Michael J. McCann's Blog: Open Investigations, page 16
March 24, 2014
Pushing Back the Bell
The New York Times reports that a number of U.S. high schools have set a later start time to allow their students to sleep longer and be more alert in class.
What is the basis for pushing back the bell? Researchers have found that teenagers experience a later release of the "sleep" hormone melatonin and typically do not feel drowsy until 11 pm. If allowed to get a full eight or nine hours of sleep, they can learn better. Recent evidence suggests that a later start time improves the students' mental health, attendance rates, and grades.
Of course, not everyone is thrilled with the shift in hours. The school day also ends later, meaning extracurricular activities, sports, and evening homework time are impacted. The new schedules may also be disruptive to families traditionally geared to an early start.
But for many teenagers, the later start time gives them a fighting chance to get the sleep they need.
For the full text of this article, please visit http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03....
What is the basis for pushing back the bell? Researchers have found that teenagers experience a later release of the "sleep" hormone melatonin and typically do not feel drowsy until 11 pm. If allowed to get a full eight or nine hours of sleep, they can learn better. Recent evidence suggests that a later start time improves the students' mental health, attendance rates, and grades.
Of course, not everyone is thrilled with the shift in hours. The school day also ends later, meaning extracurricular activities, sports, and evening homework time are impacted. The new schedules may also be disruptive to families traditionally geared to an early start.
But for many teenagers, the later start time gives them a fighting chance to get the sleep they need.
For the full text of this article, please visit http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03....
March 17, 2014
An Interview with Philip Roth
There is an in-depth interview with Philip Roth in a recent edition of The New York Times. Roth has written 31 books and has won innumerable literary awards.
I'm not sure if you come away with a better sense of Philip Roth the man after reading the interview, but it does contain some interesting observations on his works and the writing process itself.
Roth stopped writing five years ago and has been re-reading his own books. In responding to a question about his verdict on his own writing, he quotes Joe Louis: “I did the best I could with what I had.”
He gives a detailed and somewhat defensive response to the charge of misogyny in his writing, noting that: "In some quarters, 'misogynist' is now a word used almost as laxly as was 'Communist' by the McCarthyite right in the 1950s — and for very like the same purpose."
Regarding his years as a writer, he states:
Everybody has a hard job. All real work is hard. My work happened also to be undoable. Morning after morning for 50 years, I faced the next page defenseless and unprepared. Writing for me was a feat of self-preservation. If I did not do it, I would die. So I did it....
With Roth, it's sometimes difficult to determine which remarks are serious and which are tongue-in-cheek, but the interview is an interesting read. For the full text, please see http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/16/boo....
I'm not sure if you come away with a better sense of Philip Roth the man after reading the interview, but it does contain some interesting observations on his works and the writing process itself.
Roth stopped writing five years ago and has been re-reading his own books. In responding to a question about his verdict on his own writing, he quotes Joe Louis: “I did the best I could with what I had.”
He gives a detailed and somewhat defensive response to the charge of misogyny in his writing, noting that: "In some quarters, 'misogynist' is now a word used almost as laxly as was 'Communist' by the McCarthyite right in the 1950s — and for very like the same purpose."
Regarding his years as a writer, he states:
Everybody has a hard job. All real work is hard. My work happened also to be undoable. Morning after morning for 50 years, I faced the next page defenseless and unprepared. Writing for me was a feat of self-preservation. If I did not do it, I would die. So I did it....
With Roth, it's sometimes difficult to determine which remarks are serious and which are tongue-in-cheek, but the interview is an interesting read. For the full text, please see http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/16/boo....
March 10, 2014
Predicting "Successful" Books
In keeping with last week's post on prize-winning books being less popular, I am reprinting part of an earlier post from my blog The Overnight Bestseller:
An assistant professor at Stony Brook University in New York claims to have created an algorithm that uses a quantitative approach to predict literary success with an accuracy rate of 84 per cent.
The researchers used Project Gutenberg to identify works, including poetry, and then analyzed the literary style of the first one thousand lines of each work and correlated the results with the number of downloads the title had received. They then identified the stylistic elements in the successful writings.
They also applied their analysis to titles outside the Gutenberg database, such as works by Ernest Hemingway, Truman Capote, Philip Roth, and Dan Brown, and were able to predict successful writings at a rate of 70 per cent. (Their system was apparently confused by Hemingway's minimalist style because the algorithm depends on a "high-level syntactic structure".)
In terms of their findings, the less successful books rely on verbs that are "explicitly descriptive of actions and emotions", whereas more successful books contain straightforward verbs such as "say". The less successful books also contain a higher percentage of verbs, adverbs, and foreign words; topical words that are almost clichés; and extreme and negative words.
The study also found that there is an inverse relation between "success" as defined by the attainment of literary awards and the "readability" of a work.
For the full text of the article from The Guardian, please visit http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014....
If you're interested in reading the academic paper itself, please visit http://www.aclweb.org/anthology/D/D13....
An assistant professor at Stony Brook University in New York claims to have created an algorithm that uses a quantitative approach to predict literary success with an accuracy rate of 84 per cent.
The researchers used Project Gutenberg to identify works, including poetry, and then analyzed the literary style of the first one thousand lines of each work and correlated the results with the number of downloads the title had received. They then identified the stylistic elements in the successful writings.
They also applied their analysis to titles outside the Gutenberg database, such as works by Ernest Hemingway, Truman Capote, Philip Roth, and Dan Brown, and were able to predict successful writings at a rate of 70 per cent. (Their system was apparently confused by Hemingway's minimalist style because the algorithm depends on a "high-level syntactic structure".)
In terms of their findings, the less successful books rely on verbs that are "explicitly descriptive of actions and emotions", whereas more successful books contain straightforward verbs such as "say". The less successful books also contain a higher percentage of verbs, adverbs, and foreign words; topical words that are almost clichés; and extreme and negative words.
The study also found that there is an inverse relation between "success" as defined by the attainment of literary awards and the "readability" of a work.
For the full text of the article from The Guardian, please visit http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014....
If you're interested in reading the academic paper itself, please visit http://www.aclweb.org/anthology/D/D13....
March 3, 2014
Prize-Winning Books Not So "Good"?
Those who also follow The Overnight Bestseller blog will know that I wrote a post last week on a recent study undertaken by two academics. As reported in The Guardian, the study indicates that books winning such prestigious prizes as the Booker or National Book Award are more apt to receive negative reader reviews after the fact. Goodreads members will be interested to learn that the study is based on an analysis of almost 39,000 Goodreads reviews.
The authors of the study believe this phenomenon is the result of a mismatch between reader and novel: readers assume that a book is "good" because it has won an award, but what is "good" depends largely on individual taste. If the prize-winning book is not to a reader's taste, s/he may be disappointed, thus giving it a negative review.
For the full text of The Guardian article, please see http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014....
The authors of the study believe this phenomenon is the result of a mismatch between reader and novel: readers assume that a book is "good" because it has won an award, but what is "good" depends largely on individual taste. If the prize-winning book is not to a reader's taste, s/he may be disappointed, thus giving it a negative review.
For the full text of The Guardian article, please see http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014....
February 24, 2014
Kudos to James Patterson
Perennial best-selling author James Patterson is offering one million dollars in grants to independent bookstores. Each grant will be $2000-$15,000 and will go to utilitarian improvements including upgraded computers and store furnishings. In one case, the money will go towards the purchase of a used van that will allow the store to reach out to the community with author events and book fairs.
Patterson has been concerned for some time that the advent of e-books coupled with the availability of heavily discounted books online would lead to the demise of even more independent bookstores. He decided to take matters into his own hands after he was unsuccessful in persuading the U.S. government to provide cash to the independent bookstore community, as it had done with Wall Street and the auto industry.
As Patterson states: “I’m rich; I don’t need to sell more books. But I do think it’s essential for kids to read more broadly. And people just need to go into bookstores more. It’s not top of mind as much as it used to be.”
For the full text of the article, please see http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/20/bus....
Patterson has been concerned for some time that the advent of e-books coupled with the availability of heavily discounted books online would lead to the demise of even more independent bookstores. He decided to take matters into his own hands after he was unsuccessful in persuading the U.S. government to provide cash to the independent bookstore community, as it had done with Wall Street and the auto industry.
As Patterson states: “I’m rich; I don’t need to sell more books. But I do think it’s essential for kids to read more broadly. And people just need to go into bookstores more. It’s not top of mind as much as it used to be.”
For the full text of the article, please see http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/20/bus....
February 17, 2014
The 75th Anniversary of Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep
The Guardian has an interesting article on the publication of The Big Sleep in 1939 and how it created a revolution in crime writing. The reviews of the novel were "wary and unenthusiastic", but Chandler was to have a profound influence on subsequent generations of crime-fiction writers.
As noted in the article, among his innovations were the use of the first-person narrative for his detective, and his characterization of Philip Marlowe as a common man, not a "patrician" as were many fictional British detectives.
For other ways in which Philip Marlowe was a departure from contemporary fictional detectives, please view the original article at http://www.theguardian.com/books/book....
As noted in the article, among his innovations were the use of the first-person narrative for his detective, and his characterization of Philip Marlowe as a common man, not a "patrician" as were many fictional British detectives.
For other ways in which Philip Marlowe was a departure from contemporary fictional detectives, please view the original article at http://www.theguardian.com/books/book....
February 10, 2014
More Advances in Crime Detection and Prevention
An interesting article in the January 2014 edition of The Police Chief Magazine outlines various technological advances that are helping police forces in their fight against crime. For example, new crime lights have different preset wavelengths to detect hair, fibers, and bodily fluids and to allow the faster processing of a crime scene. Advances in thermal imaging allow police to detect fugitives or missing children in minutes, as opposed to hours.
There have also been significant advances in data mining and criminal investigation records to identify criminals in disparate systems in order to connect crimes that would otherwise not be linked.
And in the fight against terrorism, advanced laser technology allows police forces to detect the chemical makeup of a substance in seconds with an accuracy rate of 95 per cent.
For the full text of the article, please see http://www.policechiefmagazine.org/ma....
There have also been significant advances in data mining and criminal investigation records to identify criminals in disparate systems in order to connect crimes that would otherwise not be linked.
And in the fight against terrorism, advanced laser technology allows police forces to detect the chemical makeup of a substance in seconds with an accuracy rate of 95 per cent.
For the full text of the article, please see http://www.policechiefmagazine.org/ma....
February 3, 2014
New Method of Detecting Fingerprints
For those of you who enjoy a good police procedural, you know that there are many details to research to provide a realistic novel for readers of this sub-genre. I was interested to learn, for instance, that there is a new method of detecting fingerprints that is currently being tested.
French scientists have developed a new technique--a one-step process--that is considered a major breakthrough in forensic science. They have created a new substance called "Lumicyano" that makes it possible to highlight fingerprints more rapidly and at a lower cost. After exposure to this substance, the impression of a fingerprint appears fluorescent when scanned using a UV lamp. The resulting image is of much better quality than a comparable image produced under the current two-step process, which has its roots in the 19th century.
There are some limitations to the use of Lumicyano: it needs to be refrigerated and has a relatively short shelf-life. But preliminary tests are promising for its eventual use among police agencies.
If you'd like to read more about this new method, please see the following articles which have been used as a basis for information contained in this post:
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/...
http://www.neurope.eu/article/new-met...
http://www.iowaiai.org/documents/Lumi...
http://www.scienceandjusticejournal.c...
And stay tuned for future posts on advances in crime detection methods.
French scientists have developed a new technique--a one-step process--that is considered a major breakthrough in forensic science. They have created a new substance called "Lumicyano" that makes it possible to highlight fingerprints more rapidly and at a lower cost. After exposure to this substance, the impression of a fingerprint appears fluorescent when scanned using a UV lamp. The resulting image is of much better quality than a comparable image produced under the current two-step process, which has its roots in the 19th century.
There are some limitations to the use of Lumicyano: it needs to be refrigerated and has a relatively short shelf-life. But preliminary tests are promising for its eventual use among police agencies.
If you'd like to read more about this new method, please see the following articles which have been used as a basis for information contained in this post:
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/...
http://www.neurope.eu/article/new-met...
http://www.iowaiai.org/documents/Lumi...
http://www.scienceandjusticejournal.c...
And stay tuned for future posts on advances in crime detection methods.
January 27, 2014
When New Technology Fails the Security Test
The Economist has an interesting article on the race to create "smart" consumer products such as televisions, washing machines, thermostats, and refrigerators by computerizing them and connecting them to the Internet. While the idea of being able to access your appliances remotely sounds convenient, there are some very real security concerns. These devices can be easily hacked, often by trying the factory-set usernames and passwords that buyers are supposed to change, but never do.
You can read the full text of the article at http://www.economist.com/news/science....
No doubt this will also be fertile ground for future generations of crime writers. . .
You can read the full text of the article at http://www.economist.com/news/science....
No doubt this will also be fertile ground for future generations of crime writers. . .
January 19, 2014
Do We Really Need to Be "Challenged" to Read?
The Guardian Books Blog has an interesting post by Richard Lea on what he considers to be "the bad side" of the annual Goodreads Reading Challenge, for which more than 240,000 members have already signed up this year.
Lea contends that Goodreads is essentially preaching to the choir: its members are already readers so the challenge is not a means of encouraging literacy, but rather a way of putting quantity ahead of quality to encourage the sale of more books. He points out that the quality of our reading experience is not enhanced by doubling the number of books we read each year.
For the full text, please see http://www.theguardian.com/books/book....
What are your thoughts on this? Do you think the Goodreads Reading Challenge is important in terms of reminding us to put aside time to read? Does this volume of reading detract from the time we have to enjoy the intimacy of a novel before we move on to the next one? I'd like to hear from you.
Lea contends that Goodreads is essentially preaching to the choir: its members are already readers so the challenge is not a means of encouraging literacy, but rather a way of putting quantity ahead of quality to encourage the sale of more books. He points out that the quality of our reading experience is not enhanced by doubling the number of books we read each year.
For the full text, please see http://www.theguardian.com/books/book....
What are your thoughts on this? Do you think the Goodreads Reading Challenge is important in terms of reminding us to put aside time to read? Does this volume of reading detract from the time we have to enjoy the intimacy of a novel before we move on to the next one? I'd like to hear from you.
Open Investigations
A blog that explores crime fiction writing and other topics of interest to both readers and authors.
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