am78, Alice McGuinness

Any comments that you would like to make about the lab, including troubles you had, things that were interesting, and ways we could make it better.

Part 1

In these first two graphs, I compared the last names Goldberg, Kernighan, and McGuinness (I wonder where they came from?). I was displeased with the infrequency of McGuinness, until I realized it was probably only due to its varied spellings. I was even further displeased when I used the sum to compare three varied spellings and only gained slightly on Goldberg!

I started by comparing Princeton, Wisconsin, and Santa Cruz with their mascots. Since Santa Cruz is a much newer mascot, it didn't have much skin in the game, but there was an interesting transition around 2000 in the prevalence of Princeton vs. Wisconsin. I then used the subtract function to measure the two n-grams relative to each other.

Part 2

I chose to take another look at Anne of Green Gables. Looking at the word cloud, I was surprised by the similarity in size of "Anne" and "Marilla." I then looked at the trends graph-- I wonder what happens in segment 6, the only part in which the use of "Marilla" tops that of "Anne." Finally, I looked at the DreamScape, which maps out the locations mentioned. The larger the circle, the more the city is mentioned-- seems fitting that Princeton Edward Island is so large!

Part 3

Two words that could go either way: 1) Hard 2) Significant

Two words where the weighting seems wrong: 1) Futile (this is ranked as positive 2, I stumbled across it in the source code, not sure why) 2) Giddy (this is the opposite-- it's ranked -2, I would interpret this as positive)

Two sentences where the commercial analyzer & sentimood agree:
1) Max Mendoza's parents awakened just after dawn to the echoing clap-pop of a gunshot, and ran from their bedroom to find their 12-year-old son propped against the couch, eyes wide in pain, terror and surprise.
2) Princeton received a record applicant pool of over 16,500 applications this year and your academic accomplishments, extra-curricular achievements and personal qualities stood out among this strong pool.

Two examples where the two diverge:
1) The dinner you worked so hard to make tastes awfully delicious. (Sentimood found this to be negative, while the commercial analyzer decided it was positive.)
2) I feel giddy, I can't believe I got that score on my test. (Sentimood found it to be negative, commercial analyzer thought it was positive)

Two examples where they agree and appear to be wrong:
1) I'm hardly ever tired, I have so much energy
2) I'm terribly happy to see you.

Part 4

English and Hindi

English to Hindi
"The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak"
Google - "aatma taiyar hai lekin means kamjor hai" meaning "the soul is strong but the flesh/meat is weak"
Bing - "muddai sust gavah chust" meaning "the sprit is willing but the flesh is weak" in higher-register, proverbial language

Hindi to English
Lyrics from a popular Bollywood song, "Main Hoon Na": "Kiska hai yeh tumko intezar / Main hoon na / Dekh lo idhar to ek bar / Main hoon na," meaning "who are you waiting for / I'm here / Take a look this way once / I'm here"

Google - "whose are you waiting for / I am not / take a look here / I am not"
Bing - "who's waiting for you / I'm not here / so once I'm there / isn't it?"

This was an epic fail for both Google and Bing. They both mistranslated the most important phrase (and title) of the song, "main hoon na," which is supposed to mean "I'm here," as "I am NOT here." I was impressed that Google got the nuance of "dekh lo" meaning take a look as opposed to "dekho" meaning look. "Na," meaning no, is used to create emphasis, like "aren't I here," in a way that Google and Bing do not understand. Bing totally messed up here on every line, although it succeeded with the higher-register proverb. This makes me think that Google is more useful for everyday conversation or more "slang" influenced language like songs, while Bing is more useful for higher-register, "bookish" language.

News headline: "Is gaadi ne jita 'duniya ki sabse khubsurat car' ka khitaab bharitya baazar Mei itna hai kimat" meaning something like "This car won the title of 'word's most beautiful car,' the price is very high in the Indian market"

Google - "This car won the title of 'world's most beautiful car', so much is the price in the Indian market"
Bing - "The car won the title of 'World's Most Beautiful Car', so much in the Indian market"

Both Google and Bing did well here, although Bing missed "this" car rather than "the" car and "price." Also, both could have done better in their translation of "so much is the price," which is the literal translation, but does not convey the sentiment of the Hindi "itna hai kimat," which is more like "the price is high."