[muglo] SPAM - was "High Speed Internet"

I thank everyone who contributed information regarding the High Speed 
Internet with their very useful information.
---------------------------------------------
A friend in another forum (Printers), sent this. Although, this is 
not ready for MacOS, it appears as though it might be soon. It is in 
Beta stage for the PC. It also sounds like SPAM, but isn't.

In Today's Special Edition...
"Jim solves his spam nightmare."
Is a Bayesian Filter YOUR solution to the junk war?

Preface: I realize there are a lot of spam solutions available on
the web. If you have one that is working well for you, then you
do not need today's tip. However if you ARE wasting valuable time
dealing with junk email, then take a few minutes and read this,
because...

I think I just solved my spam problem.

I'm so relieved, I had to get this info right out to you. And no,
I am not going to try to SELL you a solution, I just want to
share what's working for me so you can TRY it too. There is no
cost involved.

If you've been online any length of time, you're aware that spam is
out of control. I get more than 1500 junk emails a day now. Heck,
I even get junk email about solving junk email problems. (I
wonder when telemarketers are gonna start calling me to ask if I
want to get on the national do-not-call list. ;-))

Anyway, I could go on and on about junk email and the failed
solutions I've tried. Until very recently, junk email had indeed
been a huge headache for me. I wasted far too much time weeding
through the garbage to get to the real email. But I believe that
I've finally found a solution...

Spamnix's new Beta version 1.2.16 with the Bayesian Filter.

Say what? Yes, that was English. For the last year or so I've
been using a tool called "Spamnix" (without Bayesian) to filter
out my junk email. Until recently I'd been pretty happy with
Spamnix as it eradicated some 80% of my junk email.
Unfortunately, as the level of junk has increased, that "80%
solution" was leaving some 400 or so junk emails a day in my
inbox, mixed in with my real messages.

Not any more.

The newest Beta version of Spamnix, available at spamnix.com
(specifically, at http://spamnix.com/beta.html ) contains a
clever training device called the Bayesian filter.

Important note: (Spamnix is available to Eudora email users only,
but the Bayesian filter I'm about to talk about is now in
anti-spam programs for Outlook and Outlook Express as well. I'll
recommend a program for Outlook users at the end of this piece.)

OK, now I'll explain why this new Bayesian filter works so well,
and exactly how I activated it to take the lead in my battle with
junk email. (Stay with me here as I explain each of the five
simple steps I took.)

1. I went to that URL above and downloaded the Beta version of
Spamnix, and I installed it. It plugged right into my Eudora
email program seamlessly.

2. I then downloaded my email and as usual I had a high number...
1,690 emails that were mostly junk. As it downloaded, Spamnix, as
usual caught about 80% of the junk and filtered it into a special
mailbox named "Spamnix."

3. I then started picking through the rest of my inbox as usual.
But this time, instead of simply deleting the additional junk
that the filter did not catch, I transferred all the junk into a
NEW email box that I named "confirmed garbage".

4. Then in my Eudora program I clicked "Tools, Spamnix: Change
Settings" and then clicked the "TRAIN" button. I told the program
to look at that new email box and confirmed that is was full of
only spam. The Bayesian filter then trained itself to avoid all
junk like that in the future.

5. I then told the Bayesian filter to train on 500 or so messages
that I knew were NOT spam, by letting it train on my outbox from
the last couple months. That's another clever trick of the
Bayesian filter -- unlike simple content-based filters, it learns
from spam AND from good email, resulting in a constantly adapting
and efficient anti-spam approach.

The results?

After this initial "training" session, my inbox the next day was
-- get this... 98% void of junk. That's right, I downloaded 1,820
messages the next day and only 38 junk emails made it past this
filter into my inbox. I saved an hour of frustration. Or should I
say, I am now saving 5 hours a week. :-)

And each day my filtering power gets stronger. That's because as
new junk emails make it into my inbox, I simply click a reject
button and tell the Bayesian filter to train itself on the
message. Any message like it will not make it past the filter the
next time I check my mail.

Now you're probably wondering about the other side of the coin...
that is, how many legitimate emails accidentally end up on the
junk heap?

Well, good news there too, so far the false positives have been
almost non-existent. I had just two legitimate messages tagged as
junk in that batch of 1,820. I found them by going to the spamnix
email box (which is where the junk goes) and sorting the messages
by subject. This lets me scan through quickly to make sure no
legitimate messages are lost. That takes me all of five minutes a
day, versus the hour it took to manually weed through incoming
junk.

Bottom line: Spamnix and it's built-in Bayesian Filter is the
best spam solution I've uncovered to date.

[Caveat: I get a huge amount of email, so I was able to train my
Bayesian filter using a large quantity of messages. That may be
one of the main reasons it is performing so well for me. The
smaller the samples of good and bad messages you show the
Bayesian filter, the more likely spam will make it to your inbox,
or worse, legitimate messages will be filtered as spam.]

Sure, I still have to wait for all those messages to download,
but that's something I've come to accept. I just start my
messages downloading at night, or I set Eudora to pick up
messages every few hours.

In closing today's tip...

If you are still fighting the war on junk, try a tool with the
Bayesian filter built-in. You'll be hard pressed to find anything
like it. I'm still in awe of how much time I have just freed up.

And if you are an Outlook and Outlook Express user, a program
called "Spam Bully" contains the Bayesian filter, and integrates
seamlessly with your email program. You can try it at no charge
by going to http://www.spambully.com/ -
many Spam Bully users agree that it offers the best available
solution for clearing out the junk.

I hope today's tip helps you save as much time as I'm saving.
-- 
==============================================
Barry Takayesu
Prestige Print & Graphics
10592 Wellington Road * St.Thomas, ON  Canada  N5P 3T1
(519) 631-8800 * Fax (519) 631-6316
prestige.print@xxxxxxxxxxx
==============================================

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