30. Juni 2007

Google adds dictionary translations

Google has added a new "mode" to the Google Translate service:

Google's automatic translation is handy for getting translations of complete sentences, paragraphs, and documents. But when you need to translate a single word, a bilingual dictionary can be very useful because it gives you translations for the many possible meanings a word might have.

Source: Official Google Blog

You can take the new feature for a spin here. I've already added the support for the new service to the latest development release of Writer's Tools (available in the SVN repository).

Writer's Tools 0.8.5.1 released

A minor release featuring minor improvements and bug fixes. The new version is available from its official page or directly from the Google Code page.

20. Juni 2007

Writer's Tools 0.8.5 released

Another day, another version of Writer's Tools. The new release adds the Remote Backup tool that allows you to quickly save a backup copy of the current document on a FTP server. The Open FTP Document tool has been from the Writer's Tools menu, but it's still there in the extension. So if you need it, you can easily add it to the main toolbar or a menu. The new version is available from its official page or directly from the Google Code page.

19. Juni 2007

Writer's Tools 0.8.3 released

This release feature the all-new Show on the Map that allows you to select a city, a street name, or a postal code and map it using the Multimap service. There are also a number of minor improvements. The new version is available from its official page or directly from the Google Code page.

Writer's Tools logo

Writer's Tools now has its own logo.

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Nothing fancy, but I did it using exclusively open source tools, including Inkscape and The GIMP. The logo itself was drawn by hand and scanned using Kooka.

17. Juni 2007

Installing TrueType fonts on Ubuntu...

...is rather easy. Create the .fonts folder in your home directory (e.g. home/dmpop/.fonts), and move your TrueType fonts in it. That's it!

To install the Ubuntu Title font (the one that is used in the Ubuntu logo), simply run the following command:

$sudo apt-get install ttf-ubuntu-title

Source: Ubuntu Blog

Writer's Tools 0.8.1 released

This release features two new tools: Word of the Day and Add to Basket. The Word Hunt Game has been improved, and the BEOLINGUS reference has been added to the Lookup Tool. The new version is available from its official page or directly from the Google Code page.

16. Juni 2007

Thunderbird and russification

It turned out that the russification of Ubuntu breaks Thunderbird. The solution to the problem is described here. The fix:
sudo gedit /usr/bin/thunderbird
and replace the following lines:
#!/bin/sh
#
with:
#!/bin/sh
#
GTK_IM_MODULE=scim-bridge

11. Juni 2007

Writer's Tools 0.7.2 released

Writer's Tools 0.7.2 has been released. This version features a few minor bug fixes and adds Russian to the Google Translate tool. The project has got a new home at Google Code: http://code.google.com/p/writertools/

9. Juni 2007

Russifying Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn

Although it may sounds as a daunting task, russifying Ubuntu is rather easy. First, you have to install Russian language support. To do this, choose System -> Administration -> Language Support. Select Russian from the Supported Languages list, and press Apply to download and install the required packages. Next, you have to add a Russian keyboard layout. Choose System -> Preferences -> Keyboard and click on the Layout tab. Press the Add button and add the keyborad layout you want. If you're using a QWERTY-based keyboard, the Phonetic layout might be the best choice. Finally, to quickly switch between different keyboard layouts, you might want to add the Keyboard Indicator applet to the Gnome Panel. To do this, right-click on the Panel and choose Add to Panel. Drag the Keyboard Indicator to the Panel, and you are done. Now you can switch between different languages by simply clicking on the Keyboard Indicator. Source: http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu:Feisty_ru

8. Juni 2007

Writer's Tools 0.7.1 released

Writer's Tools has reached version 0.7.1. This release features an improved version of the Timer tool (Start/Stop Timer). Now you can save the time data (document name, used time, and date) in the accompanying WriterDB database. Using the database, you can quickly find out how much time you spent on a particular document in general and on any given day. Perfect for writers and professional alike who bill by hour. The new version also adds a simple Word Hunt game, where you have to guess the word randomly picked by Writer.

7. Juni 2007

Writer's Tools 0.6.0 released

Another day, another version of the Writer's Tools extension. This release adds the Start/Stop Timer tool that can be used to keep tabs on time spent on the currently opened document. As usual, you can get it here.

2. Juni 2007

Writer's Tools 0.5.1 released

The Writer's Tools keeps getting better, and the new release adds the Convert to DokuWiki command and features minor visual improvements. As always, you can get the latest stable release of the extension at its official website.