Gender Genie

You think you can write an anonymous note and get away with it? Hmm. Well guess what, they can predict your gender based on you're writing style!

Check out: http://www.bookblog.net/gender/genie.html

The site analyzes your writing style based on certain algorithms and patterns (like how often you use a pronoun, a word, etc). It's supposed to be 80% effective...although when I tried it, it "analyzed" me correctly 1 out of 3 times. Quickly browsing through the article elaborating on the algorithm, it did mention that "factual" and formal text are less likely to be easily distinguishable by gender. The algorithm assumes that men write more about "objects", while females write more about "relationships", thus factual pieces are more likely than not to be analyzed as "male".

But still...it's something to do when you're not doing anything.

AND...if you find yourself with 2 hours to spare, do check out the movie Crash. Right after watching the movie, I planned to blog about it, but surfing around I got to Don's blog and found out he loved the movie as well! Well, it doesn't hurt to spread the word.

Crash is an ensemble movie that deals with racism in LA. It follows the lives of several people in a span of two days, and challenges the audience to question their own prejudices. There is no real bad guy in this movie, everyone is flawed. The movie does a wonderful job of showcasing the character's back stories and motivations. The title of the movie comes from it's tagline: "Moving at the speed of life, we are bound to collide with each other." The movie starts and ends with a car crash. In between, it moves back and forth between the different stories and timelines. Written and directed by the writer of Million Dollar Baby, Paul Haggis. Crash stars include Thandie Newton, Matt Dillon, Brendan Fraser, Ryan Philippe, Sandra Bullock. A very thought provoking movie. "You think you know who you are. You have no idea."