<$BlogRSDURL$>

Fasten, fit closely, bind together.

Thursday, April 21, 2005

Higher Learning 

From CNN/AP:

Three MIT graduate students set out to show what kind of gobbledygook can pass muster at an academic conference these days, writing a computer program that generates fake, nonsensical papers. And sure enough, a Florida conference took the bait.

The program, developed by students Jeremy Stribling, Max Krohn and Dan Aguayo, generated a paper with the dumbfounding title: "Rooter: A Methodology for the Typical Unification of Access Points and Redundancy." Its introduction begins: "Many scholars would agree that, had it not been for active networks, the simulation of Lamport clocks might never have occurred."

The program works like the old "Mad Libs" books, generating sentences taken from real papers but leaving many words blank. It fills the blanks with random buzzwords common in computer science. And it adds to the verisimilitude with meaningless charts and graphs.

Earlier this month, the students received word that the Ninth World Multi-Conference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics, scheduled to take place in July in Orlando, Florida, had accepted the four-page "Rooter" paper. A second bogus submission -- "The Influence of Probabilistic Methodologies on Networking" -- was rejected.

The offer accepting a paper and inviting the students to present it in person in Orlando was rescinded after word of the hoax got out, and the students were refunded the $390 fee to attend the conference and have the paper published in its proceedings.

But they still hope to go, using the more than $2,000 raised in contributions to their prank, much of it from admirers who tested the program on the students' Web site.

"We wanted to go down there and give a randomly generated talk," Stribling said.

Needless to say, we must do everything possible to ensure that these guys go to Orlando and speak at this conference. According to their website, "The inevitable has come to pass. WMSCI refunded our registration fee, and rescinded their invitation to speak at the conference. As you can imagine, we are heartbroken. And still determined to go the conference."

"So, what can I do?" you may be asking. In their own words:

"Anyone reading this who has had a paper accepted to WMSCI 2005, please contact us immediately. We would like the chance to give your talk at the conference, and we will pay your registration fee in return. Obviously, secrecy is essential. So, again, if you or anyone you know has a paper at WMSCI 2005, contact us immediately."

Some of our friends here at NYU have gotten in on the fun, as well, submitting this paper to WMSCI 2005. Follow the link for the PDF file. My personal favorite is the diagram at the top of page 3.
|

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?


View or Post to our Message Board!
Free Web Counter
Oshkosh Clothing