Global Word - What’s your Preference?

Greetings –

Over the past few weeks, I have been working on a number of things related to Global Word, Global Talk, and yes, the potential for an iPhone version of Global Word! It has been busy and exciting … and I’m trying to continue learning my own Mandarin Chinese as well.

Today, I am pleased to announce the release of Global Word 1.30.20080216. Based on your feedback, this new release gives you several options for configuring personal preferences related to Global Word. This is a free upgrade, so please try to download it today and let me know what you think.

After running Global Word, simply click “Global Word” then “Preferences …” to access the new menu. It looks like this:

You may now change the following options on Global Word:
1. Show or Hide Zhuyin both in the main display window as well as the dictionary table.
2. Change the main display window to show Traditional or Simplified Characters.
3. Change the highlight color of single-character words.
4. Choose whether or not to enable automatic software updates.

There are many other improvements related to Global Word that I continue to work on, including the overall speed of the application, an update to the “Help” menu, some investigations on printing the main window, and more user preferences including font size and style. So, if you would like to give me feedback on what is most important to you, please drop me a quick email today!

Cheers!

– bk

PS Several people have asked me why I have such a crazy version number. 1.30.20080216 is so long, aiya! The first number, “1″ represents a major release number. The second number “30″ represents a minor release number, and I change this whenever I make minor changes to Global Word. And, “20080216″ tells you immediately the last time the CC-CEDICT dictionary was updated. In this case, it was last updated on February 16th, 2008. This revision system makes it possible for me to update the dictionary while making no functional changes to the application, or it allows me to upgrade functionality even though the dictionary hasn’t changed. I hope this helps explain my crazy numbering system.

Global Talk - GUI Development

Greetings …

Global Talk development continues to move ahead, and today I am pleased to put out a new screenshot of the primary Graphical User Interface (GUI). I would really like to hear your feedback:

You will notice that there is a sneak peek at a feature in there that I really wanted in my personal quest to learn Mandarin Chinese on my Macintosh. It should look somehow familiar to you as well …

Unfortunately, I am currently debugging the interface, so it is not ready for Beta Tester distribution. But, you will see from the image some hints at features as well as a completely new look graphically. Gone is the textured metal look.

The interface really does have a long way to go, but this is a big step forward, I hope.

Enjoy,
bk

New Global Talk Website

Hello –

In preparation for the launch of Global Talk, my business partner did a complete graphical redesign of my entire website, and I coded it up myself. Do you like it?

As a quick update, I am now in the second round of private Beta testing for my application. So far, I would say that these are the top three major requests that I keep hearing from my the Beta Testers:

1. Improve the Graphical User Interface
2. Add in a “Quiz” or “Test” Mode
3. Improve the Graphical User Interface (yes, worthy of mentioning twice)

So, right now, I am in the process of making these modifications and want them in place by October 1st, 2007. Depending on how radical the changes are, I may decide to do one more month of Beta Testing, making the official release of Global Talk around November 1st, 2007.

Please have a look around my new website, and feel free to download some flashcards and handwriting practice sheets as samples of what Global Talk can do for you. And, if you are interested in becoming a Beta Tester, it’s not too late! Please email me today!

Take care,
– bk