Read Ebooks on Android with FBReaderJ

Aug 12, 2009 GMT

When it comes to reading ebooks on your laptop or desktop machine, few ebook readers can rival FBReader. The same is true for the Android platform, too. The mobile version of FBReader called FBReaderJ offers pretty much all the essential features without sacrificing usability. Similar to FBReader, FBReaderJ supports several popular ebook formats, including EPUB and FictionBook. Once installed on the Android device, FBReaderJ registers itself as an application for handling ebook files. This means that when you click on a link to an ebook in the built-in browser, you can use FBReaderJ to download the book and add it to the library. This provides a convenient way of grabbing ebooks from...

Adding Word Count to DokuWiki

Aug 07, 2009 GMT

While DokuWiki makes an excellent tool for lightweight word processing, it lacks one essential feature -- word count. Fortunately, this problem is easy to fix. The DokuWiki Tips page offers two simple scripts that add the word count capabilities to DokuWiki. The first script adds a simple counter to the text editing area, and the counter displays the number of words in the currently opened section as well as the total word count for the current page. The second script puts the counter at the top of the page and displays the character count in addition to the word count. Here is a slightly modified version of the script: /** * Script to add a wordcounter on the edit form * *...

Artha: A GUI for WordNet

Aug 05, 2009 GMT

Although WordNet comes with a graphical browser, it can only be described as bare-bones. The browser doesn't offer any kind of desktop integration, and there is no support for color coding, rich text formatting, or hyperlinking. But thanks to Artha, you don't have to put up with these limitations. This nifty little dictionary tool wraps the WordNet database into a user-friendly interface and offers a few neat features that can help you to make the most of WordNet. If you've ever used a dictionary application, you won't have problems figuring out how to use Artha. Enter a search term into the Query field, hit the Search button, and the matching article appears in the pane below. The...

Extension Watch: Make Firefox netbook-friendly with Meerkat

Jul 29, 2009 GMT

You can optimize Firefox for use with your netbook by manually tweaking the browser's settings. But why bother when the Meerkat extension can do the donkey job for you? Once installed, Meerkat performs a few optimization tricks that reclaim valuable screen estate. According to the developer, the extension frees up about 60 pixels. This may not sound like much, but 60 pixels make a big difference on the netbook screen where every pixel counts. So how does Meerkat do its magic? First of all, the extension hides the status bar when there is no browser activity. It also replaces the main toolbar with a single menu button and reduces the navigation bar icon size. That's pretty much it. Before...

My Favorite Firefox Feature

Jul 24, 2009 GMT

Like probably any Firefox user, I have a few personal favorite features and tricks that help me to get the most out of my browser. The one I appreciate most is the smart keywords feature which allows you to search specific websites directly from the Firefox Location (aka Awesome) bar. The way it works is pretty simple. Say you want to look up words using Cambridge Dictionaries Online Web site. Navigate to dictionary.cambridge.org, right-click on the search box, and select Add a Keyword for this Search. Give the new bookmark a name and assign a keyword to it, for example, camb. Next time you want to perform a search, enter camb followed by the query into the Location bar, for example: camb...

Tether an Android Phone Using Proxoid

Jul 21, 2009 GMT

The Android Market features a few tethering applications, so it should be easy to use your Android phone as a wireless modem. Well, that's how the theory goes, anyway. In practice, however, these applications require root access to your phone's system, so you have to "root" your phone before you can tether it. Rooting an Android phone is not for the faint of heart, though, and there is the ever-present risk of bricking your device. Meet Proxoid, a proxy server application that lets you use your phone as a modem without hacking its system. Making Proxoid work does require a few steps, but the entire process is simple enough even for uninitiated users. Here is how to make Proxoid...

Turn Tomboy Notes into Blog Posts

Jul 17, 2009 GMT

Did you know that you can post Tomboy notes to your blog courtesy of the Tomboy Blogposter plugin? If you didn't know that, it's understandable, because this plugin is not installed by default. If you are using Ubuntu or any of its derivatives, enabling this functionality is rather straightforward. First of all, use the Synaptic package manager to find and install the tomboy-blogposter package (or run the sudo apt-get install tomboy-blogposter command). In Tomboy, open the Preferences dialog window and switch to the Add-ins section. Select the Post note to your blog item in the Tools section and press the Enable button. Press then the Preferences button to open the configuration dialog,...