It must be the end of the semester: I’m developing double-vision and looking for any break I can find from grading. Coincidentally, The New York Times just put out an article on the virtues and drawbacks of computer grading programs, or e-raters, which are now being used to grade essays on standardized tests such as the SAT.

Apparently, they do as good a job, or better, than I do in scoring essays, with one exception. They can’t discern truth, and poetry blows their circuits. I guess computers never met a metaphor they liked, and irony is lost on them.

Looks like my job is safe–for now.