SpamBayes 1.1a4 (the fourth alpha release) is out. You can download it from SourceForge: <http://spambayes.sourceforge.net/>. This is currently a source only release. There is as yet no Outlook installer. What's New in 1.1a4? ==================== Version 1.1a4 introduces a new application, core_server.py. This application is tailored to provide spam filtering by non-mail applications such as Trac, Roundup, MoinMoin or your favorite blogging server. The external interface is XML-RPC. It also implements a plugin architecture so new protocol adapters can be added easily. What is SpamBayes? ================== The SpamBayes project is working on developing a statistical (commonly, although a little inaccurately, referred to as Bayesian) anti-spam filter, initially based on the work of Paul Graham. The major difference between this and other, similar projects is the emphasis on testing newer approaches to scoring messages. While most anti-spam projects are still working with the original graham algorithm, we found that a number of alternate methods yielded a more useful response. SpamBayes is not a single application. The core code is a message classifier, however there are several applications available as part of the SpamBayes project which use the classifier in specific contexts. For the most part, the current crop of applications all operate on the client side of things, however, a number of people have experimented with using SpamBayes on mail servers to classify incoming mail for multiple users. Contact, Help & Feedback ======================== Please take the new alpha release out for a spin around the block. Report any feedback or problems you have with the new functionality to spambayes-dev@python.org. To get general help with SpamBayes, send your questions to spambayes@python.org. -- Skip Montanaro - skip@pobox.com - http://www.webfast.com/~skip/