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Date:	Sun, 23 Mar 2003 11:31:02 PST8
From:	Peter Skye <pskye@peterskye.com >
Reply-To:	scoug-help@scoug.com
To:	scoug-help@scoug.com
Subject:	SCOUG-Help: Junk Spy filtering (was: Mozilla profiles)

Content Type: text/plain

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Steven Levine wrote:
>
> Currently, it appears I need 7 filters for spam.

I'm not an MR/2 guy and the filter syntax isn't obvious, but you appear
to be doing what I do -- first checking all messages for various types
of "good" ones, then filtering what's left for spam, and anything
remaining is "potential spam".

I presume that the called *.cmd files don't do any further filtering,
yes? Do they just gather statistics?

> Those spammers are incredibly consistent.

Well, maybe yours are. At least *I* attract smarter spammers. Just
this past week they've discovered my relay address (res030cs) and I'm
starting to get spam addressed there. I haven't the slightest idea how
they discovered that one.

> a Bayesian filter must be trained
> ...
> I use Polarbar for the Mr. KIA list because the spam

There was a Bayesian filter last week in Hobbes Incoming. I didn't have
time to look at it.

It's an active vs. passive decision. You can actively filter out the
spam (as Junk Spy does) or you can passively let the spam remain behind
in the inbox. I use both methods simultaneously.

> Several folks on the Polarbar list tried to train their
> [Bayesian] corpus with spam archives with expected not so
> good results. I suspect they all started over and are now
> achieving better results.

Well, they should have just used Junk Spy. :)))

> The only maintenance my folders need at the moment, if you
> want to call it that, is I need to add new addresses to my
> address book, if the filters misidentify a message.

Hmm. Does that mean that MR/2 filters can check an email against the
address book? In my Netscape 2.02 that can't be done, and I put the
good "From" addresses into the SORT.DAT filter file.

> IAC, thanks.

IAC ???

> The last major update to the spam filters was probably
> about 6 months ago when I completed the migration to my
> current approach. This was when I added the spam logging.
> This made it rather easy to figure out which filters were
> doing all the work. Over time, I was able to delete
> several filters that were not paying their way. Even so,
> I never had more than 15 spam filters. They were just
> not as effective.

I think that's the crux of our discussion. There are nutty people like
you and I who enjoy fiddling with the filters. Then there are the
brazen masses who have other things to do with their lives and just want
a solution.

For those who don't want to update their filters or meddle with Bayesian
READMEs, Junk Spy is a pretty darn good spam filter.

Which reminds me. I have to go tweak my own filters.
WebfootTheDuck@peterskye.com keeps getting these strange missives from
"Priscilla's Private Party".

- Peter

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