Showing posts with label fun. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fun. Show all posts

2012-09-23

Language Immersion

I came across a language immersion extension for Google Chrome today:

Language Immersion for Chrome is an experimental extension that aims to simulate the experience of being immersed in a foreign language. By switching certain words and phrases from English into a language of your choice, the websites you already visit can provide a way to experience the world from a different perspective.

Features:
- Choose from all 64 languages currently supported by Google Translate.
- Novice-to-fluent skill settings let you immerse at your own pace.
- Click on a translated word to switch it back to English.
- Roll-over a translated word to hear it pronounced.

Say you desire to brush up on your Latin a bit while browsing Fr. John Zuhlsdorf's reflections on the Hobbit. Open the language immersion extension, and select 'Latin' from the long list of available languages. Dial down the immersion to the desired level ('novice' for this example). While reading the article, a number of the words or phrases will have been converted to Latin. For example: "The professor rescripsit. I received his letter..." If there is some question as to what the translation means, simply click the word to have it toggled back to the original language. (I will note that the extension is not perfect, and some languages / websites may provide for a better immersion experience than others.)




2010-12-11

Vestibulo-ocular reflex

On a rare occasion we will take a break for the typical topics of interest to experience the "dancing babies" and "epic beard men" that the internet has to offer. After seeing an advertisement for Fushigi the following video representing Vestibulo-ocular reflex in chickens came to mind.

2010-09-30

Google Translates Latin

It has been noted on numerous web logs and news articles that Google Translate now supports English to Latin, and Latin to English.

Edit: I have been throwing quite a bit at this translator, and I have found it spot on many times and awkward but still accurate other times. Google has an interesting page on the technology behind Google Translate.

2010-09-07

Google Particles

Seems today that http://www.google.com/ has updated is logo to be interactive with the mouse. (If you use iGoogle, you may have to switch to "Classic Home" to see the bouncing logo.) Shaking the browser also produces the effect. I am sure that this is only temporary, so I plan to add a permanent link when one is available.