Copywriter, technical writer, translator (FR>EN, ES>EN, IT>EN), journalist

Posts Tagged Google

Shortening urls

Every web page you visit has a uniform resource locator (url) in the address bar. For instance, to visit my site, you would type my site’s url in the address bar, like so: www.luigibenetton.com. Each url can be a “folder path” not unlike the ones you use

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Smartphones improving, making choice tougher

This is the first article in a two-part series. Smartphone operating systems as a discussion topic can sometimes prove as inflammatory as religion and politics. Arguments seem prompted, at least in part, by marketing as the major manufacturers battle for greater share of the lucrative business smartphone

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Understanding the "cloud"

I loved using Palm Pilot devices. All sorts of stuff that was on my computer synchronized to my handheld and I could look it up just by pulling the device out of a pocket and using it. Today, there’s a third “device” between the handheld and the

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Let MIT map your life

Ever wonder how much the folks at Google really know about your life? Intrepid researchers at MIT can help you find out.

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Pulling text out of PDFs

My favorite way to research is to ask questions of subject matter experts. They take you right to the core of a topic and help you consider angles you didn’t know about. My second-favorite way to research is to read documents online and pull text from them

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10 technology tips in 6 minutes

This video pretty much explains all I’d like to accomplish with my blog. Big-time technology journalist David Pogue, a guy who gets all the latest toys to play with so he can REVIEW THEM BEFORE THEY’RE RELEASED (Are you listening to me, big technology companies? No, I’m

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A cleaner, simpler feel in the new look Office

Microsoft packaged new goodies in the latest version of its Office suite of productivity software, but this time you might notice the package more than the goodies. The programs — Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook et al — are all still there, but they look a lot less

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Web-based translation

A few years ago, I wrote about how law firms translate their documents into other languages. Translation is a challenging task, so it’s no surprise that large firms hire professional translators and buy sophisticated technology to do translations quickly and well. Free services like Google Translate and

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Using Google to create online forms

Some years ago, I tried to solicit answers to questions using an online questionnaire, a Google Form. For some reason, response was lackluster. I figured people were used to scheduling an interview when providing answers to a journalist, and the online form I created could easily be

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Small tablets – a buyers guide

Note: this piece originally intended for publication in late 2012. Two years ago, Apple said its iPad’s chances were pretty good when facing the substantially smaller BlackBerry Playbook tablet that Research in Motion sold at iPad prices. About a year later, months of disappointing Playbook sales drove

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