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Thread ID: 32589	2003-04-23 06:44:00	Munging	Mike (15)	Press F1

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138122	2003-04-23 06:44:00	Found this quite interesting - the Word of the Day (well for yesterday, since the yanks are a day behind LOL) from Whatis . com: TODAY'S WORD: munging Munging (pronounced (MUHN-jing or MUHN-ging) is the deliberate alteration of an e-mail address online with the intent of making the address unusable for Web-based programs that build e-mail lists for spamming purposes . People who transmit unsolicited e-mail advertisements, called spam, often use programs called spambots to scour the Internet for e-mail addresses . Such addresses are easily recognized because of their unique format, and because of the presence of the @ symbol . When munging is done, it should be in such a way that a person reading the document (as opposed to a program scanning it) can easily tell that it is a munged e-mail address, and can easily and unmistakably deduce the true e-mail address . Here are four examples of the munging of stangib@reno . com: stangib at reno dot com s-t-a-n-g-i-b-at-r-e-n-o-d-o-t-c-o-m stangibNOSPAM@reno . com My username is stangib, and the domain name is reno dot com . Munged e-mail addresses can be useful in Web sites, e-mail correspondence, chat rooms, and postings to newsgroups and special interest groups (SIGs) . However, some experts advise against the practice because it may violate the Terms of Service (TOS) of the subscriber's Internet service provider (ISP) . Munging should not be used if a response to a particular correspondence is desired . For example, when making an online purchase, the seller typically asks for an e-mail address in order to send a confirmation . If the address is munged, the confirmation will not reach the purchaser . It is important that munged e-mail addresses not be mistaken for legitimate addresses belonging to third parties . If an innocent person, corporation, or institution is harmed as a result of a munged e-mail address, civil or criminal action could result . Fake usernames or domain names are particularly dangerous in this respect . The term munging probably derives from the acronym mung (pronounced just as it looks), which stands for "mash until no good . " It may also derive from the hackers' slang term munge (pronounced MUHNJ), which means "to alter information so it is no longer accurate . " Mike .	Mike (15)
138123	2003-04-23 07:53:00	I always thought munging was the name for farting after you had eaten mung beans	Baldy (26)
138124	2003-04-23 08:44:00	So when quoting our email address we should say :-mungingHissyfit@isp.co.nz instead of :- removeHissyfit@isp.co.nz Where else can we use the word munging, I wonder ]:) = in reference to Politicians and Spindoctors ....	Hissyfit (3656)
138125	2003-04-24 01:26:00	It was actually defined in the 70s. DEC minicomputers had a text editor called TECO, which had a very obscure mode of operating. It had the advantage that it could edit a big file on papertape (even on a 4k memory machine) by working one page at a time (you could go forwards, but not back ... once the page was punched out, that was it for that sesssion). The term arose because of the frustration this gave rise to. It's actually a recursive self-referential acronym. Mung: Mung Until No Good	Graham L (2)
138126	2003-04-24 02:27:00	Dictionary.com says: "the word `munge' was in common use in Scotland in the 1940s, and in Yorkshire in the 1950s, as a verb, meaning to munch up into a masticated mess, and as a noun, meaning the result of munging something up." My guess is that it may also be related to "mange" and "mangy" and the very expressive (almost onomatapeoic) North of England/Scottish "manky", meaning messy and sticky. Dictionary.com also cross-refers to "mung", which it says is a paste of 'pulses' (this is obviously where mung beans come into the picture). But the two words are different, it says. OT: Even the most authoritative dictionaries still haven't completely caught up with "bug" IMO. I think there's a clear connection with bugbear, bugaboo and bog(e)y [in all its meanings]. OED source these to Welsh "bwg" - hobgoblin, "gremlin", but they don't take "bug" in the computing sense back to this, but tend to associate it with the "germ" or "insect" meaning. And I DON'T believe the story about Grace Hopper and the moth. Argus	argus (366)
138127	2003-04-24 02:48:00	> And I DON'T believe the story about Grace Hopper and the moth. History.Navy.Mil Hopper.Navy.Mil Maybe these will change your mind :) Mike.	Mike (15)
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