Cut-and-paste tactics make the web a plagiarist’s lair

Is the future of the web confined to copy and paste? According to research by Plagtracker, plagiarised content on the web has shot up from 25 per cent in 2009 to 44 per cent in 2011.

That there is a lack of original content is in no small measure due to social media which has made it easy to copy and paste information on to their platforms. Even videos, images and other people’s content make the cut without a mention of the source.

Before social media, there was more original content as people started blogging about their personal lives, as a diary or wrote on subjects they liked. Plagtracker’s research shows that on any given day about two million blog posts are written.

The copy and paste action has spawned a new term — “going viral”. This is the process of spreading or replicating something and spreading it. This action helps a website, blog, video or social network to gain popularity because of the number of people who know and talk about it.

Plagtracker represents the effort of two Ukrainians who were passionate about computer science and went on to develop an algorithm to detect plagiarism in content. For example, you can check if someone has plagiarised your content by copying and pasting your original text in the Plagtracker website and in few minutes it shows the average percentage of plagiarism and a list of website where the text was copied.

Take care of what you write — it will be easy to check its authenticity.

Briefs

Fulfil your wildest Don Draper fantasies

If you’ve dreamt about what it would be like to be part of Don Draper’s Mad Men, the broadcast network has decided to auction off a walk-on role in the sixth season. It will be done through eBay and all proceeds go to charity.

The package includes a specialised wardrobe fitting plus hair and make-up for the character, airfare and a three-night stay at the Hilton Checkers Los Angeles. The auction runs from September 20 to 30.

Waitress gets a “Kate” lift

A mother-of-two has quit her job as a burger waitress to become a Duchess of Cambridge lookalike.

Heidi Agan, 32, is constantly mistaken for the Duchess, in fact even her three-year-old daughter can’t tell the two women apart.

She now charges up to £650 for public appearances as the future Queen.

(Source: The Daily Mail)

Making a point

A picture of a Russian newspaper is causing quite a stir. Instead of images, the paper printed broken picture placeholders.

The effect is a hilarious blending of the physical and the virtual. The entire exercise is a method to point out to readers how “a picture says more than a thousand words.”

The paper itself is having a photography contest, which that day’s edition promotes.

(Source: The Next web)