Bayesian Spam Filters Explained

Bayesian spam filters can take one group of legitimate e-mail and another group of spam and compare the values and data of each. The definition of legitimate e-mail that it creates at the end of this comparison session is what it uses going forward to scan your inbox for spam.

FYI Bayesian spam filters are named after Thomas Bayes an 18 century cleric who created something known as Bayes Theorem. In summary Bayes Theorem is as follows: .."in statistical inference to update estimates of the probability that different hypotheses are true, based on observations and a knowledge of how likely those observations are, given each hypothesis." In plain English it looks for obvious repeating patterns to form an "opinion" on something. In spam filter terms that "opinion" becomes a rule which keeps you spam free (or pretty close :-)

The really neat thing about Bayesian filters is that they're capable of learning. For example if they decided to block an e-mail because the filter perceived it as junk but the user marked it as valid mail the Bayesian filter then knows not to block that type of e-mail in the future. So, in time, this type of spam filter learns enough to block spam far more effectively. AOL have embraced this type of spam filter with the launch of AOL 9.0 and AOL Communicator- if the big dog wants it then it must be worthwhile?

So what Bayesian spam filtering options are available to you? Well quite a few to be honest and you'll be pleasantly surprised by some of the names involved :-) The first one on the list is AOL with their AOL Communicator product. The spam filtering features in AOL Communicator and AOL 9 are, to be honest, impressive. Think what you will of the provider themselves AOL Communicator is an excellent product and is suitable for use by both PC and Mac OSX users.

Next up we have Eudora. The nice folks at Qualcomm have designed an excellent e-mail client that also has built in Bayesian spam filtering. I've used Eudora in the past and it's a neat little package. Again the benefits here are advanced integrated spam filtering with your e-mail automatically. Mac OSX and OS9 users are in luck with Eudora providing support for both.

Wanting to use the Internet more than other people is not a sign of selfishness. It just shows how much you value the Internet, and also that you are more technologically inclined compared to other people.

The time you devote each day to sort and delete spam from your inbox could be put to much better use

Under no circumstances will I ever purchase anything offered to me as the result of an unsolicited e-mail message.

You may have probably encountered an increase in the number of junk mails in your email box

Most people would define spam as unsolicited e-mail. They are e-mail messages which are mostly marketing schemes which crowd your Inbox.

Spam blocking is not just for your wanting to empty your inbox of those cyber disruptions. It is also for the entirety of the Internet.

If you are a business owner and you rely on email, spam is going to be a major concern.

It is high time to stop making excuses and stop this junk email. Make use of anti spam filters to prevent the junk mails from reaching your inbox.