reference

Keeping Up With the Times

By |February 20th, 2014|News, search, Technology|Comments Off on Keeping Up With the Times

The Oxford English Dictionary has a reputation as the best, most comprehensive dictionary in the English speaking world. If asked, most people would agree that it has been geared more for academics than regular folks. That reputation doesn't sit well with the new chief editor, Michael Proffitt, who believes the dictionary still has a place in today's modern and technologically driven age.

Mapping the Stars

By |December 30th, 2013|indexing, News, reference, Technology|Comments Off on Mapping the Stars

Floating around the Milky Way galaxy is the most recent space observatory launched by the European Space Agency (ESA). Gaia will monitor each of its target stars about 70 times over a period of five years - all unmanned.

How is your qi?

By |November 6th, 2013|News, reference|Comments Off on How is your qi?

Is qi a word? According to Word with Friends, yes. It is reported to be another spelling for chi. For hardcore Scrabble-ites, this can sometimes be a hard pillow to swallow. The purist resist words that are popular for those hard to use letters like q and z.

Spelling Bee Superstars

By |November 1st, 2013|News, reference, Standards|5 Comments

I have a confession to make. Your content writer is a spelling bee geek. When I was a child, my father would hold spelling bees with my sister and I, and well, I always won. Not to brag, but really to show the benefits of phonetics. My older sister did not go to kindergarten (I have no memory of why), but kindergarten is where phonetics were taught in the 60's. I was taught to sound the words out and that there, my friends, was my secret weapon.

Rewriting History

By |August 15th, 2013|News, reference|Comments Off on Rewriting History

With the future word inclusion policies of the Oxford English Dictionary unclear, various professionals were invited to attend a one-day international symposium. Stefan Dollinger, […]

Finding Treasures

By |April 19th, 2013|News, reference|Comments Off on Finding Treasures

ou have no idea how excited I am to share this latest find with you. Ironically, it came on the same day that I found a vintage pocket handbook of synonyms and antonyms at a local thrift store. It was the best $1.99 I have spent in a long time. My shopping companion found it humorous that I was so excited to find something that "the Internet could provide." Tsk, tsk, tsk, my naïve little friend. Google will never give me the pleasure of turning yellowed pages full of antiquated words like a vintage book.

Foodie Resources

By |March 12th, 2013|News|1 Comment

Hi, my name is Melody and I am a foodaholic, or foodie. I love cooking, experimenting with ingredients, and reading cookbooks. Yes, I read cookbooks like others read novels. There are notes in the margins and dog eared pages for future reference.

We’re Not In Kansas Anymore

By |March 11th, 2013|News, reference|Comments Off on We’re Not In Kansas Anymore

I like to lift up interesting and sometimes humorous things I find in the world of language, vocabularly, taxonomy, etc. Today is different. Today's find makes me sad.