[Spambayes] Data file "out of balance"...?

[Kenneth Sole]

Hi Tony,

When I tried to add to the DB by training only on hams, SB balked. It simply
did not occur to me that I could give it a bunch of hams and one spam, but
that worked just fine.

I sincerely appreciate your assistance,

-- 

Kenneth

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-----Original Message-----
From: spambayes-bounces at python.org [mailto:spambayes-bounces at python.org] On
Behalf Of Tony Meyer
Sent: Saturday, July 24, 2004 10:04 PM
To: 'Kenneth Sole'; spambayes at python.org
Subject: RE: [Spambayes] Data file "out of balance"...?

> As a result, the ratio of spams to hams in my database 
> quickly goes up over 2:1 which I understand from the FAQs is 
> not the best way to have things set up.

I wouldn't worry about a 2::1 (or 1::2) imbalance.  Anything up to around
5::1 is probably fine - and if you keep getting the results that you want,
then don't worry about the imbalance at all.

> When this happens, I have thought to train on more hams in 
> the hope of getting the DB into better "balance" but I can't 
> figure out how to train on hams only. I can't move hams from 
> the spam folder because none are in there.
> 
> What is the best way for me to handle the situation I 
> describe?

Put the messages to train in an otherwise empty folder, and use the
SpamBayes Manager dialog's Training tab to "Train Now".

=Tony Meyer

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