The OneMinute Geek

Web sites that help you write better

Problem:

How can my computer help me write better?

Word processing programs should make it easier to compose at the computer but they essentially just review what you have written. You need some other help with what to write in the first place.

Spellcheck is as wonderful feature, but it can be confusing since it highlights words that are not in the spellcheck dictionary, including the newly coined words. And, it can offer you too many choices leaving you unsure which one is correct?

Likewise grammar checks highlight errors, ask you sometimes impossible questions and generally attempt to clean up regular writing errors. They can also tell you how easy your text is to read. But, again, you have to have some text in the first place.

Solution:

There are a number of websites that can help you find the words you want. They are handy supplements to the "after the fact" grammar and spellchecks of your word processing software. The first site you may need is www.Dictionary.com. It is great for basic spelling and meaning and, if you're just a bit short of ideas, this site also offers in-depth information on your topic.

It is particularly useful for the myriad strange words entering our language daily. Consider, for example, steganography. A quick search on this web site offers several entries found including "the art of writing in cipher or in characters which are not intelligible except to persons who have the key - cryptography," and, "hiding a secret message within a larger one in such a way that others cannot discern the presence or contents of the hidden message."

Searching the site for the meaning of the more typical word, resolution, elicits 13 options. There are the more expected usages, as in New Year's resolution and a resolution by Congress, plus the uncommon definitions like "the act or process of separating or reducing something into its constituent parts: the prismatic resolution of sunlight into its spectral colors."

Of course, before you can use www.Dictionary.com, you have to know what word you want to look up. If you're having trouble with that, try www.Thesaurus.com. This site will give you more words than you could possibly want. For dress up, it yielded information from 22 separate sources and dozens of words that are synonyms for dress up.

Want to try your hand at poetry? There's even a website to help you with this. It's www.RhymeZone.com. A simple search for words and phrases that rhyme with flood produced 45 options ranging from single words such as bud, stud and blood to phrases - drag through the mud. It also brought up 18 definitions of flood and many examples of its use -- 41 times in Shakespeare plays and 27 times in the Bible. Are they all about Noah and the Ark ? Click on the link and see.

And, you've perhaps heard that nothing rhymes with orange. Is it true? Check it out at RhymeZone.

James Kerr is President/CEO of SuperGeeks, a Hawaii-based computer service and repair company (www.supergeeks.net). Please feel free to send your questions, comments and suggestions to Mr. Kerr. He can be reached at kerr@supergeeks.net and 942-0773.