Using Spanish Language Tools in Word

Spanish deserves checking

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/technology/12279246.htm?source=rss&channel=miamiherald_technology

BY TIM HENDERSON
thenderson@herald.com

Q: I would like to get a Spanish spell checker for my home computer. I have Microsoft Word at home, but no Spanish spell-checker. Thanks for your help.
A: You should be able to get Spanish spell checking to work in the latest versions of Microsoft Word. The U.S. versions of Office 2000, Office XP and Office 2003 can spell check in English, Spanish and French and can even give you country-specific spell checking for Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, etc. Look under Tools . . . Language . . . Set Language.

Earlier versions can be made to spell check the same way, but you may have to add a custom dictionary under Tools . . . Options . . . Spelling and Grammar. It doesn't seem like an easy process, and you might want to resort to a program called Proofing Tools that appears to have been bought out by Microsoft, but originally made a program for spell checking Spanish and other languages for Office 97 and earlier versions. Some places still seem to be selling it if you search on the phrases ''proofing tools'' and ''office 97'' in your favorite search engine.

For more info see: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;309358&sd=tech
I would like to get a Spanish spell checker for my home computer. I have Microsoft Word at home, but no Spanish spell-checker. Thanks for your help.

A: You should be able to get Spanish spell checking to work in the latest versions of Microsoft Word. The U.S. versions of Office 2000, Office XP and Office 2003 can spell check in English, Spanish and French and can even give you country-specific spell checking for Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, etc. Look under Tools . . . Language . . . Set Language.Earlier versions can be made to spell check the same way, but you may have to add a custom dictionary under Tools . . . Options . . . Spelling and Grammar. It doesn't seem like an easy process, and you might want to resort to a program called Proofing Tools that appears to have been bought out by Microsoft, but originally made a program for spell checking Spanish and other languages for Office 97 and earlier versions. Some places still seem to be selling it if you search on the phrases ''proofing tools'' and ''office 97'' in your favorite search engine.For more info see:

Buying a Puppy Online

Surfing for a Pup? Homework Comes First

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/02/business/yourmoney/02dog.html?ex=1285905600&en=c916a10c8f0e923b&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
By MARYANN MOTT
Published: October 2, 2005

AFTER waiting more than a year, September Morn of Shelton, Wash., recently received her American Eskimo puppy from a breeder she found online.

"I consider this breeder a personal friend now, after our many, mostly e-mail, interactions," said Ms. Morn, a professional dog trainer. "We've shared joys and sorrows, hopes and worries, and news of our dog families. And if it weren't for the Internet, I might never have found her."
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More than 200,000 American households bought puppies online last year, according to the American Pet Product Manufacturers Association, a trade group.

But not all Internet purchases have a happy ending. Law enforcement officials in California and Florida recently reported that charges have been filed in more than 30 cases in which consumers either received sick puppies that later died, or paid upwards of $1,000 for a dog and never received it.

The American Kennel Club - the largest registry of purebred dogs - does not officially track complaints involving Internet purchases. But a spokeswoman, Lisa Peterson, says that more people are reporting health problems in dogs bought online.

Many complain "that the dog arrives sick or in poor condition, and the puppy buyer can't get satisfaction from the breeder because they often live in another state," Ms. Peterson said.

Sometimes the puppy may never show up.

After moving to Virginia earlier this year, Shawnell Ingle wanted a dog for her family. So she went online and noticed an ad for English bulldog puppies for $1,000. After previewing pictures, she chose one.

Ms. Ingle said the seller told her to transfer the funds to a Western Union account in California. Once the money was received, she said, the seller promised to put the pup on a flight to the East Coast.

Days turned into weeks and the puppy did not arrive, and numerous calls to the seller went unanswered, Ms. Ingle said. "All I did was cry for a day or so," she said. "My kids were so brokenhearted."

The police in Chula Vista, Calif., say the seller, Elizabeth Rivera Davis of Chula Vista, stole more than $20,000 from nearly two dozen online puppy buyers throughout the country and Canada. She has pleaded guilty to 2 of 17 felony counts and will be sentenced tomorrow in Chula Vista.

To help buyers find the right breed and to choose responsible sellers, the A.K.C. last year introduced a Web-based service called Breeder Classifieds, found under "Online Services" at akc.org. Only breeders in good standing with the organization can advertise. The site averages 135,000 searches a month, Ms. Peterson said, and includes a list of questions to ask of breeders.

Some people mistakenly think that A.K.C. papers alone guarantee that a puppy is healthy and of good quality. They don't. They prove only that a puppy is the offspring of a known sire and dam.

Prices for pedigree puppies vary by region, depending on the type of dog, its health screening tests and whether the parents are champions. In the New York metropolitan area, for example, Rhodesian Ridgebacks - large, athletic dogs with permanently raised hair along their backs - sell for around $1,500. In upstate New York, they go for half that price.

In general, buyers can expect to pay $500 to $2,000 for a pet-quality pedigree puppy - one that the breeder believes won't be able to compete successfully in dog shows. A higher price, though, doesn't necessarily mean better quality.

Many fans of purebreds say that good breeders often have the following qualities:

They are not in the business solely to make money. For many, it is a hobby, with the goal of improving the breed.

They often specialize in one breed, and spend time educating buyers about its advantages and disadvantages.

They sell only healthy animals and guarantee them for reasonable periods. They should test a puppy's parents for hereditary diseases, and the puppy's vaccinations should be up to date.

Their contracts stipulate that if the buyer does not meet specified conditions of care, or becomes unable to keep the puppy, they will take it back. (Most contracts for pet-quality dogs also have a clause that requires spaying or neutering of the dog. )

Elaine Gewirtz of Westlake Village, Calif., wants to make sure that her Dalmatian puppies go to good homes - and to people who know what to expect from owning them. (Both Ms. Morn and Ms. Gewirtz, as well as this reporter, are occasional contributors to Dog Fancy magazine.)

More than 60 percent of Ms. Gewirtz's prospective buyers come from online breeder referral services and firebusterdals.com, her Web site. When people send e-mail requests for information, she asks them to call her. She then asks about their pet-owning experience and lifestyle to determine if they're a good match.

"My husband says it's easier for someone to get a bank loan than one of my puppies," said Ms. Gewirtz, who has bred 25 champion Dalmatians.

When visiting a breeder's home or kennel, ask to see at least one of the puppy's parents, experts say; the appearance and temperament of the parent can provide an idea of how the pup may turn out. Be wary, the experts advise, if a breeder does not let you do so - or if he does not let you see the environment where the puppy was raised.

If you do buy an animal with a health problem, 12 states, including Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, have consumer protection laws for buyers. These laws differ by state. Some "puppy lemon laws" make the seller compensate the buyer for a portion of veterinarian bills incurred; others cover hereditary conditions.

MS. MORN, who recently bought the American Eskimo puppy, a dog with a thick, snowy white coat, said she is happy with her choice.

The dog, which she named Iris, "is healthy, happy, brilliant, athletic, bold, affectionate and thoroughly charming," she said. "She's everything I wanted in a pup."

Ms. Morn clearly did her homework.

"There are different ways to use the Internet to locate a puppy," she said. "Some are great; others are ridiculous."

She said she joined a chat board for owners whose American Eskimo dogs compete in the sport of agility, in which the dogs race through timed obstacle courses.

She carefully read its postings, then asked knowledgeable members to recommend a breeder. She interviewed several, eventually narrowing her search to a breeder in Indiana. The two exchanged dozens of e-mail messages and had a number of phone conversations before Ms. Morn decided to buy a puppy from her for $800.

"My advice to someone seeking a pup - whether they make their contacts in person, by telephone, or via Internet - is before you decide who you're going to get your puppy from, educate yourself about that breed and about common health and temperament issues," Ms. Morn said. "Know the right questions to ask and be able to understand what the answers mean."

Making Your Own Passport Photos

http://www.dpchallenge.com/tutorial.php?TUTORIAL_ID=22

"This tutorial will show you how to take, format, and prepare your own passport photos. Rather than repeating what is already provided, please see the guidelines provided by the US Department of State. These will provide you with information regarding proper lighting, exposure, composition, and size."

6 Ways to Link iPods and Car Radios

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1866732,00.asp

By  Bill Howard

What a waste: All your music, masterfully ripped at high quality (okay, okay, 128kbps) on your iPod, and you still haven't hooked it up to your car's sound system. It's an easy step to take once you know the direction to go. Here's a run-down, from worst to best, of the ways to link your iPod, other digital music player, or portable CD player to your car's "head unit," the industry's fancy term for "radio."

1. FM modulator. The modulator is a low-power FM transmitter that broadcasts on an unused frequency. You plug a connecting cable from the modulator into your music player's headphone jack. Most of the portable satellite radio tuners from Sirius and XM have modulators built in, and usually run $20-$30.

Pro: Works on every car with an FM radio. Choose from multiple frequencies. Affordable. Most don't need installation.

Con: Quality ranges from okay to poor. For models that don't plug into the lighter, you must remember to bring a spare AA or AAA battery.

2. Cassette adapter. Plug this familiar (since the 1980s and the first portable CD players) gadget into your car's cassette slot, and press Play. It works adequately if you, ah, still have a car cassette player. Cost is $10 to $20.

Pro: Works with every car with a cassette player.

Con: Works only with cars with a cassette player. Adequate sound quality.

3. FM modulator (antenna direct connection). This modulator transmits, but not over the airwaves. You insert the car radio antenna plug into the back of this modulator, and the modulator's antenna plugs into the back of the car radio where it directly injects the signal. Sound quality is better, and less variable, than with other FM modulators. Cost is $30 to $75 and you may want an audio shop to install it. Check out products from Fahrenheit and Scosche, among others.

Pro: Adequate to good sound quality. Draws from car power (no batteries).

Con: May need pro installation (but it's not that hard). A handful of esoteric cars may lack the standard antenna jack or it will be in the trunk (requiring extra wiring).

4. Line-in connection. Run a cable from the headphone jack of your music player to a jack on the front of your car radio, a music-in jack in the glovebox, or in the center console. Can't find it? Automakers only got religion in the last year or so, and a few started adding line-in jacks, although others, like Lexus, will charge extra for it. Before, they (or the dealers) thought you'd be willing to pay $500 for a trunk-mounted CD changer that would play six CDs. Look for a stereo line cable with 1/8-inch jacks at both ends; this is the common size for music player headphones. Cost is $2-$10.

Pro: Excellent sound quality.

Con: Few cars have line-in jacks yet.

5. Line-in connection via CD changer. Most cars built in the past decade have a jack in the trunk for the dealer-installable CD changer you never bought. Or a CD changer connector on the back of the factory radio. If your car lacks a line-in jack and you want best sound quality, this is where you make the connection. Sound quality won't be any better or worse than a standard line-in connection, but this may be the only way to hack in. Some trunk-mount satellite radios can actually pass track-and-title information to the radio head unit. Cost varies from $25 to $150 plus an hour or two of installation time. It may be possible to have both a satellite radio and a music player connected with a custom A/B switchbox. Look into products from blitzsafe.com, pac-audio.com (Pacific Accessory Corp), and soundgate.com.

Pro: Excellent sound quality. Possible to pass satellite radio station, song information to car radio.

Con: Not cheap. May require disconnection of CD changer if you have one.

6. iPod smart-cable connection. Cables or black box (actually silver box) modules specific to Apple's all-conquering iPod connect into the CD changer jack or the back of the radio's CD changer / satellite radio jack. They pass the signal to the radio and charge your iPod at the same time. Some modules pass artist, track, and title information to the car radio. Others (Harman/Kardon drive+play, Monster Cable iCruze) have their own small LCD panels that mount on the dash, replacing the display of your iPod, which can be safely stashed in the glovebox. Costs range from $100 to $250.

Pro: Excellent sound, battery recharge, (sometimes) song information passed to car radio or dedicated LCD panel.

Con: Costly. Complex (for you, not the shop) installation. Disables iPod faceplate/controls, May limit you to a half-dozen playlists with specific names.

Copyright (c) 2005 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Economics of Home Photo Printing

Why Do-It-Yourself Photo Printing Doesn't Add Up

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/08/technology/08photo.ready.html?ex=1286424000&en=33e5d5f4b93827c5&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

By DAMON DARLIN

Prices of printers have dropped up to 30 percent in the last few months thanks to a savage price war. Is this then the time to buy a photo printer for your home?

After all, for about $200 you can get the Hewlett-Packard Photosmart 8250 that in just 14 seconds spits out a photo that equals the quality of those coming back from the photo finisher in an hour. For the same price, Canon's iP6600D prints a borderless 4-by-6-inch photo in 46 seconds, but also prints on both sides of dual-side photo paper.

The catch is that after you make an initial investment, you are going to pay at least 28 cents a print, if you believe the manufacturers' math. It could be closer to 50 cents a print if you trust the testing of product reviewers at Consumer Reports.

In the meantime, the price of printing a 4-by-6-inch snapshot at a retailer's photo lab, like those inside a Sam's Club, is as low as 13 cents. Snapfish.com, an online mail-order service, offers prints for a dime each if you prepay. At those prices, why bother printing at home?

Consumers seem to be saying just that. For the 12 months ended in July, home printing accounted for just 48 percent of the 7.7 billion digital prints made, down sharply from 64 percent in the previous 12 months, according to the Photo Marketing Association International, a trade group for retailers and camera makers. The number of photos spewing out of home printers is up quite handsomely, however, because of the overall growth of digital photo printing - up about 68 percent from the year-earlier period - but retail labs clearly have the advantage.

You might say this is an example of the wisdom of crowds. Despite the ceaseless efforts of manufacturers to convince consumers that printing at home is fast, convenient and a whole lot of fun, the evidence shows that many people are tuning out the marketing.

It does not take an advanced business degree for those consumers to see how printer manufacturers like Hewlett-Packard and Canon make their money. They use the "razor blade" business model. It is named from the marketing innovation of King C. Gillette, who in the early years of the last century sold razors for a low price but made all his money on the high-margin disposable razor blades. Printer manufacturers also use this tied-product strategy.

Printers return relatively low profit margins. But the ink, ounce for ounce, is four times the cost of Krug Clos du Mesnil Champagne, which sells for around $425 a bottle. Ink is about the same price as Joy perfume, considered to be one of the more pricey fragrances, at $158 for a 2.5-ounce bottle.

They don't just get you on the ink. Some photo printers force you to buy the cartridge and paper together in a "value pack." The ink or printer ribbon can run out before you are through with half the paper, so you risk building an ever-increasing stack of unused photo paper.

The industry, from the photo finishers to the camera makers, has been concerned since the rise of the digital camera that consumers weren't printing enough pictures. There's a general sigh of relief that the percentage of printed photos has risen from 31 percent in 2003 to a projected 35 percent this year, the Photo Marketing Association says. The trend is slight, but it is in the right direction.

The shallowness of the trend line also suggests that a new culture of photographs has been created. Consumers print their photos, but moreover, they share their photos more often and technology allows them to do it without printing. Cameras now come with liquid-crystal-display screens of 2.5 or 3 inches designed just for that purpose.

Consumers upload photos for free storage and sharing to Snapfish.com, Shutterfly.com or EasyShare.com, a service owned by Eastman Kodak. You no longer have to send printed snapshots to Grandma. You can send a URL. The growing popularity of these services is why Hewlett bought Snapfish and Kodak bought Ofoto.com to merge it into its online service. Wal-Mart and Costco have also created an online service for storing and printing photos. Snapfish allows you to order prints stored online for pickup at your nearest Walgreens.

Storage on the online services is free and for now, they offer limitless storage. Though each one has slightly different merchandise, you can also use them to print out albums, calendars and mugs with your uploaded photos on them.

Ben Nelson, the vice president and general manager of Snapfish, said that surveys of its customers found that 46 percent did home printing and 45 percent printed at retailers. "We were kind of scratching our heads over that," Mr. Nelson said. What Snapfish came to realize, he said, is that consumers vary their behavior depending on the photo. If they want it now, they print at home. Those with 30 to 40 prints go to a retailer. If they are creating large projects like a mass mailing greeting card or a photo album, they seek a mail-order company.

"We've shifted our services to enable all three," he said.

That's not to say that home printers are always an uneconomical proposition. If you want an 8-by-10-inch photo, a home printer will do it for about a third of the $3 a copy Walgreens charges. But before you make the plunge on these specialized printers, you should ask yourself how often are you going to do that kind of printing. Dimitrios Delis, who tracks facts and figures for the Photo Marketing Association, says that 85 percent of all prints are the classic 4 by 6 inches.

Any time you print in volumes - like Christmas cards or the Little League team picture - you'll be better off having the retailer handle it. "If they want to make many prints at home, it is not economical or convenient," Mr. Delis said.

Prints made at home will certainly last a long time. That's certainly one good reason that these printers are popular with hobbyists and professionals. Independent studies say that home printers produce copies that should last 80 to 100 years without fading or yellowing, assuming you used leading inks and recommended photo paper. Marketers at Canon and Hewlett like to point out that those studies also show that prints made by photo processors decades ago now show signs of fading. (Today's photo processing machines are supposed to produce prints that will last as long as the home-printed versions.)

What may be the better solution is the home office printer that can double as a photo printer on those rare occasions that you are printing at home. Many come with separate ink tanks, so you don't have to replace all the colors when you inevitability run out of black ink. Canon sells clear cartridges for ink so you can verify when the ink is gone rather than rely on the printer to tell you to replace the cartridge.

After all, when this liquid gold is costing you $65 an ounce, you'll want to use every last drop.

E-mail: yourmoney@nytimes.com