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On-line translation; New browsers from Microsoft AND Google; Firefox and GMail add-ons.
Free On-Line Translation: The best on-line translation services.
Firefox add-ons: Super Homepage; Script Control and Coloured Tabs.
Internet Explorer 8: Steve says good things about IE? Well,...
Google's Browser: Chrome, Google's Internet browser
Gmail Agenda AND Mail: See your mail and agenda on the same page.
On-Line Translation
Most of my readers are living in Spain and I thought it was about time I reviewed the options for free translation on line. These are the 3 that I recommend. In practice I use Windows Live Translator and then Google Translate if needed.
Babel Fish
http://babelfish.yahoo.com
Translates blocks of text up to 150 characters and/or entire web pages.
It only takes a few seconds and the results are acceptable. I have used this for many years but I have recently changed to Windows Live Translator (see below) for its added features.
Windows Live Translator
www.windowslivetranslator.com
This is like Babel Fish and, indeed, uses the same translation software. The important difference is that you have 500 characters and page translations are shown with the translation next to the original. For me, another important difference is that technical translations are handled by Microsoft and are therefore more accurate.
This is a recent (2008) service.
Google Translate
www.google.com/translate_t
Unlike the previous 2 this uses a different method of translating and is therefore a good check and will help to identify errors. When a page is translated you can hover over the translated text to see the original.
It has a number of tools and gadgets related to Google's core business which you will find useful. Not least of which is an addition to the Google toolbar which translates text automatically just by 'hovering' over it. You must 'enable' it in the 'settings' for Google toolbar.
Firefox: More Add-ons!
OK, so now to the familiar "Steve loves Firefox" section. Bored readers can skip ahead (I have included a preview about Internet Explorer 8 and Google's Chrome just for you!) but for the true believers: read on! I am sure you will like number 3.
This extension allows you to set a group of Web sites that will open (each in its own tab) with the click of a button. This will save you from having to roam through your bookmarks (while drinking that first cup of wake-me-up in the morning) to view your favourite sites. And you don’t have to limit yourself to personal browsing, either. I also use this extension to open up all the Web-based admin tools for sites I administer. You can even set sites up to open only on certain days (or every day). So news junkies or overworked administrators rejoice: This extension will make your browsing life a little easier.
This is one of the best tools for making sure your browsing experience is secure. With NoScript, you can disable active content from any site you don’t trust. Unless you configure it to allow JavaScript, Java, and other executable scripting to run from a site, NoScript will completely block the script, keeping your browser safe from known and unknown exploits.
If you’re like me, you generally have a LOT of tabs open in Firefox. Sometimes this isn’t a problem. But there are times when the tabs can get a bit overwhelming and need a bit of organization. To help with this, ColorfulTabs gives each open tab a different colour, making it easier to distinguish between them. With this simple extension, you can colour-code tabs either randomly or according to URL. You can also set tabs to fade. Another fun feature is that you can set a background image for tabs.
Internet Explorer 8!
One of the reasons I don't like IE is because it takes so long to update itself but now, hot on the heels of IE 7, here is IE8.
The beta version was released on August 27th 2008. A beta version is a pre-release version that is released to the general public to help identify bugs. This is normal practice and shouldn't put you off giving it a try.However, this page doesn't work properly in IE8!! The internal links don't work so you have to press the compatibility button (at the top, next to the refresh button).
As expected, there are a lot of new features: InPrivate browsing (”porn mode”) and InPrivate blocking are just two of the many new items that got added to the latest IE beta. Others include crash recovery (recovery from IE crashing - not the computer!), a “Diagnose Connection Problem” button, and Compatibility View (for sites that don't work with IE! - examples are on the Redmond Pie enthusiast site and include Gmail, Hotmail... - Now, tell me again why I don't like IE!).
All in all, IE8 looks like it will be a great improvement on previous versions but look out for Google's browser "Google Chrome". For a list of more of what’s new in Beta 2, check out this page.
Google Chrome
And now to the future! Well, at least it should be. One of the reasons that Firefox is so much better than IE is that it was able to learn from IE's mistakes. It is logical to think that a new browser will be better still and, with Google's pedigree, why not?
Google has launched a Web browser called Chrome that will take on Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and apparently Mozilla’s Firefox, which the search giant essentially funds.
As with IE8, this is in beta form and has the following features:
- Google’s browser will be open source;
- Chrome will include a JavaScript Virtual Machine built from scratch;
- Tabs will be moved around;
- The browser has an address bar with auto-completion;
- There’s a privacy feature like IE8;
- And Google aims to be proactive about fighting phishing and malware attacks.
View Your Gmail and Gmail Agenda Together
GmailAgenda is a free download for all platforms running Firefox with the Greasemonkey extension (install this first). The GmailAgenda user script from Greasemonkey puts your Google Calendar's upcoming events on the right hand side of your inbox. Once you install GmailAgenda (choose "Install This Script" at the top right of the web page), a panel appears on the right side of every view inside Gmail which contains your GCal agenda (as pictured).
I would suspect that Google's own browser will include this kind of ability but who knows?
Final Word
As always, I encourage anyone with a comment, suggestion, question, idea, criticism or inspiration to contact me at
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.
Please also see The Inland Magazine Computer Problems Forum if you have a specific IT problem.
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