Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Bryan T Starbuck

Gail Giacobbe

Joshua T Goodman

Robert L Rounthwaite

Alexander Vaschillo

Raghavendra Rachamadugu

Martijn Eldert Van Tilburg

Deana Rae Fuller

John Heinrich Lueders

Stephen Thomas Wells

Robert C Combs

Sridhar Sundararaman

Hubert Louis Marie Van Hoof

David Earl Heckerman

Nathan D Howell

Robert Novitskey

Daniel Paul Costenaro

Michael A Schmidt

Sean L Flynn

Harvey Rook

Sankar Ramasubramanian

Christopher R Jones

Erik R Ashby

Mark H Enomoto

Edward Jason Anderson

Gayna Williams

Eliot Carleton Gillum

Christopher David Brown

John D Mehr

Daniel Gwozdz

Randy Knight Winjum

Ojiakonobi Udezue

Micah C Rupersburg

David Robert Potter

Kenneth R Aldinger

Chee Heng Chew

Jason Fergus Moore

Alexei V Bocharov

Yu Shrike Zhang

Steven Andrew Cover

Christopher Ralph Brown

Chad M Whitney

Anthony G Thane

Jeffrey J Wall

Bert Van Hoof

Stephen Lardieri

Manish M Anand

Donald C Weed, Jr

Mark Anthony McCabe

Daniel S Struthers

Geurt B De Raad

Stephen T Wells

Alexander E Vaschillo

Gail Borod Giacobbe

Methods, systems, and computer-readable mediums configure electronic messaging applications to communicate with a server storing messages to and/or from an electronic messaging account of a user. A method involves receiving an electronic message address and a password of the user as inputs, deriving server connection settings based on the electronic message address, and applying the server connection settings to the electronic messaging account. Another method involves receiving an electronic message address of the user and discovering the server connection settings for the electronic messaging account on a server having a designated protocol name as a server prefix name to assist in locating the server and having the server connection settings. The method also involves retrieving the server connection settings from a file provided by the server in response to locating the server having the designated name and applying the server connection settings to the electronic messaging account.

Methods, systems, and computer-readable mediums for configuring electronic messaging applications

The subject invention provides for an advanced and robust system and method that facilitates detecting spam. The system and method include components as well as other operations which enhance or promote finding characteristics that are difficult for the spammer to avoid and finding characteristics in non-spam that are difficult for spammers to duplicate. Exemplary characteristics include analyzing character and/or number sequences, strings, and sub-strings, detecting various entropy levels of one or more character sequences, strings and/or sub-strings and analyzing message headers.

Advanced spam detection techniques

The subject invention provides for an advanced and robust system and method that facilitates detecting spam. The system and method include components as well as other operations which enhance or promote finding characteristics that are difficult or the spammer to avoid and finding characteristics in non-spam that are difficult for spammers to duplicate. Exemplary characteristics include examining origination features in pairs, analyzing character and/or number sequences, strings, and sub-strings, detecting various entropy levels of one or more character sequences, strings and/or sub-strings as well as analyzing message and/or feature sizes.

Architecture for detecting and removing obfuscating clutter from the subject and/or body of a message, e.g., e-mail, prior to filtering of the message, to identify junk messages commonly referred to as spam. The technique utilizes the powerful features built into an HTML rendering engine to strip the HTML instructions for all non-substantive aspects of the message. Pre-processing includes pre-rendering of the message into a final format, which final format is that which is displayed by the rendering engine to the user. The final format message is then converted to a text-only format to remove graphics, color, non-text decoration, and spacing that cannot be rendered as ASCII-style or Unicode-style characters. The result is essentially to reduce each message to its common denominator essentials so that the junk mail filter can view each message on an equal basis.

Message rendering for identification of content features

The principles of the present invention extend to efficiently and reliably providing message related data. Generally, data fields of electronic messages and attachments are created in accordance with an electronic message schema hierarchy. An electronic message can include links to folder items that represent message folders. An electronic message can also include links to contact items that represent message participants. Message applications can register for folder spaces such that each message application is aware of folders that are primarily controlled by other message applications. A link to a contact item can be selected to access current contact related data for a message participant, even when the contact related data has changed since an electronic message containing the link was received.

Efficiently and reliably providing message related data

The present invention extends to methods, systems, computer program products, and data structures for efficiently storing and accessing electronic messages. Generally, electronic messages are created and transformed in accordance with an electronic message schema hierarchy. Electronic messages can be created according to a general message schema that defines a format for data fields that are common to all types of electronic messages (e.g. electronic mail, instant message, fax message). Electronic messages can also be extended according to message extension schemas that define formats for adding protocol specific and/or or application specific data fields to an electronic message. Data fields added in accordance with message extension schemas can differ between electronic messages types. Having some commonly defined fields and other differently defined fields promotes efficient storage and access of electronic messages, while also facilitating message compatibility with existing message protocols and message applications.

Schema hierarchy for electronic messages

Various embodiments protect against undesirable activities, in at least some embodiments, by combining the protection of a data or message filter with the user's own knowledge and judgment. In at least some embodiments, data or a message that is suspected of being associated with an undesirable activity is identified and indicia is provided to a user that the message is suspect. The data or message is presented to the user in a protected environment that allows the user to access the data or message in full fidelity, but prevents them from interacting with the data or message in a manner which would expose them to the undesirable activity. After reviewing the data or message in the protected environment, the user can decide how the message should thereafter be treated.

Protected environments for protecting users against undesirable activities

The present invention provides for a distributed computing system that is capable of determining when data needs to be synced between two computer devices because data has changed on at least a remote device. More particularly, the present invention provides for a sync adapter that uses sync data to detect that a property on a device is new and needs to synchronize with corresponding data on another machine. The sync data is specific to the two devices in that the sync data mirrors data that was last synchronized between these two computing devices. Other example embodiments use the sync data to detect and mark data as low fidelity data for identifying any date and time information associated with the low fidelity data as potentially unreliable.

Detecting low fidelity sync data

Keyword analysis and arrangement are described. In an implementation, a method includes processing a plurality of items to extract a plurality of keywords contained in the items. One or more of the keywords is output for display as arranged in one or more hierarchies such that at least one of the keywords is selectable to navigate to items that are configured as emails and relate to that keyword.

Keyword analysis and arrangement

The present provides for consistent resolution of data conflicts when synchronizing data between two or more devices in order to reduce the likelihood of an infinite synchronization loop within a distributed computing system. More particularly, example embodiments provide for a conflict resolution algorithm capable of generating unique values for properties that are in conflict. Data selection criteria can then be used to determine which of the properties should be used to resolve the conflict. Such data selection criterion increases the likelihood of providing consistent resolution of similar data conflicts between other devices in the distributed system.

Methods and systems for halting synchronization loops in a distributed system

Various embodiments can utilize information that is displayed for a user to automatically generate a list of keywords and use that list as a means to display supplemental information that is relevant to the keywords. In at least some embodiments, the displayed information is analyzed using an extraction algorithm to identify words or, more generally, character strings of interest. If these words or character strings of interest are determined to constitute relevant search terms or 'keywords', then a special user interface portion can be used to display this supplemental information along with the information that is already displayed for the user. This supplemental information can include the search terms themselves, ads that pertain to the search terms, and/or search results that have been ascertained from a web search engine.

Automatically displaying keywords and other supplemental information

The present invention involves a system and method that facilitate extracting data from messages for spam filtering. The extracted data can be in the form of features, which can be employed in connection with machine learning systems to build improved filters. Data associated with origination information as well as other information embedded in the body of the message that allows a recipient of the message to contact and/or respond to the sender of the message can be extracted as features. The features, or a subset thereof, can be normalized and/or deobfuscated prior to being employed as features of the machine learning systems. The (deobfuscated) features can be employed to populate a plurality of feature lists that facilitate spam detection and prevention. Exemplary features include an email address, an IP address, a URL, an embedded image pointing to a URL, and/or portions thereof.

Origination/destination features and lists for spam prevention

Generally, the present invention provides for a distributed computing system that is capable of associating time-date information with a property value in the database. The distributed computing system has a device that stores properties in a database without corresponding time-date fields, and thus is considered a low fidelity or legacy device. Example embodiments provide that time-date information corresponding to remote property values can be identified and formatted in a standard format parsable by one or more devices in the distributed computing system. The formatted time-date information is sent to the remote database for storage in a field associated with the remote property values. The formatted time-date information can then subsequently be used in resolving conflicts between property values.

Maintaining time-date information for syncing low fidelity devices

Growing community of inventors

Duvall, WA, United States of America

Bryan T Starbuck