The “Chronism” App

E-mail writers and texters are always looking for ways to have fun with (not to mention make more interesting) their often humdrum e-mails and texts. But they only have one style of writing—their own. Until now. Now they can write in the style of the great writers of the past.

Also, fiction writers trying to recreate the style of a historical period need an easy, fast way to avoid anachronisms.

Also, scholars studying old texts use such apps to better understand texts written in the past in context, and to avoid anachronistic errors.

Benjamin Schmidt, for instance, has created a program for assessing the amount of anachronism in TV scripts.
http://www.prochronism.com/
http://bmschmidt.wordpress.com/

THE DESIGN:

Use Schmidt’s and other “linguistic inquiry” or “word-count” type programs as a template to create an app where a user could:

1. Translate a modern text into a text written in the style and vocabulary of a particular historical period—say a present-day love-text translated into Shakespearean English,

2. Identify the historical period of an old text,

3. Identify anachronisms in historical fiction text,

4. Run a word-fingerprint to help identify anonymous communications,

5. Identify the emotional content of texts,

6. Perform in fact any kind of Word-Count-oriented linguistic inquiry one might require.

The “Pathfinder” App

Stay on the trail!

Retrace great treks, trails, battles, pilgrimages, every step and landmark laid out for you, with “PATHFINDER.”

Pilgrims, history buffs, eco-tourists, fans of novels of travel (like “On the Road”), tourists looking for an alternative, tourists without a tour guide, trekkers, tourists looking for unity and meaning in their travels, or visitors to an area just looking for something interesting to do, all like to be able to follow the route of a famous trip exactly, and to know exactly where things happened—even if they are standing in the middle of a parking lot.

Sometimes, the route of a famous trek will follow a main road, but will then veer off. People who are interested in the true route of the famous trek like to know exactly where the trail veers off the main road, whether they decide to follow it or not.

Sometimes trekkers will locate a site of interest along their legendary trek, but can find out nothing about it.

Sometimes a trekker gets hungry or needs lodging while following a famous trek.

Also—it would be in the clear interest of any municipalities and/or places of business along any of these routes to A. advertise on PATHFINDER, and B. recommend PATHFINDER to visitors and patrons.

THE DESIGN:

Tie in GPS to an APP, “PATHFINDER,” that directs such fans and buffs along a famous trek, step by step, landmark by landmark.

The trekker can be kept on course minute by minute.

And then:

As the trekker nears a site of interest,
A. Relevant historical narratives, background, photos, videos, and descriptions, as well as
B. Recommendations, admonitions, things to do, opening/closing times, nearby restaurants, lodging, etc.,can pop up, just in time.

POSSIBLE TREKS?

IN THE U.S.:

The Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Oregon Trail
The Santa Fe Trail
Route 66
The Trail of Tears
The Selma-Montgomery Marches
The Mormon Trail
Braddock’s Expedition
Paul Revere’s Ride
The Battle of Brooklyn
Sherman’s March
Jack Kerouac’s “On The Road” Trips
Ken Kesey’s Merry Prankster “Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test” Trips
John Steinbeck’s “Travels with Charlie” Trips
Chief Joseph’s Journey

ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD:

The Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem (Israel)
The Exodus Route (there are several possible routes) (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel)
Basho’s Narrow Road to the Deep North Trip (Japan)
Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” Pilgrimage (England)
The Appian Way (and other Ancient Roman roads) (Italy)
Other Pilgrimages like Lourdes (France), and Santiago de Compostela (Spain)
Voyages of Marco Polo (Many Countries)
Jules Verne’s “Around the World in 80 Days” Trip (Many Countries)
The 3 Crusades Routes (Many Countries)
Napoleon’s Invasion of and Retreat from Russia (mostly Russia)
The Ancient Greek Marathon (Greece)
Leopold Bloom’s Bloomsday Travels from James Joyce’s “Ulysses” (Ireland)
Cortez’s Route to Mexico City (Mexico)

The PATHFINDER app will be more intense, precise, comprehensive, and immediate than tour books or generalized web-maps and descriptions.

It will turn the usually fragmented touring experience into a satisfying whole, with a meaning—like a pilgrimage, even if not actually a pilgrimage.