Babylon, Information at a Click!

Babylon Software - Information at a Click!

Tags: Babylon Software Tool Dictionary Thesaurus Encyclopedia Glossaries Translator Converter Appliance Gadget Technology Innovation Shopping Website Language Search OCR Engine Information Internet Mouse Writing Reading Research MS Office Internet Explorer Application Online Offline Connection Status System Subscribe Download Text-to-Speech TTS History Converter Calculator Price Operating Systems Database

Introduction
A friend once jokingly remarked to me that a writer is a combination of several factors like imagination, ingenuity & creativity, incisiveness, sharp wit, & a sense of humour, knowledge & wisdom, and a subtlety of purpose! And his primary tools, among others, are the Muse, quiet environs, a dictionary and a thesaurus.

We cannot do much about the Muse! He comes and goes as he pleases ;-) But, the dictionary and the thesaurus? Yes!

Often, we struggle with the flow of thoughts when writing because we do not get the right word, phrase, quotation, etcetera. The use of a dictionary and thesaurus helps, but only so so! The manual/physical dictionary and thesaurus is really very clumsy |:-( Software wise, we use the basic features available in MS Word. But these are just that, very basic! Further, on proper nouns, they draw a blank! So what do we do? Jump onto a search engine? But the mining of relevant information on the net is really, really tedious and sooooo time consuming!

This is where Babylon comes in!

Website: www.babylon-software.com

Babylon tool / software provides quick information at a click! Its information covers a multitude of topics. And all this, at the simple click of the mouse!

1. Integration: A powerful information tool that combines the best of a dictionary, a thesaurus, and an encyclopaedia. It is a favourite and can be used both at home and work!
2. Dream Tool: A Dream Tool! No doubt about it! Must for writers, and others too. Allows writers to do away with all those bulky references.
3. Glossaries: It has a huge database of over 1,600 dictionaries & glossaries on its home site, and is still being updated and growing!
4. Interface: Sports an absolutely attractive, comfortable, convenient, and entirely user-friendly interface.
5. Activation Keys: To run the tool, press the activation keys. This, the tool asks you to do when you are installing it for the first time. I normally use CTRL+ALT, as this combination does not interfere with any other software.
6. Dictionary, Thesaurus, Encyclopaedia, & Translator: It not only provides instantly, relevant information, but also multi-lingual translations for any word or value you type in or click on. For example, you come across a word on MS, ’’nada’’, and you want to know what it means. No problemo! Just activate Babylon by clicking on the word ’’nada’’. And prompto! You learn that ’’nada’’ is Italian for ’’nothing’’. If you want to know the meaning of a result that Babylon has thrown-up, just click on it! Cross Application Support: The tool can recognise words from several applications like MS Office and Internet Explorer.
7. Sensitive OCR Engine: It has a sensitive OCR engine that can read Words off images, or scanned text! It enables users to click on any word, phrase or number in any Windows application and immediately receive a translation or description!
8. Online / Offline Usage: Can be used offline or online. You can switch between online and offline modes by clicking on the revolving Babylon icon at the top left corner of the result window. This icon also displays the connection status i.e., Online or Offline. Offline functioning works well, but is limited to the number of glossaries downloaded to local system. Once glossaries are downloaded, there won’t be a need to connect to the net anymore, except occasionally when you want to pick-up new or additional glossaries. Online functioning is the best. Babylon can connect to its home site and other websites, to extract the maximum information you require.
9. Subscribe / Download Glossaries: Glossaries can either be subscribed to or downloaded to the local system by clicking on the + button to the right of a result, and selecting one of the options, viz., ’’Subscribe’’ or ’’Download’’. Subscription will not download the glossary, but will connect to it online whenever the need arises. The other option ’’Download’’ is self-explanatory.
10. Copy / Paste: Just right-click the target and the word is copied to the clipboard.
11. Save Results: Results can be saved into Babylon itself or locally into your system.
12. TTS engine: Speaks pronunciations typed in. A menu of voices provided. The speed of the voice can be customised.
13. History: The tool is equipped with a history feature to navigate to the previous words or previous conversions.
14. Converter & Calculator: Can convert any value to the value of our choice. Conversions cover currencies, measurements, time and their sub-units. It can also distinguish between a word and a value, and automatically invokes the converter feature, when the target is a value. History feature is available. Additionally, it can invoke calculator from Windows.
15. Miscellaneous: The tool has a resizable window, and several options to configure how you want it to behave. A pane in the tool displays a list of the selected glossaries with check boxes, allowing them to be either selected or deselected or even deleted. If you do not want the tool to run temporarily, you can disable it, and enable it later when you need it, or completely exit it. 
16. Priced / Trial Versions: You can either buy Babylon (details on web site) or simply download the trial version (30 days). If you would like to understand how useful the tool is, then best to start with a trial version and then decide whether you want to keep it permanently for your requirements.
17. Operating Systems: Supports multiple operating systems across the board.

For complete details, on how the tool works and its ease of usage, please read the Help file of Babylon.

All said and done, you will have to experiment with this tool yourself to understand its real utility.

Pros:-
+ Trendy and User-friendly interface
+ Can be used across most applications
+ Works Online or Offline
+ Huge Database of Glossaries; re Babylon site
+ Sensitive OCR Engine that can read Words or numbers off images, or scanned text
+ Powerful Information Tool integrating Dictionary, Thesaurus, & Encyclopaedia
+ Multi-lingual Translator
+ Converter
+ Save Results feature
+ History feature; can navigate to Previous Searches
+ Speaks Pronunciations; TTS Engine; Choice from several voices; Newer ones can be downloaded
+ Works on multiple Operating Systems

Cons:-
- None significant.

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