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Different tack this week, I figure I'd do a couple of short reviews instead of one long one. Below you'll find Dr. Science and A.Word.A.Day, both daily mailings. The only thing they have in common is that they both come out daily...

Review #1 - Dr. Science Daily Question

Quick Rating:

Overall - 5
Content - 5
Writing - 4.5
Regularity - 4
Extras - 4

E-zine Description: Dr. Science is a short e-mail blurb that answers a burning question every day. Recent questions include "Do you like to use a Macintosh? Have you ever licked the foot of a dwarf?", "When you make bread, does yeast feel pain?" and "Can I charge my car battery with Visa?".

Frequency of Publication: Daily

Subscription Instructions:
Address: majordomo@listserv.direct.net
Body: subscribe dr-science (mail address)

WWW location: http://www.drscience.com/

Contact Information:
Visit the site or submit questions to: DrScience@drscience.com

Cost: Free

Review

Every day expect an interesting a very humourous response to the question of the day. Generally unscientific and usually quite funny. In the words of the site itself: "Actually the Dr. likes science and usually knows the real answer to the question but coming up with the wrong answer in the right way is tougher and a whole lot more fun."

Rating:

Content - 5
This thing is very fun, like a Dave Barry typpa fella doing Bill Nye. The Doctor never seems to be at a loss for words. And as a daily bonus you get to see the gold star question, letting you try to answer one of these burning questions for yourself.

Writing Quality/Style - 4.5
Very creatively done and compact. 20 seconds to cover this thing off every day. He does tend to spell things wrong once and a while, but I'm not gonna whine; it's free.

Regularity - 4
Every day. Mostly. Hell, 28 of 31 days deserves some level of recognition.

Extras - 4
He's nice enough to have an mailing list FAQ on-line and makes the advert in every issue almost as much fun to read as the other stuff.

Overall - 5
Well it's daily, it's free, it's funny, it's silly, it's not smelly... Did I mention it was free?

Review #2 - A.Word.A.Day

Quick Rating:

Overall - 5
Content - 5
Writing - 5
Regularity - 5
Extras - 5

E-zine Description: A.Word.A.Day is almost (but not quite) like it sounds. Every day Anu Garg sends you a new word, each linked to a new theme for the week. "The music and magic of words -- that's what A.Word.A.Day is all about."

Frequency of Publication: Daily

Subscription Instructions:
Address: wsmith@wordsmith.org
Subject: subscribe [YourFirstName LastName]

WWW location: http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/

Contact Information:
Visit the site or submit questions to: anu@wordsmith.org

Cost: Free

Review

A.Word.A.Day, but with lots of info packed in. Every week has a theme (that may carry over in following weeks) and every word has full definitions, illustrative quotes from eclectic sources, and etymological information. The words are diverse and they will regularly fit into your daily vocabulary.

Rating:

Content - 5
The etymology and themes alone make this interesting enough to read. Anu picks excellent theme sets for the words and is quite good at presenting word history and always surprises you with common words and their proper (and alternative) definitions.

Writing Quality/Style - 5
Immaculate. Professional.

Regularity - 5
Every day. I mean Every Day. Punctual. Very.

Extras - 5
An ongoing "mailing list FAQ" question in every issue, giving you tips on how to use the A.Word.A.Day system better. As well, the monthly AWAD newsletter keeps you up to date on system changes and other tidbits.

Overall - 5
If you like (or love) words, word histories, prose and poetry and aren't interested in the run-of-the-mill word calenders, subscribe to this one now.

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Updated: nov-03-08

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