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January 5, 2007
Online Dictionary: Don’t Just Give the Word
Dear Larry,
I often have a need for a dictionary or a thesaurus on my
computer. Can you recommend a good web site for looking up words?
D. G.
Dear D. G.,
My favorite for many years now has been
www.answers.com, which offers a free
program for looking up words and phrases from anywhere on your computer. The
program is called 1-Click Answers, and it allows you to click on any word or
phrase (in a Word document, an e-mail, a web site, etc.) and see an explanation
in a pop-up window or on their web site. The explanation includes the correct
pronunciation, definitions, synonyms, antonyms, and other reference links.
So for the ultimate in convenience, go to
http://www.answers.com/main/download_answers_win.jsp and click Download Now.
When prompted to Open or Save the file, click Open. (You may subsequently be
prompted in the information bar to install an ActiveX Control; it is safe to do
so in this case.) The program will install itself and will appear as an “A” icon
in the system tray (near the time in the bottom right corner of your screen). If
you’re prompted, I suggest you uncheck the boxes to display “Today’s Highlights”
or the Internet Explorer toolbar.
At this point, you can start using 1-Click Answers
immediately. Simply point your mouse at any word on your screen, hold down the
Alt key, and click with your left mouse button. (Note that this only works with
“real” words that appear on your screen, not with images that contain words such
as a logo on a web site, for instance.) If you want information on a phrase,
click and drag over the phrase and then Alt+Click on the highlighted words.
You can change some of the program’s options by right-clicking
on the 1-Click Answer icon in the system tray and left-clicking Options.
Presumably you’ll want to be sure the “Launch 1-Click Answer Automatically at
Computer Startup” is checked. Most people will probably want to uncheck the
“Show Today’s Highlights Daily” option to minimize screen clutter. In the
Activation tab, you can change the mouse click method; for example, on my
computer, I prefer to hold down the Shift+Alt+Ctrl keys together when I
left-click. In this same window, you can choose to have your 1-Click Answers
appear in an “Answer Tip” (a little pop-up window next to the highlighted word
or phrase) or in your Internet browser. Of course, should you choose to see the
pop-up window, you’ll find a link there that will take you directly to the web
site for more detail. If you’re running a browser that supports tabs (such as
Internet Explorer 7 or Firefox), the 1-Click Answer web site will come up in a
new tab so as not to disturb your current web surfing session. In the AnswerBar
tab, consider unchecking the AnswerBar box, again to keep screen clutter at a
minimum.
With this free, ad-supported program installed on your
computer, answers to your questions will truly be one click away.
This is Larry Schneider, logging off.
