Repurposing Anti-Spam Tools For Detecting Mutations In HIV 67
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."
Maybe the "natural world" (Score:5, Insightful)
is also a created simulation. If so, then of course viruses in both computers and nature will share common characteristics.
BUDDHA: All is illusion
NEO: There is no spoon
Re:Never mind that! (Score:2, Insightful)
Really for a joke that was 'kinda' funny back in 1992.... It needed to go a long time ago...
Insightful (Score:5, Insightful)
Come on gang, this is pretty cool.
To re-adapt the tech that picks up Nigerian Scams and send it to pick up HIV strains is pretty neat. I sure as **** didn't see that app.
I Read the Full Article (Score:2, Insightful)
It would have been nice if some sort of example of how these things (spam and virual mutations) are alike was actually presented. The full article is no more useful than the abstract posted here.