Apr
15
eSaurus: No longer just an animatronic ancient reptile
April 15, 2009 | Leave a Comment
An aside: Yeah, yeah, I get it. The ebook is not a book so I should stop complaining that it doesn’t have the book smell. Well, sorry. I am not going to stop complaining. I expect futuristic style momentum when it comes to this and so the book smell is going to need to be worked into the equation. Never mind the fact that ebooks are going to have to somehow find a way to fool me into thinking that I am not reading on a screen. Reading on a screen reminds me of working (I work online, staring at a laptop all day). Reading old fashioned paper books reminds me of relaxing. Reading ebooks reminds me of a combination of relaxing and working. Not good enough! Ebook people: Fix this please, this is your target market speaking. Is digital paper the answer?
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The Visual Thesaurus. Here is a tool that takes a familiar paperbound item like the thesaurus we all know and love and expands its usefulness with no limitations other than the aforementioned tedious one that is the downside of anything not made of paper (in my humble opinion*). There is a trial version of The Visual Thesaurus available online so give it a try if you are a word nerd. (They also have a great blog: Fresh Ink. It’s in the left sidebar.)
“The Visual Thesaurus is an interactive dictionary and thesaurus which creates word maps that blossom with meanings and branch to related words. Its innovative display encourages exploration and learning. You’ll understand language in a powerful new way.
Say you have a meaning in mind, like “happy.” The VT helps you find related words, from “cheerful” to “euphoric.” The best part is the VT works like your brain, not a paper-bound book. You’ll want to explore just to see what might happen. You’ll discover — and learn — naturally and intuitively. You’ll find the right word, write more descriptively, free associate — and gain a more precise understanding of the English language.”
*Apparently “In my humble opinion” has been reduced to I.M.H.O. in the texting and chatting universe. I.M.H.O. this is hilarious. Witnessing the application of punctuated equilibrium on our language is a crack-up.