diff --git a/nltk_contrib/stringcomp.py b/nltk_contrib/stringcomp.py
index 5c2b2ee..d2c7e0c 100644
--- a/nltk_contrib/stringcomp.py
+++ b/nltk_contrib/stringcomp.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ def stringcomp (fx, fy):
     This is an implementation of the string comparison algorithm (also known
     as "string similarity") published by Qi Xiao Yang, Sung Sam Yuan, Li Zhao,
     Lu Chun and Sun Peng in a paper called "Faster Algorithm of String
-    Comparison" ( http://front.math.ucdavis.edu/0112.6022 ). Please note that,
+    Comparison" ( https://arxiv.org/abs/cs/0112022 ). Please note that,
     however, this implementation presents some relevant differences that
     will lead to different numerical results (read the comments for more
     details).
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ def stringcomp (fx, fy):
                     index = fy.find(pattern)
                     if index != -1:
                         ssnc += (2.*length)**2
-                        if fx_removed == False:
+                        if not fx_removed:
                             fx = fx[:i] + fx[i+length:]
                             fx_removed = True
                         fy = fy[:index] + fy[index+length:]
@@ -89,20 +89,22 @@ def stringcomp (fx, fy):
 
 
 def demo ():
-    print "Comparison between 'python' and 'python': %.2f" % stringcomp("python", "python")
-    print "Comparison between 'python' and 'Python': %.2f" % stringcomp("python", "Python")
-    print "Comparison between 'NLTK' and 'NTLK': %.2f" % stringcomp("NLTK", "NTLK")
-    print "Comparison between 'abc' and 'def': %.2f" % stringcomp("abc", "def")
-  
-    print "Word most similar to 'australia' in list ['canada', 'brazil', 'egypt', 'thailand', 'austria']:"
-    max_score = 0.0 ; best_match = None
+    print("Comparison between 'python' and 'python': {0:0.2f}".format(stringcomp("python", "python")))
+    print("Comparison between 'python' and 'Python': {0:0.2f}".format(stringcomp("python", "Python")))
+    print("Comparison between 'NLTK' and 'NTLK': {0:0.2f}".format(stringcomp("NLTK", "NTLK")))
+    print("Comparison between 'abc' and 'def': {0:0.2f}".format(stringcomp("abc", "def")))
+
+    print("Word most similar to 'australia' in list ['canada', 'brazil', 'egypt', 'thailand', 'austria']:")
+    max_score = 0.0
+    best_match = None
     for country in ["canada", "brazil", "egypt", "thailand", "austria"]:
         score = stringcomp("australia", country)
         if score > max_score:
             best_match = country
             max_score = score
-        print "(comparison between 'australia' and '%s': %.2f)" % (country, score)
-    print "Word most similar to 'australia' is '%s' (score: %.2f)" % (best_match, max_score)
-  
+        print("(comparison between 'australia' and '{0}': {1:0.2f})".format(country, score))
+    print("Word most similar to 'australia' is '{0}' (score: {1:0.2f})".format(best_match, max_score))
+
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     demo()