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There are 22,802 words in Scribblenauts
Some scurrilous vagabond somehow managed to get their hands on the supposed complete dictionary from 5th Cell's upcoming everything generator, Scribblenauts. We sincerely urge you not to go through the illicitly obtained list, looking for particular nouns of interest and internet memes -- why not save that fun for the actual game? However, everyone should absorb the final tally of words present in the final build of the game: 22,802. Also, if the list is legit, then "Plumbob" finally made it into the game -- as per our suggestion from E3. As we see it, we're owed around 0.00005 percent of Scribblenauts' total profits. We'll be waiting on the check, 5th Cell.
Ask TUAW: More migration, expanding Apple's Dictionary, syncing iPhone notes, and more
Welcome back to Ask TUAW, our weekly Mac troubleshooting Q&A column! This time we've got more questions on migrating user data when upgrading to Snow Leopard, expanding Apple's built-in Dictionary application, accessing iPhone notes without Mail.app, and more.As always, your suggestions and questions are welcome. Questions for next week should be left in the comments. When asking a question please include which machine you're running and which version of Mac OS X (we'll assume you're running Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions.
Atree J100 gets lost in the forest of Korean PMPs
We certainly can't knock the 4GB Atree J100 when it comes to its well stocked arsenal of goodies: it has a three-inch touchscreen, an e-dictionary, DMB digital TV tuner, video playback, and microSD expansion -- and it plays music too. Audio formats are also plentiful, with MP3, WMA and OGG for the commoners, and FLAC and APE for the lossless fanatics. Too bad it's held back by the chunky casing, which looks big enough to have fit a five-inch screen if the designers were so inclined. With slicker-looking competition from the likes of Cowon and Samsung, the otherwise entirely useful J100 might struggle to stand out, but if you're willing to look beyond its superficial shortcomings, it's available now for 198,000 KRW ($158). [Via PMP Today]
Phil Schiller says Apple didn't censor a dictionary
Yesterday's story about Apple censoring the Ninjawords dictionary seems to have made some waves in Cupertino -- none other than Phil Schiller followed up with Daring Fireball's John Gruber to provide Apple's perspective on the situation. According to Phil, Apple's objection to Ninjawords was that by using the free Wiktionary.org dictionary, it "provided access to other more vulgar terms than those found in traditional and common dictionaries," and that the App Store reviewer initially suggested the developer resubmit when iPhone OS 3.0 was launched with parental controls. Since 3.0 hadn't been released yet, the developer censored some of the words in an effort to get onto the store early, and that's how Ninjawords ended up both censored and rated 17+. Sure, okay, except that Gruber points out that the App Store reviewer flagged some pretty generic swear words, not the smack-your-momma vulgarities Phil claims are the issue. Still, the larger message remains the same -- the App Store review process is maddeningly inconsistent and in dire need of reform -- and on that note Phil says Apple intends to "learn and quickly improve," so it sounds like there's hope yet. Check the read link for more of Phil's response, it's an interesting read.
Apple's new low: censoring a dictionary
You know guys, you're not really doing yourself any favors at this point. We've seen plenty of stories thus far detailing the company's absurd, reactionary, and typically confusing application rejections or changes for its App Store, but the treatment given to dictionary app Ninjawords seems particularly telling. In essence, the program, a simple and fast reference tool -- a straight-up dictionary -- has omitted a handful of common words seen as objectionable by the Star Chamber of application reviewers at Apple HQ. What kind of words, you ask? Well, namely the same kind of words which you can find in any standard dictionary in just about any classroom in this country. John Gruber of Daring Fireball fame succinctly calls out what is patently obvious: Apple censored an English dictionary. A dictionary. A reference book. For words contained in all reasonable dictionaries. For words contained in dictionaries that are used every day in elementary school libraries and classrooms. But it's far worse than that.
Mac 101: Getting the most out of Dictionary.app
Welcome back to Mac 101, our series of posts aimed at novice Mac users and veterans who like the occasional refresher.Mac OS X is equipped with a dictionary application that does pretty much what you'd expect, and a few things you might not. Here's how you can get the most out of Dictionary.Most people use a dictionary to look up a word's definition. Doing so in Dictionary is pretty straightforward: Just launch the app, type your target term into the search field and hit return. That's all well and good, but not very interesting.Here's what is. Click any word in the definition to find the meaning of that word. Do this just once, and an orange "Snap Back" icon appears in the search field. When clicked, it brings you back to your original search term. Here's another cool trick. Let's say you looked up "Surname." Dictionary displays it broken up by syllable: "sur•name." If you highlight and copy it, it will paste as it should be written: "surname."But wait, there's more! Highlight or position the cursor over a word in any Cocoa application (Safari, for example) and hit Control-Command-D. A small window appears that displays that word's definition and thesaurus alternative(s). If the term in question is the name of an Apple product, you'll see that product's official description from Apple. Clicking "More" at the bottom of this tiny window launches Dictionary.Let's say you typically misspell a word that you have to type often (my Achilles' heel is "Twitterrific"). Simply right- or Control-click that word and select "Learn Spelling" to add it to Dictionary.Dictionary is also more than a collection of definitions. You can quickly switch between a thesaurus, official descriptions of Apple products and Wikipedia. Additionally, select "Font/Back Matter" from the Go menu to access a slew of great information, like Proofreader's Marks The History of English Countries of the World Chemical Elements Of course, every single word you find there can be clicked to reveal its definition. Finally, here's a bit of eye candy that isn't useful but still fun. You can browse every photo in Dictionary by navigating to /Library/Dictionaries/New Oxford American Dictionary.dictionary/Contents/Images and switching to Cover Flow view.
Sunday Morning Funnies: Play me
Another Sunday has rolled around, and as always, some of the comics are talking about what's in the news, including the sale of BlizzCon tickets, the latest word to be officially adopted into the English language, and the BlizzCon pet! Check out the latest from Cru the Dwarf. Dark Legacy Comics: Donald the Explorer. Experience Points is inquiring into BlizzCon ticket prices, and /rolling for loot. Check out the latest from Flintlocke vs. the Horde. GU Comics: The Shedding. GU Comics: They're Haunting Me. GU Comics: Wait. Ted Said What?. Where do you stand on this issue? Personally, I'm going to take the opportunity to use it in an essay. Check out the latest from LFG. Massive Pwnage: Could be Worse. NoObz: Everything in Moderation. NPC: Payback and The Deal. Check out the latest from Teh Gladiators. World of Warcraft, eh? KHAAAAAAN! (That is my shortened version of the title).
Dictionary.com for iPhone. Everyone should have it
Every so often a free app comes along for the iPhone/ iPod touch that I think everyone should have. That certainly applies to Dictionary.com [App Store link]. It's an iPhone version of the Dictionary.com web site which gives you definitions, a thesaurus, audio pronunciations, and my favorite, word origins. (I was interested to learn that the word 'waver' goes back to the 13th century German word for moving about. I love stuff like that.) The app also provides a word of the day, and examples of your specified word in sentences. This app is every bit as good as the paid dictionary apps, and oh so more versatile. Happily, Dictionary.com does not need an internet connection for the dictionary and thesaurus, but does need it for the rest of the features. With all that information on board, the download is about 36 megabytes. As you type a word, the dictionary auto-completes, saving you some time, and when you go back to your 'recents' list you have a choice of seeing the thesaurus or the dictionary. Nice. Pronunciations of the words are quite handy. Sometimes you get a female voice, other times a male.One small nitpick. You should be able to click on words that the thesaurus finds and get a definition. You have to retype them. Dictionary.com was released in late March, and I don't think the word is out sufficiently so people know it is there. Consider this the 'word', and consider the occasion a propitious one. Look it up.Screen shots:%Gallery-49758%
WoW Rookie: Gaming terminology 101
New around here? WoW Rookie points WoW's newest players to the resources they need to get acclimated. Send us a note to suggest a WoW Rookie topic.Probably one of the top requests WoW Rookie gets from new players is a plea for an explanation of WoW and gaming terminology. Even a casual skim of WoW Insider's front page can prove challenging to new gamers. Example: what to experienced players is a routine update on new PTR schedules can be an exercise in frustration for readers who are still sorting out WTT from WTF. ("PTR? WTF?!?") It's not just WoW-specific abbreviations and acronyms that puzzle new players. Add in gaming lingo and internet chat terms, and you have the recipe for a truly intimidating mix.
Nurian X40Kris e-dictionary is an OS away from a UMPC
On one hand, we're pretty impressed that someone would actually bother to produce an e-dictionary this fancy. On the other, we're disheartened that those very "someones" didn't just throw a real-deal OS on here and call it a UMPC. Hannuri Biz's newest premium pocket dictionary goes by Nurian X40Kris and features a 4.3-inch LCD, QWERTY keyboard, 4GB of internal storage, 79 different dictionaries (saywha?) and support for XviD, PDF, Flash, JPEG and MP3 files. We're told that it'll be offered up in South Korea for ???379,000 ($253), and we're giving it around a fortnight before someone shoves a TV tuner and their favorite flavor of Linux on here and calls it a day.[Via PMPToday]
Hannuri Biz offers up Nurian TX-3 PMP / e-dictionary combo
Hannuri Biz already delivered that one-two punch with its FX1, but the long awaited successor (TX-3) has finally hit the scene. Launched over in its home nation of South Korea, this PMP / e-dictionary hybrid boasts a 4-inch touchscreen (480 x 272), an SDHC expansion slot, 1,050mAh rechargeable battery, USB connectivity, a voice recorder, e-book reader, support for MP3 and video files, a PDF viewer and an FM tuner to boot. In case that's not varied enough, there's also the obligatory dictionary, which includes 14 volumes in 13 different languages. For jetsetters, the ???319,000 ($227) asking price is surely reasonable, but for everyone else, we'd say a lower priced, monolingual media player would likely suffice.[Via AkihabaraNews]%Gallery-44752%
Teach your iPhone to swear, take two
Erica Sadun has written an article over at Ars all about teaching your touchable pocket pal some nasty habits. If your language is generally more "explicit," or you just have a need for the iPhone (or iPod Touch) to learn someone's last name, then take heart, ye weary iPhone typists! We previously covered TJ Luoma's tip that involved adding a new contact whose name was a word that does not appear in the system dictionary; TJ has since updated the tip to note that you can include the target words outside the contact name and the approach still works. Erica has suggested a slightly different approach that does not require you to salt the address book with contact fluff. This is especially useful if you have young children or mothers who might happen to peruse your contacts. The general assumption is that after correcting the auto-correct, the system will eventually add whatever it is you're typing to the dictionary. As it turns out, not all apps are created equal in terms of updating the dictionary with new words. I won't spoil the surprise, but I will tell you that the Notes app is not where you should conduct your keyboard-training session. This excellent tip can also be used for teaching your tactile friend some less abrasive words that are not in the dictionary. Erica's article walks through the procedure for updating the built-in dictionary on an iPhone or iPod Touch. If you happen to have jailbroken your device and installed SSH, she shows you how to directly access the dictionary. Hit the read link for the full scoop on how to update your dictionary with your off-color language or otherwise unique verbiage.
Your iPhone and salty language
Some of you may have noticed that your iPhone or iPod touch is a bit prudish. Type a salty word and you'll likely be presented with a benign and completely inappropriate alternative (see screenshot at right). The problem (if you want to call it that) isn't that one can't swear, but that quickly-written sentences often have their meaning completely changed. Here's how you can knock your iPhone off of its moral high horse.While we haven't found a way for end users to easily add a word to the iPhone's dictionary, there's a great & NSFW post at T'N'T Luoma (be warned, there are saltier words than "hell" over there) describing a clever trick using your contacts list. Of course, you could either click the little "x" to dismiss the suggestion or disable auto-correction completely (under OS 2.2), but what's the fun in that? We hope you find this trick handy. Just be careful when printing contact labels for your holiday cards.Thanks TJ![via Daring Fireball]
How knswledgable are you about cartgriqdges?
Newer updates to Mac OS X Leopard seem to have an interesting problem with their spelling databases: they include words that are most certainly wrong. The problem first appeared in 10.5.2 (U.S. English), and has not yet been corrected. Canspice.org points to an Ars Technica discussion from March highlighting the misspelling knswledgable. If you open TextEdit, for example, and intentionally misspell the word "knowledgeable" (say, by spelling it "knowledgable"), then control-click to show a spelling suggestion, you might see the erroneous option. The word "cartgriqdge" also appears to be similarly affected. Both words do not appear in the Mac OS X Dictionary application. Urban Dictionary seized upon the new word, defining knswledgable as having "inordinate amounts of knowledge about useless spelling trivia."
Noah Webster's ghost happily haunting your iPhone
With the availability of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition, for the iPhone and iPod touch, Noah Webster must be a happy ghost. His namesake dictionary, converted to Apple's handheld platforms by Paragon Technologie GmbH, now gives teachers, writers, and students a fully searchable reference at their fingertips.This is a pocket version of the best-selling dictionary in the USA, featuring over 225,000 defined words. Since it is a self-contained application and not a web front-end to an online dictionary, it can be used in situations where your device is in airplane mode. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary isn't cheap -- it sells for US$24.99 in the App Store (click opens iTunes). However, carrying this app on your iPhone is a lot lighter than lugging around the US$23.95, 3.6 lb. (1.63 kg.) printed version.The other major competition to this application, Webster's New World Dictionary (click opens iTunes) from AcroDesign, is a bit less expensive at US$14.99, but is less complete with only 163,000 entries. What's the favorite reference you'd like to have on your handheld device? Leave us a comment!
Mac 101: Search Wikipedia from your desktop
When Apple made the move from Tiger to Leopard, they decided to throw in more than a few features. One of those new features was the ability to search Wikipedia right from Dictionary. To start searching Wikipedia, just open Dictionary (located in /Applications). Next, click on the Wikipedia button and enter a search term. Leopard will then browse Wikipedia for the answer.You can access the dictionary from most applications by highlighting a word, right-clicking and selecting "Look Up in Dictionary."Want more tips like this? Visit TUAW's Mac 101 section.
JCHyun's Udea Discovery PMP / dictionary loves to love you
Looking for a PMP that will be your eyes, ears, mouth, hair and forearms? Perhaps you should gently turn your attention to the JCHyun Udea Discovery -- a device that treads that tremulous space between MP3 player, Tricorder, and utter waste of money. Still, it's kind of packing a lot of heat for the asking price (179,000 KRW, or about $176) -- with 32 dictionaries in 4 languages (Korean, English, Chinese, Japanese), a video player, audio player, handwriting recognition, and an interface that looks like Windows Mobile... but likely isn't. You won't see this in the US anytime soon, so find yourself a good importer.[Via PMP Today]
Mac 101: spell check errors
There's a funny post at The Apple Blog today that points out a few typos that give Mac OS X Leopard's built-in spell checker a bit of trouble. For instance, the error "instrucitons" suggests "isntrucitons" as well as "instructions", and "applicaticataion" when "applicatication" is typed instead of "application." There are a few more in their list.I've noticed that my iPhone always suggests "he'll" when I want to type "hell" (yes, I type "hell" enough to have noticed this). Of course, this is simple to fix. You can correct these errors for good by right-clicking (or Control-click) on the correct spelling and select "Learn spelling" from the contextual menu. Use this same method to add uncommon words, like surnames, etc.
'Fanboy' gains respect, enters Merriam-Webster dictionary
The word defining folks over at Merriam-Webster Inc. have added "Fanboy," along with 100 other words, to the newest edition of its Collegiate Dictionary*. Fanboy is actually one of the "oldest" of the "new" words, with its origins dating back to 1919. The wordsmiths define fanboy as a "boy who is an enthusiastic devotee, such as of comics or movies." Fanboys should feel free to write with self-righteous fury to MW and let them know it can also apply to video games ... tell them you'll never read their dictionary again if they don't correct this grievous oversight (also make an online petition).This isn't the first time in recent memory some bit of gaming culture seeped its way into the good word book at Merriam-Webster; "w00t" became the company's word of the year in 2007. So, w00t to all the fanboys out there, the dictionary acknowledges your existence.*OSX users will find the Dictionary widget, which uses The Oxford American Dictionary, already defines "fanboy." Merriam-Webster is a different company.
iriver P10 launches at last, D5 lands on our shores
It took 'em a year, but iriver is finally ready to unleash its P10 touchscreen mega-PMP upon the world -- or at least Korea. The player rocks T-DMB, an 800 x 480 4.3-inch LCD, 33GB of storage and quite unique UI. There's also an included stylus and built-in handwriting recognition, with dictionaries for English, Chinese and Japanese. For about $312 US you can get a DMB-free unit, or spring for mobile TV at a $390-ish pricepoint, but again, those are both Korea only. If you're looking to spice up your life this side of the Pacific, iriver is also bringing its D5 clamshell multimedia dictionary to the States, at $300 for 2GB and $350 for 4GB.Read - P10Read - D5
