Anti-Spam Technology May One Day Help Save Lives
by Darren Miller
Published on this site: May 3rd, 2005 - See
more articles from this month...
Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due
I've heard just about every joke and cynical comment about Microsoft
and Bill Gate's throughout my seventeen years as a network engineer.
To be honest, I'm sure I've made a few comments here and there as
I was struggling with a Microsoft product. In the world of technology,
I think this has become a bad habit.
However, I must give credit where credit is due. Microsoft,
and the Bill and Melinda Gate's foundation has contributed
greatly to the future of humanity. Not just in technology
advancements, but the education of our children, and the future
of global healthcare. Through their personal influence and
financial contributions, our future looks just a little brighter.
Read on to find out how technology developed by Microsoft
may one day help save lives.
Links
http://www.microsoft.com
http://www.gatesfoundation.org
Something Positive From Something Negative
Can you imagine waking up one morning to find that e-mail
no longer existed? It would seriously impact my way of life
in a negative way. Now, imagine waking to find that SPAM no
longer existed. I think the first reaction would be elation.
E-mail is a perfect example of a great tool used by some for
nefarious purposes. Something positive, like the ability to
send information to pretty much anyone, anywhere, at anytime,
is exploited by those with malicious intent.
As much as we would all like SPAM to have never existed, it's possible
its very existence might help us develop ways to fight, or prevent,
some of humanity's most costly disease.
Just What The Doctor Ordered
On February 23rd, 2005, Microsoft press released a statement regarding
breakthroughs in HIV vaccine design through the use of technology
similar to that used to combat SPAM. Researchers David Heckerman,
and Nebojsa Jojic, of Microsoft, used this technology to successfully
find hidden patterns in the genetic mutations of virus and the immune
system of a patient.
Researchers at the Centre for Clinical Immunology and Biomedical
Statistics stated that Microsoft has helped them make a huge
leap forward in their efforts to halt the HIV virus, a disease
that has already claimed the lives of nearly 30 million people.
Apparently, this technology has allowed the filtration of
patient data ten times faster than any other known research
technique. Researchers believe this breakthrough may also
be helpful in developing ways to more effectively treat other
mutating virus and disease, such as Hepatitis C.
From my perspective, SPAM and Grey-Ware are two of the most prevalent
and annoying forces on the Internet. I find it encouraging that
for once, something negative may result in something positive for
all of us. I'm not suggesting SPAM is ok, trust me, I loath it as
much as you. However, without SPAM, it might have been years more
before this technology was discovered.
Links
http://www.microsoft.com/..../02-23HIVVaccinePR.asp
http://www.ccibs.org/
The Positive Impact Success Can Have On Our Future
Getting back to Microsoft and the Gate's foundation. It's encouraging
to see someone who has become so successful take such an aggressive
position for the future of mankind. Not everyone with the means
to do so takes on such a noble enterprise.
The foundation currently has a total endowment of $28.8 billion,
and total grant commitments of $7,486,247,357 (that's billion)
since its inception. It supports all 50 states, the District
of Columbia, and work in more than 100 countries. Approximately
60% of the foundations grants go towards global efforts, and
the remainder is dedicated to the improvement of lives in
the United States of America.
Conclusion
I don't support all of the business decisions and methods used by
Microsoft, and I am not always thrilled with their technology. On
the other hand, I would not want to be without some of the products
and technology they have developed.
One things for sure though. Every time I find myself frustrated
working with a Microsoft product, I will remind myself that one
day, I might be the recipient of technology pioneered by this company,
that saves my life.
Darren Miller is an Information Security Consultant with
over sixteen years experience. He has written many technology&
security articles, some of which have been published innationally
circulated magazines & periodicals. Darren is astaff writer
for www.defendingthenet.com
and several othere-zines. If you would like to contact Darren you
can e-mailhim at mailto:[email protected]
or
mailto:[email protected].
If you would like to know
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