Software Being Developed to Monitor Opinions of US- "Sentiment Analysis"

[Jcrowley]

Colleges join U.S. to track negative overseas press
By Eric Lipton The New York Times

Published: October 4, 2006
WASHINGTON A consortium of major universities, with Homeland Security Department funds, is developing software that would let the government monitor negative opinions of the United States or its leaders in newspapers and other publications overseas.
 
The "sentiment analysis" is intended to identify potential threats to the nation, security officials said.
 
Researchers at institutions including Cornell, the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Utah intend to test the system on hundreds of articles published in 2001 and 2002 on topics like President George W. Bush's use of the term "axis of evil," the handling of detainees at Guantánamo Bay, the debate over global warming and the coup attempt against President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela. A $2.4 million grant will finance the research over three years.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/10/04/news/scan.php

[HysteryDiagnosis]

1. For some reason this reminds me of the question, "What is the

difference between an oral thermometer and a rectal thermometer?" After a min just tell the person you are querying "The taste".

And this tastes of crap... Christ Jesus will these morons ever take a look in the god damn mirror?

[Jcrowley]

4. Not when

there's research money to be doled out.

Can't they just pay some students to scoure the int'l media for "anti-American" stories, get satellite imagery of said detractors and blow the fuck out of 'em?

Maybe work-study?

Exhuming McCarthy

[HysteryDiagnosis]

5. Perhaps they can stop believing that freedom is the reason

for anti-American sentiment. Since this fiasco in Iraq has gone down, approval ratings in the ME (U.S. Approval Ratings) have gone from respectable double digits to single digits, and this has happened in countries that are our supposed allies. These morons get the golden peckerhead award of the century for their tunnel vision and self righteous indignation towards the rest of the planet, and that includes nations such as France that was wise enough not to get involved in shrub's brainfart three years ago.

[villager]

2. would this be like "the Ear" in "V for Vendetta?"

just wonderin'...

[sendero]

3. They want to use the entire..

... world as a "focus group" and they need a tool to measure responses.

I used to be for a dept of Homeland Security, but now that I see what they are wasting their time and money on I see the Republicans were right.