Bullfighter eliminates bull in your writing

No Bull Here!

Thanks Very Much

Deloitte Consulting have produced a free download writing tool called Bullfighter which, they say, Strips The Bull Out Of Business The product is a additional tool bar for Word - which analyses your writing, produces some basic metrics on the text,and points out anywhere the document is using 'bull' words. You'll understand it instalnatly when you see it- but for more info, see the BullFighter FAQ on the website for more info on the product. I like this for a couple of reasons.

I do quite a bit of writing - books, magazine articles, etc. Any simple tools that help me write better and easier are welcome. Especially if they help me avoid feedback from editors over unclear meaning.

I mainly use Word and PowerPoint - producing Word documents and PowerPoint slide decks. I also use tools like Blogger, O, etc. Where possible, I like to be able to use Word as the editor. My systems are big and fast enough to support this). So a tool that works in the environment is useful.

Bullfighter helps find the bullshit. I hope to avoid using phrases like "A value-added, leverageable global knowledge repository", or referring to products that are "Repurposeable, leading edge thoughtware that delivers results-driven value". But just in case I did lapse into marketing-eese, bullfighter lets me know.

Now we don't toally see eye - it complains when I use 'Enterprise". As I write for "Enterprise Server Magazine", avoiding the word is somewhat tricky. Still - a useful tool.

I also like it because it points out average sentence and word length and calculates the Fleich index. Keeping the writing simpler is good for editor, for me and hopefully for the reader. And it is very quick too.

The tools is a 4mb download. But do not run it on a system with sound in a crowded office. At least turn the sound down! :-) The flash image that is loaded while the product is installed is fun, and loud. You have been warned!

And what gives with the forced reboot after installation? It's just a tool bar for heaven's sake. Tool bar installs should never do a reboot. Should they? Grrrrr