January 24, 2005
Better Spam Control For Mail.app
So, spam filters are great and all, but you still have to check for false positives.
I hate that. So, I finally figured out a system that works better for me.
I downloaded SpamSieve and installed it. But rather than use it in its default configuration I did the following:
- I left Apple's Junk Mail filter enabled. This created three categories of spam. Those that only Apple caught, those that only SpamSieve caught, and those that both caught.
- The ones that only Junk Mail catches are very rare, under twenty a day. They go to my Junk Mail folder. They sometimes have false positives, so I review them regularly before I train the rest as SpamSieve spam. (I have "train" set to automatically delete the mail.)
- The ones that only SpamSieve catch are almost always spam, but it's theoretically possible that they could be false positives, even though I have SpamSieve on conservative settings. SpamSieve does automatically give these "Junk Mail" status, so that solves that part. I review these regularly too, sorting by color so the least spammy ones are on the bottom.
- The ones that both catch are by far the majority of my spam. Since I have SpamSieve on conservative settings, then I figure good enough. That's a double-positive, so bam! I just delete those suckers. (I will soon set the rule to automatically delete them, actually.)
So there you have it - a spam system where you don't even have to check the vast majority of your spam for false positives. I figure that if someone is going to send a legitimate email that two entirely different spam systems will classify as spam, then that's their tough luck.