Pattern recognition to help Hotmail fight spam
SeattlePI | at | by Mike
Rather than exploiting the things that computers do well -- which is how the software industry usually works -- Microsoft Corp. and others are trying to protect users by taking advantage of the things a computer can't do well. For example, computers can't usually recognize letters or numbers when their edges are irregular and they're set against a complex background. Despite enormous increases in the sophistication and power of computers, that kind of edge detection and pattern recognition remains a tough challenge. So yesterday, Microsoft began using just such images on the registration page of its popular free Hotmail e-mail service, hoping that will reduce Hotmail's notorious spam glut.