SpinSpotter + e-ink

Couple of possible game changers lurched onto the scene yesterday. I say lurched because they're not without their faults but - hey - you can see the potential.

SpinSpotter is a Firefox add-on which claims to be able to spot spin in news reports.

Users download Spinoculars, a toolbar that sits atop the browser and lets readers know if the story they are reading has any phrases or words that indicate bias.It highlights those phrases in a big red box, and readers can click to find out what exactly SpinSpotter found wrong with the phrase.

As Scott Rosenberg points out, this isn't actually that easy for an algorithm to do. And he's right on the central point: 'objectivity' is - well - 'objective'.

But anything which helps debunk can only help. And if tools can be devised to do this, good on 'em.

Next is something which is an inch closer to that sci-fi future promised in - owh - 1956?; talking magazines. Esquire used so called e-ink on their 75th anniversary edition. The YouTube of it doesn't thrill very much but - you get the potential ...