My husband and I are avid readers of the XKCD webcomic, and we occasionally remember to also check the XKCD blog. It’s not frequently updated but when a new post does show up, it’s always a good one. The latest post showcases Dictionary of Numbers, a new tool that helps put large numbers in perspective.
Installed as a Chrome extension, Dictionary of Numbers can scan the websites you visit for large numbers and append the text with something else of a similar quantity. To put Dictionary of Numbers to the test, I googled the perfect candidate for large numbers, “US debt.” I landed on a Wikipedia article about the US national debt, which turned out vastly more entertaining with Dictionary of Numbers turned on!
It’s an amazing piece of writing in support of all
the internet users; they will get advantage from it I am sure.