My Favorite English Dictionary

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English with CD-ROM


我很喜歡這部英英字典的最新版，除了全彩印刷、編排更容易查閱之外，最大的優點就是附帶的兩片光碟。

現在網路上有很多免費的網路字典，另外還有一些像譯典通的翻譯軟體，不過都無法完全取代一般傳統的字典，理由是不是例句太少就是幾乎根本沒有，即使知道意思也沒把握用對。

內附光碟裡除了有整本字典的字詞與大量例句之外，還有全程語音，不但單字發音，連例句也唸出來給你聽，對於母語不是英文的我們來說，這是個很棒的功能。

此外，光碟裡還包含了LONGMAN另一本字典ACTIVATOR，ACTIVATOR是一本字詞比較字典，例如你搞不清楚see、look、watch用法上的差別，這本ACTIVATOR會很詳細地告訴妳這三個字的微小差異、適用場合與例句。雖然一般字典也會有類似的功能，但是ACTIVATOR分類之細膩，遠遠超過一般字典，對於想要提升英文用字的精準度的人，這是本不錯的參考書。

關於程式介面，有興趣的人可以連到這裡看看CD的guided tour，除了沒有中文之外，我自己覺得比譯典通好用很多，如果人在台灣，台灣的文鶴出版社有代理，書+兩片光碟大約一千元，比起電子字典，我認為價格相當划算。

My Favorite Firefox Add-ons

The best advantage of Firefox is numerous useful Add-ons made by the users. Here is the list of my favorite Add-ons.

1. IE Tab
   
   IE Tab can open IE-only pages in a separate Internet Explorer window or just view them in a Mozilla/Firefox tab. Believe it or not, you can run Windows Update from Mozilla/Firefox.
   
   
   

2. Forecastfox
   
   Forecastfox is an extension that brings international weather from AccuWeather.com to your Firefox web browser. You can use your US zip code or you can easily find your town or city by using the built in search tool.
   
   
   

3. Google Notebook
   
   Google notebook can easily clip and collect information as you browse the web. It is a powerful combination of bookmarks and notebooks.
   
   
   

4. PDF Download
   
   Are you annoyed to click on a link and then wait a lot of time just because the PDF plugin is loading? This extension, every time you click on a link, checks if the target is a pdf file and in this case let you choose what you want to do (open pdf file inside or outside Firefox, download it to the filesystem or view it as HTML).
   
   
   

5. Download Statusbar
   
   Download Statusbar is a browser extension that allows you to keep track of ongoing and completed downloads in a hide-away status bar.
   
   
   

6. VideoDownloader
   
   VideoDownloader can save embedded files (movies, mp3s, flash, quicktime, etc) from popular video-hosting servers, including Google Video, My Space, and YouTube.
   
   
   

7. FlashGot
   
   FlashGot is the best Firefox integration for external download managers which significantly accelerates the download speed. Of course, you will need install one download manager before using FlashGot.
   
   
   

8. 新同文堂
   
   新同文堂會自動轉換網頁內容以繁體中文或簡體中文顯示，讓你看到的網頁通通都是繁體中文或簡體中文。