Watch This Space

Most of my past month (between semesters) has gone into work on the Scandroid, a program (Mac and Windows) that scans iambic pentameter. A usable first version, though still very much alpha stage, is almost ready. I'll post links for the executable and source code when they're ready; and a series of notes on the implications of the program and its methods would make as much sense here as anywhere.

It's not the first time I've written such a program. My Virtual Muse: Experiments in Computer Poetry, a book that's been out of print for a few years, mentions in passing a very early version of "the Scansion Machine." This one builds on that, but I goes farther, does better, and at least in my thinking about it, goes deeper. Incidentally it is as far as I know the most successful program around at the specialized thing it does: producing traditional-looking scansions of English metrical verse.

More soon! Stayed tuned! Alert the press & don't let the kids go to bed!