This is a story about a thing I made. I’m still not sure what to call it. Or what it’s really for.
But I like it.
And I hope other people will too…
-
This is what it looks like. Or what it looked like when I took this screenshot. It changes. Try for yourself.
-
0
likes·
0
comments -
Act I: Getting carried away with words
It all began with a large collection of newspaper articles… -
First run at generating tf-idf values for 10,000 newspaper articles referring to ‘the future’ grouped by year. May take a while…0
likes·
0
comments -
What’s TDF-IF?
-
The top words by tf-idf for each year of my sample are like some wonderful puzzle where you have to create a story that links them all… [+]0
likes·
0
comments -
1896: sahara, transvaal, tuaregs, bread, polo, crayon, gympie, symons, caravans, flour, oxidised [+]0
likes·
0
comments -
1884: alderney, kissing, parkes, littoral, clericalism, suez, tunnel, miracles, artisan, canal, turk. And I’ve still got 50 years to go! [-]0
likes·
0
comments -
So now I want to create an interface to ‘the future’ of the past using these wonderful words. Can I do it before my public lecture on 8 May?0
likes·
0
comments -
I mean, there’s got to be a novel in: prince, pronunciation, keyboards, zulu, begged, unbend, diddle, candlesticks, virtuoso, highness, pots0
likes·
0
comments -
That was from 1879…0
likes·
0
comments -
Aaand ‘hitler’ pops up in my tf-idf weighted words in 1937, along with ‘mudguards’, ‘duchess’, ‘opossum’, ‘hollywood’ and ‘canberra’.0
likes·
0
comments -
I’m going to stop this now, but 1939: hitler, clydesdale, nicotine, trout…0
likes·
0
comments -
Finished generating tf-idf values after about 28hrs. Now to clean up the data some more and run it again…0
likes·
0
comments -
Act 2: Public performances
Introduced to the world… -
I am making you something nice. It’s made of words, and I think it’s sort of mysterious and beautiful and intriguing. Next week…0
likes·
0
comments -
You can come to my NLA talk for a preview. 😉 http://bit.ly/Ifi6800
likes·
0
comments -
Join Harold White Fellow, Dr Tim Sherratt as he investigates what changes when historical newspapers go online: http://ow.ly/aH2Rt0
likes·
0
comments -
.@wragge in fine form at the NLA – on the playful and evocative as ways of doing history, and the virtues of screwing around.0
likes·
0
comments -
Future past: how the future seemed before; how we might do history differently. Expansive, entertaining talk by @wragge http://yfrog.com/od44ixwj0
likes·
0
comments -
Slides from my Harold White fellows talk ‘Mining for meaning’ @nlagovau: http://bit.ly/JblHnY (arrow keys to move). Text & audio to come.0
likes·
0
comments -
You can also play with my experimental tf-idf thingy (needs a name) here http://bit.ly/IHhWJI0
likes·
0
comments -
@seth_denbo Playing with using tf-idf weighted words to explore a collection of 10000 newspaper articles containing the phrase ‘the future’.0
likes·
0
comments -
@seth_denbo But I really just like the evocative nature of the word combinations. Will write up some details shortly.0
likes·
0
comments -
Me and my suit ‘mining for meanings’ in @TroveAustralia at @nlagovau. Sound, slides and links included. http://bit.ly/K1YB1Z0
likes·
0
comments -
Act III: Fridge poetry
Serendipity to share… -
hehe it works! Tweet fridge poetry & explore tf-idf weighted words from historical newspapers. http://bit.ly/JhBZ290
likes·
0
comments -
parsimonious mildred plastered cleveland incessantly malthus envied thawed margarine http://newspapers.wraggelabs.com/difference/?word=parsimonious&word=mildred&word=plastered&word=cleveland&word=incessantly&word=malthus&word=envied&word=thawed&word=margarine0
likes·
0
comments -
@wragge divinity gently deemed pregnant expedient 🙂 http://newspapers.wraggelabs.com/difference/?word=divinity&word=gently&word=deemed&word=pregnant&word=expedient0
likes·
0
comments -
amphibious japanese senator nuisance dysentery blizzard armaments curator http://newspapers.wraggelabs.com/difference/?word=amphibious&word=japanese&word=senator&word=nuisance&word=dysentery&word=blizzard&word=armaments&word=curator0
likes·
0
comments -
bunnerong banky betty vilma arabia automobiles sanctions http://newspapers.wraggelabs.com/difference/?word=bunnerong&word=banky&word=betty&word=vilma&word=arabia&word=automobiles&word=sanctions0
likes·
0
comments -
wool stewardess chesapeake aviation resin kindergarten bruce http://newspapers.wraggelabs.com/difference/?word=wool&word=stewardess&word=chesapeake&word=aviation&word=resin&word=kindergarten&word=bruce0
likes·
0
comments -
squatter rosebery haymakers yeomen incarnation freezing skilled borax oregon http://newspapers.wraggelabs.com/difference/?word=squatter&word=rosebery&word=haymakers&word=yeomen&word=incarnation&word=freezing&word=skilled&word=borax&word=oregon0
likes·
0
comments -
harvard dementia thanksgiving peace bomb production http://newspapers.wraggelabs.com/difference/?word=harvard&word=dementia&word=thanksgiving&word=peace&word=bomb&word=production0
likes·
0
comments -
ok, just fixed bug. Now if you’ve arrived at a year and click on a word, you’ll see the articles containing that word. http://bit.ly/IHhWJI0
likes·
0
comments -
@materialculture I’ll write more shortly, but it’s based on words extracted from 10,000 newspaper articles and weighted by tf-idf.0
likes·
0
comments -
@materialculture You start off with a random selection but eventually arrive at a year where you can click through to articles or share. [-]0
likes·
0
comments -
gear league linens girl http://newspapers.wraggelabs.com/difference/?word=gear&word=league&word=linens&word=girl0
likes·
0
comments -
BTW – you can reorder the words in your fridge poetry by just clicking and dragging. And you can just click on a word to remove it.0
likes·
0
comments -
everlasting zinc capsule destroys sulphuric kaiser http://newspapers.wraggelabs.com/difference/?word=everlasting&word=zinc&word=capsule&word=destroys&word=sulphuric&word=kaiser0
likes·
0
comments -
voltaire bloodhounds
digger invasions
unassailable
http://newspapers.wraggelabs.com/difference/?word=voltaire&word=bloodhounds&word=digger&word=invasions&word=unassailable0
likes·
0
comments -
A few more tweaks for my historical newspaper tf-idf explorer / fridge poetry generator. http://bit.ly/MvYhxa0
likes·
0
comments -
stonehenge quarry eggs / conference deathtrap / pilotless maternity engine http://newspapers.wraggelabs.com/fotp/?word=stonehenge&word=quarry&word=eggs&word=conference&word=deathtrap&word=pilotless&word=maternity&word=engine0
likes·
0
comments -
Generative and evocative former futures – @wragge’s newest Trove tool: http://newspapers.wraggelabs.com/fotp #digitalalchemy0
likes·
0
comments -
wireless delphian enrichment / agamemnon helicopter / eccles music diversion http://newspapers.wraggelabs.com/fotp/?word=wireless&word=delphian&word=enrichment&word=agamemnon&word=helicopter&word=eccles&word=music&word=diversion0
likes·
0
comments -
Well that was easy. Just added touch support for FOTP using http://bit.ly/JbWI330
likes·
0
comments -
television verity / googly democracies / czech street plunger http://newspapers.wraggelabs.com/fotp/?word=television&word=verity&word=googly&word=democracies&word=czech&word=street&word=plunger (via iP*d!)0
likes·
0
comments -
Explore historical newspaper articles about the future and create & share your own fridge poetry. http://bit.ly/MvYhxa0
likes·
0
comments -
digesting vertebrate scripture / soulful testament / chlorophyll monuments certify http://newspapers.wraggelabs.com/fotp/?word=digesting&word=vertebrate&word=scripture&word=soulful&word=testament&word=chlorophyll&word=monuments&word=certify0
likes·
0
comments -
@davegearl Just try clicking words until you arrive at a year. The you can click words to read articles or drag to Tweet box to share.0
likes·
0
comments -
@davegearl It’s randomly selecting from a pool of 100 top TF-IDF weighted words for each year. I talk a bit about it in my Harold White lect0
likes·
0
comments -
@davegearl Just an experiment, but I like the evocative nature of the word combinations. Will write up some details shortly.0
likes·
0
comments -
@wragge the problem I have with your new toy is I keep finding articles that need editing..with one addiction feeding into the other 🙂0
likes·
0
comments -
badgery catholic holbein forefinger http://newspapers.wraggelabs.com/fotp/?word=badgery&word=catholic&word=holbein&word=forefinger0
likes·
0
comments -
What is it? Is it a toy? A discovery interface? A work of art? I’m not sure.But I think it’s interesting.
-
0
likes·
0
comments -
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This imageis the best description of a stroke I’ve seen yet. I feel like I have been in 404 land for many weeks now! Thankyou for giving me a visual representation of what it means to go to bed one thing and wake up another.with therapy though I am learning to fix all the broken links.
Now that I’m out of my stroke rehab I,ve started using this as bit more and it is proving really useful Tim. I especially liked the Melba link which brought up articles I would never have dreamed looking for but am really happy I came across them!