We Can't Decide if This is Useful,
So We Ask Y'All to Help Us Decide
'Visuwords uses Princeton University’s WordNet, an opensource database built by University students and language researchers. Combined with a visualization tool and user interface built from a combination of modern web technologies, Visuwords is available as a free resource to all patrons of the web.'
--from the Visuwords website. Thoughts, anyone?
13 Comments:
I will get back to you, but my first reaction is COOL!
It seems to encompass the best of a dictionary and thesaurus. The movement & color coding is a bit distracting, but I've bookmarked it for those times when "I need a fresh way to say something familiar."
Glad to hear it, Kim. It did also seem to me to be possibly useful at first glance, and you've convinced me to spend a few more moments with it. I was multitasking even more ferociously than usual when I first came across it.
It's pretty and I could waste a lot of time playing with it but I'm not sure I'd pick it in place of a thesaurus. It's a little slow and I found it hard to read without zooming in and then zooming out again.
That's pretty much what I concluded also after spending a few more minutes with it, Jim. But since you mentioned the thesaurus, here's a question I've been meaning to ask: am I the only one who's pretty much stopped using a hard copy thesaurus, in favor of thesaurus.com? Not sure I trust dictionary.com enough to use regularly--in fact, I don't--but its online thesaurus cousin seems to do the trick just fine for me.
I own 27 dictionaries, John, not counting my wife's pile and yet I couldn't tell you the last time I picked one up. As a kid I'd spend hours buried in them but I really have come to depend on the Internet, probably too much.
I have no special loyalty to any one site though and a lot of the time all I need do is type a word in Google and an article will come up with the word used in context.
A man after my own heart, Jim. I did the same with encyclopedias and almanacs also. That's the hallmark of a hungry mind. And you're certainly right about how Google sometimes takes care of the problem just fine.
Cool site. Like Kim, I think I'll use it to spark my creativity. Don't think it's succinct or simple enough to rely on for clarity.
Perhaps the beginnings of a gender trend? Thus far, two women like it, and two guys find it less than ideal from a mostly utilitarean standpoint. I suppose we need a much larger population to draw any meaningful conclusions.
I like your use of "we"? What are some large think tank employing 100's of employees? Well, "we", i think Visuwords is very neat and one of the best finds that i have ever come across after reading your liberal rag blog. Most of your stuff is Rachel Maddow like,but Visuwords is very nice. By the way i still like to thumb through a hard copy Thesarus. There is still something about picking up a book and paging through it. Just like visiting an old book store.
MFH
As you know, I quite agree about books and bookstores. Not sure if you really like Visuwords or are just busting my chops. As for Rachel Maddow--hell, she's a pretty sharp lady (a graduate of Cambridge University in England, I believe), and quite articulate and on top of the issues. So we'll accept it as a compliment.
i really do like Visuwords, it is by far one of the coolest sites i have seen. I am not sure of how in depth it will be but from a knowledge/ intellectual standpoint but it sure is worth spending more time using it.
Mfh
I do like Visuwords for its geek-chic appeal. But I haven't been there since I got Rodale's Synonym Finder.
Mark, I think you've coined an interesting phrase that nicely rolls off the tongue (at least when pronounced properly): geek-chic appeal.
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