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Bayesian Filtering For Dummies

Posted by timothy on from the to-increase-the-peace dept.

Dynamoo writes "Bayesian filtering for spam is awfully clever stuff, touched on by Slashdot several times before. There's a very accessible article at BBC News explaining in fairly simple terms the drawbacks of current keyword-based filtering. It's slightly ironic that the BBC, through the commissioning of Monty Python, also gave 'spam' its name. Those Vikings have a lot to answer for."

4 of 281 comments (clear)

  1. Re:More Spam! by letxa2000 · · Score: 0, Troll
    Yep, I've been using my own Bayesian filter since about January. I'm currently filtering 99.7% of all spam and my only false positive was arguably acceptable (it wasn't written in English and I didn't really want it).

    For me, spam is a solved problem. It's actually fun watching the spam roll in and watch the statistics counting how many emails have been filtered. Anyone that wants plug-and-play Bayesian filtering along with optional keyword filters, blacklists, whitelists, etc. for their POP3 mailbox with nothing to install on the client or server. is invited to check out the site listed in my sig. It just works.

  2. Re:Spam = /dev/null by letxa2000 · · Score: 0, Troll
    Bayesian filtering could stop all the spam that easily? This is great! Where can I download a filter like this?

    Quite a few sources, but feel free to try this site which offers it as a service. Nothing to download, nothing to install. Just point your POP3 client to this site and it'll filter your mail for you. I'm at 99.4% of spam filtered for this month and 99.7% for this week.

  3. Re:More Spam! by letxa2000 · · Score: 0, Troll
    I am not going to pay some c**t twelve dollars a year for something that should be free.

    It should be free? Why? It costs bandwidth... But thanks for your most constructive input.

  4. Re:More Spam! by letxa2000 · · Score: 0, Troll
    Yep, Spam Assassin works for many people. Different market--requires downloads and installations and doesn't necessarily work on all platforms. But if it works for you, knock yourself out.