Re: NB 8 (Trial version)

[tebrake@xxxxxxxx]

On 8 May 2006 at 7:33, Robert Holmgren wrote:

> I respect them greatly. They've accomplished a lot, with very limited
> resources. But there are also legitimate complaints, and a distinctive thing
> about the saccharine NB maillist is that those complaints are seldom voiced.

Actually, Robert, I do not fundamently disagree with anything you
say. Your criticisms are based on full knowledge of the product and
always seem intended to improve it. My message, admittedly written
after a full weekend of grading that had turned my brain to mush, was
meant to address what seemed to me at the time to be a gratuitous
crack at Steve and his product by Patricia. And in retrospect I now
see that I missed an attempt at humor. Please forgive my crankiness,
Patricia.



> To my mind, what was valuable about the IBM dictionaries is that they included
> thesauruses -- and I really do like thesauruses. They can trigger the mind in
> a creative way, *especially* when working in non-native languages.

I totally agree. But isn't the problem with these specific
dictionaries that they can't handle ANSI coding, so unless Steve
could get permission from the owners to change them, they never will
be much use to him? Might it not be better to try to license
thesauri that were made for ANSI in the first place? Or are you
suggesting that it should be possible for NB to make these
dictionaries work as is by creating a shell to make the necessary
substitutions?

Time to get back to grading.

Bill TeBrake