Those of us working at sites like HotWired and Salon in the early days of the web realized that we were sitting atop a technology that would profoundly change virtually everything about society.
With my background in investigative reporting, I was curious about how the process of solving mysteries might be affected by the arrival of massive searchable databases of networked information. One case that caught my attention was that of the Unabomber, who’d been carrying on his one-man reign of terror since 1978, eluding a massive FBI manhunt in the process.
What I discussed specifically with colleagues was whether the Unabomber’s manifesto published by the Washington Post might somehow be analyzed for tell-tale word patterns that could uncover his identify.
The engineers I consulted said that the answer was “probably yes” in the future, but “not quite yet.” As it turned out, before this technology evolved, the brother of the man who wrote the manifesto recognized certain tell-tale word choices himself and alerted the FBI.
And that is how Theodore Kaczynski was finally identified and caught.
When Kaczynski died recently, I was reminded of all this and was pleased to see a summary of the case recounted in The Conversation.
Over the decades since Kaczynski’s arrest, the field of forensic linguistics has become far more developed, and now includes a number of tools to uncover plagiarism, strip away anonymity and solve crimes based on notes, letters and manifestoes.
The basic concept is that people’s writing voices can be as unique an identifier as their fingerprints. From the perspective of one who teaches writing, this is critical because many students start from more of a place of standardization, largely due to the way they learned to write in grade school.
Some were taught essentially to muffle their own voices.
My job, later on the down the road when they finally got to me, was to draw out their individuality, helping them diversify their word choices and rediscover their own unique style.
Most of my students probably will never go on to make a living as writers — that is an exceptionally difficult thing to do in our time — but at least I can console myself that if one should turn out to be a terrorist, and use their improved writing skills to communicate their aims, they should now be much easier to track down and capture!
(This is originally from June 2023.)
HEADLINES:
Bill Gates accuses Elon Musk of ‘killing’ children with USAID cuts (Financial Times)
The Actual Math Behind DOGE’s Cuts (Atlantic)
DOGE May Leave Behind Nothing But Stupidity and Chaos (New York)
A federal judge warned Trump against carrying out deportations to Libya. (WP)
Lawrence Hall of Science has lost 9 grants worth $6M to Trump’s funding cuts (Berkeleyside)
House GOP backing off some Medicaid cuts as nonpartisan report shows millions would lose health care (AP)
Every arts director at the NEA exits federal culture agency (WP)
Trump unveils new UK trade deal, calls it 'incredible day for America' (Fox)
The Impending Doom of Trump’s Trade War (Atlantic)
Pakistani drone attacks ‘neutralised’, says India, as skirmishes escalate (Financial Times)
Head of FEMA removed after saying the agency should not be abolished (WP)
American cardinal Prevost elected pope, takes name Leo (Reuters)
Land under the country’s largest cities is sinking. Here’s where — and why. (WP)
Humans Have Never Seen 99.999% of the Seafloor, Study Finds, as Trump Greenlights Deep-Sea Mining (Gizmodo)
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) was meeting last week with representatives from a teachers union in his home state when things quickly devolved, adding to questions around his mental health and behavior. [AP]
Special report on Russia building a major new explosives facility as the Ukraine war drags on. (Reuters)
Is the US economy about to collapse? (Yahoo)
RFK Jr. Takes Aim at Covid Shots for Kids, Worrying Vaccine Experts (Bloomberg)
AI’s Threat to Google Just Got Real (Wired)
OpenAI launches a data residency program in Asia (TechCrunch)
How to Use the A.I.-Powered Writing Tools on Your Phone (NYT)
Archaeologists Uncover Embarrassing Egyptian Rockabilly Dynasty (The Onion)
MUSIC:
The Band - Long Black Veil - 12/31/1983 - San Francisco Civic Auditorium Those of us working at sites like HotWired and Salon in the early days of the web realized that we were sitting atop a technology that would profoundly change virtually everything about society.
With my background in investigative reporting, I was curious about how the process of solving mysteries might be affected by the arrival of massive searchable databases of networked information. One case that caught my attention was that of the Unabomber, who’d been carrying on his one-man reign of terror since 1978, eluding a massive FBI manhunt in the process.
What I discussed specifically with colleagues was whether the Unabomber’s manifesto published by the Washington Post might somehow be analyzed for tell-tale word patterns that could uncover his identify.
The engineers I consulted said that the answer was “probably yes” in the future, but “not quite yet.” As it turned out, before this technology evolved, the brother of the man who wrote the manifesto recognized certain tell-tale word choices himself and alerted the FBI.
And that is how Theodore Kaczynski was finally identified and caught.
When Kaczynski died recently, I was reminded of all this and was pleased to see a summary of the case recounted in The Conversation.
Over the decades since Kaczynski’s arrest, the field of forensic linguistics has become far more developed, and now includes a number of tools to uncover plagiarism, strip away anonymity and solve crimes based on notes, letters and manifestoes.
The basic concept is that people’s writing voices can be as unique an identifier as their fingerprints. From the perspective of one who teaches writing, this is critical because many students start from more of a place of standardization, largely due to the way they learned to write in grade school.
Some were taught essentially to muffle their own voices.
My job, later on the down the road when they finally got to me, was to draw out their individuality, helping them diversify their word choices and rediscover their own unique style.
Most of my students probably will never go on to make a living as writers — that is an exceptionally difficult thing to do in our time — but at least I can console myself that if one should turn out to be a terrorist, and use their improved writing skills to communicate their aims, they should now be much easier to track down and capture!
(This is originally from June 2023.)
HEADLINES:
Bill Gates accuses Elon Musk of ‘killing’ children with USAID cuts (Financial Times)
The Actual Math Behind DOGE’s Cuts (Atlantic)
DOGE May Leave Behind Nothing But Stupidity and Chaos (New York)
A federal judge warned Trump against carrying out deportations to Libya. (WP)
Lawrence Hall of Science has lost 9 grants worth $6M to Trump’s funding cuts (Berkeleyside)
House GOP backing off some Medicaid cuts as nonpartisan report shows millions would lose health care (AP)
Every arts director at the NEA exits federal culture agency (WP)
Trump unveils new UK trade deal, calls it 'incredible day for America' (Fox)
The Impending Doom of Trump’s Trade War (Atlantic)
Pakistani drone attacks ‘neutralised’, says India, as skirmishes escalate (Financial Times)
Head of FEMA removed after saying the agency should not be abolished (WP)
American cardinal Prevost elected pope, takes name Leo (Reuters)
Land under the country’s largest cities is sinking. Here’s where — and why. (WP)
Humans Have Never Seen 99.999% of the Seafloor, Study Finds, as Trump Greenlights Deep-Sea Mining (Gizmodo)
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) was meeting last week with representatives from a teachers union in his home state when things quickly devolved, adding to questions around his mental health and behavior. [AP]
Special report on Russia building a major new explosives facility as the Ukraine war drags on. (Reuters)
Is the US economy about to collapse? (Yahoo)
RFK Jr. Takes Aim at Covid Shots for Kids, Worrying Vaccine Experts (Bloomberg)
AI’s Threat to Google Just Got Real (Wired)
OpenAI launches a data residency program in Asia (TechCrunch)
How to Use the A.I.-Powered Writing Tools on Your Phone (NYT)
Archaeologists Uncover Embarrassing Egyptian Rockabilly Dynasty (The Onion)
MUSIC:
The Band - Long Black Veil - 12/31/1983 - San Francisco Civic Auditorium
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