英語跟美語不一樣的地方

edu-fair.com 有個表格，這些字有英式英語跟美式英語還有中文。這些字我都知道，但是最近我學了新的部份。我對美國朋友說”洗手間有queue”。他不知道我的意思，他想我說”cute”(可愛)。Queue的意思是排隊，結果美國人沒用”Queue”，反而他們用”line up”。另外一件事是當我說”明天我要lie in”，lie in的意思是睡晚ㄧ點。他想我說”lion”(獅子)，我覺的很好笑。

從目前世界上使用英語的國家來看，使用英式英語的國家有：英國、愛爾蘭、澳大利亞、紐西蘭、印度、巴基斯坦、香港等國家。 使用美式英語的國家有：美國、菲律賓等國家，學習美國式的國家則有：台灣、中國、日本、韓國、南美洲等國家。

愛爾蘭的George Bernard Shaw說:

“England and America are two countries separated by a common language.”

edu-fair的: 美式英語vs英式英語

當我寫這個文章時我找到這些相似的網站: English - American Dictionary, Seperated by a Common Language.

Noobkit 網路應用

Noobkit是個網路應用，是Alex Gorbatchev做的。用Noobkit你可以念Ruby on Rails的API說明文件。Noobkit是特別的網路應用，因為你可以標註說明文件頁，所以你等一下可以再回來看。

如果你要用Noobkit你必須先有個OpenID的帳號。你登入了以後就可以開始用。

在左邊有API清單和你的書籤(Bookmarks)。當你在看ㄧ個API部分，可以再標註其他的東西，只要在心的圖上單擊滑鼠左鍵，如果你在氣泡上按一下滑鼠左鍵，你也可以留個訊息。

你在標註了以後，可以在左邊看到它們。我覺得當你用Ruby on Rails工作時，Noobkit很有用；如果你還沒看到，去看一下吧！

Apple Computer Form Factor Evolution

這裡有關於蘋果電腦硬體的進化，有從1976到2007得每個模型。我以前不知道蘋果有那麼多電腦。我第ㄧ次用Mac是Mac Mini G4所以我是新Mac用戶（雖然我在高學的時候用過OS8/9)。

彎彎 Colour Palettes

最近我的中文老師給我們一些圖所以我們可以學情感的字。我最喜歡這些圖的顏色所以我決定做這些圖的色表。

這些圖的畫家是彎彎

Recently in Chinese class we were given a series of pictures so that we could learn words for emotions and feelings. I liked the pictures so much that I decided to make a few sets of colour palettes from them.

All of the images are by the Taiwanese illustrator 彎彎, cwwany

Wet 濕 ㄕ (shi1)

Busy 忙 ㄇㄤˊ (mang2)

Cold 冷 ㄌㄥˇ (leng3)

Dizzy 暈 ㄩㄣ (yun1)

有一個開放原始碼的文字處理軟體

Bean是開放原始碼的文字處理軟體，用在Mac OSX。它比Microsoft Word應用較為快速，可以用Word的Doc格式和RTF,XML等等…而且它們有自己的格式叫“.bean”。

可以在這裡下載。

Bean is an open source word processor for Mac OSX. Compared to Microsoft Word it’s a lot faster. It can read and save .Doc, RTF, XML files etc, in addition to their own .bean format.

Download Bean here.

日文翻譯成中文Wii說明書

如果你像我一樣買了日本版的Wii也許這個網站有用。WiiHolic做的Wii Handbook。他們解釋怎麽用Wii的目錄。因為有很多的圖片所以很清楚。

誰要快速的Firefox？

所以不只是我覺得Firefox有好幾個問題。現在Wired有一個新文章討論為什麼Firefox變比較慢和不穩定。從我的上個文章我決定用Safari。我想Shiira還沒就緒，但是它是有希望。

Firefox, Safari and Shiira

Firefox hasn’t felt right since version 2 was released. There are some nice new features, session restore being one of them. Although, it seems like this feature was added simply to alleviate the anger when the browser inevitably crashes every few days.

So the time has come, once again, to try some other browsers. When looking into Safari and the plugins available for it I stumbled across Shiira, a japanese developed Mac browser. Shiira is based on the Safari rendering engine, Web Kit, and their goal is to simply “create a browser that is better and more useful than Safari.” Shiira 2.0Beta has some great features such as Page Dock and an Exposé like method of viewing open tabs. After only briefly using Shiira I’m impressed and will be trying it out as my main browser over the next few weeks and will post up my thoughts. You can see screenshots of all the features here. A Mini version of Shiira is also available for use in the OS X dock.

A Safari plugin that I found via 43folders is Inquisitor 3 which enables Spotlight-like functionality in the Safari search bar. A very slick plugin and well worth a look if you are a safari user.

Japanese for Gamers

Trying to configure my Japanese Wii has been difficult at times. Due to the Japanese containing lots of Mandarin characters my girlfriend has been able to translate a lot of the menu options but it’s still quite hit-and-miss with a lot of the options. Against the difficulties I’ve managed to configure wirelesss and access the online store, but I’m still quite lost in the menus, especially on my own.

Today I found a site that covers a lot of Japanese language that is directly related to gaming. Japanese for Gamers covers common Japanese for reading game magazines, using game menus, RPG, Sports and strategy games and gaming companies. After a quick look I can already recognise some of the options that I’ve seen in the Wii menus. I’ll fire up the Wii later and see if I can put them to the test.

The site is a geocities site, so I’ve Vacuumed it just in case it dissapears. If it does I’ll post up the archive. If there’s any more resources for import game players please post them in the comments.

Taiwan Visa run to Tokyo

My last Visa run for a new Taiwanese Visa was to Tokyo. Thankfully this time I got an extendable Visa as I am now registered on a course at Kaohsiung University to study Mandarin. This means it’ll be at least three months before I have to do another run. Hopefully I can register on another course before this one is up and extend the Visa for four months

For anyone else thinking of doing the Tokyo run, here are photos of the Journey from the train station to the Visa office so you can easily find your way there: