Essay: Grammar for the web

As an assignment for Language and Text, please write an essay on the wether or not and why deep meaning-oriented analysis of natural language on the web is necessary, superfluous, inevitable, a forbidden dream, a nightmare, something
to live for, something to fly from, sheer bureaucracy, to be prevented, to be stimulated, or simply within or without the reach of human technology.

The idea is that you write something that makes me, or my neighbour, think. Argue, reason, entertain, create truth around wether we have to take care of language, webwise. Both my neighbour and I are lazy but open to stimuli and hate to be bored.

Just a few examples - rather negative ones but you may have a more positive attitude yourself - of an essay’s theme around the question: Can grammar mean something for the web, apart from, or in addition to, or instead of the semantic web? It makes no sense to try and do Dutch: too small a language on the net. The real meaning of language is beyond computation. Language is not intrinsically difficult: we just don’t use it the right way.

- Instead of trying to deal with language, we had better normalize the use of language.
- If the meaning of language is not computable, the concept of computation is senseless
- Language is not logical; so forget about automated inference.
- The grammar of a language is never complete; so we cannot apply it properly.
- We had better ask mathematicians to deal with natural language - the problem would
  probably be solved already.
- Analysing language is dangerous to human intelligence.
- Let us wait for Google to solve the problem.
- Language is emotion, not reason.
- Let us all talk Java.
- Language would not be a problem if we could simply agree on its correct use.
- My Own View On How It Is

Please post on here before contacting him, so not everyone contacts him at once.

Steven Pinker is an experimental psychologist and one of the world’s foremost writers on language, mind, and human nature. His research on visual cognition and the psychology of language has won prizes from the National Academy of Sciences, the Royal Institution of Great Britain, the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, and the American Psychological Association. He has been named Humanist of the Year, Prospect magazine’s “The World’s Top 100 Public Intellectuals,” Foreign Policy’s “100 Global Thinkers,” and Time magazine’s “The 100 Most Influential People in the World Today.

Info:
http://www.science.leidenuniv.nl/index.php/tinbergen/lezing-2013

Register (for free) at:
http://science.leidenuniv.nl/index.php//tinbergen/aanmelding_2013/

http://staas.home.xs4all.nl/t/WT2013/index.html

If you’re interested, keep an eye on our website http://leiden.scienceonline.com where we’ll open the registration form next week. We only have room for 75 people, so register soon. And follow us on Twitter @scioLeiden. If you want to help out with the organization, get in touch. If you want to give a demonstration of something you made, let us know. Our e-mail is leiden at scienceonline dot com.

More information below. The spoken language at the event will be Dutch.

ScienceOnline
is een community van mensen die communiceren over wetenschap en daar het web voor gebruiken. Of zoals er op de Amerikaanse website staat: Conversation, Community, & Connections at the Intersection of Science & the Web (zie http://www.scienceonline.com). De doelgroep is bewust breed. In hun woorden: “scientists, students, educators, physicians, journalists, librarians, bloggers, programmers and others interested in the way the World Wide Web is changing the way science is communicated, taught and done”.

Unconference
In Amerika vindt al 7 jaar de jaarlijkse ScienceOnline unconference plaats. Deze mensen kennen elkaar online en tijdens een ‘unconference’ ontmoeten ze elkaar in het echt. Om ervaringen uit te wisselen met elkaar op een ongedwongen manier. Geen rangen en standen, geen sprekers die met een Powerpoint de zaal toe-preken. Het concept is zo succesvol (binnen 10 minuten uitverkocht!) dat er inmiddels meerdere ‘satellites’ ontstaan in Amerikaanse steden en ook daarbuiten.

Nu ook in Leiden
Op dit moment wordt gestart met een ScienceOnline Leiden community, de eerste in West-Europa. 30 mei, 17-20 uur, komt er een (i.s.m. Leiden Communicatiestad) een eerste unconference. Het programma zal bestaan uit 3 sprekers (kort, Tedx-achtig), praktische sessies (1e hulp bij Twitter, hoe werkt Wordpress, exposure voor je blog enz), en parallelsessies rondom een thema waarin ervaringen worden uitgewisseld.

unfortunately i’m still ill, so there will be no class on monday the 22nd of April either.

with kind regards,

Joost Rekveld.

This course is designed to be a fun introduction to the basics of programming in Python. Our main focus will be on building simple interactive games such as Pong, Blackjack and Asteroids.

Workload: 7-9 hours/week

https://www.coursera.org/course/interactivepython

YOUTUBE VIDEO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LjCzaz1aEBo

+ About the Course
This course is designed to help students with very little or no computing background learn the basics of building simple interactive applications.  Our language of choice, Python, is an easy-to learn, high-level computer language that is used in many of the computational courses offered on Coursera. To make learning Python easy, we have developed a new browser-based programming environment that makes developing interactive applications in Python simple.  These applications will involve windows whose contents are graphical and respond to buttons, the keyboard and the mouse.

The primary method for learning the course material will be to work through multiple “mini-projects” in Python.  To make this class enjoyable, these projects will include building fun games such as Pong, Blackjack, and Asteroids.  When you’ve finished our course, we can’t promise that you will be a professional programmer, but we think that you will learn a lot about programming in Python and have fun while you’re doing it.

+ Course Syllabus
Our course syllabus can be seen at http://www.codeskulptor.org/coursera/syllabus.html.

+ Recommended Background
High school mathematics

+ Course Format
Our course will last nine weeks.  The lectures from each week will focus on the topics listed in the syllabus while an associated weekly “mini- project” will serve to reinforce these concepts in practice.  Grades for these mini-projects will be determined via peer-assessment.  The class will also include two quizzes each week to provide further feedback.

+ FAQ
Will I get a certificate after completing this class?
Yes. Students who successfully complete the class will receive a Statement of Accomplishment signed by Joe, Scott, John, and Stephen.

What resources will I need for this class?
The only requirement for the class is access to a modern web browser. All coding and program development will be done in a web-based programming environment that supports building interactive applications in Python. The programs that you create will be saved, shared and graded via the cloud.

What is the coolest thing I’ll learn if I take this class?
You’ll be able to build your own games in Python.

“Unfortunately I am ill today, so I have to cancel both the lecture as
well as the lab for todays Embodied Vision class. I am very sorry, see
you next week,

Joost.”