Talking Dictionary and Advanced LAN Scan

Talking Merriam-Webster English Dictionary - If you work at your PC, you have a choice between fumbling with a heavy paper dictionary or firing up your browser to surf to one. Talking Merriam-Webster Dictionary makes things easier, keeping a dictionary handy in your PC's system tray. The Talking Merriam-Webster Dictionary includes 75,000 definitions in 45,000 entries. The program can pronounce ten thousand of these words for you. In Basic Mode, the dictionary uses a main window for scrolling and search and a tabbed second window for definitions. In Advanced Mode, the program presents itself as one window with a Notes field to let you annotate the entries yourself. In both modes, the dictionary is quick and easy to use. The definitions I sampled appeared sound. I'd like to see language of origin for every word, but that may be a geeky wish that others don't share. The accent issues from earlier versions have been fixed. The speakers now sound like native speakers of American English. The choice of spoken words could be better, though; surely we'd get more benefit from hearing "trompe l'oeil" than "troop," and I'd rather hear "aegis" than "advocate." Paragon Software offers a number of different Merriam-Webster dictionaries, from smaller (Pocket, $16) to much bigger (Unabridged, $62), foreign language (various prices) and specialized (Medical, $43). Any of the programs can search the other dictionaries from the same interface. Note: This demo version works indefinitely, but nag screens begin popping up after 100 definitions. Buying the full version removes the nag screens. http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_download/fid,71822-order,4-page,1-c,education/download.html

Advanced LAN Scanner Version: 1.0 File Size: 561k License Type: Free Operating Systems: Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows 98 If you're a techie and have more than one PC at work or home on a network sharing a single Internet connection, you'll welcome this freebie, which offers surprisingly powerful scanning capabilities. Use it for everything from troubleshooting Internet connections, to network configuration, to making sure your PCs are as safe as possible when they're on the Internet. --Preston Gralla Go to the download page now: Advanced LAN Scanner http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_download/fid,46183-order,4-page,1-c,internettools/download.html