Chrome's Context-Sensitive Spell Checker Works Offline

Avi, a reader of this blog, found a great way to illustrate the enhanced spell checking feature from Chrome 26. Just type this short text:



"Is tehre a solution to tehre problem for when tehre traveling?"



I've compared Chrome 25 and Chrome 26. The difference is striking: Chrome 25 shows the same suggestions for the 3 spelling errors ("there", "ether", "three", "Tehran"), while Chrome 26 shows different suggestions for each mistake.



Here's the contextual menu from Chrome 25:

... and here are the suggestions from Chrome 26:

The most interesting thing is that Chrome shows the same suggestions even if you disable "ask Google for suggestions", so they're generated locally (only the errors with a green underline are detected by the web service). Obviously, the web service is useful in other cases, but it's surprising to see that Chrome's context-sensitive spell checking works offline, even if only in a limited way.

Android GPS Applications

Having a global positioning system, or better known as a GPS, is a great tool to use when driving. It will help you get from point A to point B as quickly and safely as you can. If you have an Android based phone, there are a variety of applications you can use they do their best to help you on your travels, wherever you go.

For the socially interactive individuals, there is a great new application for traveling called Waze. The way Waze works in a way where people who use Waze themselves, will update traffic information and give the state of condition on the roads. Waze is a social GPS navigation application, and gets a lot of their information get placed by drivers themselves. Find out some great hotspots, side diners and many other locales you may have never heard of.

Topo Maps is the perfect application for those who love the outdoors. Whether you like to hike, go bicycling, snowshoeing, or even camping, you’ll benefit greatly from Topo Maps. This GPS application has maps that keep track of the most of New Zealand, Canada and the Unites States. It even has a few great fitness capabilities by keeping track of your hiking as well as distance and calories burned.

For the piece of you that always ends up late you might want to look into the application, NeverLate. No longer do you have to worry about timelines if you have NeverLate. This application will keep track of where you are, where you need to go, and give you the best idea when you need to leave your house to be there on time.

If you are into fitness, you may not know it, but there is a great GPS application that will keep track of your workouts. The Nike+ Running application will use GPS to keep track of your location and speed as you run. Keep fit and keep track of your every move while working out.

Those are just a few of the greatest Android GPS applications you can use. Whenever you are on the road, find out which GPS application works best for you and take advantage of all that it has to offer. Driving shouldn’t be worrisome, nor should you always be lost. Find out the right Android GPS application you like best.

These apps will make sure you know where you are. No worries about getting lost. GPS to the rescue.

Author’s Bio:

Lucy Daniel: Better known as Lucy, she is a tech blogger and fanatic. She also works as a part time content writer for blogs and websites. Most of them relate to financial issues like ppi reclaim and mortgages.

The post Android GPS Applications appeared first on Hack Illusion.

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Printing Has Changed In Windows 8: Here’s What You Need To Know

Printing has changed in Windows 8 – there’s now a standard way of printing in every Modern app. However, like many things about Microsoft’s new Modern interface, printing is not immediately intuitive for many users, especially those used to the old way of printing. Printing is still the same on the desktop, so you don’t have to learn anything new for your desktop applications.

Windows 8 also has a new printer driver system that attempts to support more printers with less drivers, reducing the disk space used for printer drivers and eliminating many bloatware services that come with printer drivers for older versions of Windows.

How to Print From Modern Apps

Modern apps don’t have a File menu where you’ll find a Print option, and they don’t have a Print button on their action bars either. To print in a Modern app, you’ll need to use the charms bar.

First, open an app and view the content you want to print, such as a web page in the Modern version of Internet Explorer or a PDF document in the Reader app.

Next, open the charms bar. Either swipe inwards from the right side of your screen, press the Windows Key + C, or move your mouse cursor to the top or bottom right corners of the screen and move the cursor towards the center of the edge of the screen.

Tap or click the Devices icon once the charms bar appears. (You can also quickly access the Devices charm from anywhere by pressing Windows Key + K.)

You’ll see a list of connected printers and other devices you can print to. If the app you’re using doesn’t support printing, you won’t see any printers in the list. You may also see other devices in the Devices list, such as additional monitors connected to your computer.

Tap the printer you want to print to and you’ll see some basic printing settings. Printer drivers can customize the options that appear here, so you’ll see different options depending on your printer. Tap or click Print to print the document.

You can also tap or click More Settings to view and customized more advanced printer settings, such as the orientation of the document and type of paper you’re using.

How To Print From Desktop Apps

You can print from desktop applications like you always have. Just click the File menu and select Print. In applications without a File menu, such as Google’s Chrome browser, you can often click another menu button or right-click the page and select Print.

While you can access the Devices charm from the desktop, it won’t allow you to print from any desktop applications.

Connecting To Network Printers

You can add network printers from the Control Panel on the desktop, just as you could in Windows 7 and earlier versions of Windows. All printers you add will appear both on the desktop and in the Modern environment.

Click the View Devices and Printers option in the Control Panel window and use the Add a Printer button to add a network printer.

Printing To PDF Files

Windows still doesn’t ship with support for printing to PDF files, although you can still print a document to an XPS file, a proprietary format Microsoft created in an unsuccessful attempt to replace PDF files. You’ll need to download a third-party program if you want to print to PDF files. We’ve had good luck with the free CutePDF Writer in the past.

Once installed, a PDF option will appear in your list of installed printers – both in Modern apps and in desktop apps.

A New Printer Driver Architecture

As a new version of Windows, Windows 8 comes with more printer drivers integrated. Many printers will work out-of-the-box without you having to install anything.

Windows 8 also uses a new printer driver model that supports a wider variety of printers with fewer drivers. The architecture is simplified, and Microsoft wants printer manufacturers to stop including system services with their drivers, reducing bloatware.

Many printers will work out-of-the-box. This is important, as Windows RT (the ARM version of Windows used for the Microsoft Surface RT and other Windows-on-ARM devices) doesn’t allow users to install drivers or other desktop software, so the only printers that work with Windows RT are the ones that Windows supports out-of-the-box.

Printers can optionally specify a Modern app that will be automatically installed from the Windows Store when you connect them to your computer. Microsoft wants these Modern apps to replace the desktop-based printer utilities, providing a cleaner, more unified experience with standard system notifications for printer events, such as “low on ink” messages. However, few printers support this at the moment. You may have to download and install a software package from your manufacturer’s website to get such features.

Have you noticed anything else new about printing in Windows 8? Leave a comment and share it!

The post Printing Has Changed In Windows 8: Here’s What You Need To Know appeared first on MakeUseOf.

Step Outside Your Comfort Zone With VICE Magazine’s Documentaries [Stuff to Watch]

Of all the video content I watch with semi-regularity online, the documentaries produced by VICE magazine continue to fascinate me. For years the publication has existed as an outlet for subculture, often stumbling across hard political commentary while continuing to flout an interest in going against the grain.

The team at VICE have been making use of new media to explore more facets of their warped imaginations in the form of documentaries and short films, with nearly 700 uploads on their YouTube channel to date. There’s a real range of content here, much of it of far greater stature than their written content, something I’ll try and convey in the choice of videos below.

Note: VICE are not known for their professional, Reuters-grade hard journalism but instead a penchant for the seedier, darker and quirkier aspects of life. While many of these films are not a world away from what you might see on a documentary-heavy cable channel at night, be aware that viewer discretion is advised.

Skate World: France

A video that’s as much about friendship and reminiscing as it is about skating or making a statement. Follow Samir Krim, Stephane Larance and more of France’s top amateur skaters as they take you on a tour of Paris, the city in which they grew up and fell in love with skating.

There’s a lot of archive footage of skating greats conquering massive gaps in the late 90s, as well as some anguish towards the french authorities for resisting the movement. It’s like an alternative sightseeing tour of the famous French city from the eyes of a skater.

See also: Skate World: Italy & Skate World: Spain

Internet Scamming in Ghana

Ghana is west Africa’s Internet capital, and somewhere many of our old “recycled” bits of silicon go to die. Over the past 50 years of growth and stability the country has established a reputation for being the most Internet-savvy country in the region, but this has had a knock-on effect that has made Ghana a haven for Internet fraudsters.

Watch how the scams operate, learn where they originated and find out exactly what the money is spent on. If you think that these scammers are living a life of luxury in a guarded luxury compound then this documentary will make you think again.

Exploring Mexican Narco Cinema

It’s no secret that Mexico has one of the worlds most out of control drug problems, with hundreds of drug-related murders in Mexico City alone last year. It was inevitable that drugs and violence would shape some form of the country’s modern cultural movements, with “narco cinema” being the inevitable manifestation of this.

It’s not all about white lines and quick draws, it would also seem that trucks also play a large role too. Watch as VICE founder Shane Smith explores the movement and gets intimately involved with a production.

Africa’s Moonshine Epidemic

Uganda is the drunkest place on earth with the highest consumption of alcohol per capita, numbers that continue to rise. It’s not beer, wine or even whiskey that gets tickle’s Uganda’s throat though – it’s homemade moonshine that’s apparently rotting guts, destroying livers and even turning people blind.

Join VICE in Uganda as they sample some of the local hooch and try to unravel the culture surrounding alcohol that exists. Suffice to say you probably won’t want a drink while watching this one.

How Keyboard Cat Got Famous

An altogether shorter and lighter film, this is the story of one Internet meme that took the world by storm. Did you know the original keyboard cat video was filmed in 1985? And that the initial creator wasn’t even born yet?

Clearly there’s much to be learned about keyboard cat, though the video also looks at what makes an Internet sensation on this scale in the first place.

The Mafia is Trashing Italy… Literally

In case you weren’t aware, the oft-romanticised European country of Italy has some serious problems, not least a political crisis. The country is also still heavily controlled by organised criminals, except rather than counterfeit goods and cracked kneecaps the topic du jour is the problem surrounding toxic waste in the city of Naples.

This two-parter is definitely one of VICE’s more environmentally-focused productions, but the film also explores social aspects including the political spin surrounding the issue and minority groups who seem to pull the strings.

Gun Crazy USA

VICE turn their cameras around for this special which looks at the USA and gun control in 2013. The team make no effort to skirt around the issue of gun laws, illegal gun trade and the crisis that is dividing much of America, though the film isn’t gunning for either team.

The USA makes up 5% of the global population yet is home to somewhere in the region of 50% of the world’s firearms. This documentary is somewhat of a reaction to the Sandy Hook tragedy and the wide-scale political skirmishes that have taken place since.

Documenting Asia’s Illegal Animal Trade

One of the most disturbing practices that continues to this day is the illegal trade for endangered species, which forms a part of daily life for many in parts of Asia. This short film follows Thailand-based photographer Patrick Brown as he documents the tragic treatment of animals in Asia.

Much of the trade is rooted in a belief in false medicine, a “lucky charm” mentality as well as the massive demand and haven for the activity in China. The moving photographs of an illegal trade, a zoo that looks like a Soviet prison camp and the incredibly brutal treatment of animals in general might upset you but this is must-watch stuff.

The Rest

If you’ve enjoyed this smattering of politically-charged, environmentally-aware and outright quirky film-making then you should subscribe to VICE and enjoy the rest of their documentaries and shorts. There’s a lot more to VICE than drugs and violence, and the publication must be praised for some incredibly hard-hitting, well-made and good-natured filmmaking.

The fact that they’re all viewable for free on YouTube just goes to show who is leading the way when it comes to the creation of quality new media.

View: VICE on YouTube

Do you have any favourite VICE films or regulars? Any other documentary channels you absolutely love? Let us know, in the comments below.

The post Step Outside Your Comfort Zone With VICE Magazine’s Documentaries [Stuff to Watch] appeared first on MakeUseOf.

Chrome Omnibox Replaces the Google Search Box in iOS

A few weeks ago, a post from the Chrome blog mentioned that Chrome for iOS will integrate the omnibox with Google Search. "Now you can see your search term in the omnibox, instead of the long search URL. This will help you refine search queries and view more content on the results page. This feature will roll out in the coming weeks, so you may not see it right away after upgrading."



I've noticed this feature when using the incognito mode. It's almost like the experimental feature from Chrome OS: Google's mobile interface no longer includes a search box and the query is displayed in the omnibox, where you can change it. If you go to google.com, you'll still see the regular Google search box and the query won't be displayed in the omnibox.

The query is preserved when you switch to other search services like Google Image Search, Google Video. Unfortunately, there's a bug that replaces the query with the Google search URL when you pick an image search result and go back to the list of results.

I still think that integrating Chrome with Google Search so tightly is a bad idea. Removing an essential navigation feature from a web page and moving it to the browser makes Google more difficult to use (users will think there's something wrong, other browsers show a different interface) and a small Chrome bug can prevent users from editing a query.



Another side-effect of the integration is that Google will not show search suggestions in the incognito mode. It's a regular feature of the omnibox that will make Google more difficult to use. All of this for shaving a few pixels and showing more content.