Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Context? There's an app for that

Or at least a chrome extension.

The Dictionary of Numbers is a browser add on that gives context to the numbers people throw out there.  Apparently it will add in line context to numbers it encounters (ie 8 million people = about the population of NYC), and also provides a search function when that doesn't work.

I'm going to try this out and see how I like it.  Intentionally or not, people are always throwing out big numbers without proper context, and something like this could really help mollify that.

I'll be reporting back.

2 comments:

  1. Interesting.

    If the number is mentioned in an article full of references to health, will the Context Number example also be a health-related statistic?

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    Replies
    1. I haven't seen that yet, but it did just tell me my checking account balance was about the per capita income of Mexico.

      That put my morning in perspective.

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