The New York Times has started a “serendipitous poetry”-themed tumblr blog called “Times Haiku.”
A team of computer programmers developed a special algorithm that scans the publication’s articles and subsequently generates haikus.
You can read haikus derived from different NYT pieces, including an article on carrot purée, a profile on stand-up comedian Colin Quinn, and a special Q&A with the Game of Thrones TV series creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. According to Shelf Life, this blog may continue on even after the end of this month.
Here’s more from senior software architect Jacob Harris‘ statement about the Tumblr blog: “How does our algorithm work? It periodically checks the New York Times home page for newly published articles. Then it scans each sentence looking for potential haikus by using an electronic dictionary containing syllable counts. We started with a basic rhyming lexicon, but over time we’ve added syllable counts for words like ‘Rihanna’ or ‘terroir’ to keep pace with the broad vocabulary of The Times.”