It all began 30 years ago today. The mother lode of all spam - the bane of everyone's online existence - was first sent out via the U. S. Defense Department's Arpanet by a salesman named Gary Thuerk. The first junk mail or "Spam" as we know it today, was an invitation for a demo of the new system-20 mini computers being marketed by the Digital Equipment Corp.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Chiang Mai University are conducting a workshop in Thailand about insect consumption, collection, harvest, processing and marketing. The workshop aims to impart to forest managers the knowledge on insects and insect management possessed by traditional forest dwellers and forest-dependent people. It also aims to provide income and jobs in rural areas for people who capture, rear, process, transport and market edible insects.

A cosmetics line called "Looking Good For Jesus" has been pulled from a leading department store in Singapore after Catholic residents protested the marketing gimmick as blasphemous. Reports said the retailing giant Top Shop in the Lion City, which is home to about 4. 4 million Christians, had no choice but to clear its shelves of the products. The makeup line sold items like "Virtuous vanilla" lip balm and a "Get Tight with Christ" hand and body cream, featuring a picture of Jesus Christ between two women.

Golf balls swallowed by and extracted from a snake were placed for sale on eBay, with the highest bid totalling $1,401 Australian, or $1,253 US. The four balls which were taken from inside a carpet python at the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary last week were posted for sale on the online auction, still unwashed. The winner will also receive X-rays and photographs of Augusta, the python, with the balls still inside, and after the balls were taken out by surgery.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill on Wednesday merging two separate state departments into a new agency to combat high-tech identity theft. The California Office of Information Security and Privacy Protection was created to assist consumers, law enforcement, businesses and advocacy groups in compliance with consumer privacy laws. It combines the Office of Privacy Protection in the Department of Consumer Affairs with the state Information Security Office.