Dictionary - Page 2

mdt1007 · 02-10-2008, 04:08 PM

I've got the awesome free dictionary program Noah Pro on my aging Sony Clié SJ-22. I bring that along with my 505 whenever I plan to read something dense. Works like a charm. Of course, just like minidiscs, Sony phased out PDAs as well. You can still get Cliés used on eBay but your best bet is to just get a Zire 22 and get that Noah program. How would you input letter on the 505 reader if someone actually happened to implement dictionary support? Seems impractical. Again.. with the all-in-one device thinking! The 505 is a "reader". not a kindle or a treo.

"jack of all trades, master of none"

Alisa · 02-10-2008, 05:52 PM

With the Cybook, you use the keys to select a word from the text. With the Kindle, you use the scroll wheel to select the link and it gives you the definition of "significant" words on the line (skips words like "the" and "and").

Personally, I own a Kindle and I don't see how having it's extra conveniences detracts from what is its basic function: reading. Strip that stuff away and its functionality is pretty equivalent to the PRS. Now my smartphone is not a very good reader, but it is pretty well a master at being a PDA. It's more a "jack of all trades, master of one." situation.

HarryT · 02-11-2008, 02:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdt1007

How would you input letter on the 505 reader if someone actually happened to implement dictionary support? Seems impractical.

Do you really believe that the Gen3's mode of dictionary lookup is impractical? I find that it works beautifully! It has a "Lookup Mode" selected from a menu, in which a word becomes highlighted. You can move the highlight, a word at a time, up, down, left, right using the navigation control. When the correct word is highlighted, you press the "Select" button to look it up.

Why do you believe this would be impractical on the Sony? It should work equally well, I'd have thought!

dhbailey · 02-11-2008, 06:31 AM

That sounds like a great implementation to me -- so it would be for looking up words run across in the course of reading, and not a general reference where one would simply try to look up words like one does in a paper dictionary.

That should be implementable -- it would require some sort of key-press combination to activate the cursor, then the movement keys to move the highlight from word to word and then another keypress to have the definition show up.

sounds reasonable to me as a reading aid.

HarryT · 02-11-2008, 08:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dhbailey

That sounds like a great implementation to me -- so it would be for looking up words run across in the course of reading, and not a general reference where one would simply try to look up words like one does in a paper dictionary.

That's right. On the Gen3, all you can do is look up the meaning of a word in the book you're reading. On the desktop version of the Mobi reader, however, you can do searches - even wildcard searches - in the dictionary. You can use the same dictionary on both the PC and the mobile device, of course.

Mike's Place · 02-14-2008, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kati42

Sorry - it's just that there is a non-zero population of Americans that do not want to make an effort to be a part of the global community. I worry at times that *all* of us are perceived in this manner, when many of us are not like that... So I will plead guilty to being sensitive about the subject.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dhbailey

There's a non-zero part of EVERY nation's population which doesn't want to learn other languages. It's not just an American thing.

I'm more concerned about the non-zero subset of Americans with an IQ in the neighborhood of zero. Since there are only countably many members of such a neighbood, the probability of them being wiped out by a flood or tornado is zero, no matter how large the neighborhood becomes.

This is a growing problem, to wit I submit a modest proposal...

HarryT · 02-14-2008, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike's Place

This is a growing problem, to wit I submit a modest proposal...

One wonders how many of the people you're referring to would catch the literary reference

.

Mike's Place · 02-14-2008, 02:15 PM

Harry, hmm, yes... sorry to flail off topic, just couldn't resist.

More to the point: discussions like this one (the dictionary topic I mean) would seem to be of great value to the Sony Reader Development Team. Oh I'm sure their dance card is brimming, but I wonder if there is anyone from there, regularly, here?

Mike

curtw · 02-14-2008, 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

One wonders how many of the people you're referring to would catch the literary reference

.

So the solution is to eat my Reader?

zelda_pinwheel · 02-14-2008, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by curtw

So the solution is to eat my Reader?

some are swifter than others i see...

Mike's Place · 02-15-2008, 01:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by curtw

So the solution is to eat my Reader?

That depends on a chiasmus: is it better to limit your challenges or challenge your limits?

Make a Turk Sandwich using the reader case!

... oh man, we're really off topic. Who's on first?

Hey, I'm just having fun. Don't take it too seriously.

Mike

kati42 · 02-22-2008, 01:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

some are swifter than others i see...

*groan*!

zelda_pinwheel · 02-22-2008, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kati42

*groan*!

sorry, i couldn't resist !!

jerryn · 08-16-2008, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by astra

Because Americans do not need to translate their own language, it is only us, bloody foreigners who need it

Umm.. Some of us are always learning. Reading a new book sometimes means expanding our vocabulary. An online dictionary always comes in handy.

Timoleon · 08-16-2008, 02:12 PM

I'd give anything to have a good dictionary for my 505. I was an English major in college (oh so many years ago!) and have always thought of myself as being somewhat "word savvy". But I am being humbled big-time right now: I purchased "The Book of the New Sun" series by Gene Wolfe (in paperback! --- does not appear to be sold anywhere yet in electronic form), and started reading the first book, but was absolutely amazed at the number of words I had no familiarity with at all! So I brainstormed with myself and decided that I would try to scan the book with my old flatbed all-in-one, convert it over to text with Abby Finereader, clean it up, and port it over to my Sony. Then it would be no problem to find a dictionary to put on my memory card and flip between the book and the dictionary.

Well, reality has set in. I managed to scan and convert the book (took almost as much time as it would to read it! What a pain!) and get it over to the Sony Reader, but I'll be damned if I can find any sort of dictionary for the Sony

So I'm stuck using my 1980's vintage "Webster's Universal Unabridged Dictionary" with over 340,000 entries. It's hard to "flip" between this dictionary and the Reader! Since the dictionary weighs twelve pounds, I'm afraid to use it while I'm reading in bed. One small slip of the dictionary while it's hoisted over my groggy head...and the police will be filling out a report for the mortician in the morning.

Sony must have a dictionary on the horizon for the Reader --- it's such a no-brainer!

Tim

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02-10-2008, 04:08 PM	#16
mdt1007 Member Posts: 14 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2007	I've got the awesome free dictionary program Noah Pro on my aging Sony Clié SJ-22. I bring that along with my 505 whenever I plan to read something dense. Works like a charm. Of course, just like minidiscs, Sony phased out PDAs as well. You can still get Cliés used on eBay but your best bet is to just get a Zire 22 and get that Noah program. How would you input letter on the 505 reader if someone actually happened to implement dictionary support? Seems impractical. Again.. with the all-in-one device thinking! The 505 is a "reader". not a kindle or a treo. "jack of all trades, master of none"

02-10-2008, 05:52 PM	#17
Alisa Gadget Geek Posts: 2,324 Karma: 22221 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Paperwhite, Kindle 3 (retired), Skindle 1.2 (retired)	With the Cybook, you use the keys to select a word from the text. With the Kindle, you use the scroll wheel to select the link and it gives you the definition of "significant" words on the line (skips words like "the" and "and"). Personally, I own a Kindle and I don't see how having it's extra conveniences detracts from what is its basic function: reading. Strip that stuff away and its functionality is pretty equivalent to the PRS. Now my smartphone is not a very good reader, but it is pretty well a master at being a PDA. It's more a "jack of all trades, master of one." situation.

02-11-2008, 06:31 AM	#19
dhbailey Guru Posts: 604 Karma: 733 Join Date: Mar 2007 Device: HP iPAQ211 / PRS 500, 700 and 505	That sounds like a great implementation to me -- so it would be for looking up words run across in the course of reading, and not a general reference where one would simply try to look up words like one does in a paper dictionary. That should be implementable -- it would require some sort of key-press combination to activate the cursor, then the movement keys to move the highlight from word to word and then another keypress to have the definition show up. sounds reasonable to me as a reading aid.

02-14-2008, 02:15 PM	#23
Mike's Place Pull up a chair Posts: 58 Karma: 113 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: San Francisco, East Bay Device: PRS-505	Harry, hmm, yes... sorry to flail off topic, just couldn't resist. More to the point: discussions like this one (the dictionary topic I mean) would seem to be of great value to the Sony Reader Development Team. Oh I'm sure their dance card is brimming, but I wonder if there is anyone from there, regularly, here? Mike

08-16-2008, 02:12 PM	#30
Timoleon Time Enough at Last Posts: 387 Karma: 1151316 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: New England Device: iPad 3, iPhone 5, Kindle 3, Fire, Sony PRS-350	I'd give anything to have a good dictionary for my 505. I was an English major in college (oh so many years ago!) and have always thought of myself as being somewhat "word savvy". But I am being humbled big-time right now: I purchased "The Book of the New Sun" series by Gene Wolfe (in paperback! --- does not appear to be sold anywhere yet in electronic form), and started reading the first book, but was absolutely amazed at the number of words I had no familiarity with at all! So I brainstormed with myself and decided that I would try to scan the book with my old flatbed all-in-one, convert it over to text with Abby Finereader, clean it up, and port it over to my Sony. Then it would be no problem to find a dictionary to put on my memory card and flip between the book and the dictionary. Well, reality has set in. I managed to scan and convert the book (took almost as much time as it would to read it! What a pain!) and get it over to the Sony Reader, but I'll be damned if I can find any sort of dictionary for the Sony So I'm stuck using my 1980's vintage "Webster's Universal Unabridged Dictionary" with over 340,000 entries. It's hard to "flip" between this dictionary and the Reader! Since the dictionary weighs twelve pounds, I'm afraid to use it while I'm reading in bed. One small slip of the dictionary while it's hoisted over my groggy head...and the police will be filling out a report for the mortician in the morning. Sony must have a dictionary on the horizon for the Reader --- it's such a no-brainer! Tim

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