Computers as Authors? Literary Luddites Unite! By DANIEL AKST

Consider the beginning of a short story dealing with the theme of betrayal:

“Dave Striver loved the university – its ivy-covered clocktowers, its ancient and sturdy brick, and its sun-splashed verdant greens and eager youth. The university, contrary to popular opinion, is far from free of the stark unforgiving trials of the business world: academia has its own tests, and some are as merciless as any in the marketplace. A prime example is the dissertation defense: to earn the Ph.D., to become a doctor, one must pass an oral examination on one’s dissertation. This was a test Professor Edward Hart enjoyed giving.”

That pregnant opening paragraph was written by a computer program known as Brutus.1 that was developed by Selmer Bringsjord, a computer scientist at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and David A. Ferrucci, a researcher at I.B.M.

Yeah, but will computers enjoy reading? mjh

ABQjournal: Dendahl’s Ramblings Badly Written, Poorly Researched
By Angela Wandinger-Ness, Biology Professor

There are many things to take issue with in John Dendahl’s commentary, “Bush is the Man with a Mandate.” I will comment on only two points: poor writing skills and unjustified accusation.

There should be accountability and a factual basis that underlies a credible opinion. An opinion should provide well-written, carefully crafted arguments with a take-home message? not just random musings and unfounded diatribe, particularly when it is presented to the public by a syndicated columnist who uses his credentials as a retired executive and political leader to give weight to his ramblings. …

Based on these examples, I submit that Dendahl’s column is nothing more than the ramblings of a cantankerous old man with no credibility.

Star Search

New Mexico is observing Dark Sky Appreciation Night on Wednesday, 10/27/04. And this year, the event coincides with prime viewing conditions — a total lunar eclipse beginning around 8:23 p.m. …

In the United States, less than 10 percent of the population can see the Milky Way. …

At Chaco Culture National Historical Park 70 miles south of Farmington, park guide GB Cornucopia said the sky is almost as dark as when ancestors of the Pueblo Indians lived there a thousand years ago. “The constellations, the moon, the planets — it’s the same sky they saw, with few changes.”

But during his 18 years at the park, the glow from Crownpoint, 40 miles to the south has increased, and increasingly he sees light pollution emanating from as far as Rio Rancho and Albuquerque. …

While the night sky is the part of the environment that has changed the least over the years, most people no longer experience it in the same way as their ancestors.

“That saddens me,” Cornucopia said. “The more light pollution we create, the less we understand the nature of the world we live in. Keeping it accessible is real important.”

Did I ever tell you about my dip into forensic photography? I was at the upper cliff dwelling at Tonto Nat’l Monument last year with a ranger when a helicopter came buzzing by. It was obviously sightseeing (pausing to look at the ruins) and the ranger was furious. Apparently, the churning air generated by a chopper is really hard on the ruins (makes sense). She asked if anyone could see its number, and although I couldn’t, I got a shot of it with my zoom lens.

When I looked at the photo later, the number was really clear. BTW, another way to tell if a digital photo is an original is to look at its EXIF info — it changes when the photo changes and basically says, oh yeah, this photo’s been modified. So I kept it in its original format and sent it to Tonto Nat’l Monument (which the ranger had asked me to do). After several months of back-and-forth with them, the superintendent of the Monument emailed me and told me they’d discovered who the helicopter belonged to and had sent them a letter requesting they not do it again. The superintendent told me he didn’t expect a response but he also thought the letter would probably do its job.

So who owned the helicopter? And why didn’t the Monument take stronger legal action?

Because it was a Justice Dept helicopter.

I didn’t make any of this up, honest.:)

Lisa

ps- Tonto National Monument is worth going to just for the beauty of the surrounding area (it’s really near Roosevelt Lake — or Lake Roosevelt, or something like that) but also they’re very different ruins from many of ours in NM. One of the photos on my website shows an old bee hive that was way high up in the roof of the cave — it’s pretty cool.

There are more pix of Tonto Nat’l Monument (and related places) on my website: http://www.newmexicophotos.com/gallery/arizona-2003

Tom Tomorrow / This Modern World comic archives

Tom Tomorrow is the creator of the award-winning weekly cartoon of social and political satire, This Modern World, which appears regularly in approximately 150 papers across the country.

Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: Sentenced to Be Raped” href=”http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/29/opinion/29kris.html?hp”>The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: Sentenced to Be Raped By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

So although I did not find Osama, I did encounter a much more ubiquitous form of evil and terror: a culture, stretching across about half the globe, that chews up women and spits them out.

We in the West could help chip away at that oppression, with health and literacy programs and by simply speaking out against it, just as we once stood up against slavery and totalitarianism. But instead of standing beside fighters like Ms. Mukhtaran, we’re still sitting on the fence.

A dreadful, shocking, monstrous injustice. These are our allies? mjh

The Writer’s Almanac

“It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people’s minds.” — statesman and patriot Samuel Adams