information
Make Unusable Time Usable?
7:00AM Adam Pash | Blogger Steve Rubel discusses his methods for mitigating the Attention Crash caused by modern information overload while remaining well-informed. In the midst of all the demands new technology and information place on our lives, Steve keeps up by making unusable time usable. I read a ton. However, I have mastered how to stuff it into pockets of time that are normally “unusable.” I get through about one business book a week by listening to them when I commute, travel and run errands. In addition, I use Instapaper.com (more) to bookmark articles I want to read. I doubt Rubel is the only one to listen to a book on his commute, so let’s hear how you take advantage of unusable time in the comments. Three Ways to Mitigate the Attention Crash, Yet Still Feel Informed [Micro Persuasion] More »
Definition Inspiration from Visual Thesaurus
6:00AM Tamar Weinberg | View the relationships between words using webapp Visual Thesaurus which displays synonyms, antonyms, adverbs, and adjectives for any particular search word. Enter a phrase in the search box. Your search term will appear in the center of the screen and additional nodes will crop up to indicate related terms. Click on any of these nodes to dig deeper and get more word associations. Mouseover any node to get a quick definition. Visual Thesaurus is a powerful tool that quickly builds vocabulary. The only downside is that the application runs for a limited amount of queries and then you’re prompted to pay the $2.95/month fee. (Tip: Reopen the Java application and you can run additional searches.) Previously mentioned VisuWords does nearly the same thing (albeit slower) and is completely free. Visual Thesaurus More »
Instantly Translate Words with Definr
6:00AM Tamar Weinberg | Translate words and phrases easily with online dictionary Definr. The dictionary attempts to autocomplete your word as you type and pumps out results quickly with synonyms and antonyms (if applicable). While Definr is missing some translations, it performs very well (and fast, as promised) and has potential to become a handy alternative for the Google define search operator. Definr More »
Define and View Relationships Between Words with Visuwords
6:00AM Adam Pash | Web site Visuwords defines and displays relationships between words in a fast and effective graphical map of meaning. When you first search for a word with Visuwords, you’ll see the word pop up in the centre and nodes pop out from there for each meaning of the word. Each of those nodes will spawn their own relational nodes, connected by lines that indicate meaning (for example, a red diamond indicates an antonym), and double-clicking any of those nodes will expand your tree of meaning from that point. Visuwords is a quick visual dictionary-and-thesaurus-in-one tool that offers a fresh and useful way to look at words, understand meanings, and find new ways of saying what you’re looking to say. Visuwords [via MakeUseOf] More »
Define Anything with MetaGlossary
1:00AM Tamar Weinberg | Look up words, phrases, idioms, and acronyms with MetaGlossary, a dictionary that harvests data from all over the internet to provide users with rich, detailed results for particular search terms. MetaGlossary provides information about everything from song titles and phrases used in pop culture to standard dictionary words. It’s a decent alternative to Google’s dictionary, though it couldn’t find any results for some search terms that I tried. However, it was able to determine what “lifehacker” was, so it gets a thumbs-up. MetaGlossary More »
