Lifehacker recently announced that Microsoft has made available the first release candidate of Internet Explorer 8. While I’m still not moving away from Firefox, I am excited about this new release. I have been using the IE8 Betas for awhile now and am impressed—it is definitely a step in the right direction, if only because MS has promised that IE will finally be standards-compliant (why this has taken over a decade, who can know).
The Lifehacker post includes links to the download and to a description of IE8′s new features.
Several stories have caught my intention of late. We all know, of course, that the proliferation of computers, and especially the Internet, has changed the way we communicate, shop, talk, think, and research. What’s interesting to me is the trickle-up trends that have been occurring more recently. Old and stalwart institutions are often the slowest to change and embrace new technology, and often for good reasons, but two stories indicate that those days are over.
The second is more complicated (and therefore interesting) due to security issues. The Obama administration is changing the way the government uses technology. There are quite a few indicators here.
The official site of the White House has received a significant upgrade, and a good web designer has apparently taken the lead on this one. Finally, pictures of people (one in particular, of course). That’s a pretty firm rule in web development—include pictures of faces. Many churches could benefit from this one—people care more about your people than your building! Of course my site breaks that rule…
news.USA.govnow has an RSS feed. I’m a big believer in RSS as it helps all of us keep updated without having to constantly visit individual web sites. (If you need a good RSS reader, consider Google Reader).
If you frequently search the Westminster Library then you may be interested in this post. I have created a command for Firefox‘sUbiquity that allows you to search the Westminster Library Catalog without ever leaving your web page. You can even highlight text on any web page and automatically search the library catalog using that text.
The ubiquity notification bar appears on pages with Ubiquity commands
If you know all about Ubiquity, and already have it installed, then simply add the wtslibrary command by clicking “Subscribe” in the drop down notice on this page. Once you’ve subscribed to the command, activate Ubiquity and type in “wtslibrary”, then your search. To highlight and search, just select text on any web page (try it now on the word bavinck), activate ubiquity, and then type “wtslibrary” and return. So easy (and you may also be interested in this post)!
New to Ubiquity? I have a full introduction available, complete with instructions for installing my Westminster Bookstore Ubiquity command.
If you’re not ready to jump into the wonderful world of Ubiquity, try my simpler Firefox Search Plugin.
How does the wtslibrary command work?
You can subscribe to the “wtsbooks” command by browsing to this page with Ubiquity installed and clicking “Subscribe” when the notification window drops down.
To use the command, activate Ubiquity (your shortcut key) and start typing “wtslibrary”. Then type in your search and press “enter”. You can also select text on a web page (why not try it be selecting the following: bavinck), activate Ubiquity, type “wtslibrary,” and the text you selected will be automatically entered as your search.
Future prospects
For future updates to this command, bookmark this page or subscribe to my site. I hope to add more functionality in the future, like search previews (type “amazon” into Ubiquity to see what I mean) and other goodies. If you have suggestions or questions, please post them in the comments!
As a follow-up to my Westminster Bookstore Search Plugin I have created a similar plugin for the Westminster Seminary Library, which works in both Firefox and IE7. So now you can search Westminster Seminary’s library right from your browser, and since the site natively supports Zotero, this makes research all that much easier.
Add the Westminster Library to your search bar
Installing
The same instructions for installing the Westminster Bookstore plugin apply here as well. For Firefox and IE, while viewing this post just click on the search engine toolbar in your browser and select “Add the Westminster Library.” For Google Chrome go here and click on “Westminster Library,” which should open a dialog box. Leave everything as is, unless you want to change to the keyword to something simpler (like “wl”), which will allow you to just type the keyword in the URL bar, then tab, then your search. The plugin is also available directly from the Westminster Library site.
Updates
Consider this the official page of this little plugin. Updates will be posted here, so you may want to bookmark this post. Please post any comments, suggestions, or problems in the comments section and I will respond as soon as possible.
If you want to make this search feature even more powerful, follow this guide. There is also a Ubiquity command available.
As a side note, the plugin supports advanced boolean syntax. Typing “stott romans” into your search will return all results with both “stott” and “romans” that occur in any field. By contrast, “a:(stott) romans” will search for any books whose author is “stott” and also have the word “romans” in any other field. Similar results will occur with t:(“title”) or s:(“subject”). For more syntax suggestions, just search the Westminster Library Catalog and pay attention to how it formats your queries.
Update: This plugin is now official. In addition to accessing it here, it is now available from the Westminster Library Catalog.
How many times have you learned Greek? There is something enormously discouraging about spending all that time taking a year’s worth of Greek only to forget it in the course of a summer. Con Campbell has been instructing us how to avoid the forgetfullness that sets in as soon as Greek is over (start here). His latest post contains some wise advice regarding the use of Greek Bible software:
Be slow to move that cursor. The risk of using software is that you can short-cut the learning process, just as you will with an interlinear (see my second post). You need to struggle to remember words and grammar, rather than just get a quick answer (By the way, this need only apply to your ‘Greek reading time’, not every time you use the software). So, if you’re disciplined, go ahead and use the software for your Greek reading. But if you can’t be trusted not to cheat, then close your laptop, and get out a paper Greek New Testament. If you can find one.
So you’ve installed a bunch of new searches for Firefox, like this one for the Westminster Bookstore, but don’t want to always be switching back and forth between Google and your other favorite searches. Well there is an easy way to automatically switch between searches: Firefox Keywords.
Setting things up is easy. First drop down your search bar dialog (just like you do to install new searches). Click on “Manage Search Engines.” A new dialog pops up. Select the search that you would like to be able to access more quickly, then click “Edit Keyword.” Type in something short and memorable. I typed “wts” for the Westminster Bookstore search and “g” for Google. You can add keywords to as many search engines as you want, they just have to be unique.
Now you’re all set. To activate your desired search, based on these keywords, go to your address bar (that big long bar you type web addresses into). Alt+D is the default shortcut for easily accessing your address bar. Now type in your keyword, space, and your query. Hit return, and watch Firefox do the rest! Neat!
