So tell me dear, how was your first term at school?
It was a trip mom! We jumped on a thing we called Soupboat and started diving into an ocean of data, inputs, readings, Python, Jupyter notebooks, etherpads,%!*!J)
What are you talking about?
I know, it sounds rather abstract. So it is for us. That’s why we called our Special Issue Learning how to walk while catwalking
Ha, that sounds funny. Are you hungry?
You know I am always hungry. So, the title originated from the idea of creating new things with unfamiliar tools in relation to language processing, while learning it at the same time. It is about embracing vulnerability, sharing the clumsiness with little time and little technical knowledge through the medium of a toolkit and encouraging others to walk with us.
I see… Still I’m not sure if I understand. Did you make good friends? How many are you? Are your classmates from Rotterdam?
Yes mom, we are a nice experimental group! None of them is from Rotterdam! And we are basically embracing the chaos and juggling and balancing. It is nice because we do laugh together but not at each other..We met in a common broken English ground, like a vernacular English let’s say..
Good. Then your English should be getting better finally! So the rest also didn’t know how to do all these new things?
Some of them did know, but they are kind enough to don’t lose their patience and help the others and that’s also the main point, that we want to demonstrate how mistakes and trials are not just part of the process but can also be results!
I’m not sure if I agree with that but maybe I’m just too old and boring, sweetheart…
That’s okay, maybe you’ll agree once you see it :) But yeah, on that note, we want to bring the human touch to the machine computing through language processing and individual perceptions.
Honey your food is getting cold..
Yes but you asked about my term before asking if I was hungry so let’s go one by one. Our publication is made for users to be able to understand how these processes work, and what it is interesting is that we, when starting the project and also throughout the realization of the ladder, didn’t know what the result, the meaning or the use of it would be. This project is characterized by the use of functions that process vernacular language. From gathering information by the public, to using texts produced by other authors, the SOUPBOAT group aims to process this content in order to showcase the use of these functions and produce new vernacular materials.
Ahhh yes I remember you mentioning this vernacular thing before,..
Yessss, you still have some memory left :) so, the topic of this term was vernacular language and or language processing with vernacular ways. We had a big journey for understanding vernacular and language processing with big data. We started thinking that the concept of rejection can be our main umbrella for initiating things and we created a glossary of the different and unexpected faces of rejection.
I also remember you talking about rejection but I am getting a bit lost here, like how is rejection related to vernacular?
Yes, this is an ongoing discussion, but basically we were trying to depart from a common ground, something that we could all relate to (the same as anything vernacular)
But what did you m a k e ? This is rather confusing dear
LOL wait until I tell you about the API..so we made a toolkit!! A toolkit for processing language with a vernacular mood. This toolkit is not just a set of tools but also the world we are building around them: how do we want this tools affects reality? This toolkit can be expanded, as new tools can be added, and the world around them stretched. There is a strong focus in the way we are working on it: a decentralized approach that builds from the ground up. Perspectivism is a nice word but not sure it makes sense for you.
Yes I am not sure either..
Yes that was a bit conceptual but basically - physically, our project is meant to give bunch of users several tools: ✂️scissors, 📃sticky notes, ✏️pencils, erasers, and printed paper. ✂️🖊📝✏️📃 And let them have fun. Cutting it and putting it together, making notes and writing jokes. But everything in a digital format. And the cool part is it’s constantly updated by the magic of API.
Ok maybe you can tell me about the API after dinner. Or tomorrow. I think I need a break now.
I understand mom, it is okay. Tomorrow I’ll explain to you the API, I can’t wait.
Dear are you ready, we are already late, your dad is waiting for us in the car so maybe you can explain us this other IPA thing on the way to visit grandma?
For sure, maybe dad or even grandma have some nice feedback about it.
Don’t make fun of us darling, your grandma even learnt how to use Whatssapp now!
I know! She’s a baddass isn’t she? Anyway, so, the API, there’s this very good meme that I think explains it in a rather good way. OK I see you cannot look now so I’ll describe it. Imagine a bar with different staff in it. The cooks working in the kitchen would be the backend, the ones behind the bar the frontend, andddd the people that run from the bar to the tables are the API.
So an API translates the content of the Internet? What does the acronym stand for?
Yes! Brilliant! I mean, kind of! So, API means Application Programming Interface, but I guess that doesn’t really help. It is a protocol through which most of the Internet we use functions, but it remains invisible,..mysterious, intangible! I’m not sure if we understand but you look quite excited, that’s nice, you seem to be learning a lot. Indeed. So basically we have created a toolkit that is deployed in the form of an API, the rules of which will be defined by the collection of filters and functions we are writing. A bit meta, yes. But it will be these rules that will define the politics and access of it.
Well that does sound serious, like in a positive way I mean.
Indeed, I’ll take that as a compliment! The idea behind choosing the form of an API to publish our Special Issue is that it is a way to not just publish contents but also the tools that we are using to generate them.
A cute altruist gesture in these times!
Thank you, that was the point, yes. The idea was to create an interface between the public and our functions as a way to offer a service, make it accessible and question the relations of power that this kind of structure creates.
So you mean that Google, Markplaats, The New York Times, Buienradar… they all use an API?
Exactly! OMG I’m so happy that you guys got it. So basically the API - through Flask, (but here I won’t get into detail, I see that we are about to arrive also) synchronizes the content between the functions that we have written in our notebooks in Python with the website.
Yes honey maybe you can help us unload the car and we can continue this conversion with Grandma later…
(Grandma) So what are these filters your mum says you have made in class? She has explained to me something about a website and some waiters running to the kitchen?
LOLOLOL. Let’s forget about that, but maybe we can try some functions already ! They should still be running online, and since it’s a weekday, the API - and website should be open for the public.
Ah so you have proper opening times! Like in the good old times, when people had normal schedules and no one worked on Sunday.
Of course! This is why it’s a vernacular API, made by humans for other humans :) That was the main point for us, designing a platform that was approachable, that resembles our group and that is accessible for everyone. Even you grandma! Anyway, answering your question: we have developed 3 main projects into subgroups. One of them works on vernacular maps, another one on a replace function that changes words from a text transcript and another one that contaminates texts.
And tell me sweetheart, how are the people in your class? Did you make nice friends?
Yes Grandma, I was telling mom, that we made a very eclectic group. It is being very enriching because of the different backgrounds. We are ambitious, politically engaged, and very committed with the studies. I am proud of them-us, indeed!