The Chronicle of Higher Education
Information Technology
From the issue dated April 15, 2005
ONLINE
Microsoft Word Grammar Checker Are No Good, Scholar Conclude



By BROCK READ

If you've ever used Microsoft Word, chances are you've seen that jagged green line appear beneath something you've written -- scolding you for drafting a fragmented sentence, maybe, or for slipping into the passive voice. That's Microsoft's grammar-checking technology at work.

But how much good does the grammar checker actually do? Precious little, according to Sandeep Krishnamurthy, an associate professor of marketing and e-commerce at the University of Washington. After experimenting with the tool, Mr. Krishnamurthy concluded that it cannot identify many basic grammatical faux pas -- like errors in capitalization, punctuation, and verb tense.

Now he has dedicated himself to chronicling the grammar checker's blind spots, and to persuading Microsoft to improve the tool.

On his Web site (http://faculty.washington.edu/sandeep/check), Mr. Krishnamurthy has posted evidence that he considers damning: a series of examples of poor grammar the software considers passable. One reads: "Marketing are bad for brand big and small. You Know What I am Saying? It is no wondering that advertisings are bad for company in America, Chicago and Germany."

Microsoft officials did not respond to calls for comment. But in a statement released in response to Mr. Krishnamurthy's Web site, the company argued that its grammar checker is a writing aid, not a catchall. "The Word grammar checker is designed to catch the kinds of errors that ordinary users make in normal writing situations," the statement said.

For above-average writers, the software might pick up a grammatical misstep or two, according to Mr. Krishnamurthy, but for subpar writers, the tool is useless.

Mr. Krishnamurthy says many of his students are not native English speakers and often struggle with the written word.

The grammar checker, he argues, impedes their efforts to improve their writing -- by telling them that misconjugated verbs and poorly structured sentences are perfectly fine.

The tool is so pernicious, he says, that Microsoft should either improve it or ditch it. Mr. Krishnamurthy recommends that the software more easily let users choose whether they want only basic guidance or significant editing help. The current software allows users to pick which types of grammatical errors they want identified, but Mr. Krishnamurthy says that system is too complicated for many beginning writers.

Some technical experts say that creating a better grammar checker would be a tall order, but Mr. Krishnamurthy says the program just needs to do a better job of telling writers how to use it. "I've heard some techies say, You're holding us to too high a standard," he says, "but I don't completely buy that."

Editor's note: The headline on this article cleared Microsoft's grammar checker.

An "Easter Egg" is a small, undocumented procedure in a program that normally expresses interesting commentaries or gives credit to the people who labored over the program. Like their namesake, Easter Eggs normally take a while to find and can be quite elusive.

Try this out:

1) Open Microsoft Word.

2) Type this: =rand (200,99)

3) Press enter and wait 3 seconds.

The most famous one

is one called The Hall of Tortured Souls.

It works in old versions of Excel ('95).

1. Open a new file.

2. Scroll down until you see row 95.

3. Click on the row 95 button, this highlights the whole row

4. Press tab, to move to the second column.

5. Now, move your mouse and click on help, THEN about Microsoft Excel

6. Press ctrl-alt-shift and click on the tech support button simultaneously.

7. A WINDOW WILL APPEAR,

TITLE: THE HALL OF TORTURED SOULS

You will see something freaky! it has a doom style format and you can walk all

around the hall (using your arrow keys)...and on the sides of the walls are the names of the tortured souls....

8. NOW WALK UP THE STAIRS AND THEN COME BACK DOWN, FACE THE BLANK WALL AND THEN TYPE IN EXCELKFA.

This will open the blank wall to reveal another secret passage, walk through the passage and DO NOT fall off (this is the hard part!), when you get to the end, you will see something really, really eerie.... (This is REALLY there! I haven't been able to reach the end of this VERY narrow passage though.... - WILANT)


Since you likely don't have the old excel here are soem

pictures of this weird

backdoor:

http://egomania.nu/images/gates1.jpg

http://egomania.nu/images/gates2.jpg

http://egomania.nu/images/gates3.jpg

Mozilla - FireFox - The Book of Mozilla
The Book of Mozilla actually continues. If you are using Mozilla FireFox (re-branded from FireBird), you may find a continuation of the story mentioned in the easter egg in Mozilla.
1. Open up Mozilla FireBird
2. Into the Address field, type about:mozilla
You may now read the excerpt from the book of Mozilla:
"And so at last the beast fell and the unbelievers rejoiced. But all was not lost, for from the ash rose a great bird. The bird gazed down upon the unbelievers and cast fire and thunder upon them. For the beast had been reborn with its strength renewed, and the followers of Mammon cowered in horror.
- from The Book of Mozilla, 7:15"