words: on linguistics, computing, data analysis, and trivia

i was not really into Text Analytics and Natural Language Processing (NLP). but recently, i’ve been asked by wife if i could do some Sentiment Analysis on Discussion Forum posts for some online learners. – i said i would try to build a workable model given i’ve been dabbling in data analysis recently, have a background in computing, and have always been ‘interested’ in words.

i was not really into Text Analytics and Natural Language Processing (NLP). but recently, i’ve been asked by wife if i could do some Sentiment Analysis on Discussion Forum posts for some online learners. – i said i would try to build a workable model given i’ve been dabbling in data analysis recently, have a background in computing, and have always been ‘interested’ in words.

the thing is: i play an app called HQ Trivia ‘regularly’ and have never won – at most getting 11 out of 12 questions. they recently reintroduced Words on Wednesdays (Thursdays here) ‘technically’ i’ve got a better chance of winning this as i know more answers but my disability has resulted in me ‘typing’ even so slower so i can never tap all the letters in time or mishit the ‘smaller on-screen touch-screen keyboard’ to solve the puzzle.

the ‘confluence’ of these fields make it interesting to me…

high fidelity: on movies about music and serendipity

i thought High Fidelity would always be my favourite franchise. it’s one of rare exceptions where i prefer the film to the novel by Nick Hornby. don’t get me wrong – i like both to the point that i follow it’s TV “reimagining”.

just this arvo, i “stumbled” upon the movie, Hearts Beat Loud on the SBS streaming service and really liked it. there were two lines that resonated withe me (i’m paraphrasing, of corse): one was that when life gives you a conundrum then make art, and the other is, you first need to be brave before you can be good. both are set in a NY record store but probably the reason it “slightly” edges out the other one is that the actors perform the music (instead of “spouting out” a list of songs/events given a particular criterion).

i mentioned before, Juliet, Naked!. it makes my top three (i wish i could “complete” the list in true High Fidelity fashion but i’ve yet to watch enough films “worthy” of this accolade).

in my younger years, i think i was sort of a music snob. i think it was a “necessary” phase – in the same way, i think artists need to “master” realism before they branch out stylistically (IMHO, i don’t think this step is “required” but it tends to provide more “robust”portfolios ). maybe it’s my “advanced” age or “embracing” Australian culture, you like what you like – damn “guilty pleasures”.

i’m not a technophobe but my friend is right – there’s a “warmth” to vinyl (and other analog media) despite sound “impurities” (hopefully, i don’t sound like a wanker). maybe some of it is “nostalgia” as my generation experienced the evolution of media. as my friend once “lamented”, newer generations won’t know the relationship between a pencil and an audio cassette. tangentially to this point, one of my favourite albums of all time is Full Moon Fever by the late Tom Petty – not just because i like the songs and describe them as “cohesive” but because i had the CD version and approximately half-way there is a blurb that at this point some listeners would need to flip their records to continue listening to the rest of it – so to be “fair”, he deliberately inserted a “pause”.

sing: on the “appropriation” of St. Augustine’s singing quote and false claims by others

our parish priest of several years celebrated his farewell mass earlier because he’s been reassigned to PNG. this post isn’t about him but him ending his homily with a few quotes triggered my “tangentially-associative” memory.

i’m not terribly religious but had Augustinian priests for my primary and high school education. one of his quotes was deeply ingrained in me: “To sing is to pray twice”. i didn’t think i would be disturbed but a while back a contemporary personality effectively claimed that the quote was theirs and originated from them.

that was the first time i knew that a person “blatantly” appropriated someone else’s work – the interviewer didn’t challenge them. perhaps it was ignorance. perhaps they didn’t want the interviewee to be embarrassed.

my intent isn’t to shame anybody – in any case, i encourage everyone to share and spread individual’s words, works, ideas, or the like so that they are properly attributed. that said, let me qualify, some times somebody from another time or from a different part of the world may come up with a similar “thing” – the point is that their intent was never meant to “plaigarise”, it’s claiming something is theirs when they clearly know it’s not.

publicising something appears to be an “effective” remedy in dealing with or preventing its occurrence.