102-569: Spam (stylized in all-caps ) is a brand of lunch meat ( processed canned pork and ham ) made by Hormel Foods Corporation , an American multinational food processing company. It was introduced in the United States in 1937 and gained popularity worldwide after its use during World War II . As of 2003, Spam was sold in 41 countries, and trademarked in more than 100, on six continents. Spam's main ingredients are pork shoulder and ham , with salt, water, modified potato starch (as
204-650: A North American Hockey League team that began play during the 2010–11 season. The team finished 1st in the Central Division in the 2012–13, 2013–14, and 2014–15 seasons, and advanced to the Robertson Cup Finals in 2014 and 2015, though ultimately losing the championship both times. The Bruins play their home games at Riverside Arena . Austin previously was represented in Junior hockey by the Austin Mavericks ,
306-439: A binder ), sugar, and sodium nitrite (as a preservative ). Natural gelatin is formed during cooking in its cans on the production line. It is available in different flavors, some using different meats, as well as in "lite" and lower-sodium versions. Spam is precooked, making it safe to consume straight from the can, but it is often cooked further for taste. Concerns about Spam's nutritional attributes have been raised due to
408-436: A nd ha m ". The difficulty of delivering fresh meat to the front during World War II saw Spam become a ubiquitous part of the U.S. soldier's diet. It became variously referred to as "ham that didn't pass its physical", "meatloaf without basic training", and "Special Army Meat". Over 150 million pounds (75,000 short tons) of Spam were purchased by the military before the war's end. Despite this disparagement, throughout
510-597: A 23% cut in wages. In the early 1980s, recession had impacted several meatpacking companies, decreasing demand and increasing competition which led smaller and less-efficient companies to go out of business. In an effort to keep plants from closing, many instituted wage cuts. Wilson Food Company declared bankruptcy in 1983, allowing them to cut wages from $ 10.69 to $ 6.50 and significantly reduce benefits. Hormel Foods had avoided such drastic action, but by 1985, pressure to stay competitive remained. A protracted battle between union employees and Hormel continued until June 1986, one of
612-532: A 500-acre (200 ha) nature preserve also including the 60-acre (24 ha) Hormel Arboretum, was purchased from Geordie Hormel with a state grant. In 1973 the city opened Riverside Arena , the city's first indoor ice arena, now home to a variety of ice activities including the Austin Bruins junior hockey team. In August 1985, 1,500 Hormel meatpackers went on strike at the Austin plant after management demanded
714-669: A Spam cook-off (to contrast with Texas chili cook-offs) and the Spamalymplics, including a "Spam toss" and a Spamburger (a 12-ounce portion on a bun) eating contest. The event returned in 2019. On August 8, 2021, L&L Hawaiian Barbecue established "National SPAM Musubi Day" to celebrate the iconic snack from Hawaii. The celebration also happened on August 8, 2022, and has since become an annual celebration. The ingredients of Spam vary according to variety and market; those of variety "Spam Classic" are pork with ham, salt, water, modified potato starch, sugar, and sodium nitrite. Sodium nitrate
816-514: A can of Spam to the magnetic North Pole and Jeremy Clarkson destroyed it with a shotgun. Introduced in 2008's Fallout 3 and seen in later entries to the franchise , a common foodstuff item called "Cram", a can of processed meat that serves as a parody of Spam, is used as a health regenerative item. The Pumpkin Spice Spam , introduced in September 2019, has gained the attention of the media and
918-683: A commonly preferred alternative to all caps text is the use of small caps to emphasise key names or acronyms (for example, Text in Small Caps ), or the use of italics or (more rarely) bold . In addition, if all caps must be used it is customary to slightly widen the spacing between the letters, by around 10 per cent of the point height. This practice is known as tracking or letterspacing. Some digital fonts contain alternative spacing metrics for this purpose. Messages completely in capital letters are often equated on social media to shouting and other impolite or argumentative behaviors. This became
1020-907: A community choir (Northwestern Singers ) and several community bands (Austin Community Band, Austin Community Jazz Band, and the Austin Big Band ). Austin has produced many professional musicians of regional and national acclaim, including John Maus , Trace Bundy , Charlie Parr , Martin Zellar , Matthew Griswold , and Molly Kate Kestner . In 2015 the MacPhail Center for Music , based in Minneapolis, Minnesota , opened its first outstate location in Austin, at Riverland Community College. MacPhail's Austin campus provides individual instruction on nearly
1122-483: A computer program shouting at its user. Information technology journalist Lee Hutchinson described Microsoft's using the practice as "LITERALLY TERRIBLE ... [it] doesn't so much violate OS X's design conventions as it does take them out behind the shed, pour gasoline on them, and set them on fire." In programming, writing in all caps (possibly with underscores replacing spaces ) is an identifier naming convention in many programming languages that symbolizes that
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#17329087959751224-640: A consequence of World War II rationing and the Lend-Lease Act , Spam was sold in the United Kingdom. British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher later referred to it as a "wartime delicacy". In addition to increasing production for the U.K., Hormel expanded Spam output as part of Allied aid to the Soviet Union. In his memoir Khrushchev Remembers , Nikita Khrushchev declared: "Without Spam, we wouldn't have been able to feed our army." The billionth can of Spam
1326-495: A delicate scanning of characters (from a damaged image that needs further contextual text correction). Depending on the typeface , these similarities accidentally create various duplicates (even quite briefly and without realizing it when reading). E.g. H/A, F/E or I/T by adding a bar; P/R, O/Q, even C/G from similar errors; V/U, D/O, even B/S while rounding the shape; and more deformations implying mixings. Adding digits in all caps styled texts may multiply these confusions, which
1428-646: A dozen musical instruments for adults and children, as well as large ensembles and early childhood music instruction. Theater The Frank W. Bridges Theatre is home to an active theatre program at Riverland Community College, while Matchbox Children's Theatre, established in 1975, provides shows year-round for both adults and children. Summerset Theatre, a community theater company organized in 1968, also presents several shows per year. ArtWorks Center The Austin ArtWorks Center, established in 2014, hosts gallery exhibits, educational classes, performance space, and
1530-403: A household in the city was $ 33,750, and the median income for a family was $ 42,691. Males had a median income of $ 31,787 versus $ 23,158 for females. The per capita income for the city was $ 20,651. About 7.5% of families and 10.9% of the population were below the poverty line . With Hormel 's corporate headquarters and main production facility in Austin, food processing plays a dominant role in
1632-399: A mainstream interpretation with the advent of networked computers, from the 1980s onward. However, a similar interpretation was already evidenced by written sources that predated the computing era, in some cases by at least a century, and the textual display of shouting or emphasis was still not a settled matter by 1984. The following sources may be relevant to the history of all caps: Before
1734-570: A major flood mitigation program. This involved the purchase and demolition of buildings within the floodplain, converting low-lying areas of town to parks, and the installation of a flood wall to protect downtown. After two major floods in July 1978, city officials and local residents decided to take action. Locals organized the Floodway Action Citizens Task Source (FACTS), which met with local and state leaders, as well as members of
1836-415: A major redevelopment project at the site of the former Oak Park Mall. The city is embarking on a community development project, Vision 2020. This grassroots movement was chartered in 2011 to implement ten major new community initiatives that could be completed by 2020. It includes a variety of projects related to economic development, heath and wellness, education, and tourism. A community recreation center
1938-581: A new round of buyouts took place through the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP). The worst flooding on record came when the Cedar River crested at 23.4 feet (7.1 m) in the spring of 2000. Many of the worst-hit parts of town were now void of homes and businesses, but there was still damage and extensive clean-up was required. Flooding came again in September 2004, resulting in two fatalities. Additional protection (dikes) were added along
2040-539: A radio program where the main selling point was Spam. The Hormel Girls were disbanded in 1953. Spam has long had a somewhat dubious reputation in the United States and (to a lesser degree) in the United Kingdom as a poverty food . The image of Spam as a low-cost meat product gave rise to the Scottish colloquial term "Spam valley" to describe certain affluent housing areas where residents have an outward appearance of wealth but, in private, may be living at poverty levels. Spam
2142-739: A retail gallery. It is operated by the Austin Area Commission for the Arts, which also sponsors the Austin ArtWorks Festival, an annual celebration of visual, performing, and literary arts. The center is in the First National Bank Building, which opened in 1896. Architecture Austin has several historically and architecturally significant buildings, including Austin High School, St. Augustine's Church , Roosevelt Bridge,
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#17329087959752244-532: A slowed speed is possible – but in principle too many factors of low legibility are involved." Other critics are of the opinion that all caps letters in text are often "too tightly packed against each other". Besides the aforementioned speed of reading, all caps is can be prone to character -based ambiguities. Namely, the upper-case letters are globally simpler than their lower-case counterpart. For example, they lack ascenders and descenders . Since they are built from fewer positional and building elements (e.g.
2346-416: A smaller grid pertaining to minimalist digital fonts), they are more fragile to small changes. These variations, generally involuntary but sometimes induced on purpose, are caused by a misinterpretation (the information is transferred) or by a deterioration (the data is lost, in the analysis wording). They can occur horizontally and/or vertically, while misreading (without this extra effort or time), or during
2448-678: A staple in Hong Kong’s low to middle-income families. The can of meat can be regularly seen in cafes and small restaurants. In Okinawa , Japan , the product is added into onigiri alongside eggs and used as a staple ingredient in the traditional Okinawan dish chanpurū , and a Spam burger is sold by local fast food chain Jef . For the 70th anniversary of Spam in 2007, cans with special designs were sold in Japan due to its popularity, primarily in Okinawa. Following
2550-543: A sunny-side-up egg for breakfast. It is prepared and used in a variety of ways, including being fried, caramelized, served with condiments, or in sandwiches. It has also been featured in numerous Filipino fusion cuisine dishes, including Spam burgers, Spam spaghetti , and Spam nuggets. The popularity of Spam in the Philippines transcends economic class, and the canned product is even given during holidays. There are at least ten different varieties of Spam currently available in
2652-689: A team that first participated in the Midwest Junior Hockey League from 1974 to 1977 and following a league merger competed in the United States Hockey League from 1977 to 1985. Austin is home to two amateur baseball clubs, the Austin Blue Sox and Austin Greyhounds. The Riverland Community College Blue Devils field six intercollegiate athletic teams. Several other teams, clubs, and activities are prominent in Austin, including
2754-663: A term is conspicuous, we look at more than formatting. A term that appears in capitals can still be inconspicuous if it is hidden on the back of a contract in small type. Terms that are in capitals but also appear in hard-to-read type may flunk the conspicuousness test. A sentence in capitals, buried deep within a long paragraph in capitals will probably not be deemed conspicuous...it is entirely possible for text to be conspicuous without being in capitals. Certain musicians—such as Marina , Finneas , who are both known mononymously, and MF DOOM —as well as some bands such as Haim and Kiss —have their names stylised in all caps. Additionally, it
2856-757: Is a common perseverative used in ultra processed meat products. However excessive consumption has been linked to many health issues. The official Spam website lists numerous different flavors of Spam products. In addition to the variety of flavors, Spam is sold in tins smaller than the standard twelve-ounce (340 g) size. Spam Singles are also available, which are single sandwich-sized slices of Spam Classic or Lite, sealed in retort pouches . All caps In typography , text or font in all caps (short for " all capitals ") contains capital letters without any lowercase letters. For example: THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPS OVER THE LAZY DOG. All-caps text can be seen in legal documents, advertisements , newspaper headlines , and
2958-657: Is also a mock Church of Spam and a Spam Cam, which is a webcam trained on a can of decaying Spam. In 2017 the SPAM® brand team launched the boy band ALL4SPAM in the Philippines as part of a new advertisement campaign in the region. Spam is referred to in Island of the Sequined Love Nun by Christopher Moore , where SPAM is explained as Shaped Pork Approximating Man , which was used to explain its popularity amongst Pacific Island Cannibals. In Top Gear: Polar Special , James May took
3060-403: Is an "apparent consensus" that lower-case text is more legible, but that some editors continue to use all caps in text regardless. In his studies of all caps in headlines , he states that, "Editors who favor capitals claim that they give greater emphasis. Those who prefer lower case claim their preferences gives greater legibility." Wheildon, who informs us that "When a person reads a line of type,
3162-507: Is approximately 1,200 ft (370 m). The Cedar River , a tributary of the Iowa River , flows southward through the east side of the city. Tributaries within the city include Turtle Creek from the west and Dobbins Creek from the east. Austin has a humid continental climate typical of the Upper Midwest . Winters are cold and snowy; summers are warm with moderate to high humidity. On
Spam (food) - Misplaced Pages Continue
3264-615: Is common for bands with vowelless names (a process colourfully known as " disemvoweling ") to use all caps, with prominent examples including STRFKR , MSTRKRFT , PWR BTTM , SBTRKT , JPNSGRLS (now known as Hotel Mira), BLK JKS , MNDR , and DWNTWN . Miles Tinker , renowned for his landmark work, Legibility of Print , performed scientific studies on the legibility and readability of all-capital print. His findings were as follows: All-capital print greatly retards speed of reading in comparison with lower-case type. Also, most readers judge all capitals to be less legible. Faster reading of
3366-747: Is in progress, as is a tourism and visitor center. One goal is to make the downtown business district more of a destination, aided in part by the Spam Museum's relocation to Main Street in 2016. In 2015 the National Association of Realtors named Austin one of the "Top 10 Affordable Small Towns Where You'd Actually Want to Live." Austin has a long history of flooding. The Cedar River, along with Dobbins Creek and Turtle Creek , flow through Austin, and many homes and businesses were constructed in floodplains . A series of floods between 1978 and 2010 resulted in
3468-435: Is less legible and readable than lower-case text. In addition, switching to all caps may make text appear hectoring and obnoxious for cultural reasons, since all-capitals is often used in transcribed speech to indicate that the speaker is shouting. All-caps text is common in comic books, as well as on older teleprinter and radio transmission systems, which often do not indicate letter case at all. In professional documents,
3570-466: Is one aim of Leet (intentional pseudo duplicates) and can provide simple means of concealing messages (often numbers). Austin, Minnesota Austin is a city in and the county seat of Mower County , Minnesota , United States. The population was 26,174 at the 2020 census . The town was originally settled along the Cedar River and has two artificial lakes, East Side Lake and Mill Pond. It
3672-627: Is popular with a majority of the population. As of 2004, South Korea produced and consumed more Spam than any other country except the United States. It is considered something of a luxury dish and is a common gift for Korean New Year combined with cooking oil and seasoning. After World War II, meat was scarce and expensive in Hong Kong , so Spam was an accessible, affordable alternative. The luncheon meat has been incorporated into dishes such as macaroni with fried egg and Spam in chicken soup, egg and Spam sandwiches, and instant ramen . Nowadays, Spam remains
3774-557: The ASCII table , so can display both alphabets, but all caps only. Mikrosha is switchable to KOI-7N1, in this mode, it can display both caps and lower-case, but in Cyrillic only. Other Soviet computers, such as BK0010 , MK 85 , Corvette and Agat-9 , use 8-bit encoding called KOI-8R, they can display both Cyrillic and Latin in caps and lower-case. Many, but not all NES games use all caps because of tile graphics, where charset and tiles share
3876-486: The Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad arrived in the late 1860s, hastening economic development. The town's first schoolhouse was constructed in 1865, and the first bank opened the following year. In 1891 George A. Hormel opened a small family-owned butcher shop in Austin, which eventually grew into today's Fortune 500 company, Hormel Foods . By 1896 area doctors, with the help of local Lutheran congregations, formed
3978-567: The Great Recession , including the demise of the Oak Park Mall. As of 2017 the business climate had improved, including a major redevelopment of the former mall site. Downtown remains vibrant as well, including construction of a new SPAM Museum in 2016. According to Austin's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (2022), the top employers in the city are: Music Austin is home to several long-standing performing arts organizations, including
4080-656: The Iowa border. The city is bordered to the south by Austin Township , to the east by Windom and Red Rock townships, and to the north by Lansing Township and the city of Mapleview . Austin is bordered to the west by Oakland Township in Freeborn County . According to the U.S. Census Bureau , Austin has a total area of 13.39 square miles (34.68 km ), of which 13.29 square miles (34.42 km ) are land and 0.11 square miles (0.28 km ), or 0.79%, are water. Its elevation
4182-522: The Köppen climate classification , Austin falls in the humid continental climate zone ( Dfa ) and is in USDA plant hardiness zone 4b. Below is a table of average high and low temperatures in Austin. As of the census of 2020 there were 26,174 people, 10,980 households, and 10,181 families residing in the city. As of the census of 2010 there were 24,718 people, 10,131 households, and 6,114 families residing in
Spam (food) - Misplaced Pages Continue
4284-736: The Philippine National Red Cross . In mainland China, Hormel decided to adopt a different strategy to market Spam ( Chinese : 世棒 ; pinyin : Shìbàng ), promoting it as a foreign, premium food product and changing the Spam formula to be meatier to accommodate local Chinese tastes. Spam-like canned pork products are also produced by other food companies in China as "luncheon meat" ( Chinese : 午餐肉 ; pinyin : Wǔcānròu ; Jyutping : Ng caan juk ; Zhuyin Fuhao : ㄨˇ ㄘㄢ ㄖㄡˋ ). Spam
4386-634: The University of Minnesota with significant support from the Mayo Clinic . Fertile land, trapping , and ease of access brought first trappers and then the early pioneers to this region. The rich gameland attracted Austin Nichols, a trapper who built the first log cabin in 1853. At that time there were "about twenty families in the area." More settlers began to arrive by wagon train in 1855, and by 1856 enough people were present to organize Mower County. In 1856
4488-568: The 1990s, more than three-quarters of newspapers in the western world used lower-case letters in headline text. Discussion regarding the use of all caps for headlines centers on the greater emphasis offered by all caps versus the greater legibility offered by lower-case letters. Colin Wheildon conducted a scientific study with 224 readers who analyzed various headline styles and concluded that "Headlines set in capital letters are significantly less legible than those set in lower case." All caps typography
4590-452: The 5 and 10-minute time limits, and 13.9 percent for the whole 20-minute period". Tinker concluded that, "Obviously, all-capital printing slows reading to a marked degree in comparison with Roman lower case." Tinker provides the following explanations for why all capital printing is more difficult to read: Text in all capitals covers about 35 percent more printing surface than the same material set in lower case. This would tend to increase
4692-525: The 63rd Annual Academy Awards . Dave Pirner of the Minneapolis band Soul Asylum wrote a song about the strike, "P-9". It is on the band's 1989 album Clam Dip & Other Delights . Hormel never gave in to the workers' demands, and when the strike ended in June 1986, 700 employees were left without work. Austin completed a new $ 28 million courthouse and jail in 2010, a new intermediate school in 2013, and has
4794-576: The Army Corps of Engineers, but it was decided that major flood prevention measures would not be cost-effective. A Community Development Block Grant was won from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, allowing for the buyout of homes lying in the flood plain. City planners also vowed to no longer build new structures in the existing flood plains. In 1983 and 1993 major floods again damaged many Austin homes and businesses. Over 400 homes were affected and
4896-651: The Austin Hospital Association, later becoming St. Olaf Hospital, and (since 1995) part of Mayo Clinic Health System . In 1897 Charles Boostrom opened Austin's first college, the Southern Minnesota Normal College and Austin School of Commerce. It closed in 1925, and the city was without an institution of higher education until Austin Junior College opened in 1940. In 1964 it became part of
4998-580: The Austin Symphony Orchestra, which was established in 1957. The Austin Artist Series, one of the Midwest's largest and longest-running concert and performance series, was established in 1945. The Historic Paramount Theatre hosts a variety of local and regional performances, and Austin High School 's music programs have been recognized for decades as among the state's best. Austin is also home to
5100-414: The Cedar River as a result. The most recent round of serious flooding came in 2010, after which a plan was developed for a permanent flood wall to protect downtown from the floodwaters of the Cedar River and Mill Pond. The wall was completed in 2014. On Monday, August 20, 1928, an F-2 sized tornado touched down on Winona Street (1st Avenue). The damage ran from the southern edge of Austin High School to
5202-725: The Historic Paramount Theatre, the Hormel Historic Home , the Arthur W. Wright House, and several blocks of buildings on Main Street. The S. P. Elam Residence (1950) was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright , and is the second largest example of his Usonian style of architecture. Literature Austin is the setting of Allen Eskens' novel The Life We Bury, published in 2014 by Seventh Street Books in New York. The Austin Bruins are
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#17329087959755304-461: The March 2011 earthquake, Spam sales in Japan declined, and Hormel shifted its focus to China, although Hormel did pledge to donate $ 100,000 along with cans of Spam for relief efforts. In early 2014, Burger King introduced the Spam and Cheese burger as a breakfast menu item. From July 1940 to March 1941, Spam sponsored George Burns and Gracie Allen on their radio program . During World War II, Spam
5406-772: The Milwaukee Road railyards on the city's east side. St. Olaf Lutheran Church, Carnegie Library, Main Street, the spire on Austin's former courthouse, Grand Theatre (replaced in 1929 by the Paramount Theatre), Austin Utilities, Lincoln School, and several boxcars at the Milwaukee railyards were damaged or destroyed. Austin residents noticed debris raining out of the sky, such as straw and laundry. Another F-2 touched down in August 1961, at 808 18th Street SW. It quickly gained strength once on
5508-580: The State College and University System and is now Riverland Community College . In 1913 the Minnesota Legislature made a 50-acre (20 ha) parcel of land into Horace Austin State Park. At the time, the land was "one of the beauty spots of Southern Minnesota, but of late years has not been cared for and in places the banks have been disfigured by dumping along the shore of the stream," according to
5610-661: The U.K. at its Belle Vale factory, Liverpool , where it stayed until production switched to the Danish Crown Group (owners of the Tulip Food Company) in 1998. The United Kingdom has adopted Spam into various recipes. For example, recipes include Spam Yorkshire Breakfast, Spamish Omelette, and Spam Hash. Spam can also be sliced, battered and deep-fried into Spam fritters . Loof , a canned corned beef product often featured in Israeli Defense Forces rations,
5712-704: The bill's author, Senator Charles F. Cook. The park was converted to a state "scenic wayside" in 1937, then transferred to city ownership in 1949. In the 1930s Austin Acres was built with funding from the Subsistence Homesteads Division of the Department of the Interior . The Austin Parks Board was formed in the 1940s to oversee the growing number of green spaces within the city. In 1971 the Jay C. Hormel Nature Center ,
5814-418: The city was 92.6% White , 0.81% African American , 0.18% Native American , 2.22% Asian , 0.02% Pacific Islander , 3.09% from other races , and 1.09% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race was 6.12% of the population. There were 9,897 households, out of which 27.2% had children under the age of 18. The average household size was 2.29; the average family size was 2.90. The median income for
5916-586: The city's economy. Hormel and Quality Pork Processors, a contract food processing firm serving Hormel, are by far the city's largest private employers. Though most famous for SPAM, Hormel also produces many other brands, such as Jennie-O turkey, Muscle Milk, Skippy peanut butter, and Dinty Moore beef stew. The government, education, hospitality, and retail sectors comprise much of the remainder of Austin's employment base. Hormel's consistent and steady growth have resulted in below-average unemployment rates for Austin and Mower County in recent years. As of February 2016
6018-423: The city. The population density was 2,096.5 inhabitants per square mile (809.5/km ). There were 10,870 housing units at an average density of 922.0 per square mile (356.0/km ). The racial makeup of the city was 86.8% White , 3.0% African American , 0.3% Native American , 2.4% Asian , 0.2% Pacific Islander , 4.8% from other races , and 2.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 15.4% of
6120-400: The country, and an estimated 1.25 million kilos of the meat is sold every year in the Philippines. Its popularity among Filipinos has led to the creation of a version with sugar and annatto— Tocino -flavor Spam, made for the overseas Filipino market in the US and Canada. During the rescue efforts after Typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana) in 2009, Hormel Foods donated over 30,000 pounds of Spam to
6222-418: The country. It is also sometimes associated with economic hardship because of its relatively low cost. Spam that is sold in North America, South America, and Australia is produced in Austin, Minnesota (also known as "Spam Town USA"), and in Dubuque, Iowa . Austin, Minnesota also had a restaurant with a menu devoted exclusively to Spam called "Johnny's SPAMarama Menu". Residents of the state of Hawaii have
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#17329087959756324-561: The creation of the Spam kimbap (rice and vegetable filled seaweed roll) in Korean cuisine. Because of a scarcity of fish and other traditional kimbap products such as kimchi or fermented cabbage, Spam was added to a rice roll with kimchi and cucumber and wrapped in seaweed. Spam is also an original ingredient in budae jjigae ( 부대찌개 ; lit. "army base stew"), a spicy stew with different types of preserved meat or kimchi. In South Korea , Spam ( Korean : 스팸 ; RR : seupaem , licensed from Hormel by CJ CheilJedang )
6426-411: The development of lower-case letters in the 8th century, texts in the Latin alphabet were written in a single case, which is now considered to be capital letters. Text in all caps is not widely used in body copy . The main exception to this is the so-called fine print in legal documents. Capital letters have been widely used in printed headlines from the early days of newspapers until the 1950s. In
6528-534: The evidence that all-capital printing retards speed of reading to a striking degree in comparison with lower case and is not liked by readers, it would seem wise to eliminate such printing whenever rapid reading and consumer (reader) views are of importance. Examples of this would include any continuous reading material, posters, bus cards, billboards, magazine advertising copy, headings in books, business forms and records, titles of articles, books and book chapters, and newspaper headlines. Colin Wheildon stated that there
6630-488: The eye recognizes letters by the shapes of their upper halves", asserts that recognizing words in all caps "becomes a task instead of a natural process". His conclusions, based on scientific testing in 1982–1990, are: "Headlines set in capital letters are significantly less legible than those set in lower case." John Ryder , in the Case for Legibility , stated that "Printing with capital letters can be done sufficiently well to arouse interest and, with short lines, reading at
6732-571: The fact that it contains twice as much of the daily dietary recommendation of fat as it does of protein, and about the health effects of salt and preservatives. Spam has become part of popular culture, including a Monty Python sketch , which repeated the name many times, leading to its name being borrowed to describe unsolicited electronic messages , especially email . It is occasionally celebrated at festivals such as Spamarama in Austin, Texas . Hormel introduced Spam on July 5, 1937. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America states that
6834-419: The first Spam Jam in 1990 and continue to perform at various events. Hawaii holds an annual Spam Jam in Waikiki during the last week of April. The small town of Shady Cove, Oregon , is home to the annual Spam Parade and Festival, with the city allocating US$ 1,500 for it. Spamarama was a yearly festival from 1978 to 2007 in Austin, Texas , which had a peak attendance of 14,000. The themed events included
6936-510: The given identifier represents a constant . A practice exists (most commonly in Francophone countries) of distinguishing the surname from the rest of a personal name by stylizing the surname only in all caps. This practice is also common among Japanese, when names are spelled using Roman letters. In April 2013, the U.S. Navy moved away from an all caps-based messaging system, which was begun with 1850s-era teleprinters that had only uppercase letters. The switch to mixed-case communications
7038-811: The ground, becoming an F-3 at 17th Street SW, where it destroyed a garage. The twister lifted briefly, touching down in the city fairgrounds and hitting the grandstand roof, tearing off parts and damaging beams. In the summer of 1984, a tornado destroyed Echo Lanes Bowling Alley as it swept through southeast Austin. Neighboring Bo-Dee Campers also suffered considerable damage, and Schmidt TV was destroyed. A tornado or straight-line winds took down massive amounts of branches and trees on Saturday, June 27, 1998, uprooting smaller trees and knocking large branches across streets. Several side streets in northwest Austin became impassable, including 8th Avenue NW (near Sumner Elementary School) and 14th Street NW (between I-90 and 8th Avenue). The event caused disruption in Sunday church services
7140-446: The harassed waitress character "Mrs Spam" in the British film Somewhere in Civvies . In the United States in the aftermath of World War II, a troupe of former servicewomen was assembled by Hormel Foods to promote Spam from coast to coast. The group was known as the Hormel Girls and associated the food with patriotism. In 1948, two years after its formation, the troupe had grown to 60 women, with 16 forming an orchestra. The show became
7242-617: The highest per capita consumption in the United States, bringing in sales of 7 million cans of Spam per year. Its perception there is very different from that on the mainland. Hawaiians sometimes call it "Portagee Steak". A local dish in Hawaii is Spam musubi , in which cooked Spam is placed on top of rice and wrapped in a band of nori , a form of onigiri or riceball. Varieties of Spam are found in Hawaii and Saipan that are unavailable in other markets, including Honey Spam, Spam with Bacon, and Hot and Spicy Spam. Hawaiian Burger King restaurants began serving Spam in 2007 to compete with
7344-471: The local McDonald's chains (which also serve Spam). In Hawaii, Spam is so popular that it is sometimes referred to as "The Hawaiian Steak". There is even an annual Spam-themed festival on the island of Oahu each spring, known as the "Waikiki Spam Jam". Local chefs and restaurants compete to create new Spam-themed dishes, which are then sold in a massive street fair on Kalakaua Avenue in Waikiki. In 2017, Hawaii
7446-514: The local press for publishing articles alleging ill effects of high Spam consumption on the health of the local population. Sandwich de Mezcla is a party staple in Puerto Rico containing Spam, Velveeta , and pimientos (made into a spread) between two slices of sandwich bread . After World War II, Newforge Foods, part of the Fitch Lovell group, was awarded the license to produce the product in
7548-474: The longest labor struggles of the 1980s. In January 1986 some workers crossed the picket lines, leading to riots; the conflict escalated to such a point that Governor Rudy Perpich called in the National Guard to keep the peace. The strike received national attention and a documentary, American Dream , was filmed during the 10-month conflict. The movie was released in 1990 and won Best Documentary Feature at
7650-563: The lower-case print is due to the characteristic word forms furnished by this type. This permits reading by word units, while all capitals tend to be read letter by letter. Furthermore, since all-capital printing takes at least one-third more space than lower case, more fixation pauses are required for reading the same amount of material. The use of all capitals should be dispensed with in every printing situation. According to Tinker, "As early as 1914, Starch reported that material set in Roman lower case
7752-459: The next morning, and many congregations organized cleanup activities instead of regularly scheduled events. A tornado touched down in Glenville on May 1, 2001, gaining strength before it turned into a F-3 headed for Austin. The twister dissipated shortly after hitting town, but did notable damage in both cities. On Wednesday, June 17, 2009, an EF2 tornado touched down outside Austin and moved across
7854-575: The northwest and northern parts of the city, gradually weakening as it moved east. The worst damage in Austin was about 3 miles (5 km) north of downtown. The visitors center at the Jay C. Hormel Nature Center sustained damage, losing 300 trees. There were a few minor injuries. Austin is in western Mower County in southeastern Minnesota. It is 20 miles (32 km) east of Albert Lea , 41 miles (66 km) southwest of Rochester , 100 miles (160 km) south of Minneapolis , and 12 miles (19 km) north of
7956-523: The opportunity to add marginal notes emphasising key points. Legal writing expert Bryan A. Garner has described the practice as "ghastly". A 2020 study found that all-caps in legal texts is ineffective and is, in fact, harmful to older readers. In 2002, a US court spoke out against the practice, ruling that simply making text all-capitals has no bearing on whether it is clear and easily readable: Lawyers who think their caps lock keys are instant "make conspicuous" buttons are deluded. In determining whether
8058-443: The population. There were 10,131 households, of which 30.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.9% were married couples living together, 11.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.3% had a male householder with no wife present, and 39.7% were non-families. 33.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size
8160-475: The product was intended to increase the sale of pork shoulder , a cut which did not sell well. Ken Daigneau, the brother of a company executive, won a $ 100 prize that year in a competition to name the new item. Hormel states that the meaning of the name "is known by only a small circle of former Hormel Foods executives," but a popular belief is that the name is a contraction of "spiced ham". It has also been speculated to be an acronym for " s houlder of p ork
8262-597: The public. Spam is celebrated in Austin, Minnesota, home to the Spam Museum . The museum tells the history of the Hormel company, the origin of Spam, and its place in world culture. Austin is also the location of the final judging in the national Spam recipe competition. Competing recipes are collected from winning submissions at the top 40 state fairs in the nation. The Spamettes are a quartet from Austin that only sing about Spam in parodies of popular songs. They first performed at
8364-489: The reading time. When this is combined with the difficulty in reading words in all-capital letters as units, the hindrance to rapid reading becomes marked. In the eye-movement study by Tinker and Patterson, the principal difference in oculomotor patterns between lower case and all capitals was the very large increase in number of fixation pauses for reading the all-capital print. All caps text should be eliminated from most forms of composition, according to Tinker: Considering
8466-581: The rise in retail thefts to a recent change in criminal law, which raised the threshold at which a theft would lead to felony charges by approximately $ 400. In Guam , the average per capita consumption is 16 tins (cans) per year. It is also found on McDonald's menus there. The Spam Games also occur in Guam, where locals sample and honor the best original, homemade Spam recipes. In the Northern Mariana Islands , lawyers from Hormel have threatened to sue
8568-567: The same ROM. Game designers often choose to have less characters in favor of more tiles. With the advent of the bulletin board system , or BBS, and later the Internet, typing messages in all caps commonly became closely identified with "shouting" or attention-seeking behavior, and may be considered rude. Its equivalence to shouting traces back to at least 1984 and before the Internet, back to printed typography usage of all capitals to mean shouting. For this reason, etiquette generally discourages
8670-476: The settlement adopted the name "Austin", in honor of its first settler. That year the first hotel opened to travelers and the first physician, Dr. Ormanzo Allen, moved to town. The first newspaper, the Mower County Mirror , was started in 1858. Mills, powered by the Cedar River, were the first industries in Austin. They provided much-needed flour and lumber. Growth was slow during the first two decades, but
8772-460: The sketch appeared on Monty Python's 1972 LP Another Monty Python Record , and was also released as a 7" single. The sketch concluded with a chorus of Vikings boisterously singing a song – "Lovely Spam, Wonderful Spam", which, by the 1990s, led to "Spam" being adopted as a term for unsolicited electronic messages , especially spam email , because in the song, the repeated singing of the word "Spam" drowns out all other communication. Because Spam
8874-425: The titles on book covers. Short strings of words in capital letters appear bolder and "louder" than mixed case, and this is sometimes referred to as "screaming" or "shouting". All caps can also be used to indicate that a given word is an acronym . Studies have been conducted on the readability and legibility of all caps text. Scientific testing from the 20th century onward has generally indicated that all caps text
8976-564: The unemployment rate was 3.7% in Austin and Mower County, below both the state and national average. Austin-area businesses and community actively supported an application to participate as a test community in the Google Fiber project, begun in 2010. Though unsuccessful in their bid, the adoption of high-speed fiber optic and wireless internet throughout Austin is one of the Vision 2020 committee's goals. Austin's retail business struggled during
9078-574: The use of all caps when posting messages online. While all caps can be used as an alternative to rich-text "bolding" for a single word or phrase, to express emphasis, repeated use of all caps can be considered "shouting" or irritating. Some aspects of Microsoft's Metro design language involve the use of all caps headings and titles. This has received particular attention when menu and ribbon titles appeared in all caps in Visual Studio 2012 and Office 2013 , respectively. Critics have compared this to
9180-509: The war, countries ravaged by the conflict and faced with strict food rations came to appreciate Spam. During World War II and the occupations that followed, Spam was introduced into Guam , Hawaii , Okinawa , the Philippines , and other islands in the Pacific. Immediately absorbed into native diets, it has become a unique part of the history and effects of U.S. influence in the Pacific islands. As
9282-429: Was 2.39 and the average family size was 3.05. The median age in the city was 37. 25.6% of residents were under 18; 8.8% were between 18 and 24; 24.3% were from 25 to 44; 23.5% were from 45 to 64; and 17.7% were 65 or older. The city was 49.2% male and 50.8% female. As of the census of 2000, there were 23,314 people, 9,897 households, and 6,076 families residing in the city and 10,261 housing units. The racial makeup of
9384-576: Was common on teletype machines, such as those used by police departments, news, and the United States' then-called Weather Bureau , as well as early computers, such as certain early Apple II models and the ZX81 , which had a limited support for lower-case text. This changed as full support of ASCII became standard, allowing lower-case characters. Some Soviet computers , such as Radio-86RK , Vector-06C , Agat-7 , use 7-bit encoding called KOI-7N2, where capital Cyrillic letters replace lower-case Latin letters in
9486-492: Was estimated to save the Navy $ 20 million a year and is compliant with current Internet protocol. An antiquated practice that still remains in use, especially by older American lawyers who grew up before the arrival of computers, is to use all caps text for text that is legally required to be emphasised and clearly readable. The practice dates to the period of typewriters, which generally did not offer bold text, small capitals, or
9588-459: Was exported to post-World War II Korea, whose population was on the brink of starvation. Spam returned to South Korea and was widely consumed during the Korean War . US soldiers deployed to South Korea used Spam as a means of trading for items, services, or information around their bases. Spam and other meats were smuggled out of US military installations for the local population. Its popularity led to
9690-446: Was featured in an iconic 1970 Monty Python sketch called " Spam ", the concluding sketch of episode 12 of series 2 of Monty Python's Flying Circus . (The episode is also titled "Spam".) Set in a greasy-spoon café, every dish on the menu contains Spam, such as "egg and Spam", "egg bacon and Spam", and "Spam egg sausage and Spam", but many dishes contain mostly Spam, such as "Spam egg Spam Spam bacon and Spam". A modified audio version of
9792-612: Was mentioned in a song in Monty Python and the Holy Grail , "We dine well here in Camelot/We eat ham and jam and Spam a lot", the title of the musical version of the film became Spamalot . Spam is the subject of the "Weird Al" Yankovic song "Spam", which is a parody of the R.E.M. song " Stand ". Other offshoots of Spam in popular culture include a book of haikus about Spam titled Spam-Ku: Tranquil Reflections on Luncheon Loaf . There
9894-472: Was named for Austin R. Nichols, the area's first European settler. Hormel Foods Corporation is Austin's largest employer, and the city is sometimes called "SPAM Town USA". Austin is home to Hormel's corporate headquarters, a factory that makes most of North America's SPAM tinned meat, and the Spam Museum . Austin is also home to the Hormel Institute , a leading cancer research institution operated by
9996-542: Was not only eaten but was also incorporated into many other aspects of the war (grease for guns, cans for scrap metal, etc.); it was so prominent that Uncle Sam was nicknamed "Uncle Spam". Other terms influenced by the product's name include the European invasion fleet or the "Spam Fleet". Furthermore, the United Service Organizations (USO) toured the "Spam Circuit". In 1943, comedian Suzette Tarri appeared as
10098-465: Was plagued by a rash of thefts of Spam. Spam had long been a target of thieves in Hawaii, but the magnitude of the thefts ramped up, with incidents in which multiple cases of Spam were stolen at once. Local retailers believe organized crime was involved. This came alongside increases in thefts of some other retail goods, such as corned beef and liquor. The president of the retail merchants of Hawaii attributed
10200-486: Was popularly known as " kosher Spam", because it contains no pork. In the Philippines, Spam (currently distributed by the Purefoods-Hormel Company Inc. ) is a popular food item seen as a cultural symbol. Spam reached the islands similarly as it did other former US colonies such as Hawaii and Guam : as a result of World War II rationing. Spam is commonly eaten with rice (usually garlic fried rice ) and
10302-427: Was read somewhat faster than similar material printed in all capitals." Another study in 1928 showed that "all-capital text was read 11.8 percent slower than lower case, or approximately 38 words per minute slower", and that "nine-tenths of adult readers consider lower case more legible than all capitals". A 1955 study by Miles Tinker showed that "all-capital text retarded speed of reading from 9.5 to 19.0 percent for
10404-424: Was sold in 1959, and the eight billionth can was sold in 2012. Domestically, Spam's chief advantages were affordability, accessibility, and extended shelf life . Statistics from the 1990s say that 3.8 cans of Spam were consumed every second in the United States, totaling nearly 122 million cans annually. It became part of the diet of almost 30% of American households, perceived differently in various regions of
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