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From The Economist, a defining moment in history (though I doubt the people involved realized it at the time):
On a May evening in 1864, several British politicians were disturbed by a knock at the door and the delivery of a telegram -- a most unusual occurrence at such a late hour. Had war broken out? Had the Queen been taken ill? They ripped open the envelopes and were suprised to find a message relating not to some national calamity, but to dentistry.
Gabriel, of 27 Harley St., advised that their dental practice would be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. until October. Infuriated, some of the recipients of this unsolicited message wrote to the Times.
"I have never had any dealing with Messrs Gabriel," thundered one of them, "and beg to know by what right do they disturb me by a telegram, which is simply the medium of advertisement." The Times helpfully reprinted the offending telegram, providing its senders with further free publicity.
There you have it -- the first recorded instance of spam. Truly there is very little that is new under the sun.
As for sleep... I've had very little of it, and look forward to having less of it in the next twenty-four hours. Tomorrow afternoon is the MM deadline; if I miss it, the editor wouldn't mind -- he's given me until the 19th to turn the project in -- but I'll have missed the vouchering deadline and that means I wouldn't get a cheque until sometime in the new year. Since we need money ASAP, yo ho, yo ho, it's off to work I go.
George is now giving me a hand on the pages, working nights while I take the day shift. I'm hoping that between the two of us we can put this baby to bed on the schedule I've set.
I was able to get to sleep without too much trouble yesterday (or rather this morning at about 1 a.m.) despite the deadline pressure. I've been working my way through that cache of Stephen King books that George found in a box; last night, while lying in bed, I finished "The Langoliers" from Four Past Midnight, a collection of four novellas, and started on "The Library Policeman" in the same volume. It's been sufficiently long since I last read them that they feel quite new to me again, and I'm enjoying them immensely.
On a May evening in 1864, several British politicians were disturbed by a knock at the door and the delivery of a telegram -- a most unusual occurrence at such a late hour. Had war broken out? Had the Queen been taken ill? They ripped open the envelopes and were suprised to find a message relating not to some national calamity, but to dentistry.
Gabriel, of 27 Harley St., advised that their dental practice would be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. until October. Infuriated, some of the recipients of this unsolicited message wrote to the Times.
"I have never had any dealing with Messrs Gabriel," thundered one of them, "and beg to know by what right do they disturb me by a telegram, which is simply the medium of advertisement." The Times helpfully reprinted the offending telegram, providing its senders with further free publicity.
There you have it -- the first recorded instance of spam. Truly there is very little that is new under the sun.
As for sleep... I've had very little of it, and look forward to having less of it in the next twenty-four hours. Tomorrow afternoon is the MM deadline; if I miss it, the editor wouldn't mind -- he's given me until the 19th to turn the project in -- but I'll have missed the vouchering deadline and that means I wouldn't get a cheque until sometime in the new year. Since we need money ASAP, yo ho, yo ho, it's off to work I go.
George is now giving me a hand on the pages, working nights while I take the day shift. I'm hoping that between the two of us we can put this baby to bed on the schedule I've set.
I was able to get to sleep without too much trouble yesterday (or rather this morning at about 1 a.m.) despite the deadline pressure. I've been working my way through that cache of Stephen King books that George found in a box; last night, while lying in bed, I finished "The Langoliers" from Four Past Midnight, a collection of four novellas, and started on "The Library Policeman" in the same volume. It's been sufficiently long since I last read them that they feel quite new to me again, and I'm enjoying them immensely.
