A powerful supercomputer with 2,800 processors that competed in “Jeopardy.” What is Watson?
There was an online poll: Who do you think is going to win? I voted for Watson! Beaver wanted a human to win; I was cheering for Watson.
Watson has gotten a lot of attention: articles, TV shows, comedians’ jokes, and more. Rightfully so. Greg Lindsay, a contributing writer to FastCompany.com, called the Jeopardy man vs. machine match-up the “Nerd Super Bowl.” I had a front row seat (in my living room)!
My favorite clue and response were under the category, Beatles’ People: “Any time you feel the pain, hey - this guy - Don't carry the world upon your shoulders.” Watson correctly responded, “Who is Jude?” Okay, so the song is about a guy, but still, Watson called my name!
Watson was impressive. Beaver and I watched a fascinating NOVA special about Watson and its creators. NOVA chronicled Watson in its mock “Jeopardy” contests to prepare it for its big debut. Here’s a link if you’re interested in reading more about it. (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/will-watson-win-jeopardy.html)
Computers can take on human-like characteristics. Have computers ever "scolded" you? They've scolded me! Years ago, I had to use prime numbers to resize files on a miniframe system. If I entered a non-prime number in the command; the computer would yell at me, “NOT A PRIME NUMBER!” Excuse me? Have you ever typed a misspelled word in Google’s search text box? Google displays Did you mean: (with the corrected spelling). Little smarty-pants!
Do you like it when computers catch your errors? Let me know what you think.
Back to “Jeopardy” and Alex Trebek—Watson is a computer, although Alex kept referring to it as a man, by saying “he” and “him.” I’ve got to correct you on this one, Alex! With National Grammar Day (Friday, March 4) just days away (yes, it’s that time of year already), using a masculine pronoun for a computer is not grammatically correct. Use a gender-neutral pronoun, not a masculine pronoun.
By the way, National Grammar Day was established in 2008 by Martha Brockenbrough, founder of the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar (SPOGG). (http://spogg.org)
So, what are you doing to celebrate National Grammar Day? Grammar Girl has a Web site dedicated to the national holiday. (http://nationalgrammarday.com/) Check out all the fun things to do! Will you send a free E-card to your favorite grammarian? Will you enter the Fiction Writing Contest? Let me know how you’re celebrating!
And let me be the first to wish you a safe and happy National Grammar Day!
Showing posts with label national grammar day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label national grammar day. Show all posts
Monday, February 28, 2011
Thursday, March 4, 2010
National Grammar Day
Thursday, March 4, is National Grammar Day! I’m going to celebrate by wearing my “I’ve Got a Preposition for You” T-shirt. (I bought it from Grammar Girl.)
When I told my business communication class about the “holiday,” one of my students said he’s not going to speak that day. A gentleman in England will not stand in the “five items or less” line at the grocery store because the sign should read “five items or fewer,” although he does that every day, not just for Grammar Day.
Are you familiar with “Headlines,” a Monday night “Tonight Show” feature with Jay Leno? People send newspaper and magazine clippings that have grammar and spelling errors to Jay. Two of my favorites include “Chance of rain, possibly mixing with some wet snot” and “Add a bottle of out house wine for an additional $12.99.” Yikes! One letter can change the meaning of the sentence! Even copy editors don’t get it right all the time.
So, let’s go back to 3rd grade for a grammar review; today’s lesson is pronouns. As I tell my students, “Just because it sounds right, doesn’t mean it is right. People say things wrong all the time!”
Possessive pronouns do not have apostrophes. The possessive pronoun its is often used incorrectly; many professional signs confuse the possessive pronoun and the contraction. It’s is a contraction for it is. Its is the possessive pronoun. It’s wonderful that grammar has its own day.
Pronouns need to agree in number with their antecedents (the words to which they refer, which are generally the subjects). For example, an employee has the right to see their file is not correct. Employee is a single subject [the antecedent]; their is a plural pronoun. Make the subject plural as well as the verb to correct the sentence: Employees have the right to see their files.
Singular pronouns are used when referring to an organization or department, as long as the group is acting as a single unit. For example, Jones, Smith, and Doe, Inc., is having its [not their] company picnic in July. The marketing department won its [not their] volleyball tournament.
When subjects are joined by or or nor, the pronoun agrees with the subject that comes after the conjunction [or or nor]. Here’s an example: Neither Stacy nor Jim wanted his desk moved. Many people think this statement should be written as Neither Stacy nor Jim wanted their desks moved. Because Jim is closest to the pronoun, you need to use a singular pronoun.
Enjoy National Grammar Day! My mom, Flo, would have loved this day; she was a true grammarian. What will you do to celebrate Grammar Day?
When I told my business communication class about the “holiday,” one of my students said he’s not going to speak that day. A gentleman in England will not stand in the “five items or less” line at the grocery store because the sign should read “five items or fewer,” although he does that every day, not just for Grammar Day.
Are you familiar with “Headlines,” a Monday night “Tonight Show” feature with Jay Leno? People send newspaper and magazine clippings that have grammar and spelling errors to Jay. Two of my favorites include “Chance of rain, possibly mixing with some wet snot” and “Add a bottle of out house wine for an additional $12.99.” Yikes! One letter can change the meaning of the sentence! Even copy editors don’t get it right all the time.
So, let’s go back to 3rd grade for a grammar review; today’s lesson is pronouns. As I tell my students, “Just because it sounds right, doesn’t mean it is right. People say things wrong all the time!”Possessive pronouns do not have apostrophes. The possessive pronoun its is often used incorrectly; many professional signs confuse the possessive pronoun and the contraction. It’s is a contraction for it is. Its is the possessive pronoun. It’s wonderful that grammar has its own day.
Pronouns need to agree in number with their antecedents (the words to which they refer, which are generally the subjects). For example, an employee has the right to see their file is not correct. Employee is a single subject [the antecedent]; their is a plural pronoun. Make the subject plural as well as the verb to correct the sentence: Employees have the right to see their files.
Singular pronouns are used when referring to an organization or department, as long as the group is acting as a single unit. For example, Jones, Smith, and Doe, Inc., is having its [not their] company picnic in July. The marketing department won its [not their] volleyball tournament.
When subjects are joined by or or nor, the pronoun agrees with the subject that comes after the conjunction [or or nor]. Here’s an example: Neither Stacy nor Jim wanted his desk moved. Many people think this statement should be written as Neither Stacy nor Jim wanted their desks moved. Because Jim is closest to the pronoun, you need to use a singular pronoun.
Enjoy National Grammar Day! My mom, Flo, would have loved this day; she was a true grammarian. What will you do to celebrate Grammar Day?
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