Maveno.us is a web based dictionary / term lookup that retrieves definitions from wiktionary.org, and displays them fairly quickly for easy access to your word defining needs. I first got the idea when I found ninjawords.com. I was very impressed with the speed at which they were able to retrieve word definitions, and the simple and elegant interface they did it in. There were of course a few things I felt could be improved upon, or all together changed, hence — Mavenous.

All Definitions are provided by wiktionary.org, the amazing open dictionary. The wicked spell check is provided by Google, without whom we would all be lost. Mavenous is built with PHP raw sockets and the Services_JSON from the PHP Pear library for converting the Wiktionary dump to JSON.

Not to be outdone, I have also created a desktop application that is basically just a quick browser that will minimize to the system tray for easy access. It is just a very simple Visual Basic .NET Windows form application, so keep that in mind. I have also added the OpenSearch specifications to Mavenous so that in Internet Explorer 7, and Firefox (1.5+ I believe?) you can use it as one of your search options.

Donations: Time to get all Jerry Lewis

For as long as I have a say in it, Mavenous will always be free to use. So long as pirates don’t board my sea fairing ship, and steal all me booty, this shouldn’t be a problem, but… It never hurts to have people show their support for your efforts. If anyone does happen to feel an overwhelming need to throw a few coins at the cause, you can use the PayPal button below to indulge in said fanciful needs.

Thanks,
Dustin - Maveno.us, Halofree Studios