PELLCHECKERS have been a very fundamental tool for quite some time. However, they tend to be bundled to particular applications and the whimsical Windows XP does not even include one, unless/until Office gets installed. Below are a few observations and personal tricks, which enable the task known as spellchecking to ‘escape’ the relams of individual packages.

Firstly, let us consider Web browsers. The latest of Konqueror comes with in-line spellchecker ‘out of the box’; Firefox has plugins (notably SpellBound); I am not too sure about Opera because it contains nothing as such ‘out of the box’. Then again, I may have missed it because I use Opera no more than once a week. Internet Explorer may rely on applications like Word or Outlook (Express) for peripheral spellchecking, yet this is far from convenient.

How can the user check inserted text in merely any application? What happens when the spelling facility is out of sight? I can only present my own method, which is the use of a lightweight external program: the text editor. Copying to external editors is easy and generalisable, just as a last resort. In my case, this involves a sequence of keystrokes: [Ctrl]+A (highlight all), [Ctrl]+C (copy), [Ctrl]+E (for editor invocation), [Ctrl]+V (paste in editor), [Ctrl]+T+S (spellchecking), then [Ctrl]+A (highlight all again), [Ctrl]+C, [Ctrl]+V (paste back). It takes only a few seconds and works effectively in any application.

All in all, familiarity with keyboard accelerators is the key (pun intended), as well as setup of new accelerators, hand positioning (arms as adjacent as possible to all peripherals) and so forth. A few others could possibly attest to a similar experience.

The ‘big boys’ have some typos as well, one of which I captured

Season of the playful penguins from Oyonale

IBM have gradually become a close ally of Linux, as well as Open Source in general. Among the exciting news for Linux, heaps of which have flooded the mainstream in recent weeks/month:

IBM Challenges Microsoft With $300 Million Ad Campaign

At the center of the new migration initiative under Move2Lotus is “Migrate to the Penguin.” IBM is introducing a limited time only rebate program for eligible IBM Software Resellers who move customers from Microsoft Exchange to Lotus Notes and Domino on Linux collaboration offerings.

Source: technewsworld.com

The Movie Timeline is a nice little project which attempts to assign a film to each event since the beginning of time. To get the general idea, here is an arbitrary snippet:

1973 Bobby Darin dies (Beyond The Sea)
New York – Penny Lane becomes a regular on the tour bus (Almost Famous)
Las Vegas – Sam “Ace” Rothstein begins running a casino (Casino)
…

Although many of the entries are humorous, Hollywood has made it possible to watch a series of films which document Earth’s history.

Feed readers are merely everywhere nowadays. They are especially popular among bloggers and sufferers of the information overload age. To some, feed readers have become an application whose importance is on par with that of the E-mail client and the Web browser.

In a new review of on-line feed readers (as opposed to native desktop applications) Feedlounge, which I am/was somewhat involved in, was probably one among two winners, Google being the other contender. I once mentioned Google as the primarily threat to Feedlounge — a fact that Feedlounge founder were quick to grasp. Will all readers prevail or will only a few survive?

Other reviews: A decent overview involving 10 prominent Linux distributions, even a comical review of Windows Vista

The front page of Slashdot on April 1^st, 2006

Y title is probably misleading, but Slashdot have published some rumours as news, on several occasions in the past. Their editors improve in terms of how selective they are, yet I lost some interest in Slashdot due to a fine alternative. I find more of the latest on technology over at Digg. With Digg, content tends to be more succinct, more broad and more frequently updated (albeit frauds due to slow moderation have become commonplace). Subscription to the Digg feeds is something which I strongly recommend to those who can cope with more load and want to keep abreast of the latest.

VERY once in a while I pause and ponder. This time, I ponder financial issues, which rarely do I bother with. All I have is a wealth of files (about a quarter of a million of them), a wealth of free applications, and an excellent free operating system too. Wealth cannot be measured in physical terms alone or in numbers which correspond to bank accounts. We live in a less materialistic world nowadays.

I do not have state-of-the-art hardware. I regret this not. In fact, my hardware is clearly outdates, yet it’s sufficient for everything one does under Linux. I have never ever (in my entire life) had up-to-the-minute specs approached. Not in telephony; not in entertainment; not in computing. I was happy enough with yesterday’s technology, speed-wise, albeit not software-wise. Free software can make significant differences, whereas the engine it runs on, provided the system is not overtly greedy, will cope.

As I digress, I haven’t a great wealth of gadgets, either. I have what I seek for pragmatic needs, e.g. a backup unit and an old Palm handheld. As for anything else in life, I rarely ever buy anything luxurious, let alone buy something other than groceries. No pricey clothes and nothing whose value is temporary — something that erodes or dissolves through the years. Nothing that takes too much space seems necessary!

I seem to get my best of kicks from the health clubs and computers (Internet), admittedly so. Social stuff too, but I impose a limit on this. Overall, I convey a simple and trite message, which I wish to pass on: who said money and possession bring happiness? My living expenses are overall quite low. This enables me to pursue what I enjoy rather than worry about making ends or plan that ‘next expensive vacation’. I no longer enjoy vacations, as a matter of fact. I have no urge to escape from anything, ever. Life is about your passions; your hobbies. Worry less about finance and discover your mind’s vocation.

HE Epoch Times reports that the world’s tallest woman comes from Asia. The photos are truly astounding and one of them (the one I saw first) had me question the genuineness.

Thirty-four-year-old Yao Defen is known as Asia’s tallest woman. At 7 feet 7 inches, 396 pounds, and a shoe size (EUR) of 78, Yao attracts a lot of attention. This “woman giant” makes her living as a circus performer. Her boss forces her to perform despite her physical ailments, and he even mistreated and bullied her when she requested to go to the hospital for a physical examination.

Related item: Big fish