Spam Ham

Who Cooked This!? (How did it start?)
The modern sense of the word "spam" has nothing to do with spiced ham. In the early 1990s, a sketch of the British comedy group Monty Python has led to the current use of the word. "The skit SPAM" follows a couple struggling to order dinner from a menu consisting entirely of Hormel canned ham.

Repetition is the key to the sketch of hilarity. The actors of the CRAM word "spam" skit in 2.5 minutes more than 104 times! This flood prompted Usenet readers to call newsgroup postings unwanted "spam". The name stuck.

Spammers soon focused on e-mail, and the terminology moved with them. Today, the word is out of the dark art. Now, "spam" is the common term for "Unsolicited Commercial E-Mail", or "UCE.

Why spam comes from evil to good people?
Chances are, you've been spammed before. so somehow, your e-mail has found its hands of a spammer, your Inbox and suffered the consequences. How come? There are several possibilities.

Backstabbing business
Businesses often keep lists of addresses of their customers e-mail. This practice is entirely legitimate and, in general, nothing bad comes of it. Sometimes, however, the temptation to make a quick buck is too great, and these lists are sold or rented to outside advertisers. The result? A large number of unsolicited emails, and a serious breach of trust.

The creation of the addresses randomly
Computer programs called random address generators simply "proposed" e-mail. Over 100 million hotmail addresses exist - howhard could it be to guess some of them? Unfortunately for many unsuspecting Internet users - not too hard. Many spammers also guess
"Standard" addresses, like "support@yourdomain.com"
"Info@yourdomain.com" and "billing@yourdomain.com."

Spiderweb
Today's most insidious tools for the collection of the list are spiders. All major search engines spider the web, recording information on each page. Spammers use tools that also spider the web, but save any e-mail they encounter. Your personal web page lists your e-mail? Prepare yourself for the onslaught!

Chat Room Harvesting
ISPs offer chat rooms widely popular where users are known only by their screen names. Of course, spammers know that your screen name is the first part of your e-mail. Why waste time guessing e-mail when a few hours of lurking in a chat room can net a list of addresses actively used?

The Poor Man's Bad Marketing Idea
It does not work for telephone companies, and it will not work for e-mail marketing. But, some spammers while retaining their own friends and family-style e-mail lists. Compiled from the addresses of other known spammers, and people or businesses that the owner has met in the past, these lists are also unlawful. Why? Only you can give permission to someone to send you an e-mail. authorizing a friend to a friend will not cut it.

Stop the flow of your inbox
Already drowning in spam? Try to use filters in your email client - provide more than one way to block specific addresses and e-mail. Each time you get spammed, block the sender's address. Spammers move from address to address, and you can be on many lists, but this method at least slow the flow.

Also, use more than one e-mail, and keep clean. Many internet users find that this technique is the flow of messages in a net. Use an address for that spam-safe activities like e-mailing your friends, or signing on with business confidence. Never use your own address on the web! Get a free address to use on the web and in chat rooms.

If nothing else helps, consider changing screen names, or opening a brand new e-mail. When you do, you can start to mind.