Repurposing Anti-Spam Tools For Detecting Mutations In HIV

chicksdaddy writes "Security researchers often use language and metaphors from the natural world to describe problems in the virtual world. (Consider 'virus,' and 'worm.') Now it turns out that the links may be more than just rhetoric. Microsoft Researchers say that tools they developed to detect spammers' efforts to avoid anti-spam filters were also great at spotting mutations in the HIV virus. A report from Microsoft Research in honor of World AIDS Day yesterday described how Microsoft Researchers David Heckerman and Jonathan Carlson were called upon to help AIDS researchers analyze data about how the human immune system attacks the HIV virus. To do so, they turned to tools and algorithms developed at Microsoft to detect and block spam e-mail in the company's Hotmail, Outlook and Exchange e-mail products."

Never mind that!

[93 Escort Wagon]

The really big news here is - Slashdot has finally ditched the Gates "Borg" icon!

Re:Maybe the "natural world"

[cultiv8]

MICROSOFT: We have an API for that

Re:Insightful

[masternerdguy]

Personally I find some of those nigerian spams awesome. I got one that claimed that the first Kenyan on the moon was trapped in orbit and they needed money to build a rescue vehicle.

Re:ok how many..

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey buddy look how great this OS is. Remember that deadline your asshole boss gave you? Remember that report you were typing frantically in OpenOffice? Remember that half written email in Thunderbird? Well guess what ?! As usual.. the buggy piece of crap called X.org just died on your ass but THANK FUCKING GOD you now have the chance to type some crap you know nothing about into a text mode interface. (Lucky you !) so that.. um.. you get your report back? uh.. no that's gone... you get to recover your email? uh... sorry that vanished when X died too. Wait.. hmm.. hey look on the bright side.. you have spinning cubes inside your window manager. That counts for something right? right? :D