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Wordcount

03 Dec 2004 by Jason Fried

Another example of weighted lists is Wordcount. Wordcount is a cool little Flash-based tool that shows you the 86,800 most frequently used English words, ranked in order of commonality. The larger the word, the more it’s used. The smaller the word the less common it is. For example:

wordcount [Thanks R.Bird]

4 comments so far (Post a Comment)

03 Dec 2004 | indi said...

ya know, this reminds me of an automated data analysis tool I saw some years back that was being developed by the NSA. It showed something akin to a 3-D rendered landscape overlaying a geographical map where the peaks represented frequent uses of key phrases in intercepted communications. It would help them zero-in on suspicious activities surrounding the communications. I have no idea if it was ever implemented ....

04 Dec 2004 | Andrew said...

very odd use... I like the concept of weighted list but I'm not sure how useful they actually are.

05 Dec 2004 | YoungHistorians said...

I agree, Andrew. Besides providing a nice visual element, how effective are they? Not very, IMO.

05 Dec 2004 | stone said...

This language toy isn't designed for a practical use. It's an experiment in organization; a piece of playful art. Most creative ideas start out like this. The practical applications will come later.

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