[72] in Software_Announce
new version of Wordnet on Athena
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (alexp@MIT.EDU)
Tue Apr 11 17:08:55 1995
From: alexp@MIT.EDU
To: cfyi@MIT.EDU, 3partysw@MIT.EDU, acs@MIT.EDU, software-announce@MIT.EDU,
nut-lib@MIT.EDU, jsbanks@MIT.EDU, fleish@MIT.EDU
Cc: css@MIT.EDU, dcns@MIT.EDU
Date: Tue, 11 Apr 1995 17:07:35 EDT
I have installed a new version (1.5) of Wordnet on Athena, replacing the
former 1.4 release. To access it do "add wordnet" at the Athena prompt,
followed by "xwn" (X interface) or "wn" (TTY interface). The X interface
is much easier to use; the TTY one runs over dialup which is its only
real advantage. It is now on all Athena platforms except SGIs.
According to the release notes the database is about 30% larger than the
previous release.
For those who have never used it: Wordnet is a rather unique product;
it is most like a thesaurus but also has features of a dictionary and
even an encyclopedia. Best thing to do is just to try it out and
experiment with it.
For those who have: the Semantic Concordance is currently not available-
a new release is currently in development. Also new is a Web version- see
the READMEs in the locker for details.
One technical detail: after you enter a word in the "Enter Search Word"
text entry box and hit return, you have to wait until Wordnet has processed
the input- this can unfortunately take a while, especially the first time.
You will know when this is complete by looking at the message line below the
row of "Searches" boxes; the message will change and will echo back the
word you entered. Subsequent searches should be a lot faster.
Please note that Wordnet is totally unsupported, although there is
documentation (including UNIX man pages) in the locker and on the
Princeton Wordnet Web page.
Feel free to contact me if you have questions. Enjoy!
Alex
