writing

Oak Outliner Is A Simple And Powerful Online Outliner

Outlining is a great way to organise ideas, but they can get cluttered up fast. Oak Outliner is a webapp that supports local storage and makes organising outlines dead simple.


How To Beat The Plateau Effect

Bob Sullivan and Hugh Thompson are the authors of The Plateau Effect, a book that takes a look at why people in all kinds of pursuits will succeed to a point and then be unable to improve. Our sibling publication Business Insider Australia caught up with them to talk about the plateau effect (and how to collaborate on writing a book).


That Brouhaha Did Not Happen In A Brewery

If you want to describe a commotion or a fuss, the French-derived word ‘brouhaha’ is a valid choice. However, spelling it ‘brew-ha-ha’ is incorrect.


SlickWrite Proofreads Your Writing And Provides Statistical Feedback

Spellcheck can only go so far to ensure you’re writing something worth reading. SlickWrite analyses your writing for grammar, common mistakes, and even provides statistical analysis of your text.


Zut Alors! Machine Translation Is Still Rubbish

Experience has taught Mind Your Language that even native speakers struggle with composing basic sentences. As such, it’s no surprise that attempts at machine translation come off like idiotic garbage. But in an atmosphere where gushing hype along the lines of “this phone will translate everything you say” is all too common, a reminder certainly won’t do any harm.


When Does ‘Centre’ Become ‘Center’?

The short answer, for users of Australian (and British) English is that it generally doesn’t. However, the usual caveat applies: if the proper name of something includes a variant spelling, you’re stuck with using that version.


Write Well, Make More Money

You already know that people who care about their writing demonstrate more professionalism at work. But, did you know that people with better grammar skills progress further in their careers?


I Absolutely Don’t Want To Hear The Wrong ‘Hear, Hear’ Here

You hear something, you misunderstand it, you use a homonym when you write it down, and so we end up here: with another Mind Your Language rebuke. Yes, this week we’re talking about the much-abused ‘hear, hear’.


Roll An Automatic Journal With IFTTT, Drafts, Instagram And Dropbox

We all know how maintaining a journal can be difficult. If you want to keep a personal diary of places you’ve been and things you’ve done, Cult of Mac has a guide for putting together your own automated system.


Take Better Notes By Structuring Them In A Hierarchy

Everyone has a different way of jotting down notes in a meeting or lecture. If you need precision in your notes, The Atlantic has a post recommending that you stick with a rigorously structured order.


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