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Posted - August 26 2009 : 06:52:57
Listen now. or Download the archive.
Question: Elza asks, "I need to type emails in Portuguese. Can I do that in Windows XP?"
Answer: Wow, Portuguese. It happens sometimes that families, far flung as they are, need to communicate in other languages. Windows XP supports over 100 languages and dialects. The setup is a bit complicated, but only has to be done once. I'll have a couple of links to that setup in the show notes. The web pages are illustrated to help you get through the setup, which you do in Control Panel under Regional and Language Options. Once you have Windows setup to use additional languages, you’ll have a new language bar that will allow you to switch quickly between the languages you've set up. You can even set up different user accounts to use different languages. So, if you need to type Spanish, French, Japanese, or Portuguese in Windows, that's not a problem, but I believe everything on the screen changes to that language while you're using it.
Eddie: Now, how do you type in that language?
David: This is where it gets interesting. The keyboard layout will switch when you change languages. I'll include a link in the show notes to a page at Microsoft.com that pops up a window (disable your popup blocker for this page) that shows you the keyboard layout for that particular language. But if you want to keep the English language, but just type the odd word or two in another language, then you can choose the US – International keyboard layout. In this layout, when you type the accent mark, nothing happens until you press the next key. If that next character can be accented, it will be. Otherwise, the two separate characters will appear. Again, I'll have a link to Microsoft's articles on this in the show notes.
Cool Site: Christianwebsite.com: For the past several weeks, we've been showcasing Christian websites, and you may have wondered how we found them. This week's site, Christianwebsite.com, has a top ten list of Christian websites. But that's not all, the site features news, prophecy discussions, software reviews, and a forum. They have an e-mail newsletter you can sign up for, a store where you can get great T-Shirts with Christian themes, and a Website of the Day. There's a Top Ten Internet Freebies article as well, and we all love freebies. Log onto www.Christianwebsite.com.
Cool Gadget: Black & White Digital Clock: Here's a digital clock like you've never seen before. Now, we've had digital clocks for a long time. That fact isn’t lost on me. But this clock is different. I've got no idea how to set the silly thing, but it consists of four oversized digits. The digits can be arranged however you want: any angle, on a circle, whatever. They're black in the light, and white in the dark. The big problem is that it's still a prototype, but when it comes out, I'm going to want one.
It's All "Geek" To Me: Beta Software: Commercial software goes through several phases before it is released for sale. One of the first phases is to decide what features to release with this version. Then the programmers go to work. When they think they've got it right, they send out what's called an Alpha version of the software. This version is known to have bugs, but is being released to help them find the bugs that are left. When they think they've found and fixed all those bugs, then they release a Beta version of the software and that's our term for the week. Beta software is software the programmers think is just about ready to go, but may still have some problems. Beta software usually doesn't have major problems, but also may not work. This is why most beta software is offered for free on the writer's website. If you use software that's considered to be in beta, then you should report to the maker of the program any problems you have while using it. That way, they can try to find and fix the problem before the program comes out.
Links
Foreign Language Resources:
http://www.puargs.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=54:enabling-foreign-languages-in-windows&catid=41:tutorials&Itemid=56
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/winxp/yourlanguage.mspx
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/goglobal/bb964651.aspx
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/263585
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/97738/en-us
Christian Website
http://www.christianwebsite.com/
Black & White Digital Clock
http://www.popgadget.net/2009/07/digital_blackan.php
Beta Software on Techterms
http://www.techterms.com/definition/betasoftware |
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