden… Hmmm… Spam…

Electronic spam, or commonly known as e-mail spam, was documented back 1978. Unsolicited bulk e-mails (UBE) are now 80 – 85% of all e-mails worldwide. In 2011, seven trillion e-mails were labeled to be natured as unsolicited commercial e-mails (UCE). Any form of social networking or media that is public on the internet is subject to some sort of spam.  MMORPG’s, forums, chat sites – every single angle is utilized to send out advertising at others expense. However do you mean?

Most spam that is generated comes from our own personal computers. Zombie networks are batches of computers that are infected with some sort of worm or virus that installs a backdoor, and allows a spammer to send mass numbers of unwanted e-mails, texts, messages, invites, and pictures. Of course it is on every operator and owner to take whatever precautionary measures available to prevent this from happening. There are numerous ways to set up protocols for filtering incoming solicitation, and can be found through the second link on the bottom. Wiki has been invaluable, but for today’s reading I have found it to be my main source of information for this entry.

I personally do not put too much effort into spam. I have all of my e-mails filtered and directed to a predestinated folder, or parking lot. Any e-mails or messages that I find on my social media are simple enough to delete with a few clicks. I do receive around one thousand spam e-mails daily across four e-mail accounts. Techsoup Global, a San Francisco based nonprofit company has a decade long pledge coined “Stop Spam Today”. They are bringing the battle to any notorious spammer by offering free software to anyone, and they give out their resources for libraries at no cost. Pretty cool.

In 2003, the CAN-SPAM (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing) Act was signed by George W. and took immediate effect.  This was a basic guideline for companies to follow that ensured that the users who were to receive the e-mails were completed protected. The three requirements for Spammers to adhere by are a visible and operable way to unsubscribe or subscribe, that consumer opt out requests are received in 10 days, and finally that the opt-out lists were used for compliance purposes only. Meaning companies could not resell or rent the information afterwards to turn a substantial profit. In 2005, nine different companies were taken to court, and eight of them faced several lawsuits for sending unthinkable amounts of unsolicited messages.

Advertising is the main reason behind Spam e-mails. Yes, they are harmful, threatening, and hindering. But it is cheap.

Unsolicited messaging is documented well before the age of the internet. In 1864, Wells Fargo sent the first series of mass messages via a telegraphic network at multiple destinations. Spam was taken to the public thanks to Monty Pythons Flying Circus, in a sketch scene that questioned the nature of the lunch meat. However, early internet chat services, such as People Link were assaulted with jackasses who used the services to harm rather than to enjoy. Connection speed at that time was only through dial up, and spammers could easily flood chat rooms with either Monty Python quotes, or the word “Spam” over and over. This would result lagging computers, hurt feelings, and domains crashing.

Today, spam is to be expected. Either fried in a skillet, or in a digital deluge, it is just another part of life. There are countless efforts and tactics available to anyone – either free or at a cost for software/services. I find it easier to just take a little time in the beginning. Prep your e-mail and delete unwanted messaging. And even easier, pay attention to what it is you are exactly signing up for. Clickers beware.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_%28electronic%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-spam_techniques

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam

http://www.techsoupglobal.org/press/releases/sstpromo1208