Plan for Spam, Version 2

bugbear writes "I just posted a new version of the Plan for Spam Bayesian filtering algorithm. The big change is to mark tokens by context. The new version decreases spams missed by 50%, to 2.5 per 1000, even though spam has gotten harder to filter since the summer. I also talk about how spam will evolve, and what to do about it."

I'm sorry, but someone has to say it...

[Yoda2]

But will it enlarge my penis?

Re:IN SOVIET RUSSIA

[Anonymous Coward]

You, sir, are my hero. A true Stalin.

Problem you say?

[termos]

rm -fr ~/Mail
would do the trick.

For those who skipped the article.

[iamwoodyjones]

The plan on what to do about is involves several different options. The first being, "Tar and feather those who spam"

Spam and AI

[cybermace5]

And the conflict rages on. The better filters we use, the sneakier the spam artists get. Now we're developing self-modifying algorithms to detect and kill spam, and I'm sure the spammers are developing self-modifying algorithms to craft filter-tricking spam.

How long before the back-and-forth of spam filters and spam crafters becomes self-aware? It's got to happen. Eventually the spam filters will become a skeptic consciousness that *feels* its way through spam and spots the phoneys, and the spam crafters will become a persuasive consciousness that tries to think and write as a close friend or relative.

What's wrong with spam?

[Amsterdam Vallon]

Without spam, how else would I be able to sit home every day and make $1,000 a week watching TV while playing with my 12 inch penis?

Re:More than 1.1 billion pigs are killed worldwide

[molarmass192]

Could Bayesian filtering be applied to filter offtopic posts as well?

Add inches to your penis!

[Chocolate Teapot]

Ooooops! Wrong window. Sorry.

now THIS is a true geek

[Anonymous Coward]

>Based on my corpus, "sex" indicates a .97 probability of the containing email being a spam...

Spoken like a true geek.

Re:How is spam that big of a problem?

[Anonymous Coward]

Why are you posting Anonymous Coward? Are you afraid someone will post your email to a few spam lists. :)

Re:More than 1.1 billion pigs are killed worldwide

[ackthpt]

Could Bayesian filtering be applied to filter offtopic posts as well?

Unfortunately, it might work at first, but we've seen offtopic posters and first posters evolve. Alas, they seem to be a form of semi-intelligent life and once their numbers start to dwindle you can almost bet some internet environmentalist society will crop up and declare them endangered "where once, great herds of them swept majestically across the plains, now only a few cling to the ever encroaching egalitarian dark forces of the internet.

It's probably just easier to round them up and send them to Guantanamo.

Insightful? No, it's flamebait.

[FatAlb3rt]

You don't have a problem with spam? So no one should have a problem, right? Spam does not depend solely on you doing something stupid. Any mail you send to someone could be improperly fwd'd or even posted somewhere that you don't want it to be. From there, you're screwed.

Damn AC.

Re:Spam and AI

[hrieke]

Okay, so we build an AI and then torture the poor thing with insane emails about penis enlargers and the like?
No wonder Skynet rebelled.

Re:How is spam that big of a problem?

[Anonvmous Coward]

"Use another account for regular everyday things, and make sure it sin't something simple like [e-mail]. I do that and never get spam to my real accounts. This whole spam thing is way overblown."

You remind me of the guy who fixed his leaky roof by using an umbrella in his house.

Re:More than 1.1 billion pigs are killed worldwide

[ravenwolff]

I don't think it would be nearly as complicated to check for duplicate posts...

Re:What's wrong with spam?

[Anonymous Coward]

while playing with my 12 inch penis?

Ahh, yes. The plastic one.

Re:More than 1.1 billion hippies post off topic

[orthogonal]

Ok do the following, then maybe I'll care about your opinion: 1. Solve world hunger so tribe in africa don't need pork to survive ....

Yum, cat farms!

Tastes just like chicken, and keep down the rat population.

Meeeeeeeooowwww!

Re:Spam and AI

[GreyPoopon]

...and the spam crafters will become a persuasive consciousness that tries to think and write as a close friend or relative.

Hey bro,

I meant to talk to you about this last time you and your girlfriend were visiting, but I wasn't sure how to bring it up. I sort of found out through some less, ahem, discreet members of our family that you're a bit unhappy with the size of your member, if you know what I mean. If this is true, there's this web site I'd like to recommend that will probably be able to help you. It'll cost you a little, but it's worth every penny. I was to embarrassed to say anything about it before, but I gave their offering a try last year and both my wife and I are really happy with the results.

{insert html link here...}

The choice is yours, dude. I just want you to be happy.

Love,
Your bro

Re:More than 1.1 billion pigs are killed worldwide

[archen]

Trickier than you might think considering slashdot editors spell most words in the english language with 3 or 4 incorrect variations.

Re:Stop spam?

[SmittyTheBold]

Correction.. spam will never stop... ever.

. . .

Last time I checked, murder was illegal, punishable by death in many states, yet it still occurs.

Spam is a means to an end - selling your shit to gullible people. Murder is not just a means, but an end in itself. When you want someone dead, there's not really another way around it. With spam, there's always telemarketing and pop-ups.

In addition, murder can be a crime of passion, while spamming is hardly such. I can't remember ever thinking "Oh that bastard cut me off! I'll help him increase his penis size, then give him a work-at-home job! Oh I'm JUST SOOOO ANGRY!"