2009-02-19 Links File Update Released

Following not long after release of the new version of the 3-lines site and coming just before the God’s Love book starts to be studied at the Book Study, the 2009-02-19 Links file update has been released. Those of you who are on the list to receive email updates have been sent an email with directions on how to obtain this updated file. If you have not received this email update and would like to, email me about receiving the update and getting added to the mailing list.

I recommend that the included directions.html file be read first. Besides including instructions and examples on how to use the Links file, this file also discusses its redistribution.

The Links file is used by downloading its zip file from the web page linked to in the email, extracting it with the supplied password, saving it to a drive, and opening it in a modern web browser like Internet Explorer 7, Firefox, Safari, Chrome, or Opera. After you open it, you may want to bookmark it or add it to your Favorites for easy retrieval later on.

New and updated resources are listed under the *** NEW *** and *** UPDATED *** index headings.

New resources this time around include:

• Cantonese 3-line material (Jyutping, Sidney Lau, and Yale romanisations) for the God’s Love book
  


• The New Fields New Challenge web site, with instructional material used by language-learners in Aberdeen, Scotland
  


• The Spanish version of tiandi.info

Among the sites that were updated:

• The 3-lines site has been moved to 3lines.org, and it has received a design refresh. Also, as noted in previous posts, God’s Love book audio files and Spanish 3-line files are now available from there.
  


• The “door to activity” site has been moved.
  


• The pinyin God’s Love book 3-line material download page has seen regular updates, which are expected to continue.
  


• WM-Dict version 2.0 recently became available.

WM-Dict Version 2.0 Now Available

The creators of WM-Dict recently announced:

We are happy to announce the release of WM-Dict --- Version 2.0. This new version has many changes. The Windows Desktop Version and the Windows Mobile Version have both been nearly entirely rewritten. It is - in comparison to v1.3 - much faster and offers nice new features. We invite you to watch the video "Overview of WM-Dict v2.0"-Video, recorded by Chris. It can be found at our website http://sites.google.com/site/wmdict/.

Here are their directions for obtaining download information:

Since WM-Dict is available not only to our brothers, we would appreciate if publishers who newly register on our website (the restristration form is at http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=pVpFMjgkCYuu584WbQGjzHQ) would

• Choose "Theocratic education" as the reason why they would like to use WM-Dict.
• Also, it would be very appreciated if they would use the "Other" field in order to write the name of their congregation and some privileges they have in the congregation (like elder, ministerial servant, regular pioneer, publisher etc.).

That way we will recognize them as our brothers and sisters.

Minor 2008-11-09 Links File Update Posted

A minor update to the Links file, dated 2008-11-09, has been posted to the Chinese Links File page. Access information in Links emails of the last several months is still valid. If you would like to receive a Links email with information on how to access this page, email me, providing information such as what group or congregation you're with, who referred you to this site, etc.

Featured are updates to the section describing WM-Dict, which has a new web site, and which is now available for Linux as well as Windows, Mac OS X, and Windows Mobile. Also, version 1.3 is now available, which features major updates to the Chinese dictionaries.

WM-Dict Version 1.2 Now Available

Sorry to be a couple of weeks late with this, but version 1.2 of WM-Dict is now available.

What’s new?

• Chinese Character lookup: The Chinese dictionaries now support lookup by Chinese character, in addition to the ability to search for Chinese definitions with Pinyin and English.


• Search the definitions: Some of the language dictionaries include sample sentences for various translated terms. WM-Dict now supports searching these definitions.


• Smart Scrolling: In the search box or in the list of available terms, if you press the left or right arrow key, the definition window will scroll the content window up and down. This makes it easier to read a definition that is longer than the available space of the window without having to use the mouse.


• Chinese/Serbian language dictionary: A new dictionary. The authors think it is the first of its kind.


• Definition window improved: The definition window (the window where translations are displayed) now allows you to copy definitions easily into the clipboard or to lookup new words in WM-Dict based on the definition.


• And about a dozen bug fixes and performance enhancements.

Note that the old Chinese/English dictionary files are not compatible with this new version, so the new Chinese/English dictionary files will have to be installed for it.

For more information on the new features, click here.

2008-03-16 Links Update Released

The 2008-03-16 Links file update has been released. Those of you who are on the list to receive email updates have been sent an email with directions on how to obtain this updated file. If you have not received this email update and would like to, email me about receiving the update and getting added to the mailing list.

The Links file recently underwent a major redesign, which debuted with the 2008-02-18 version. This redesign is intended to help make it easier to find things in the growing list of resources. Besides helping you to find what you are looking for, the system may even help you to discover resources that are available, but that you had not thought of looking for.

Hopefully it will not be too difficult to figure out how to use the redesigned file. However, I recommend that the included directions be read first. Besides including instructions and examples on how to use the new design, the directions also discuss redistribution of the file.

One of the results of the redesign is that the file may not work right when it is attached to an email. The HTML code of the file itself is standards-compliant, but I found in my testing that some email systems would not run it properly. So, the Links files are not attached to the Links emails anymore. Instead, the Links file should now be used by downloading its zip file from the web page linked to in the email, extracting it with the supplied password, saving it to a drive, and opening it in a modern web browser like Internet Explorer 7, Firefox, Safari, or Opera. After you open it, you may want to bookmark it or add it to your Favorites for easy retrieval later on.

In addition to the new design, there are also a significant number of new and updated resources on the list. These are listed under the *** NEW *** and *** UPDATED *** index headings. Resources that were new or updated as of the 2008-02-18 version have been kept under those headings for now, since it has been such a short time since then.

New resources this time around include:

• 3-line material for the Suffering (T-27) tract


• 3-line material for What We Learn... w magazine articles, which were designed to be used for studying with interested ones


• WM-Dict, a dictionary program that can currently be used to help translate among Chinese, English, German, Italian, and Serbian. It is available in Windows, Mac OS X, and Windows Mobile versions. (The Mac version is the first native Mac custom software for the Chinese field that I know of!)

Updated resources include:

• The recently renamed Mandarin Public Talks Audio & Video page, which now also offers MP3 audio files of the listed public talks (This page was previously named Mandarin Public Talks in DVD or iPod Video Format.)


• The Worship Book (Chinese + Pinyin + English) page, which now offers 3-line material for the complete first chapter of the Worship book (This link is still listed under the *** NEW *** heading for now.)