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Next, maybe monkeys will diagram sentences
If you call someone a grammar monkey, you'll be more right than you know. Research already has shown that monkeys understand some basic grammar principles, such as which words logically follow other words. Now, Harvard scientists have taught 14 cotton-top tamarins to recognize the linguistic principle of suffixes and prefixes.
Aug. 17, 2009
Can spin be spotted with software?
SpinSpotter, which launched this month, claims it can. The company's founders, described in a BusinessWeek article as a mixture of entrepreneurs from the left, right and center, use algorithms to detect "news spin and bias, misuse of sources, and suspect factual support." One blogger, though, is already calling the idea another flavor of "magic beans."
Sept. 9, 2008
Online journalist looks a lot like a copy editor
If you ask online journalists what skills are more important in an online newsroom, what you'll hear are the attributes that largely define a copy editor. C. Max Magee, a graduate student at Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism, asked exactly that question, and his results have been released by the Online News Association. Top skills: attention to detail, news judgment, grammar, multitasking, dealing with deadlines. As Medill professor Rich Gordon says, "the traditional journalism job that most resembles online newsroom roles is that of copy editor."
Nov. 2, 2006