This week’s Feedback column (that I write) in New Scientist magazine has three segments. Here are bits of each of them: Too fast, too furious — The Fast & Furious action movies now have a companion in the world of animal study. A team of biologists videoed a furious and fast – well, relatively fast – incident, which they […]
Tag: spam
(Belated) Wedding congratulations to a Spam-Managerial Ig Nobel Prize winner
We have only just now seen news of the 2017 wedding of the manager of the Spam Museum. We offer our heartiest, most tasteful congratulations. Why this matters to us: The 1992 Ig Nobel Prize for nutrition was awarded to the utilizers of Spam, courageous consumers of canned comestibles, for 54 years of undiscriminating digestion. The wedding announcement, in […]
What’s new in the Ig Nobel Prize-winning world of Spam
“Some 250,000 cans clicking along every day, six days a week.” That’s most of what’s new in the world of Spam, as detailed in a Bloomberg report by Kyle Stock, with the mildly contrary headline “Beyond Spam.” The 1992 Ig Nobel Prize for nutrition was awarded to the utilizers of Spam, courageous consumers of canned […]
1997 Ig Nobel Prize winner Sanford Wallace keeps on spamming
Sanford Wallace, who in 1997 was awarded an Ig Nobel Prize for his seminal role in manufacturing and distributing spam, has reportedly been convicted yet again on spam-related legal charges. The Associated Press reports, on August 25, 2015: Nevada man pleads guilty to sending spam to Facebook users A Nevada man pleaded guilty Monday to […]
Spam dictionary (work in progress)
In 2003, a dictionary of Spam was created by Guy Di Mattina whilst studying at the School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, University of Queensland. “The first step” explains the author, “was to create a list of features that appeared in Spam or normal mail but not in both.” The results were published in […]
An appreciation of Ig Nobel winner “Spamford” Wallace
Nate Anderson, writing in Art Technica, takes a fond look at the career of Ig Nobel Prize winner Sanford (“Spamford”) Wallace. Mr. Wallace was awarded the 1997 Ig Nobel Prize in the field of communications; the Ig Nobel citation said “neither rain nor sleet nor dark of night have stayed this self-appointed courier from delivering […]
Ig-Nobel-winning spam pioneer indicted again
Sanford Wallace, who proudly and perhaps correctly claims credit for the early growth spurt of computer spam, is having yet another adventure with the legal system. Wallace likes to be called “Spamford”. He was awarded the 1997 Ig Nobel Prize in the field of communications. The Ig Nobel citation read “neither rain nor sleet nor dark […]
Ig Nobel Prize winner: $711 million
Sanford (“Spamford”) Wallace, winner of the 1997 Ig Nobel Prize for communications (“neither rain nor sleet nor dark of night have stayed this self-appointed courier from delivering electronic junk mail to all the world”), is in the news again. Reuters reports, on October 30, 2009 that: Facebook gets $711 million damages in anti-spam case Social […]
The persistence of Spamford
Ig Nobel Prize winner Sanford Wallace provides yet another lesson in persistence. Wallace (a.k.a. “Spamford”, or the “Spam King”) was awarded the 1997 Ig Nobel Prize in communications because “neither rain nor sleet nor dark of night have stayed this self-appointed courier from delivering electronic junk mail to all the world.” A February 27, 2009 […]