A good read, but I'm pretty sure that there was usenet spam before then.

I was looking through my archives of old text files a decade ago, and noticed that, to my horror, in 1982, I had spammed Punternet for water filters I was trying to sell as a teenager. Punternet was like Fidonet, but for C64 Punter BBS systems.

And I'm sure someone spammed before me.

Amusingly, I received a reply from someone on Texas, which blew my mind in 82, in Canada.

> "Rises like a phoenix" is a bit hyperbolic.

If it weren't hyperbolic and a tad over the top, it wouldn't be The Register.

Hey.

I wrote the article.

Note, generally (not always) the editors and subeditors write the headlines, not the authors. They have a pretty good idea of what brings the clicks in, far better than me.

Oh I'm not upset about it. El Reg has always been a touch hyperbolic for the entire 20 odd years I've been reading it. Stay spicy my friends. :)

:-D

Aaaaaallll righty then.