spam
1. (From the Monty Python "Spam" song) To post
irrelevant or inappropriate messages to one or more {Usenet}
{newsgroups} or {mailing lists} in deliberate or accidental
violation of {netiquette}.
It is possible to spam a newsgroup with one well- (or ill-)
planned message, e.g. asking "What do you think of abortion?"
on soc.women. This can be done by {cross-post}ing, e.g. any
message which is crossposted to alt.rush-limbaugh and
alt.politics.homosexuality will almost inevitably spam both
groups. (Compare {troll} and {flame bait}).
Posting a message to a significant proportion of all
newsgroups is a sure way to spam Usenet and become an object
of almost universal hatred. Canter and Siegel spammed the net
with their Green card post.
If you see an article which you think is a deliberate spam, DO
NOT post a {follow-up} - doing so will only contribute to the
general annoyance. Send a polite message to the poster by
private e-mail and CC it to "postmaster" at the same address.
Bear in mind that the posting's origin might have been forged
or the apparent sender's account might have been used by
someone else without his permission.
{Usenet} newsgroup:
{news.admin.net-abuse(news:news.admin.net-abuse)}.
See also {netiquette}.
2. (A narrowing of sense 1, above) To indiscrimately send
large amounts of unsolicited {e-mail} meant to promote a
product or service. Spam in this sense is sort of like the
electronic equivalent of junk mail sent to "Occupant".
In the 1990s, with the rise in commercial awareness of the
net, there are actually scumbags who offer spamming as a
"service" to companies wishing to advertise on the net. They
do this by mailing to collections of {e-mail} addresses,
Usenet news, or mailing lists. Such practises have caused
outrage and aggressive reaction by many net users against the
individuals concerned.
3. (Apparently a generalisation of sense 2, above) To abuse
any network service or tool by for promotional purposes.
"AltaVista is an {index}, not a promotional tool. Attempts to
fill it with promotional material lower the value of the index
for everyone. [...] We will disallow {URL} submissions from
those who spam the index. In extreme cases, we will exclude
all their pages from the index." -- {Altavista}.
4. To crash a program by overrunning a
fixed-size {buffer} with excessively large input data.
See also {buffer overflow}, {overrun screw}, {smash the stack}.
(1997-04-08)