You write like a ...

The Gender Genie is an interesting tool that tries to predict the gender of an author based on a writing sample.

It claims a 66 percent accuracy rate, based on passages online users' submissions. I decided to put it to the test by running through writing samples from my colleagues at the Post-Intelligencer. Result: It properly identified all the male writers as male ... and most of the female writers as male, too.

I chalk it up to the staccato, "just the facts, ma'am" style of newswriting.

One reader of Dan Gillmor's eJournal tried a more amusing test, using speeches by presidential candidates. Apparently, President Bush and John Kerry come across as slightly feminine.