A Small Voice In Cyberspace

[Georgia Bard]

Bird as the exposures get more and more complicated there is a syntax forensics that exist. I have talked about it for 4 years. Example: if I tried to hide under an aliase I will be discovered because of the syntax I use. Touche' = Toute" or "Another wrods, = In other words," and I have a lot more I use.

As you can see there are similiar and what I call rhetorical signatures. Today, I discovered one and I have spent the day search chat sites and even the internet for its use. "B-plan"

I could not pull up where this syntax was used (except in a company that uses it or in a URL). Now you would figure this was a common term where in fact, in all my searching only 4 chat messages contain this "b-plan" term only on RB under aliases that post on a dedicated thread.

Of course it is blown off but is it that easy to blow off. According to the Washington Post this is a valid synopsis.
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24607-2000Dec18.html

Foster's breakdown of how he analyzes texts is easy enough to follow but hard to interpret for readers without losing some of its initial lucidity. My difficulties with translating his explanation may be related to one of Foster's key assertions: "No two people assemble words or sentences in precisely the same way." Our individual approaches to written communication -- the words, phrases and metaphors we choose -- amount to literary fingerprints in Foster's view, what he calls "attributional evidence." His own stylistic preferences are refreshingly free of academic jargon and rely heavily on self-deprecating humor. For instance, he observes: "Attribution is the one field within literary studies that requires one to state opinions, right or wrong, about matters of fact, and it is a wise attributor who peppers his statements with 'perhaps.' Scholars call this practice 'due caution.' The rest of the English-speaking world calls it 'covering your [rear].' "

Foster revisits several "cases" that he's worked on, including the search for Anonymous, author of the momentarily notorious political novel "Primary Colors" (Joe Klein confessed to the deed after initially denying it); the search for the author of the infamous "talking points" that Monica Lewinsky offered to erstwhile confidante Linda Tripp; and the pursuit of the "real" author of "A Visit From St. Nicholas." He also discusses, in roundabout terms, his work for the FBI. The feds approached him with a heady challenge that he found irresistible: "to develop a science of literary forensics, to adapt for the courts and, later, for criminal investigations, a methodology that was originally intended for the study of anonymous poems, plays and novels."

It's easy to recognize the similarities between criminal investigations and Foster's scholarly endeavors. Much as a detective or federal agent carefully inspects a crime scene, Foster scrutinizes "questioned documents" (QDs in his parlance) for signs of plagiarism, deception or other literary misdeeds. At other times, Foster's not looking for wrongdoing but simply attempting to solve a mystery, as in "Who wrote this?" To find out, he compiles a computer database consisting of the QD and anything else written by the suspected author. Then he compares the regular occurrence of words, phrases and constructions favored by the suspect -- a preference for which he or she is quite likely unaware. "The writer's syntax will usually remain fairly constant from one type of writing to another, whether it's a college essay, a letter to Mom, or a threat to kill the president," Foster tells us. "Give anonymous offenders enough verbal rope and column inches, and they will hang themselves for you, every time."

What is interesting is once you expose a poster with this syntax sluething they will immediately show guilt because their posts will change drastically in the cover up. They will be well written and done on a word processor. Then this makes the post even more difficult to pin to another poster that posts identical to another.

Thus after four years Bardology is a nice way to link posters to common syntax.

Just an observation

Gary Swancey