QuickLook: TheSage’s English Dictionary and Thesaurus

Recently I asked my wife if she wanted me to buy Microsoft Encarta 2007. She said “No.” Despite the fact that her version was no longer updateable, she didn’t really use the encyclopedia part of Encarta, just the dictionary and thesaurus.

Considering I had installed the entire Encarta DVD on her hard drive, meaning it’s taking up gigabytes of space, as well as the fact that her dictionary was no longer updateable, meaning (horror of horrors) it wouldn’t know such things as google as a verb), I thought I could probably find something either cheap or free that took up a heck of a lot less space and was free or cheap.
Didn’t take me long, actually. TheSage is a freeware program that when minimized to the system tray, can look up words directly from many programs, including Internet Explorer, Word, Firefox … simply by highlighting the word and pressing a hotkey.

Sounded like a great idea to me … and since the installer was only 8MB, I knew it was a lot smaller than a full DVD install of Encarta. I installed it on my laptop to take a look at it. A quick install, and it nicely told me that the default hotkey CTRL-SHIFT-A was already taken by a different program … and asked me to change it. Nice.

You can set up the program to auto-launch when Windows starts (which my wife will do), minimize to the system tray when closed (makes sense, to keep it available), and a few other options.

If you select a word, then press the hotkey, a screen comes up , which lists definition(s) as well as antonyms and synonyms. It’ll even return anagrams (separate function) AND there’s an online version.

For me, I’m sold (it’s easy to sell me when it’s free). I’ll uninstall Encarta on my wife’s laptop, install the new program, and let her try it. Or … knowing my wife, I’ll install TheSage FIRST, let her try it, THEN uninstall Encarta if she likes TheSage. She’s pretty picky, and doesn’t like change, so that’s probably a safer way to go. On the other hand, my recommendation to any reader would be to try this program. Free and useful, what more could you want?

Tags: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Encarta

Don’t ‘Blink’ for Too Long

Over the weekend I received new credit cards from Chase. Now, I knew it was time to get new ones, but I took a look at them and I saw that it had the term ‘Blink’ written across the front. I didn’t really understand what this meant until I read a little of the letter attached to the cards.

‘Blink’ is Chase’s version of RFID credit cards. This means you don’t need to swipe your card, just wave it. This is great … except also over the weekend I noted some stories about just how vulnerable these cards were.

Tom Heydt-Benjamin tapped an envelope against a black plastic box connected to his computer. Within moments, the screen showed a garbled string of characters that included this: fu/kevine, along with some numbers.

Heydt-Benjamin then ripped open the envelope. Inside was a credit card, fresh from the issuing bank. The card bore the name of Kevin Fu, a computer science professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, who was standing nearby. The card number and expiration date matched those numbers on the screen. Source: IHT

This is a secondary card and I rarely use it. Despite that, I’m not too happy with the fact that it can be read right through my wallet … and that despite what credit card companies have been telling us, not everything is encrypted. I don’t think I’m going to carry this card with me anytime soon.
Tags: RFID, Credit Cards, Encryption

Anyone Else Using Google Checkout?

OK, it’s not going to replace PayPal, at least not anytime soon. But I have used Google Checkout. Why? Buy.com has partnered with them. Buy something $30 or more, and get $10 off. I bought a Kensington PilotBoard Laser Wireless Desktop Set for $62.99, with a $25 rebate … that + $10 off for Google Checkout and you come out with $27.99, incl. free shipping. The only bad thing about Buy.com is that since I live in California I have to pay sales tax. Also, you have to track your order through the Google Checkout site, not Buy.com. Still, let me just say, if more retailers offer deals like this (wishful thinking, right) I just might use Checkout … a lot.

Tags: Google Checkout, Buy.com, PayPal

No, This Time You Really Do Have Limited Access

I get those "you have limited access" emails that are supposedly from PayPal all the time. Obviously they are phishing. So I got another one, and this time I actually looked at it. Mostly because I wanted to report it as phishing in Gmail. What caught my eye was that there was no link in the email. I thought … don’t tell me I actually have limited access! Yeah, I did. PayPal had made some changes, including requiring me to change my password and to add some security questions. I logged in from a different browser and directly from the PayPal site, to be sure. I was amazed. I also realized that the phishing scams were reducing my security not by catching me, but because they almost made me skip something I really needed to do! Oh, and hey, PayPal, yeah, changing the password might be a good idea for some, but mine is really, really strong. So I changed it … and changed it back. Thanks, anyway.

Tags: PayPal, Phishing, Security

Please Replace My Fuel Pump

My Prius has a few nice features, but the only automatic monitoring it has besides the annoying “Needs Service” light that comes up every 5000 miles is the tire checking feature, which checks the tire pressure. Automotive telematics is a technology that has been a flop so far, but it will do a lot more checking than this.

Imagine your car warning you of an icy road ahead, reading aloud the text messages arriving on your phone and sending you an e-mail that your fuel pump needs replacing soon.

Carmakers have already been marketing the technology as a safety boon, for instance by automatically altering rescue crews if your car’s airbags detonate, a so-called emergency call. Source: Reuters

The problem is that these services are supported by monthly fees.

“The consumer is going to think: 20 euros a month, that’s 240 euros a year,” said Hans Eric Destree, a mobile electronics expert at auto supplier Visteon Corp.

So, if you have one call every five years, that’s 1200 euros … much like an extended warranty, in general that’s not going to be used. That’s why it’s been so hard to sell this as an emergency service.

On the other hand, this could be used to report back which parts on a car need replacement. That might prove a boon to automakers to enable them to more efficiently stock parts.

Tags: Delphi, Car Parts, GM, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota