I seem to recall a while back someone asking if there was a way of having a spell checker in the forum.
Well now there is, but it won't work for everyone. It's Firefox 2. I've just upgraded from Firefox 1.... and now my spelling is being checked even as I type this. And I had the option of having a British English dictionary to check with.
Their is know weigh to check for humane err.
(Which means that homonyms (sound alikes) are not screened by most spell check programs.)
Les
I'm willing to take responsibility for my own stupidity, it's the typos that I miss.
Like all the drivers who believe their sat nav and then find their lorry won't fit under the low bridge the road sign was warning them about, you still have to engage brain.
They think it's okay to ignore those signs as long as the police aren't around
Gravity enforces weight restrictions better than the police. There was a bridge over the estuary built years ago with railway sleepers and safe for cars. The lorry driver who decided the restrictions didn't apply to him ended up in the river.
Hmmm ... my Firefox shows version 1.5.0.8 and when I check for updates, none are available. How did you manage to get version 2?
I think it's still a beta version, Hugh, but it is available: [www.mozilla.com] />
Unless of course you're in Russia, in which case Version 2 will not be available until 2016.
Les
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/24/2006 02:33PM by lg.
there is a security glitch in version 2 though. According to a Dutch newspaper anyway. No problem, if you disable saving passwords, and I'm sure they'll fix it in no time.
Right, which is why I am never the first one on my block to upgrade anything. I think I will hold off on 2.0 until the bugs are zapped. Heck, I would still be on Windows 98 if they hadn't automatically installed XP on my last-purchased computer at the factory. Yeah, I had to be dragged, kicking and biting, away from DOS. Still, in my own defense, I did have multiple operating sytems available at boot-up in the old days, with DOS 6.0, DRDOS 7, and Windows 3.0.
Linda, dawing,
"British English"? My, my, how sophisticated. Is there by any chawnce New Zealand English, or perhaps, Austrailian English... how about Canadian English...
;->
E.
Here you go Elliot: [www.justlocal.com.au] />
Les
And I've just discovered that as a member of the local public library I have access to the on-line edition of the OED.
Most colleges subscribe to the OED, so if you don't care to subscribe individually you can usually access the dictionary through your local college. Info. is available here: [www.oed.com] />
Les
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/26/2006 03:31PM by lg.
Jolly good. An Ausie Dictionary. I thank thee kindly, lg.
- Speaking of OED, The Oxford is available on disk: "The Oxford Thesaurus of English"; 600,000 words; when you have it up, double click on any word and down drops a window; gives synonyms and definitions (funny, it doesn't have synonym... ergo, there apparently are no synonyms for synonym).
- For troubleshooting the spelling of a word, there is the Franklin 'Language Master' (a stand alone unit - like a double size Blackberry); if you mis-spell, it gives ten words closest to what you think you are trying to spell; definitions, all variations of the word + thesaurus, it even talks to you; I have even used it to find words that rhyme; you type in nonsense variations that sound like your target word, and in the ten variations there usually something of interest. My Franklin is about 12 years old now, and starting to grow a mustache...
E.
I don't know if it's worth any thing but you can search the Compact OED for free.
It's not worth much, I fear. Try searching the word 'will', for example, on their Search page:
[www.askoxford.com] />
I was reading Shakespeare's sonnet 135 and was intrigued by the various uses of that word in his text (the author's own name plus some apparent sexual innuendoes), so I wanted to look up the word's etymology. I suspect the full OED has lots of information to impart, but they want so much money for it, I will have to remain partially ignorant.
Still, the free Century Dictionary has a goodly amount of information, although nothing relating to that sonnet:
[www.global-language.com] />
(Clicking the JPEG instead of installing their viewer works ok, but the text is kind of small. Installing the viewer lets one increase the size up to 300%.)
Remaining off topic for poetry subjects, what is with all the finger pointing?
[cgfa.sunsite.dk] />
[cgfa.sunsite.dk] />
[www.nga.gov] />
[www.philipresheph.com] />
[www.philipresheph.com] />
[photos1.blogger.com] />
[www.wga.hu] />
[www.colours-art-publishers.com] />
[www.wga.hu] />
[www.artchive.com] (image viewer enlarges)
[www.artchive.com] />
Even the trees are doing it!
[www.nga.gov]
Whenever I want to show the dog something, and point at it with my finger, the dog is always more interested in my finger than what I am pointing at.
The same goes for my baby. I point at something to try to teach him the name of it, and he looks at my finger and laughs!
Did you find the meaning of a pointing finger in art? I can't seem to find it, apart from the obvious that it refers to afterlife (heaven).
Maybe it has something to do with the "I'm with Stupid" T-Shirt
Did you find the meaning of a pointing finger in art?
Not at all, and the reason for my query. One infers there is some sort of secret known to ancient masters but not divulged to the rest of us. Much like the Da Vinci Code stuff, right. Sure, could just be pointing to heaven, but possibly something more?
Perhaps Raphael was making a joke about the subject when he painted Leonardo's likeness as Plato in his School of Athens fresco? [www.artchive.com] />
I just find it incredible that, once I started looking for examples, I found so many of them! Does anyone know of others that I missed. Surely they are out there to be found.
from the same site:
The gesture which Plato is making with his upward-pointing finger is symbolic in meaning: he is pointing to the source of higher inspiration, the realm of ideas. Aristotle, on the other hand, is gesturing downwards, towards the starting-point of all the natural sciences.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/15/2006 01:18PM by JohnnySansCulo.
They're just pulling your leg......so to speak
Speaking of Firefox 2 - here is a bad thing they have done. If you use the version 1.5 Calendar feature - beware! Do not upgrade to 2.0. The installation wipes out your entire previous Calendar data without warning. A little pop-up box promises to let you know when a calendar add-on for 2.0 will be available. And just when you thought only Microsoft made idiotic upgrades, sheesh.
One more caveat and one note of praise and I will leave this topic alone. On the negative side, they have now installed method of closing tabs with a single click of the red X on the right hand side of each tab. This is certainly easier than the right click + close tab of my old version, but ya gotta be real careful with your mouse. I like to open a couple of tabs, then cut-and-paste stuff between them (urls, for example). If one accidentally touches the X on any given tab, it is immediately closed, losing whatever information was being worked on - ouch! I don't see any way to modify this with a 'tell me twice' option. Prolly a mistake one only makes a couple of times before taking more care, right.
On the plus side, the spell check feature seems to work well, underlining in red any words that seem strange (such as prolly above).
Oops - spoke too soon. If one wants to get rid of the red X that closes the tab, type about:config into the url bar. Search, or page down to, browser.tabs.closeButtons, double click that line and set the value to 3. If one is more careful with the mouse than I am, leave it alone.