Top Hosting Center Rudolph Lifetime Web Hosting Scam Returns ...

Top Hosting Center is once again offering their Rudolph web hosting plan for lifetime web hosting. This time around they've got two different Rudolph web...more...

They never let poor Rudolph join in any reindeer games. rn ...

They never let poor Rudolph join in any reindeer games. rn. From BH on Jan 5, 2009. They never let poor Rudolph join in any reindeer games rn. shaming. Likes. 3. I like it Recording... Share this picture. Facebook · Fark .....more...

The Paul Rudolph Foundation: Lessons in Paul Rudolph from Steven ...

The Paul Rudolph Foundation was established in 2002 by a group of friends, colleagues and former associates with the intent to further the preservation, knowledge and understanding of the work of one of the important late modernist .....more...

Giftables Snowman Vase $9.95 (was $43.00), Rudolph's Misfit ...

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Ups and Downs: Rudolph cookies for the Cometas

Haley and I made Rudolph cookies for her basketball team (The Cometas). The kids loved them at the party! Notice the little boy with his hand ready to grab one! Some of the adults took them home to save them. .....more...

Rudolph Book & Movie Club for 2009 | Magical Holiday Home

Rudolph Book & Movie Club is a wonderful tradition started on the Organized Christmas boards and we are happy to carry on the tradition here at Magical Holiday Home. The members have made the selections for 2009 and you can view them on .....more...

The Progressive Puppy: Rowdy's Roundup - Straight Rudolph, Gay ...

Ed Brayton on ScienceBlogs deconstructs Christianist Matthew Stucky's assertion that Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer was picked on by the all the other reindeer cuz he was straight and the other reindeer were gay. (Of course I almost.....more...

Dispatches from the Culture Wars: Rudolph the Gay Reindeer

A reader sends along this link, which he says is not a parody but is actually a serious statement by a guy named Matthew Stucky. He says that Santa Claus (which he spells Clause, for some reason) is satanic and.....more...

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer the victim of a ‘gay conspiracy ...

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I'm Not In A Laughing Mood, Even!: Rudolph's Shiny New Year and ...

Rudolph's Shiny New Year and various thoughts... Happy New Year from Baby New Year!!!!! Happy New Year from me!!!!!! Holy shiz! 2008 is over. Thank god. Though I had many positive and amazing experiences this year that I will never .....more...

BBC News Search: rudolph (20)

Nureyev biography vies for prize

Rudolph Nureyev and Pablo Picasso biographies are among nominations for the BBC Four Samuel Johnson Prize.

Portrait's 65-year mystery ends

A 94-year-old man is reunited with an oil painting of his mother which was confiscated by the Nazis in 1942.

Hess plane wing part to be sold

Part of the aircraft wreckage from the plane carrying Rudolph Hess to Britain is to be sold at auction.

Giuliani's daughter 'backs Obama'

The daughter of Republican presidential hopeful Rudolph Giuliani signals support for Democrat Barack Obama.

Giuliani joins race for president

Ex-New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani registers as a candidate for the Republican US presidential nomination.

Community's bid to buy POW camp

Perthshire villagers discuss plans to buy a WWII camp which housed Nazi prisoners including Rudolph Hess.

Giuliani tests presidency waters

Ex-New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani takes a key step towards running for the 2008 US presidency.

Life for German designer's killer

A Munich court jails an Iraqi man for life for murdering the flamboyant German fashion designer Rudolph Moshammer.

Confusion over designer's death

Comments by the Iraqi man accused of killing flamboyant German fashion designer Rudolph Moshammer cause confusion at his trial in Munich.

Air force payout cures Santa woes

The Danish air force admits causing the death of Rudolph the reindeer and pays compensation to Father Christmas.

Olympics bomber sentenced to life

The man convicted of the Olympics bombing in Atlanta is jailed for life for his attack on the 1996 games.

Olympics bomber gets life in jail

The man convicted of the Olympics bombing in Atlanta gets life in jail for an attack on an abortion clinic.

Giuliani says attack echoes 9/11

The mayor of New York during the 9/11 attacks, Rudolph Giuliani, tells the BBC he was near one of the London blasts.

Profile: Eric Rudolph

Eric Rudolph, the man who is pleading guilty to carrying out the 1996 Atlanta bombing and other attacks, is a suspected white supremacist.

Man admits Atlanta Olympics bomb

Eric Rudolph pleads guilty to carrying out the 1996 Atlanta Olympic bombing and three other attacks.

Atlanta bomb suspect strikes deal

The US man accused of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic bombing pleads guilty to all charges.

Flamboyant German designer buried

Thousands line Munich's streets for the funeral of murdered fashion designer Rudolph Moshammer.

Dog gets German designer's house

Murdered German fashion designer Rudolph Moshammer leaves his villa to his beloved pet dog.

Man 'confesses' to Munich murder

Munich police say a young Iraqi man has confessed to murdering fashion designer Rudolph Moshammer.

Rudolph the deer rescued from sea

A deer rescued from the sea off Falmouth is nicknamed Rudolph by rescuers.

How To Use Readability Formulas To Help You Write Better

We can dissect the term "readability" into "read" + "ability," which translates into the ability to read. Readability has nothing to do with either legibility or literacy. In fact, readability is more of a judgmental exercise for the targeted audience. George Klare (1963) defines readability as "the ease of understanding or comprehension due to the style of writing." We can consider readability as means to measure the difficulty of text or page layout, so the writer knows how effectively his text will reach his target audience before he publishes or distributes it.

We can assess readability through readability tests by applying readability formulas. Readability formulas are mathematical in nature; each formula's primary aim is to measure the grade level a person must have to read and comprehend a text. Writers consider readability formulas as simple ways to judge read-ability, i.e., the difficulty level of a text.

Readability formulas measure certain features of a text based on mathematical calculations. We base these readability measures on a handful of factors; the most common factors include the number of words in a sentence, as well as the number of letters or syllables per word. Most readability formulas are based on one semantic factor (i.e., the difficulty of words), and one syntactic factor (i.e., the difficulty of sentences). We don't need to calculate other factors, as they tend to make the formulas more complex and achieve little in return.

Another fact about these formulas is that you don't need readers to read out (or try to read out) the text. However, readability formulas don't always work with 100% accuracy.

Importance of Readability Formulas

It requires a great deal of effort to come up with some kind of text. This text may be unique in its contents, yet it fails to serve its purpose of making the reader understand and use it. The problem many writers face is how to assess the "readability" of their text. Readability formulas offer the solution. By applying these scientific and mathematical principles, the readability formulas aim to present an objective analysis about the readability of a particular text.

Commonly Used Readability Formulas

Researchers and writers have been using readability formulas since 1920 and, over the years, they have spent a lot of time devising the most accurate and scientific formulas to assess readability. Some of the popular and commonly used formulas include:

1. Rudolph Flesch's Reading Ease Formula;

2. Flesch's Grade Level;

3. J. Peter Kinkaid's Flesch-Kinkaid Index;

4. Robert Gunning's Fog Index;

5. The SMOG Readability Formula;

6. Fry's Readability Graph;

7. New Dale-Chall Formula;

8. Powers-Sumner-Kearl Readability Formula;

9. FORCAST Readability Formula; and

10. Spache Readability Formula.

Why Use Readability Formulas?

Despite their much-criticized shortcomings, many organizations consider readability formulas an important tool to evaluate the readability of text. Here are reasons why you should use readability formulas:

1. Most Americans have limited reading ability, which means their reading grade-level balances between average and poor. It makes sense to prepare text in plain English if your readers have limited reading capabilities. How do you determine if your text is readable from your readers' point of view? Simple. Use readability formulas.

2. If the text is not readable, the purpose of writing it in the first place gets defeated. For instance, let's assume you've written an instruction manual for your employees. If your employees cannot read this manual, they will never understand the true meaning of its contents; this will adversely impact their productivity. Using readability formulas can prevent such a scenario and tell you beforehand if your text is of any value to your employees.

3. Readability formulas help you to prepare a readable text. In other words, these formulas can save you time and money that you might have wasted in writing a complicated document, which is not useful for the target audience.

4. Just imagine how frustrated your target audience feels trying to read an ill-prepared document. Studies show that enforcing difficult text can have adverse effects on the overall mood and psychology of your customers. They may feel confused by a clumsily prepared text and opt for another provider.

5. Preparing text costs money. If you produce an unreadable text, you are increasing your organization's operating costs. By using readability formulas, you are almost 80% sure that your readers find your text useful; thereby, keeping your costs down.

6. Most reputable word-processors, like MS-Word, have a built-in readability formula feature that helps you to assess the readability of a document. If you can gain such a useful insight into the document without manually calculating the readability, why won't you use it?

The underlying message of each formula is the same: if you use shorter, average sentence lengths and fewer big-lettered words, you can reduce the reading level and increase the speed and ease of reading.

How To Use The Flesch Grade Level Readability Formula To Write For Your Audience

Flesch Grade Level Readability Formula improves upon the Flesch Reading Ease Readability Formula. Rudolph Flesch, an author, writing consultant, and the supporter of Plain English Movement, is the co-author of this formula along with John P. Kincaid. That's why it is also called Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Readability Test. Raised in Austria, Flesch studied law and earned a Ph.D. in English from the Columbia University. Flesch, through his writings and speeches, advocated a return to phonics. In his article, "A New Readability Yardstick," published in the Journal of Applied Psychology in 1948, Flesch proposed the Reading Ease Readability Formula.

In 1976 the US Navy modified the Reading Ease formula to produce a grade-level score by applying the Flesch Grade-Scale formula, or the Kincaid formula. John P. Kincaid was assisted by Robert P Fishburne Jr., Richard L. Rogers, and Brad S. Chissom, in his research.

This formula is known by different names, like Flesch-Kincaid Index, Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Score, Flesch-Kincaid Scale, Flesch-Kincaid Score, Flesch-Kincaid Readability Score, Flesch-Kincaid Readability Statistics, Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Index, Flesch-Kincaid Readability Index, Flesch-Kincaid readability equation, and so on.

The US Government Department of Defense uses Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level formula as a standard test; however, this Formula is best suited in the field of education.

How to calculate the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Readability Formula:

Step 1: Calculate the average number of words used per sentence.

Step 2: Calculate the average number of syllables per word.

Step 3: Multiply the average number of words by 0.39 and add it to the average number of syllables per word multiplied by 11.8.

Step 4: Subtract 15.59 from the result.

The specific mathematical formula is:

FKRA = (0.39 x ASL) + (11.8 x ASW) - 15.59

Where,

FKRA = Flesch-Kincaid Reading Age

ASL = Average Sentence Length (i.e., the number of words divided by the number of sentences)

ASW = Average number of Syllable per Word (i.e., the number of syllables divided by the number of words)

Analyzing the results is a simple exercise. A score of 5.0 indicates a grade-school level; a score of 9.3 means that a ninth grader would be able to read the document. This score makes it easier for teachers, parents, librarians, and others to judge the readability level of various books and texts for students.

Theoretically, the lowest grade level score could be -3.4. This is an unlikely result since no real passages have every sentence consisting of a one-syllable word.

Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Readability Formula is available in MS-Word. However, MS-Word doesn't score above grade 12; any grade above 12 will be reported as Grade 12.

If your text scores above 12th grade, then follow these simple writing tips to reduce the complexity of your writing:

1. Write below the 8th-grade level. Studies show that writing below the 8th-grade (preferably around 5-6th grade levels) achieves the best results.

2. Get to the point immediately. Don't write long-winded paragraphs that bury your document’s message.

3. Use active voice, not passive. Writing in active voice enables you to write shorter sentences, and write with authority.

4. Always use fewer words when possible.

5. Use simpler words. If you can replace a difficult word with a simpler word, then use the simpler word.