Where does spam come from?

Hi everyone. Over in Web Maven world, it's back to school. And you know what that means? That means spam. Why? I don't know! Actually I just have school and spam on my mind and I guess they really aren't related otherwise.

So let's talk about spam because that's related to this blog.

But we'll do it in quiz format because I have a quiz at school tomorrow, and well, because it will be more fun.

1. Where does the term "spam" come from?
a. it is short for stupid pesky advertising mail
b. a Monty Python skit
c. Bill Gates coined it because he loves Spam
d. Spam was the last name of Steve Job's mailman in the early 80's

2. Who sent the first spam?
a. a Nigerian man who had a lot of money to launder
b. an employee at DEC computer systems
c. a support group for men with very small cars
d. AOL

3. What is a honey pot?
a. computers set up to catch spammers
b. an online term for hot women
c. people who respond to spam
d. Poo's wife

4. What is the average positive response rate for spam?
a. 50%
b. 2%
c. 1%
d. much less than 1%

5. Who has higher social status?
a. a spammer
b. a pedophile
c. a porn star
d. Michael Vick

Answers:

1. b
2. b
3. a
4. d
5. c - while this one may need further research, people a, b, and d make me completely ill. So C it is. Initial research also resoundingly supports this choice.

How'd you do? If you got over 50% correct, you guessed it.... with the curve... You Get a B! Congratulations.

Want more spam-owledge? There's a great article in the New Yorker from August 6, "Damn Spam." It told me things I never knew about spam, like that the word actually comes from a Monty Python skit. While that's not really useful information, it's interesting nonetheless. It also told me that the first spam was sent out in 1978 over the Arpanet (for all you young folks, the Arpanet was the Internet's grandpa). It was sent by a DEC employee to encourage people to learn about the DECSytem-20 Computers. The response over the Arpanet was quite hostile, but DEC still sold 20 of the things at 20M a piece. That's some good 'ol fashioned ROI. And, it turns out, the current response rate for spam is about 15 positive responses PER MILLION. Regular direct mail is about 3% - so that's quite a difference.

What's in your email signature and.. does anyone care?

I just read a poorly written blog entry about email signatures. Despite his writing being boring and disorganized, the writer started an interesting discussion about email signatures. He says that lower food chain types have longer signatures (inverse relationship) while more important people evidently don't have to tell the world who they are. I'm not sure about that, but I haven't put much thought into signatures. I wonder if people do notice them and if they do change recipient's perceptions of the sender. Do people actually feel uplifted by the inspirational quotes sigs often contain? Do they actually get messaged* by the marketing slogans? I don't think anyone's done any research into this. It's worth thinking about.

I don't have a signature but after reading it, I'm going to get me one and add this blog address. I'll let you know if I see any results.

*in my 2nd year of MBA school, I have been granted the right to make up new words and use old words in new and interesting ways.

if only it were on sale *and* unlocked... Apple is already selling refurbished iphones

Apple is already selling reconditioned iphones, and evidently they are plentiful. Frustrated folks who never were able to get their service connected? Perhaps. So you can save $100 but you still have to deal with Cingular. Ugh.

Back in the old days, before the internet... .

Seriously, how did we ever find anything out? This weekend I went to get coffee after a run with my sister. We saw the strangest looking dog, it looked just like a little lamb! We had no idea what kind of dog it was, so to find out, we put "dog that looks like a lamb" into Google, and voila - it popped up first thing. The first photo is the dog, the second is a lamb. See! I took the photos from the link above. (Got to give credit where credit is due). For your edification, it's a Bedlington Terrier.

The ease of finding out this information really reinforces how much things have changed. I use the internet constantly: to find things out, interact with people, for entertainment, to work, to goof around. It's become such an ubiquitous part of my every day life that I definitely have withdrawals when we're apart.

It's also started me thinking that the digital divide is very real, and the case of the have's and have not's is going to get more and more pronounced. Hmmm. Deep thoughts from a dog sighting.

News Flash - Sexual References do not Build Credibility

When your ad copy and conversation with an escort center on the same subject... something is wrong.

I just saw this on ValleyWag, and I have to say, I'm surprised and disappointed the Linux Journal would run this ad. Isn't this a professional journal? We're not selling ps2s to kids here guys. Yuck. And the company - do they really think this kind of reference builds them professional credibility? Double yuck. I'm not even going to repost the ad here. You can go see it for yourself. For those of you who don't want to click - it makes the oh-so-clever statement that the hot girl in the ad and the company's servers have something in common - neither one will go down on you. Oh so funny. Oh so clever. Sighs.

User Generated Content - Unintentional Selling Tools Can be Very Powerful

My MBA class made this video to introduce the incoming class to the EMBA experience. Note - I am *not* in it, I got an evil stomach thing on the day of my scene.



In just a short time, it clearly relates our core values and some key points about the program:

• we work very hard
• we have no life while school is in session
• we're very team-oriented
• we're supportive
• we also have a really good time

The video is also a fantastic marketing tool - (which was not lost on the administration). While it's not formal enough to post it on the school website, you can easily imagine them making a reference to it when talking to prospective students. And the fact that it is *not* formal and that it is consumer generated makes the testament so much more powerful.

How could other companies leverage this concept? It's not hard to imagine:

• Show us a new way to use our product
• Show us a day in the life of you and our product
• User-generated "how to" videos
• And so much more...

Help! My file won't fit through the internet's tubes....

We've all faced this problem... because of course, the internet isn't something you can dump things on, it's a series of tubes. And boy does that cause problems when you need to transfer a dump truck-sized file, and it won't fit... (bonus image: person trying to stuff a file folder down those hamster play scapes. Funny!)

Solution! vdropbox.com. It's a nifty little app built by one of the mavens (If you can guess which one I'll let you use the app for free.) Ok the app is actually free. But if you can guess the maven, I'll be really impressed--how's that for a reward? My impression.

Anyway, vdropbox basically does everything FTP does for you, but in any easy format that doesn't involve using anything but the intertube. Just upload your file and indicate who should know about the upload. Your friend/colleage/etc. receives a notice that the file is waiting for them - they just click and download. Easy stuff.

vdropbox.com - let us know what you think.

New fun for gamers!

Check out www.duels.com - a new online game and social networking site that launched yesterday.

Since launch it's had amazing traffic and fantastic growth primarily via word of mouth (players inviting others) Goes to show you, it doesn't take much to get traffic when you're offering a quality, engaging online experience.

Don't miss the cool outfits for your character (gauntlets and tiny speedos!).

Several people we know (and one of the mavens) were involved heavily in this project. Congratulations to you all!

Read the TechCrunch article here.