Re: [tlug] kanji dictionary

[Ulrich Plate <plate@example.com>]

Joe Larabell wrote:

> According to what I've read (take it with a grain of salt, since I
> read it in Japanese ;-), the SL-C700 with the right PHS card can
> *recieve* calls(you obviously also need the earphone/mic gizmo) but
> there is no way to*place* calls. Given that part of the solution is
> there and this is, after all, an open source platform, I am hoping
> that someone will eventually come up with a driver that allows the Z
> to work like a keitai.

It's actually the other way around: You can make calls, but you can't
receive any. It's not a limitation in the Zaurus, the PHS cards just
aren't smart enough to allow for the same thing a GSM card would do.
You'd need the actual PDA to intercept calls (wake-on-call or overriding
applications you're currently running when a call comes in). I'm not an
expert in these matters, but the recurring pattern in discussions I had
with one of the Sharp devs in Nara and a guy from AXE who do Linux for
iPaqs (Sikigami) was that this is unlikely to happen anytime soon. Not
for PHS, anyway.

> I do that but I've always wondered if that counts as a stroke. In
> other words, I've always been careful to make sure I rest the stylus
> somewhere around where the next stroke would probably start. Have you
> any experience resting it in some random place and later changing your
> mind? Does it still do a good job recognizing the character?

It does count as a stroke if you lift it off after the last graphem you
wrote, then put it down again to rest it. That said, the Zaurus
handwriting recognition engine is the best you can find in any device,
beyond any comparison to AXE's Nunome, much better than Microsoft's IME
pad, and even still outperforming ATOK. Not entirely surprising, they've
been using this technology for ten years now and continuously tweaked it
for the better. Changing the stroke count always lessens your chances
for recognition, but it's usually still smart enough to guess the right
kanji if you change your mind in mid-character... Where it's really
taking off is abbreviated kanji and mere gestures like in fast written
characters, try that occasionally to see what I mean. 

> BTW... One more related comment to the original poster. If you're
> looking at buying one of the older Zaurus models for use as a
> dictionary, keep in mind that the later MI series (the one with the
> keyboard under the slide- down panel) and the SI series do *not* come
> with the dictionary software by default. It now comes on a seperate SD
> card that sets you back another$100 or so (and occupies the SD slot).

Jim Tittsler mentioned our little club here yesterday, the ZOK. If
you're interested in dictionaries on old Zauri, that's where you'll get
all the answers you want. The built-in (or separately purchased)
dictionary from Gakken isn't bad - the stuff we use is *much* better...
:) http://zaurus.biojapan.de/zaurus.html is a good starting point.

Cheers
Ulrich Plate

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