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"This is a predictive tool I've used: There are goals we've sought for ten thousand years, and we'll go on seeking them. Instant transport and travel, immortality (or at least longevity and miracle cures.), instant learning …"
- Larry Niven

Junkbot  
  An automated email program that specializes in sending junk mail (spam)  

I'm not sure if Sterling originated the term "junkbot" for an automated spamming program, but the label fits.

"It's pathetic … that's spam from a junk mailbot. I've seen some junkbots that are pretty sophisticated, they can generate a halfway decent ad spiel. But that stuff is pure chain-mail ware. It can't even punctuate!"
Technovelgy from Distraction, by Bruce Sterling.
Published by Bantam Spectra in 1998
Additional resources -

Note that whether the spam is sophisticated or not, it's still spam.

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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Distraction
  More Ideas and Technology by Bruce Sterling
  Tech news articles related to Distraction
  Tech news articles related to works by Bruce Sterling

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