tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4578656955457083112024-03-14T04:03:36.668-07:00Rewordify.com blogWelcome to the Rewordify.com blog!Rewordify.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09832497319581862845noreply@blogger.comBlogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457865695545708311.post-88434319324541654942014-06-23T20:22:00.001-07:002014-06-23T20:22:27.224-07:00The blog is being retiredWe've decided to put all the information about Rewordify.com on the site itself, rather than splitting it between the site and this blog. We're no longer updating this blog.<br />
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Please visit <a href="https://rewordify.com/">Rewordify.com</a> for the latest version of the site.<br />
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The latest information can be found in the site's <a href="https://rewordify.com/help.php">Help Center.</a><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07732936903887759927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457865695545708311.post-21434444181848516752014-03-12T19:00:00.003-07:002014-03-12T19:00:22.403-07:00Big changes are coming!We're re-engineering Rewordify.com from the ground up to be an even better, great-looking, super-fast web app with lots of new features.<br />
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The interface is being totally redesigned to give it a more modern, stylish look that will be highly intuitive and usable on every device.<br />
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You'll be able to create an account, save anything to your account, and allow your content to be searched and found right from the home page! You control the visibility and sharing level of what you save.<br />
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We're adding hundreds more pieces of classic literature directly on our site--Shakespeare, Dickens, Austen, Twain, Proust--all searchable from the home page in our new page viewer that's easy to read and easy to navigate<br />
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You'll have even more learning tools available, including a completely new, awesome suite of reading comprehension apps like smart flash cards, smart on-screen cloze activities, quizzes, and more. It'll also be even easier for teachers to print better-looking printable versions of the site's content.<br />
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And, it will all be free.<br />
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Our goal? To be the best place to read and learn on the web. <br />
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Keep an eye on the blog for more updates.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07732936903887759927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457865695545708311.post-676404641343619202014-03-01T23:09:00.001-08:002014-03-02T20:17:47.443-08:00Latest interface update!We just made a bunch of changes and enhancements to Rewordify.com. Here's what we did:<br />
<ul>
<li>We made the Text Information and Options page cleaner, with fewer visual elements, easier-to-read text, and clearer buttons. It more intelligently hides text and options that don't apply for a particular text passage, so it's easier to read.</li>
<li>We shortened the <i>Save & share</i> link, so it's a little easier to copy-paste the link onto blogs, emails, etc.:<br /><br />The old link looked like this (this example won't actually work):<br /><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">http://www.rewordify.com/p.php?p=abcd1234ef</span><br /><br />The new link looks like this:<br /><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">http://rewordify.com/abcd1234ef</span><br /><br />Both the old and new link formats will continue to work, so if you have any links on your web pages, etc., don't worry: they'll still work.</li>
<li>When you rewordify a lot of text, we added "smart" navigation buttons near the left that fade in and out. The navigation buttons let you instantly jump down to the Text Information/Learning Tools features, and let you instantly jump to the top of the page. The buttons only appear if you need them. (Nerd talk: they fade in and out using CSS3 transitions on modern browsers. Cool stuff without the overhead of jQuery.)<br /> </li>
<li>We renamed the link at the top of the page that takes you to the classics page. Now the link says <i>Classics </i>instead of <i>Read</i>.</li>
<li>The home page and rewordified text pages are more evenly centered, with brighter blue text.</li>
</ul>
We hope you like the new changes. Because Rewordify.com is a web app, you get these changes on your phone or tablet automatically without having to do anything. Please <a href="http://www.rewordify.com/rwcontact.php">contact us</a> if you have any questions or comments. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07732936903887759927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457865695545708311.post-68700602734428057052014-02-23T15:51:00.002-08:002014-02-23T18:31:02.356-08:00A faster site, a new Learning Tool, and an export function!We love making Rewordify.com better and better. Here's what's new: <br />
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<b>We redesigned the home page.</b> We reduced the amount of text, and we removed the images and replaced them with information tables. The result is an extremely fast-loading page with less text to read.<br />
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<b>The printable Learning Tools are now cleaner.</b> We took "Rewordify.com," etc., off our printable Learning Tools. Tools like the Matching Sheet, List with Definitions, etc., used to have our website name and links at the top of the printout. We took them out so the printed Learning Tools are completely plain, for fewer distractions and more flexibility of use.<b><br /></b><br />
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<b>We created a new Learning Tool.</b> It's called Print Text with Vocab Column: (Click the image to see a bigger version.)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGfT565l4joC_MLf4YAIG91jJV08lWEqNoNlObn3y0oEKD4NF2CanEOzFq2yH8chtrb7pKxHyCyz8OEJZmLVPghgK4CiNz-gXVRP-uLNG-BhhVhQpwVCNMQoRJ5VweNnfGo-h7Jx0MtuxX/s1600/textwithvocab.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGfT565l4joC_MLf4YAIG91jJV08lWEqNoNlObn3y0oEKD4NF2CanEOzFq2yH8chtrb7pKxHyCyz8OEJZmLVPghgK4CiNz-gXVRP-uLNG-BhhVhQpwVCNMQoRJ5VweNnfGo-h7Jx0MtuxX/s1600/textwithvocab.gif" height="320" width="248" /></a></div>
For any rewordified block of text, it displays the block of text with the hard words underlined in a left-hand column, and the associated definitions near the hard words in a right-hand column.<br />
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To make the page less cluttered, it only defines a hard word once, the first time it's used. <br />
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To get this, simply rewordify any block of text, and select "Print Text with Vocab Column" from the Learning Tools that display under the text.<br />
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It's one more way that Rewordify.com can help your students build their vocabulary and improve their reading comprehension. In a few clicks, they have any text printed in a way that makes it easier to understand.<br />
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<b>You can now export to CSV any list of hard words.</b> CSV stands for Comma Separated Values. It's a file format that lets you export and import data from one web site or program to another.<br />
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After you rewordify a block of text, you'll see "Export to CSV" in the Learning Tools. When you cick it, you'll get a plain screen that looks like this (of course, when you do it, you'll see the hard words in your text block):<br />
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"hard word","definition"<br />
"difficult word","easier phrase"<br />
"word3","definition3" <br />
etc...<br />
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You can a few things from here.<br />
<ul>
<li>You can copy-paste the screen into another program that can import word lists, like some online flash card and studying sites<br /></li>
<li>You can copy-paste the screen into a spreadsheet program. If you do, you may have to select a feature called "text to columns" so they're separated into two columns<br /></li>
<li>You can save the page as a .CSV file. To do this, select "Save Page As" (or similar command) in your browser. Then, give the file a name that ends with .CSV. Be sure to select that you're saving it as a File Type of text.</li>
</ul>
You can only export 50 words at a time.<br />
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Please <a href="http://www.rewordify.com/rwcontact.php">contact us</a> with any feedback about these new features!<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07732936903887759927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457865695545708311.post-87905204576931351282014-02-19T19:29:00.003-08:002014-02-19T19:33:10.798-08:00Change the highlighting style in one click!We just made Rewordify.com faster and easier to use.<br />
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Before today, to change the highlighting style of a text block, you had to click "Settings," then change the style, then click "Save."<br />
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Now you can do the same thing <i>in one click! </i><br />
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When you rewordify a text block, you'll now see a new "Highlighting style" area in the right-hand section of the top panel (click to see a bigger version):<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBeotTL_RH2NiQdp98nkPKzHaLQs2f6-w3yDlyZMZICg7YWjqIroEBPRpXbNRAJ-Mdp87t73X1en4eB8YmItOJnAMxGZde3UQr7_MLq4wlH7Ucfm_n51HbOERflRE14WgWnuBreM8FTo-H/s1600/infosnap2.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBeotTL_RH2NiQdp98nkPKzHaLQs2f6-w3yDlyZMZICg7YWjqIroEBPRpXbNRAJ-Mdp87t73X1en4eB8YmItOJnAMxGZde3UQr7_MLq4wlH7Ucfm_n51HbOERflRE14WgWnuBreM8FTo-H/s1600/infosnap2.gif" height="145" width="400" /></a></div>
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Just click a highlighting style and the style will instantly change. We hope you agree that one click is better than three. When you change the highlighting setting this way, it's only a temporary override; the next block of text you rewordify will use the default style that's on the Settings page.<br />
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To permanently change the default style, click on "Settings" at the top right and make the change on that page<br />
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We hope that this change makes Rewordify.com more flexible, faster, and easier for you to use. <br />
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Questions? Comments? Please <a href="http://www.rewordify.com/rwcontact.php">contact us</a> and we'll respond personally every time.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07732936903887759927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457865695545708311.post-63594359150603339842014-02-17T13:58:00.002-08:002014-02-17T19:57:37.636-08:00What's new!<h3>
Much faster load times</h3>
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The home page and help page now load much faster than before and use much less data upon loading. You'll especially see the speed increase on mobile phones and tablets. School administrators should appreciate the significant drop in network traffic caused by our site.<br />
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How did we do it? Previously, we auto-loaded the YouTube video player on the home page and help page. Now, we don't load the player until you click on the video.<br />
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This is part of our quest to make Rewordify.com work as quickly as possible, so it works like a native app on your tablet or smartphone.<br />
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(Nerdy details: We don't use jQuery or any other javascript library. We don't download custom fonts. We strategically load local CSS and javascript to save download time when optimal. We use all CSS3 with no background images for the site look and feel.)<br />
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The result? A snappy site that's great to use.<br />
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<h3>
More power and flexibility to web site and blog owners</h3>
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We have a great feature where web site owners and bloggers can make it easy for anyone to simplify the language on any web page <a href="http://www.rewordify.com/rwforowners.php">in one click</a>. <br />
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Now, users of that feature can have more control over how the reworded pages appear. You can now decide whether or not the yellow navigation box appears on reworded pages. You can also choose whether links on reworded pages take users to reworded versions of the other pages on your site, or whether those links take them to the original versions of your pages.<br />
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<a href="http://www.rewordify.com/rwforowners.php">Read this page on our site for more information</a>, and learn how we're helping you use technology to improve literacy around the world!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07732936903887759927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457865695545708311.post-57673649772922284032014-02-11T19:34:00.002-08:002014-02-17T19:51:45.359-08:00We keep getting better, because of youNearly every day, we improve the way that Rewordify.com simplifies text. For example, we just added words like <i>neurochemicals </i>and <i>dyscalculia</i>, phrases like <i>faculty members</i> and <i>universal coverage</i>, and the site now knows the difference between <i>crude </i>(oil) prices, <i>crude </i>(rough and low-quality) devices, <i>crude</i> (rude and sexual) comments, and <i>crude </i>(rough) estimates in a sentence like this: (Copy-paste it into Rewordify.com if you want to be impressed.)<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The woman used a crude digging device to figure out where to dig the next crude oil well; her friend gave her an estimate that was crude, but she felt confident enough to start digging even though her friend made crude, unwanted remarks.</blockquote>
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Please keep sending in your suggestions for improvement; we love adding new features and making the site more useful, so more people use the site to read more. Just <a href="http://www.rewordify.com/rwcontact.php">contact us</a> about anything on your mind; we'll respond personally every time!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07732936903887759927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457865695545708311.post-26916707705301626032014-02-01T12:13:00.002-08:002014-02-01T14:13:04.156-08:00The limits of Rewordify.comEvery once in a while, we get an email from a user that asks things like:<br />
<ul>
<li>Why won't Rewordify.com reword my text to a certain grade level? (or)</li>
<li>Why doesn't Rewordify.com reword this word or that word?</li>
</ul>
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Rewordify.com knows over 40,000 difficult words and phrases, and we add new words and phrases to it almost every day. Also, we frequently make the site "smarter" at figuring out how hard words and phrases are used, so they're replaced with language that sounds natural and is easy to understand.<br />
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You also get our exclusive READ level (<b>R</b>ewordify.com <b>E</b>stimated <b>A</b>verage <b>D</b>ifficulty level), a highly valid measure of text complexity that works the same way as (and is strongly correlated to) the Lexile measure.<br />
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Sometimes these things work together beautifully, and sometimes they fall short. This is because working with language is terrifically difficult for computers, and no computer can come close to a human being's ability to figure out how hard a passage is, or how to re-state something more easily.<br />
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<h3>
The limits of a computer</h3>
<div class="p3">
Computers think that this passage is easy to understand (READ 430, Lexile 480L):</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="indent">
<i>Those who know the breath of forever know the crying of the Earth. They know the wall that is tomorrow. They know the sad waving of the tree branch. They know the pain of the dusty ebony sky.</i></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="p3">
Computers also think that this passage is many grade levels more difficult (READ 1390, Lexile 1050L):</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="indent">
<i>The shocked policeman saw the alien whisk the surprised boy into the spaceship. The policeman sneaked down the hillside, through a maze of young maple trees, closer to the unlucky spot.</i></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="p3">
Rewordify.com can't simplify the first passage. It doesn't know why the Earth is crying.</div>
<div class="p3">
<br /></div>
<div class="p3">
The site can't simplify the second passage. It doesn't contain any difficult words, except maybe <i>whisk</i>, but eggs can be whisked as well as people, and we don't want to say that the boy was beaten.</div>
<div class="p3">
<br /></div>
<h3>
Technical terms and troublesome words</h3>
<div class="p3">
Here's another example of a challenge for the site:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="indent">
<i>Washington applauded the conservative approach within Rickerson's organic Renaissance work.</i></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="p3">
A computer can't know that <i>Washington</i> means <i>important scientists in Washington, D.C.</i> Words like <i>conservative</i> and <i>organic</i> have multiple meanings that can be challenging to figure out. Also, <i>Renaissance</i> is a complex topic that can't be summarized in a few words.</div>
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<h3>
The site can help!
</h3>
<div class="p3">
The moral of this story? Although we make Rewordify.com better nearly every day, no computer can replace a teacher. But, Rewordify.com is a great learning tool that can empower independent learning when a teacher isn't around. Feel free to explore the site, learn how it can help, and <a href="http://www.rewordify.com/rwcontact.php">contact us</a> with any questions or suggestions.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07732936903887759927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457865695545708311.post-41982840343582586132014-01-26T15:06:00.000-08:002014-01-26T20:16:10.494-08:00New! Print cloze sheets for rewordified textYou can now print cloze (fill-in-the-blanks) sheets for rewordified text. This is a fun reading comprehension activity and it's also an effective formative assessment for reading comprehension.<br />
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Once you rewordify some text, you'll see a new button, "Print Cloze Activity," in the Learning Tools:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP1mFVWkLXYizQScHM6VHugu6IiqnnWKVgVJzwM2WXRIQMqRsRQQFEuHrMU2in-YlnGht2TtkoUqCvjtLoJiWVkN7wbwM8l9G-PQqLfsTWTBIXzc7THuIY05YkCFyI3UsC3KzQH38-FLvc/s1600/clozebug.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left; text-align: left;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP1mFVWkLXYizQScHM6VHugu6IiqnnWKVgVJzwM2WXRIQMqRsRQQFEuHrMU2in-YlnGht2TtkoUqCvjtLoJiWVkN7wbwM8l9G-PQqLfsTWTBIXzc7THuIY05YkCFyI3UsC3KzQH38-FLvc/s1600/clozebug.jpg" /></a></div>
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When you click it, you'll get a printout with a word bank, and the original text with underlines replacing the original hard words, like this:<br />
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<div style="border: 1px solid black; padding: 10px;">
Word Bank:<br />
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halcyon, imp, homestead</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The ____________ view was beautiful to the ____________, </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">who wondered when he would see his _________________ again. </span> <br />
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Check the "include key on printouts" for a teacher or a teaching assistant version.<br />
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NOTE: When you click the "learn" link on a web page, Rewordify.com extracts all the hard words from the web page into Rewordify.com to help students learn. Of course, the cloze activity doesn't work well in that case. It works best when you enter English sentences. <br />
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Try it out now! Copy-paste this text into the home page and see how it works:<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The halcyon view was beautiful to the imp, who wondered when he would see his homestead again.</span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07732936903887759927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457865695545708311.post-34983416876173321442014-01-19T08:52:00.003-08:002014-02-20T16:33:17.580-08:00Good isn't good enoughWe're adding smarter abilities to our Rewordifying Engine. It can now change how a word or phrase is reworded based on the part of speech of the surrounding words.<br />
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For example, the word <i>noodled </i>is reworded to<i> played/thought</i> if a preposition comes after it. Take a look at these three sentences:<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The designer noodled up some color choices for her client.<br />
The programmer noodled with different ways to make his site work better.<br />
I am serving noodled potatoes for dinner.</blockquote>
To see how these sentences are reworded, click this icon:<br />
<div id="rwdclnk">
</div>
<script>(function(){var ni=document.createElement("img");ni.style.width="88px";ni.style.height="25px";ni.src="http://www.rewordify.com/images/easierlink1.gif";var nd=document.createElement("a");nd.href="http://www.rewordify.com/rwweb.php?bl=y&userdata="+document.URL;nd.appendChild(ni);var rw=document.getElementById("rwdclnk");rw.insertBefore(nd,(rw.hasChildNodes())?rw.childNodes[0]:null);})()</script>We're constantly improving the site this way, including adding more words and phrases on an almost-daily basis. <br />
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<h3>
Simplify your own website or blog with one click </h3>
By the way, did you like that one-click rewordifying feature? You can add it to your website or blog for free! Read about how <a href="http://localhost/rewordify/rwforowners.php" target="_blank">one line of code</a> can instantly simplify your website or blog and make it more accessible and readable for millions of people.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07732936903887759927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457865695545708311.post-3521501489924746092014-01-12T10:27:00.003-08:002014-02-23T16:47:09.324-08:00Learn better, from better rewordingsRewordify.com now rewords difficult language in a more natural-sounding way.<br />
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The site identifies the part of speech of all difficult words based on how they're used in sentences, and rewords them accordingly.<br />
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<b>Example 1: </b><br />
For example, this sentence uses the word <i>brooding</i> as a verb:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
There's no sense in <span style="color: blue;">brooding <span style="color: black;">about </span></span>poor grades in English class.</blockquote>
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That sentence will be reworded to:<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
There's no sense in<span style="color: blue;"> sadly thinking <span style="color: black;">about</span></span> poor grades in English class.</blockquote>
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<b>Example 2: </b><br />
This sentence uses the word <i>brooding </i>as an adjective:<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Now there's a way to help a class full of <span style="color: blue;">brooding </span>English students.</blockquote>
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That sentence will be reworded to:<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Now there's a way to help a class full of <span style="color: blue;">quiet and sad</span> English students. </blockquote>
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This rewordifying improvement happens because we've created an accurate part of speech tagger that tries to do its best to figure out how each word you enter is used in a sentence. Keep in mind that <b>no part of speech tagger is perfect</b>, and there will be instances where the site doesn't get it right. We are constantly reviewing the site to improve it, of course.<br />
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If you see a mistake, please <a href="http://www.rewordify.com/rwcontact.php" target="_blank">let us know</a>, and enjoy using the more-accurate Rewordify.com!
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07732936903887759927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457865695545708311.post-74415917515351692852013-12-15T13:58:00.001-08:002014-01-19T08:40:43.706-08:00Rewordify.com will soon be even betterWe're working hard to make our translation (what we call our "rewordifying") much better.<br />
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Rewordify.com is being enhanced to understand the parts of speech of the sentences you enter and to display a different definition depending on the part of speech of the original word. This will give you even more accurate, understandable output.<br />
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For example, right now, any time you enter the word "corral," Rewordify.com changes it to "collect/meeting place."<br />
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So, the sentence:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I'll meet you at the <span style="color: #990000;">corral</span>. ("corral" is a noun)</blockquote>
is reworded to:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I'll meet you at the <span style="color: #990000;">collect/meeting place</span>.</blockquote>
and the sentence: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Be sure to <span style="color: #990000;">corral</span> the animals by sunset. ("corral" is a verb)</blockquote>
is resulted to:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Be sure to <span style="color: #990000;">collect/meeting place</span> the animals by sunset.</blockquote>
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But soon, the site will be smarter. It will know whether words (like "corral") are used as nouns, verbs, or adjectives. So, the two sentences from above will soon be reworded to:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I'll meet you at the <span style="color: #990000;">meeting place</span>.</blockquote>
and<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Be sure to <span style="color: #990000;">collect</span> the animals by sunset.</blockquote>
The site correctly served up a noun for a noun, and a verb for a verb.<br />
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Stay tuned for the announcement on the home page sometime in January for this great enhancement to Rewordify.com.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07732936903887759927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457865695545708311.post-50766993101597901412013-11-30T15:22:00.003-08:002014-02-23T16:59:04.249-08:00Our upgrade is finished!We just completed the biggest-ever upgrade to Rewordify.com. A big thanks to all the users who wrote in and suggested features; most of them have been incorporated into the site!<br />
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Some of these features are so important to you, that we made them live before all the documentation is complete. There's a video on the home page, new information on the Help page (formerly the Details page), and on the Settings page.<br />
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<b>We are working hard to update the documentation for the new features;</b> look for an expanded and easier-to-navigate Help page, as well as new information on the Teacher page and in this blog in the next week.<br />
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Here's a list of the new and changed features:<br />
<ul>
<li>The site now speaks hard words out loud. This great new feature is available after you rewordify a block of text, and it works on the Flash Cards and Online Quiz. <a href="http://www.rewordify.com/rwdetails.php?loc=listen">Read more.</a><br /> </li>
<li>You can now choose from six different rewordifying levels, to match the output text difficulty and vocabulary list difficulty with a broad range of readers.<br /><br />The "Maximum" choice (one of the six difficulty levels) uses very short definitions that significantly simplify text, but may remove some meaning from the text.<br /><br />The remaining choices (Level 1 through Level 5) use more descriptive definitions that help explain in more detail what many words mean. As the level goes up, the words that are targeted for rewordifying get harder and harder, to allow the site to adapt to different reading levels.</li>
<li>You can now print the rewordified text; there's a "Print text" link at the top right of all rewordified text.</li>
<li>We now show a READ level (the Rewordify.com Estimated Average Difficulty level), our highly valid measure of text difficulty. It uses Brigham Young University's Corpus of Contemporary American English to determine the average log frequency of all the words in the blocks of text you rewordify. The READ level is strongly correlated to the Lexile measure. <a href="http://rewordify.com/rwdetails.php?loc=readlevel">Read more about the READ level.</a></li>
<li>We partner with the leading web filtering company to aggressively block school-inappropriate sites from being rewordified, and we also use our own proprietary filters to keep students safe while rewordifying web pages. Over 2,300,000 web sites are now blocked from being rewordified, and more are added every day.</li>
<li>We added over 3,000 words and improved thousands of definitions in the Rewordifying Engine, and we continue to work hard at improving the site's translation quality.</li>
<li>We made lots of other design and programming changes to make the site work faster and better.</li>
</ul>
Please watch the video on the home page and <a href="http://www.rewordify.com/rwcontact.php">contact us</a> with any questions or concerns. We're going to update a number of blog entries in the near future to reflect the site features.<br />
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Happy rewordifying!
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07732936903887759927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457865695545708311.post-45823357463468873122013-10-25T07:31:00.002-07:002013-10-25T08:07:50.251-07:00New books on the "Read" pageWe added some great books to <a href="http://www.rewordify.com/rwread1.php">our "Read" page</a>:<br />
<ul>
<li>1984 (Orwell)</li>
<li>The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)</li>
<li>Animal Farm (Orwell)</li>
<li>Of Human Bondage (Maugham)</li>
<li>Nostromo (Conrad)</li>
<li>Portnoy's Complaint (Roth)</li>
<li>Lord of the Flies (Golding)</li>
<li>Brave New World (Huxley)</li>
<li>To The Lighthouse (Woolf)</li>
<li>An American Tragedy (Dreiser)</li>
<li>The Good Soldier (Ford)</li>
<li>Tender is the Night (Fitzgerald)</li>
<li>Winesburg, Ohio (Anderson)</li>
</ul>
Understand more of the classics <a href="https://www.rewordify.com/rwread1.php" target="_blank">starting now</a>!<br />
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The "Read" page is a collection of great literature, but you don't have to stop there. You can rewordify almost any web page out there, or <i>any </i>text you copy-paste in. Happy reading and understanding!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07732936903887759927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457865695545708311.post-63929514144650388192013-10-06T10:59:00.001-07:002013-10-06T16:11:22.695-07:00Make an amazing teacher web page!Here are two easy things you can do to turn your blog or web page into a learning tool. In a few clicks, you can put links to text passages or web pages. People who click the link will see a rewordified version, and can get flash cards, vocabulary lists, quizzes, and more!<br />
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<h3>
Text passages (example)</h3>
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Click on the link and instantly view and learn from the passage: <br />
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Passage #1: <a href="http://www.rewordify.com/p.php?p=a0f7b0945d" target="_blank">Excerpt from Jack London's <i>White Fang</i></a><br />
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Passage #2: <a href="http://www.rewordify.com/p.php?p=6d8529b18c" target="_blank">Excerpt from the <i>Declaration of Independence</i></a><br />
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You can easily do the same thing on your own blog or web page. <a href="http://www.rewordify.com/rwforschools.php#asp">Here's how, with a video.</a><br />
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<h3>
Web pages (example)</h3>
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Click the link and see the "rewordified" web page! <br />
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Web page #1: <a href="http://www.rewordify.com/rwweb.php?userdata=www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/par0bio-1" target="_blank">Article on Rosa Parks</a><br />
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Web page #2: <a href="http://www.rewordify.com/rwweb.php?userdata=www.latimes.com/local/la-ed-truancy-20131006,0,795354.story" target="_blank">Article about school truancy</a><br />
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When the web page comes up, click "Learn" in the yellow box to learn all the hard words on the web page:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgySaobVh7n3Pch920Ui_p6a0PW_zo56Oyyei_Y3jVUJ1sDlqXcQQjUs4a0uJXM1BNJ2CfzzBrITiFyftN2o73PftWd0_106GlPCjwRgj0ooBuD_qYyiD1PMT7rK0nO4ojRO44ctquI3HX-/s1600/LearnLink.gif" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgySaobVh7n3Pch920Ui_p6a0PW_zo56Oyyei_Y3jVUJ1sDlqXcQQjUs4a0uJXM1BNJ2CfzzBrITiFyftN2o73PftWd0_106GlPCjwRgj0ooBuD_qYyiD1PMT7rK0nO4ojRO44ctquI3HX-/s1600/LearnLink.gif" /></a> </div>
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Want to do this on your blog or web page? <a href="http://www.rewordify.com/rwforschools.php#lm">Here's how easy it is. </a><br />
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Have a question? Write a comment, below. We'll answer it and help you quickly!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07732936903887759927noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457865695545708311.post-39339314395011577312013-09-29T20:39:00.001-07:002013-09-29T20:39:20.793-07:00New "Word Bank" learning tools!We just added a printable Word Bank option and an on-screen Word Bank learning activity.<br />
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The great thing about the on-screen Word Bank activity is that the user has to type in the difficult words to show the computer that he or she knows them. Typing in this way reinforces learning.<br />
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To use these tools, rewordify any difficult text, scroll down, and you'll see the buttons for these new activities under the Learning Tools area of the screen:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm63m4pro_O10gqreuUDo7R1pxsank8CPH3u6bqg7OC_yxMTCRzlfeI1au2Yk_x2ezFLOeT8fXOlp5NskKbhxcNXf6eDvF2VdWCWN2pLkDhrY1kj2a7TI5WEG-oEmxhr0uQJky0LR5CU6m/s1600/learningtools.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm63m4pro_O10gqreuUDo7R1pxsank8CPH3u6bqg7OC_yxMTCRzlfeI1au2Yk_x2ezFLOeT8fXOlp5NskKbhxcNXf6eDvF2VdWCWN2pLkDhrY1kj2a7TI5WEG-oEmxhr0uQJky0LR5CU6m/s1600/learningtools.gif" /></a></div>
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Questions? Post a comment on this blog entry and we'll answer it quickly. Or you can <a href="http://www.rewordify.com/rwcontact.php">contact us privately</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07732936903887759927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457865695545708311.post-31127668510816392782013-09-21T10:15:00.000-07:002014-02-25T14:59:40.694-08:00Get the bookmarklet!We just added a Rewordify.com bookmarklet to the site, which lets you rewordify almost any web page with one click! A bookmarklet is a cool little object that makes most web browsers a little smarter, and it's easy to create. Here's how to get your Rewordify.com bookmarklet:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Go to the <a href="http://www.rewordify.com/">home page</a> and scroll down to the bottom.</li>
<li>You'll see the link "One-Click Learning." Click it.</li>
<li>Follow the instructions on the page.</li>
<li>When you're done, you'll see an entry in your browser favorites that says "Rewordify!" </li>
</ol>
You're done!<br />
<br />
Now, whenever you're on a difficult web page, you just click the "Rewordify!" link and the whole web page will be instantly simplified. It's the quickest possible way to understand more of what you read!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07732936903887759927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457865695545708311.post-20603001018317803752013-09-15T16:04:00.000-07:002013-09-21T09:03:41.867-07:00Site upgrade on 9/15/2013Rewordify.com received some great new features over the weekend. The best way to experience them is to do the new demo on the home page. Here's what we did:<br />
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<h3>
New Feature: Save Link To Text Passage</h3>
Description: When you rewordify a text passage, you can get a link to the result. Anyone with that link can then view that text passage.<br />
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Benefit: Easy coordination and control of learning. Teachers can save text passages to a unique link, and share that link with learners throughout the world. All learners with that link see the exact same passage in Rewordify.com.<br />
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<h3>
New Feature: Learn from a web page</h3>
Description: When viewing a rewordified web page, there's a new "Learn" link that appears at the top left. Clicking that link causes all the hard words in the web page to be extracted to Rewordify.com, for easy access to learning activities. The word list can be saved using the Save Link to Text Passage feature!<br />
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Benefit: Easy to use a high-interest web page as a source for learning.<br />
<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
Improved Feature: Faster Settings Change</h3>
Description: When changing settings, clicking "Save Settings" at the bottom now immediately takes you back to the previous page and re-displays the content with the new display settings. Prior to this, you had to click a "go back" link and click "Refresh," which sometimes required you to click another dialog box.<br />
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Benefit: Saves time. It now takes one click to save settings and see the result, instead of three or four.<br />
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<h3>
Improved Feature: Better Rewordified Text Results Screen</h3>
Description: When rewordifying text, the result page has more information presented in a more organized, colorful, intuitive manner that allows you to better see information and use Learning Tools with fewer clicks.<br />
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Benefit: Saves time, improved site usability.<br />
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<h3>
Bug Fixes:</h3>
<ul>
<li>Screen used to jump down to the yellow text entry box when showing rewordified text, which was annoying. This has been fixed.</li>
<li>Home page now shows an easier-to-understand message when you try to rewordify nothing.</li>
<li>A small number of rewordified words with apostrophes would not display correctly when clicked on. This has been fixed.</li>
</ul>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07732936903887759927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457865695545708311.post-83566305986242138282013-09-15T13:09:00.003-07:002013-09-15T13:11:15.982-07:00Sample Difficult Web PageYou'll see this page when you do the demo on the main page of Rewordify.com.<br />
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<strong>The Tell-Tale Heart</strong><br />
<strong>by Edgar Allan Poe</strong><br />
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TRUE! nervous, very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why WILL you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses, not destroyed, not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How then am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily, how calmly, I can tell you the whole story. <br />
It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain, but, once conceived, it haunted me day and night. Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! Yes, it was this! One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture -- a pale blue eye with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me my blood ran cold, and so by degrees, very gradually, I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye for ever. <br />
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Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded -- with what caution -- with what foresight, with what dissimulation, I went to work! I was never kinder to the old man than during the whole week before I killed him. And every night about midnight I turned the latch of his door and opened it oh, so gently! And then, when I had made an opening sufficient for my head, I put in a dark lantern all closed, closed so that no light shone out, and then I thrust in my head. Oh, you would have laughed to see how cunningly I thrust it in! I moved it slowly, very, very slowly, so that I might not disturb the old man's sleep. It took me an hour to place my whole head within the opening so far that I could see him as he lay upon his bed. Ha! would a madman have been so wise as this? And then when my head was well in the room I undid the lantern cautiously -- oh, so cautiously -- cautiously (for the hinges creaked), I undid it just so much that a single thin ray fell upon the vulture eye. And this I did for seven long nights, every night just at midnight, but I found the eye always closed, and so it was impossible to do the work, for it was not the old man who vexed me but his Evil Eye. And every morning, when the day broke, I went boldly into the chamber and spoke courageously to him, calling him by name in a hearty tone, and inquiring how he had passed the night. So you see he would have been a very profound old man, indeed , to suspect that every night, just at twelve, I looked in upon him while he slept. <br />
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Upon the eighth night I was more than usually cautious in opening the door. A watch's minute hand moves more quickly than did mine. Never before that night had I felt the extent of my own powers, of my sagacity. I could scarcely contain my feelings of triumph. To think that there I was opening the door little by little, and he not even to dream of my secret deeds or thoughts. I fairly chuckled at the idea, and perhaps he heard me, for he moved on the bed suddenly as if startled. Now you may think that I drew back -- but no. His room was as black as pitch with the thick darkness (for the shutters were close fastened through fear of robbers), and so I knew that he could not see the opening of the door, and I kept pushing it on steadily, steadily. <br />
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I had my head in, and was about to open the lantern, when my thumb slipped upon the tin fastening , and the old man sprang up in the bed, crying out, "Who's there?" <br />
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I kept quite still and said nothing. For a whole hour I did not move a muscle, and in the meantime I did not hear him lie down. He was still sitting up in the bed, listening; just as I have done night after night hearkening to the death watches in the wall. <br />
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Presently, I heard a slight groan, and I knew it was the groan of mortal terror. It was not a groan of pain or of grief -- oh, no! It was the low stifled sound that arises from the bottom of the soul when overcharged with awe. I knew the sound well. Many a night, just at midnight, when all the world slept, it has welled up from my own bosom, deepening, with its dreadful echo, the terrors that distracted me. I say I knew it well. I knew what the old man felt, and pitied him although I chuckled at heart. I knew that he had been lying awake ever since the first slight noise when he had turned in the bed. His fears had been ever since growing upon him. He had been trying to fancy them causeless, but could not. He had been saying to himself, "It is nothing but the wind in the chimney, it is only a mouse crossing the floor," or, "It is merely a cricket which has made a single chirp." Yes he has been trying to comfort himself with these suppositions ; but he had found all in vain. ALL IN VAIN, because Death in approaching him had stalked with his black shadow before him and enveloped the victim. And it was the mournful influence of the unperceived shadow that caused him to feel, although he neither saw nor heard, to feel the presence of my head within the room. <br />
When I had waited a long time very patiently without hearing him lie down, I resolved to open a little -- a very, very little crevice in the lantern. So I opened it -- you cannot imagine how stealthily, stealthily -- until at length a single dim ray like the thread of the spider shot out from the crevice and fell upon the vulture eye. <br />
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It was open, wide, wide open, and I grew furious as I gazed upon it. I saw it with perfect distinctness -- all a dull blue with a hideous veil over it that chilled the very marrow in my bones, but I could see nothing else of the old man's face or person, for I had directed the ray as if by instinct precisely upon the damned spot. <br />
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And now have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but over-acuteness of the senses? now, I say, there came to my ears a low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. I knew that sound well too. It was the beating of the old man's heart. It increased my fury as the beating of a drum stimulates the soldier into courage. <br />
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But even yet I refrained and kept still. I scarcely breathed. I held the lantern motionless. I tried how steadily I could maintain the ray upon the eye. Meantime the hellish tattoo of the heart increased. It grew quicker and quicker, and louder and louder, every instant. The old man's terror must have been extreme! It grew louder, I say, louder every moment! -- do you mark me well? I have told you that I am nervous: so I am. And now at the dead hour of the night, amid the dreadful silence of that old house, so strange a noise as this excited me to uncontrollable terror. Yet, for some minutes longer I refrained and stood still. But the beating grew louder, louder! I thought the heart must burst. And now a new anxiety seized me -- the sound would be heard by a neighbour! The old man's hour had come! With a loud yell, I threw open the lantern and leaped into the room. He shrieked once -- once only. In an instant I dragged him to the floor, and pulled the heavy bed over him. I then smiled gaily, to find the deed so far done. But for many minutes the heart beat on with a muffled sound. This, however, did not vex me; it would not be heard through the wall. At length it ceased. The old man was dead. I removed the bed and examined the corpse. Yes, he was stone, stone dead. I placed my hand upon the heart and held it there many minutes. There was no pulsation. He was stone dead. His eye would trouble me no more. <br />
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If still you think me mad, you will think so no longer when I describe the wise precautions I took for the concealment of the body. The night waned, and I worked hastily, but in silence. <br />
I took up three planks from the flooring of the chamber, and deposited all between the scantlings. I then replaced the boards so cleverly so cunningly, that no human eye -- not even his -- could have detected anything wrong. There was nothing to wash out -- no stain of any kind -- no blood-spot whatever. I had been too wary for that. <br />
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When I had made an end of these labours, it was four o'clock -- still dark as midnight. As the bell sounded the hour, there came a knocking at the street door. I went down to open it with a light heart, -- for what had I now to fear? There entered three men, who introduced themselves, with perfect suavity, as officers of the police. A shriek had been heard by a neighbour during the night; suspicion of foul play had been aroused; information had been lodged at the police office, and they (the officers) had been deputed to search the premises. <br />
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I smiled, -- for what had I to fear? I bade the gentlemen welcome. The shriek, I said, was my own in a dream. The old man, I mentioned, was absent in the country. I took my visitors all over the house. I bade them search -- search well. I led them, at length, to his chamber. I showed them his treasures, secure, undisturbed. In the enthusiasm of my confidence, I brought chairs into the room, and desired them here to rest from their fatigues, while I myself, in the wild audacity of my perfect triumph, placed my own seat upon the very spot beneath which reposed the corpse of the victim. <br />
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The officers were satisfied. My MANNER had convinced them. I was singularly at ease. They sat and while I answered cheerily, they chatted of familiar things. But, ere long, I felt myself getting pale and wished them gone. My head ached, and I fancied a ringing in my ears; but still they sat, and still chatted. The ringing became more distinct : I talked more freely to get rid of the feeling: but it continued and gained definitiveness -- until, at length, I found that the noise was NOT within my ears. <br />
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No doubt I now grew VERY pale; but I talked more fluently, and with a heightened voice. Yet the sound increased -- and what could I do? It was A LOW, DULL, QUICK SOUND -- MUCH SUCH A SOUND AS A WATCH MAKES WHEN ENVELOPED IN COTTON. I gasped for breath, and yet the officers heard it not. I talked more quickly, more vehemently but the noise steadily increased. I arose and argued about trifles, in a high key and with violent gesticulations; but the noise steadily increased. Why WOULD they not be gone? I paced the floor to and fro with heavy strides, as if excited to fury by the observations of the men, but the noise steadily increased. O God! what COULD I do? I foamed -- I raved -- I swore! I swung the chair upon which I had been sitting, and grated it upon the boards, but the noise arose over all and continually increased. It grew louder -- louder -- louder! And still the men chatted pleasantly , and smiled. Was it possible they heard not? Almighty God! -- no, no? They heard! -- they suspected! -- they KNEW! -- they were making a mockery of my horror! -- this I thought, and this I think. But anything was better than this agony! Anything was more tolerable than this derision! I could bear those hypocritical smiles no longer! I felt that I must scream or die! -- and now -- again -- hark! louder! louder! louder! LOUDER! -- <br />
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"Villains!" I shrieked, "dissemble no more! I admit the deed! -- tear up the planks! -- here, here! -- it is the beating of his hideous heart!" Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07732936903887759927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457865695545708311.post-61637194039046189382013-09-10T19:22:00.000-07:002013-10-29T16:56:30.711-07:00What's New!10/29/2013:<br />
<ul>
<li>The "Add List" and the "Skip List" on the settings page now display a counter to let you know how many characters are left in those fields. The current limit is 2000 characters. If you find you need more space, <a href="http://www.rewordify.com/rwcontact.php">contact us</a>. </li>
</ul>
10/25/2013:<br />
<ul>
<li>We added some great books to our "Read" page. <a href="http://rewordify.blogspot.com/2013/10/new-books-on-read-page.html">More info</a>.</li>
<li>We changed the name of some of our settings to make them clearer. "Loud" is now "Highlight," "Reverse Loud" is now "Reverse Highlight," etc.</li>
<li>We updated the Rewordifying Engine.</li>
</ul>
10/19/2013:<br />
<ul>
<li>You can now synchronize all your custom settings, including your Skip List and Add List, so you can use them on other computers. This lets all your students quickly set their computers with your custom word lists and highlighting settings, for a consistent learning experience. <a href="http://www.rewordify.com/rwdetails.php#sync" target="_blank">Here's how.</a> </li>
<li>We updated the Rewordifying Engine.</li>
<li>Please tell us how we can make Rewordify.com better. <a href="http://www.rewordify.com/rwcontact.php" target="_blank">We love to hear from you</a>.</li>
</ul>
10/14/2013:<br />
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We've been busy making Rewordify.com even better! <br />
<ul>
<li>New feature: the "Add List." You can now add your own customized list of words and definitions to the site. All words you add on a particular computer will be included in the Rewordifying Engine for that computer. The word list you add will only work on the computer to which you add the words. It's a great way to help tailor the site to the needs of your learners. <a href="http://www.rewordify.com/rwsettings.php#add" target="_blank">Try it out now</a>.</li>
<li>Better Reading Level Accuracy: We improved the way that we calculate Reading Level to include average sentence length. There's a lot more information <a href="http://www.rewordify.com/RewordifyWhitePaper.pdf" target="_blank">in this .pdf document</a>.</li>
<li>More Text Information: When you rewordify a block of text, you can now see text stats and Reading Levels of the original and rewordified text.</li>
<li>Sentence Separation: Rewordify.com tries to separate certain longer sentences into two shorter sentences, as long as the meaning isn't changed significantly. It does this to try to improve the readability of the passage it rewordifies. <a href="http://www.rewordify.com/rwdetails.php#sentsep" target="_blank">Read more here</a>. </li>
<li>Improved Rewordifying Engine. We added over 100 new words to the Rewordifying Engine and improved dozens of existing definitions.</li>
</ul>
10/10/2013:<br />
<ul>
<li>Refined the definitions of over 150 words</li>
<li>Fixed bug in On-Screen Word Bank that prevented it from working well on certain devices</li>
<li>Updated Rewordifying Engine so that it would be better at figuring out which Capitalized Words in the Middle Of Sentences Like This were names that should not be rewordified and which were Capitalized Nouns and Titles Of Films, etc., that should be rewordified.</li>
</ul>
09/28/2013:<br />
<ul>
<li>Shortened and simplified the "Details" page with a new "How to..." section at the top.</li>
<li>Improved the Rewordifying Engine when capitalized difficult words are in the middle of sentences. Documents like the <a href="http://www.rewordify.com/rwweb.php?userdata=www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html">Declaration of Independence</a> should now have a more complete and accurate translation. </li>
</ul>
09/25/2013:<br />
<ul>
<li>Bug fix: when browsing a large number of web sites, you may have gotten a "Bad Request" because of a cookie error. This should no longer happen.</li>
<li>We added our first lesson plan on the newly-renamed <a href="http://www.rewordify.com/rwforschools.php">educator page</a>. Try it out in your classroom and let us know how we can improve it.</li>
<li>We made dozens of definition refinements and added hundreds more words to the Rewordifying Engine, for more accurate translations.</li>
</ul>
09/19/2013:<br />
<ul>
<li>Over 540 new words added to the Rewordifying Engine, and dozens of definitions were refined and updated.</li>
<li>Shakespeare's <i>Hamlet</i> and <i>Romeo & Juliet</i> have much more detailed and accurate translations; over 1,500 difficult words and phrases are simplified in those two plays. More of Shakespeare's plays will get an even more detailed and accurate translation very soon. Here's the <a href="http://www.rewordify.com/rwread1.php">classic literature link</a>; scroll down to "Shakespeare, complete works."</li>
</ul>
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09/15/2013:<br />
<ul>
<li>Significant site upgrade. <a href="http://rewordify.blogspot.com/2013/09/site-upgrade-on-9152013.html">More info here</a>.</li>
</ul>
09/11/2013:<br />
<ul>
<li>Significantly improved the appearance of the links at the bottom of the page</li>
<li>Added words to and refined the Rewordifying Engine</li>
</ul>
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09/10/2013:<br />
<ul>
<li>Updated Rewordifying Engine with approx. 40 new words and 10 refined definitions</li>
<li>Updated 2 videos on YouTube channel</li>
</ul>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07732936903887759927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457865695545708311.post-54856299962270445412013-09-08T08:27:00.004-07:002013-09-21T09:05:43.556-07:00Example of difficult articleRewordify.com makes it easy for web site owners and bloggers to put a link on their pages that instantly takes readers to a simpler version that helps them learn.<br />
<br />
Here's an example of some difficult text. It's the exciting scene when Frankenstein comes face-to-face with the monster he created. Many people struggle with this difficult language, but clicking this little link simplifies the whole page and helps people learn from it:<br /><br />
<div id="rwdclnk"></div><script>(function(){var ni=document.createElement("img");ni.style.width="88px";ni.style.height="25px";ni.src="http://www.rewordify.com/images/easierlink1.gif";var nd=document.createElement("a");nd.href="http://www.rewordify.com/rwweb.php?bl=y&userdata="+document.URL;nd.appendChild(ni);var rw=document.getElementById("rwdclnk");rw.insertBefore(nd,(rw.hasChildNodes())?rw.childNodes[0]:null);})()</script>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<br />
"Devil," I exclaimed, "do you dare approach me? And do not you fear the fierce vengeance of my arm wreaked on your miserable head? Begone, vile insect! Or rather, stay, that I may trample you to dust! And, oh! That I could, with the extinction of your miserable existence, restore those victims whom you have so diabolically murdered!"<br />
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"I expected this reception," said the daemon. "All men hate the wretched; how, then, must I be hated, who am miserable beyond all living things! Yet you, my creator, detest and spurn me, thy creature, to whom thou art bound by ties only dissoluble by the annihilation of one of us. You purpose to kill me. How dare you sport thus with life? Do your duty towards me, and I will do mine towards you and the rest of mankind. If you will comply with my conditions, I will leave them and you at peace; but if you refuse, I will glut the maw of death, until it be satiated with the blood of your remaining friends."<br />
<br />
"Abhorred monster! Fiend that thou art! The tortures of hell are too mild a vengeance for thy crimes. Wretched devil! You reproach me with your creation, come on, then, that I may extinguish the spark which I so negligently bestowed."<br />
<br />
My rage was without bounds; I sprang on him, impelled by all the feelings which can arm one being against the existence of another.<br />
<br />
--Mary Shelley, <i>Frankenstein</i> </blockquote>
You can help improve the readership of your blog or web page by adding the same kind of link. <a href="http://www.rewordify.com/rwforowners.php">Here's how to do it.</a> It's totally free! If you have any questions, please post a comment or <a href="http://www.rewordify.com/rwcontact.php">contact us</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07732936903887759927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457865695545708311.post-15523310784996187752013-09-02T07:38:00.002-07:002013-09-10T19:24:47.973-07:00Get more viewers on your blog or web siteRewordify.com makes it easy for you to get more viewers on your blog or web site.<br />
<br />
All you do is add one little link to your article or online content, and viewers instantly see a simplified version of your content. It's quick and completely free, and it makes your content accessible to millions of readers who might be intimidated by the hard language on your site.<br />
<br />
Here's a video that explains more:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/oT3Ww8u9YYw?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
You can read a <a href="http://www.rewordify.com/rwforowners.php">step-by-step guide here</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07732936903887759927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457865695545708311.post-4961810338647577542013-09-02T07:32:00.000-07:002014-01-13T19:47:06.422-08:00The challenge and fun of Rewordo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtFYkYjjwGK2LPVvmRxhRMax8Pu1n_Hcw0u-opJjJ9LZDoi9E-u2-RLQyispvsOsYWwb6lna2C6DHRB0SspqqjlLuFRBsvuwGDagDiluIxbr-bwNRQL3RRKxpuLczg0y_Por2rQNGOUXF_/s1600/RewordoScreenShot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtFYkYjjwGK2LPVvmRxhRMax8Pu1n_Hcw0u-opJjJ9LZDoi9E-u2-RLQyispvsOsYWwb6lna2C6DHRB0SspqqjlLuFRBsvuwGDagDiluIxbr-bwNRQL3RRKxpuLczg0y_Por2rQNGOUXF_/s1600/RewordoScreenShot.jpg" /></a></div>
We just published a fun vocabulary game called <a href="http://www.rewordify.com/rewordo.php">Rewordo</a>.<br />
<br />
It's the hardest vocabulary game on the Internet, and it's going through the roof in popularity.<br />
<br />
Rewordo pits you against our Rewordifying Engine, which knows over 35,000 of the most difficult words and phrases in English. You're faced with 20 hard words and phrases, one at a time. For each hard word or phrase, you have to pick the closest meaning from four choices. The object of the game is to get as many questions correct as quickly as possible.<br />
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You start with 1000 points. You lose 10 points for each second that goes by, and 50 points for each wrong answer. It's very difficult to get over 500 points, and anything over 250 points is impressive.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.rewordify.com/rewordo.php">Play it now</a>, and get hooked.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07732936903887759927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457865695545708311.post-16366906342962758212013-09-02T04:55:00.001-07:002013-09-29T20:32:21.564-07:00How to use Flash CardsWe just introduced a great new feature: flash cards!<br />
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he abstain'd from and usurp'st is on't and his distress'd and wat'ry eyes. <br />
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Whenever you rewordify a text passage that has between 1 and 100 hard words and phrases, you'll see a button that says "Get flash cards." Click it and you'll be taken to a fast, easy to use set of flash cards. Here's what they look like:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDeEVRZAVY3hFdGz6IrGGDkLS2ffXRmROmgmWtb2doQPGWiUaLprau3inPL6FQY17bBWj9sxthzfGtXaYwYOWja3L_Fkt_skgTe_94CgaUDKLgg8enegSl7yFW5tl-YyDFj1OkbncXbJk_/s1600/flashcardslive.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDeEVRZAVY3hFdGz6IrGGDkLS2ffXRmROmgmWtb2doQPGWiUaLprau3inPL6FQY17bBWj9sxthzfGtXaYwYOWja3L_Fkt_skgTe_94CgaUDKLgg8enegSl7yFW5tl-YyDFj1OkbncXbJk_/s320/flashcardslive.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The cards show the hard word and definition at once by default. Uncheck "Two sided cards" to see the "front" and "back" of the card. Click the card to "flip" it.</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
When you uncheck "Two sided cards" you'll see another checkbox that lets you choose whether you see the term or definition first as you move through the stack of cards. Choose whichever option helps you learn best.</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
If you know a term, click "Remove card" so you focus your mental efforts on what you don't know. </div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
When you think you know all the cards, click the "Take a quiz!" button to see how well you know them.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The Flash Cards feature works well on any computer, tablet, or smartphone. Here's a video that shows how it works:</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/JrgZ27TWCjw?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07732936903887759927noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457865695545708311.post-85165058407341511392013-03-21T15:36:00.000-07:002013-05-12T12:46:24.413-07:00Rewordify.com is live!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.rewordify.com/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.rewordify.com/">Rewordify.com</a> is now live!<br />
<br />
Rewordify.com helps you:<br />
<ul>
<li>read faster</li>
<li>understand more</li>
<li>learn more words a new way </li>
<li>reduce reading frustration</li>
<li>become a better reader!</li>
</ul>
Learn more on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/RewordifyDotCom">our video channel</a>, our <a href="http://www.rewordify.com/rwdetails.php">quick summary</a>, or on the many posts on this blog!<br />
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<br />
<h3>
View the print ads</h3>
<br />
We just produced two great print ads. Click on the pictures to download the .PDF<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="display: inline; float: left;">
<a href="http://www.rewordify.com/AdLaptop.pdf" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigIgnzrrBA8ufKXuUOovLQBN-ScW9WaVZjcgoljxj6bBMLlDdWz6bBzukXABW_ffafssLQbWp2YlIzj04h3JZ3rwfS1r9i0JXjLWib8ZisXKPU7OYaMsJr645H2PQxtZICei0ZGJuQ4YHn/s1600/adlaptop.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="display: inline;">
<a href="http://www.rewordify.com/AdBrickWall.pdf" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu3QwdSjl3-CY8srXQ0An3FekQr7JWASJWDHOq7Wq4gAe5JYM_louRu5FeDprl6IVYUzUi8zbugwxZcnsORxP9o4r_6-1oy-CwphLN_Xl1cdYEz520K_S_zJPZU6wQ_JwYHKoMfRzPf7p6/s1600/adwall.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<h3>
We welcome your feedback</h3>
<br />
Please tell us about any suggestions you might have so we can improve the site. Use our <a href="http://www.rewordify.com/rwcontact.php">feedback page</a>, or post a message on this blog.<br />
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<h3>
For media outlets</h3>
<br />
Thank you in advance for mentioning this site in your publication, blog, or article.<br />
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To help ensure a good experience for your readers, please <a href="http://www.rewordify.com/rwcontact.php">send us a brief note beforehand</a> if you're going to mention this site on a medium that has significant readership, so we can proactively bring more servers online to handle the spike in traffic. Please include the approximate readership of your publication, blog, etc., and the approximate date and time when your article will be published.<br />
<br />
Thanks a lot for helping Rewordify.com work like lightning for everyone.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07732936903887759927noreply@blogger.com0