Better tool for checking content readability and two related articles

I’d written about readability index calculator last week. I’d also posted this in Sitepoint forums and got some good responses to that post.

In one of the replies, I was introduced to a new tool Mystery Matador which I feel is better than the readability index calculator. I like the fact that it gives me suggestions to improve my content.

In this process, I also came across two articles. The first one was regarding the most overused word in technical marketing (solution). The second one was about common marketing buzzwords used in marketing collaterals. We’ve read these words over and over again so much that they don’t make sense any more. They sound hollow nowadays. I must admit I’ve also been guilty of using most of these words in my articles. This article is sort of any eye-opener to me. May be I should try to reduce the usage of these words in the future.

 

Check the readability of your article

Are you a blogger or a journalist? Do you want to know the readability of an article or a story you’ve written ? Then readability index calculator is the tool you need. You just need to enter a passage of text in the field and select the language for which the readability is to be calculated. The tool will give you a reading ease score and grade level.

The calculation is done based on Flesch-Kincaid method for English language. Any score about 60 is good and it means your readers find it easy to follow what you’ve written.

So, the next time you write a blog post or an article for a journal, make sure your article has good readability with the readability index calculator.

 

Easy ways to fail – some common mistakes in a software project

This one is about the 5 common mistakes in software project setup. Amazing writeup by Joel Spolsky, as usual.

 

check typos online

http://www.orangoo.com/spell/ is a nice online spellchecker tool. I found it very simple and easy to use. What’s more, it is completely free and the code is open source!

A must have application for  anyone writing website content.

 

Couple of neat looking websites

Came across two neat looking websites in quick succession. couldn’t resist blogging this.

1. MMOGUILDSITES – for managing guild sites. The blue/green theme rocks!!
2. Evite – for sending/viewing invitations, e-cards, party planning, etc. Looks like I  have to register to make better use of it. From what I have seen so far, the site looks smashing

 

blackle – the black google

Came across this ‘energy-saving’ site today. Its called Blackle aka Black Google. It basically shows the google home page with a black background.

The purpose of this site: It has been shown through research that a screen with white background consumes more power that black background. So a website such as google with its massive search-related queries will consume a big amount of energy. Blackle is a result of converting google’s white background to black one so that it can save tons of energy!!

more here http://ecoiron.blogspot.com/2007/01/black-google-would-save-3000-megawatts.html

Interesting one, huh! But questions remain: What will happen to the readability? How am I supposed to see my site24×7 google ads on a black screen?

 

Search with Kevin and win prizes!

A new search engine is offering prizes every time you use it. Yes, that’s true. ‘Search With Kevin’ site offers ‘exciting prizes’ for every search. Prizes include gifts such as Kevin’s autographed T-shirt, invite to Kevin’s birthday party, etc.

I came across Kevin Federline’s newly launched search engine through the Rojo email newsletter. Searched for the keyword website monitoring service, and was amazed to see lots of sponsored results at the top and bottom of the page. That is really impressive for a newly launched search engine. btw, Site24×7 appeared in the second page of search results.

Wondering who Kevin Federline is? This link might give you all the answers.

 

Competition to Adsense?

Adbrite Interstitials is a new player (at least to me) in the internet ad-serving marketplace. It looks like it works very similar to Google Adsense. Advertizers can create advertizement campaigns which will then run on publisher’s websites.

Publishers are the website owners who have signed up to run Adbrite Interstitials ads on their sites. They get a share of the revenue from the ads. Adbrite claims to give more control to publishers on the type of ads that will be shown on their site.

Their website looks neat enough. The green color scheme is eye pleasing.

I haven’t really signed up for their service since there is no need for me at the moment.  If a need arises, I will definitely give it a try.

 

Random links for a Tuesday

http://improbable.com/ig/ – IG nobel prizes, honors research that makes people laugh and then think…

Stedmans.com – online medical dictionary. The online version of the famous Stedman’s dictionary of medical words. Will sound familiar to folks in the medical transription industry.

onelook.com – for dictionary search. This one fetches results from other online dictionaries such as Encarta, Wikipedia, Merriam-Webster, etc. and displays all these results in one screen.

 

Seth Godin’s words of wisdom

“If you are getting in the way of the path between your customers and your products, your customers are just going to go away. Clear the path, don’t clutter it.”

Amazingly clear thoughts which even my mom can understand. Thats Seth Godin for you.