Spam

From OLSEncyclopedia

Spam is a delicious meat product made out of ham and pork that, strangely enough, does not have to be refrigerated. Read the package next time you're in the store, nowhere does it say "Refrigerate after opening".

Spam is also a term for a message sent for no other reason than to send a message, or possibly to advertise something. Spam takes its most common form with regards to E-mail, where if you use an email address to sign up at random websites, you can be guaranteed that you'll get spam at that address from now on to the end of eternity.

Tips on avoiding spam

• Use Mailinator whenever possible to sign up for things. One word of caution, Mailinator accounts are completely throwaway email addresses and as such do not have passwords, so keep that in mind when using it.
• Use BugMeNot to avoid having to sign up at all on sites like The New York Times, Internet Movie Database, and so forth that require compulsory registration for no purpose other than to gather marketing information.
• Create one or more Yahoo or Gmail accounts designated for signing up at sites you don't trust.
• Never use a personal email account to sign up for things on the internet. Not even those "word a day" things or "joke a day", "penis a day", or however many other "whatever a day" newsletters they have now.

If you encounter message board spam

• Don't reply to the thread, you're only adding to the problem at that point.
• Let a moderator or admin know so they can delete it.
• Instruct your fellow message board denizens to do the same.

If you like spam (the meat)

• The Official SPAM website

If you actually like internet spam

• I honestly don't know what to say here other than GTFO.