Google Docs, rikaichan and translating anywhere
I have been playing around with Google Docs and I am impressed. No longer do I have to email myself files or carry around a USB drive if I am going to be working on multiple computers - Google Docs lets me access a translation from wherever I am. I can even let clients review documents online. Normally if I had to translate a document on some anonymous Windows box I would have to download the Word file and then go through the rigmarole of cutting and pasting any unknown terms into ALC or GLOVA - time-consuming and frustrating. Uploading a document to Google Docs means that you are working within the browser, so browser tools like rikaichan and Moji are available. Well, at least rikaichan works - Google Docs takes command of the mouse right-click commands, so the function "LookUp Word in Moji" is no longer available, and for Moji you are reduced to cutting and pasting. However the rikaichan mouseover function (see image) works normally, and if you select a word or character it is still possible to search using the rikaichan toolbar. Naturally this will never replace my beloved combination of Mac PowerBook and JEDict, but it is a nifty hack for those times when you find yourself without your familiar translating toolkit.
I don't know if you've upgraded to Leopard or not, but the new pop-up dictionary includes two Japanese dictionaries, and it's just awesome. Hover over any Japanese word in any application, including your browser, and hit Ctrl-Cmd-D to see its dictionary entry.
Posted by: Paul D | November 30, 2007 at 06:59 PM
I'll try out Leopard when I get a brand spanking new iMac next month. Do you know offhand whether you can customize the dictionaries, or use your own?
Posted by: Will | November 30, 2007 at 07:35 PM
Not sure about adding custom dictionaries, my instincts tell me no.
But the built in ones are pretty nice, Shogakukans 大辞泉, プログレッシブ英和・和英中辞典 and 類語例解辞典. Unfortunately the dictionary popup isn't smart enough to be able to look up inflected words, which brings the usefullness when reading texts down a bit.
Posted by: Kim A | December 01, 2007 at 12:14 AM
Thanks for the comment Kim, and for Jisho.org, whose sentence function I have been making a lot of use of lately!
Posted by: Will | December 01, 2007 at 01:40 AM
just use shortcuts!
alt + w : searches for a word in moji
alt + k : searches for kanji
works inside google docs just fine in my win xp firefox.
Posted by: joselito | December 01, 2007 at 07:37 AM
Joselito - thanks for the tip!
Posted by: Will | December 01, 2007 at 09:22 AM
My word. This is my new favourite website.
Posted by: Kinglouis | December 05, 2007 at 08:05 AM
Wow! You're cutting edge. These are my best tricks! This is THE blog for those in the know.
Posted by: Reality bytes | December 05, 2007 at 11:04 AM
Just wanted to say thanks for the information. I tend to live in a bubble when it comes to new technology, so it's nice to stumble upon things sometimes.
Posted by: Mikawika | December 11, 2007 at 09:08 PM
As for adding your own dictionaries, I personally came across this website:
http://www.binword.com/blog/archives/000569.html
It's basically Eijiro integration to the dictionary application, unfortunately it didn't work for me :/
Posted by: Peter | March 30, 2008 at 03:40 AM