You're right, of course. But think of this project as a Proof of Concept. Think of how useful it could be with some methodological innovations:
* user-generated search terms (rather than story volume) * text mining (e.g., concordance) to track wire reports * cross-reference with media ownership, demographics, voter registrations, etc.
I'd LOVE to be able to definitively demonstrate any differences between Murdock, ClearChannel, etal. and locally owned media.
Yes, since Google lets you pick search terms, it would be a relativel trivial to write an interface that presents the results geographically or through time (animation?).
One of the biggest limitations with GoogleNews is that they only cache the stories for 30 days. I'd love to be able to track stories like Bush's Social Insecurity agenda, then cross-reference it with things like media ownership, demographics (e.g., age, employment), and voter rolls.
A few years back, I was surprised to learn that CNN Europe provides different content (on the same stories) than CNN USA. This got me thinking along similar lines.
Provided one could get special permission (GoogleNews' TOU), it would be fairly simple to map the appearance of stories by time and place.
It would also be fairly simple to run word and phrase concordances on the ledes (which Google includes) to check for wire reports or topic changes.
I've done this mechanically (unlikely to hit Google's radar) on topics like the Gannon/Guckert scandal, and generated some interesting results.
This would seem to open a giant chasm in the belief that symbolic language (conventionally conceived as words and numbers) is a precursor to human-level intelligence.
This could re-write what we think we know about language, intelligence, and possibly our "uniqueness" at the "top" of the brain pyramid.
I think the latter may offer the most dramatic potential. There are already services out there which automatically send photos to your server and post them - along with text or audio captioning:
Slashdot Mirror
I'll be willing to purchase a hi-res monitor whenever the entertainment industry starts producing hi-quality content.
Really, who needs any more details of Survivor, Who Wants to Marry my Mom, etc?
Frankly, I'm appalled. I've driven cross-country four times in my '92 Honda Civic, and got in the high 30s (occasionally a tank right at 40).
And I drive like a maniac.
You're right, of course. But think of this project as a Proof of Concept. Think of how useful it could be with some methodological innovations:
* user-generated search terms (rather than story volume)
* text mining (e.g., concordance) to track wire reports
* cross-reference with media ownership, demographics, voter registrations, etc.
I'd LOVE to be able to definitively demonstrate any differences between Murdock, ClearChannel, etal. and locally owned media.
Yes, since Google lets you pick search terms, it would be a relativel trivial to write an interface that presents the results geographically or through time (animation?).
One of the biggest limitations with GoogleNews is that they only cache the stories for 30 days. I'd love to be able to track stories like Bush's Social Insecurity agenda, then cross-reference it with things like media ownership, demographics (e.g., age, employment), and voter rolls.
A few years back, I was surprised to learn that CNN Europe provides different content (on the same stories) than CNN USA. This got me thinking along similar lines.
Provided one could get special permission (GoogleNews' TOU), it would be fairly simple to map the appearance of stories by time and place.
It would also be fairly simple to run word and phrase concordances on the ledes (which Google includes) to check for wire reports or topic changes.
I've done this mechanically (unlikely to hit Google's radar) on topics like the Gannon/Guckert scandal, and generated some interesting results.
This would seem to open a giant chasm in the belief that symbolic language (conventionally conceived as words and numbers) is a precursor to human-level intelligence.
This could re-write what we think we know about language, intelligence, and possibly our "uniqueness" at the "top" of the brain pyramid.
I think the latter may offer the most dramatic potential. There are already services out there which automatically send photos to your server and post them - along with text or audio captioning:
Example:
http://pirillo.textamerica.com
Host:
www.textamerica.com