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September 25, 2001
Lindsay Fraser
lfraser@burntsand.com
Do you still dig out a paper-based dictionary when you
need a definition? Or are you sufficiently Net savvy
that you know to go to an online dictionary site such
as dictionary.com
or yourdictionary.com?
Are you sufficiently Net savvy that you have actually
bookmarked these sites for easy access? I have recently
found a free set of tools that make the aforementioned
Net processes, and others that are similar in nature,
even easier. Read on….
Recently, while messing around at the Dictionary.com
site, I ventured into their "Cool Tools"
section. This is a place on their Web site where you
can download small programs that will enhance your use
of the dictionary.com site. Here I came across what
they called "Free Browser Buttons".
These are links that you can drag and drop onto your
"links" bar in Internet Explorer and your
"personal toolbar" in Netscape. After dropping
them onto these bars they are permanently available
to you right on your browser toolbar. These are much
more than mere bookmarked links though because they
actually do something. In the case of the dictionary.com
browser button, you can at any time hit that button
and a small search input window opens where you can
type a word you are interested in finding the definition
of, hit "OK" and "hey, presto" you
are presented with the definition of that word from
the dictionary.com Web site. The dictionary.com site
also offers a similar "free browser button"
for the thesaurus.com site.
The dictionary.com site noted that their two browser
buttons were inspired by the work of Steve Kangas at
Bookmarklets.com
so I thought I should investigate.
Bookmarklets are the invention of Steve Kangas (self-titled
Chief of Rocket Science at Bookmarklets). They are described
as simple (and free) tools that extend the surf and
search capabilities of the Netscape and Internet Explorer
Web browsers. In Steve's words they allow you to:
- Modify the way you see someone else's Web page;
- Extract data from a Web page;
- Search more quickly, and in ways not possible, with
a search engine; and
- Navigate in new ways.
I began by looking at his "Search Bookmarklets"
as Net searching is one of my most common daily practices.
According to Kangas, "Search Bookmarklets"
let you surf without clicking on links.
What he means is that normally when you surf the Web,
you proceed by clicking on links. Sometimes though,
you see a word or phrase that interests you that the
author hasn't turned into a link. "Search Bookmarklets"
allow you to highlight the word that interests you (by
dragging across it) and they automatically feed it into
a search engine. Kangas calls the concept a user-defined
hyperlink. This is considerably simpler than copying
the text, going to the search engine, pasting the text
into a search box, and pushing a button.
Search Bookmarklets also allow you to perform regular
Web searches quickly. Normally when you want to do a
Web search, you have to go to a Web search page (like
Yahoo) that contains a text box and then you enter your
keyword there. "Search Bookmarklets" allow
you to avoid this step by providing a text box without
a page, so you don't have to wait for that extra page
to load. Just trigger the "Search Bookmarklet"
by clicking on it and you'll get a popup box where you
can enter your keyword. After you hit "OK"
a page will be returned to you containing your search
results.
Now, you are probably wondering how the "Search
Bookmarklet" knows at which site to search. Kangas
had made a multitude of Bookmarklets available specific
to different search services.
In the section called "Other Search Bookmarklets"
you can choose the specific Bookmarklet site you want
- I chose "Search Yahoo" and "Search
Google" as I am forever typing out the names of
these sites and waiting for the homepage to load before
I can input my search term. Using the Bookmarklet, I
simply highlight the word that interests me and click
on the link. Alternatively I click on the bookmarklet
link, a text input box appears, and I type the word
I want. In milliseconds, I get my results back from
Yahoo or Google.
You can download the Bookmarklet by right clicking
and selecting add to favourites or by dragging and dropping
it onto the "links" toolbar in IE.
In addition to directories and search engines, Kangas
has made available Bookmarklets that will search:
- Discussion groups;
- Photo and image archives;
- Dictionaries, thesaurii and the like;
- Music;
- Web design resources;
- Software;
- Health resources;
- Recipes;
- Movies;
- Stock quotes;
- Maps and more.
Another useful Bookmarklet that I found in this part
of the Web site was the "What's Related Bookmarklet".
When you are on a Web page that you find interesting,
you trigger this Bookmarklet and you are returned a
list of links to other pages on the Web that are related
in subject or theme.
For those of you who can't decide which Bookmarklets
to save, you should think about the "More Info
About Bookmarklet" which is an all in one monster
search tool. When you see a word on a Web page that
interests you, you highlight the word and then trigger
the Bookmarklet by clicking on it. A new Web page will
open for you where you are given the choice of searching
for that word in collections of dictionaries, search
engines, directories, discussion groups, news archives
and image archives.
Very, very cool though was the fact that you could
create your own search Bookmarklet following a very
simple set of instructions. A site that I use often
is the Government
of Canada Electronic Directory Services (GEDS).
This is a site that I never remember to bookmark so
I usually have to go through a laborious process of
going to the main Canada site, selecting the language
of my choice, then selecting Government Contacts then
selecting GEDS, then waiting for the GEDS homepage to
load, then selecting search GEDS and then inputting
my search string. I created a Bookmarklet that now allows
me to seach GEDS efficiently simply by selecting my
GEDS Bookmarklet from my links bar and inputting the
name of the person I want to search for. How excellent!!
Kangas points out that almost any scientific formula
can be turned into a Bookmarklet and he shows you how
to do it in the "Calculate/Convert"
portion of the site. Here you will also find preconfigured
Bookmarklets like the scientific calculator, the salary
calculator (takes a wage and calculates it into a salary)
and the download calculator (give it a file size and
it will tell you how long it will take to download the
file). His conversion Bookmarklets let you perform metric
to imperial (or imperial to metric) weight, length,
volume and area conversions. You can also perform Celsius
to Fahrenheit temperature conversions with the appropriate
Bookmarklet,
In the "Page Data" section I particularly
liked the Bookmarklet called "Page Freshness".
This Bookmarklet allows you to find out the last time,
that a Web page that you are visiting, was updated.
Also in this section, a Bookmarklet called "Document
Size in Windowfulls" allows you to figure out
how long a Web page is without having to scroll through
it endlessly.
Here I found Bookmarklets that will allow you to change
the background colour of Web pages that you are visiting
and remove images from the background of Web pages that
you are trying to read. Other Bookmarklets allow you
to change the colour of text on a page, hide all images
on a page or hide all ad banner sized images on a page.
In the Miscellaneous category you'll find the "Confidence
Booster Bookmarklet" which, when selected,
provides you with a window that says "You're a
wonderful person and I know you'll succeed at anything
you try." When you hit "OK", another
little window opens and says "I really mean it!"
When you hit "OK" a third time, another window
says "Would I tell you that if it weren't true?"
The "StopMusic Bookmarket" allows
you to stop the automatic music files that play on many
Web sites - now this is a good tool! The "Backdrop
Bookmarklet" lets you place a black full-screen
window behind all other Navigator windows, which makes
it easier to concentrate on the frontmost window on
your screen. I also like the Bookmarklet that tells
you the number of days remaining in this year (107 as
of writing).
What can I say? Steve Kangas is a talented guy with
a lot of time on his hands. His Bookmarklets are fun,
interesting, easy to use and useful - I recommend them
- try it out for yourself.
My intention had been to discuss a wider variety of
cool tools than Bookmarklets alone but they simply demanded
all of my attention. Stay tuned for Cool Tools - Part
2 where we will look at other free tools.
Lindsay Fraser is
a Senior e-Solutions Strategist for Burntsand Inc. She
sports the following Bookmarklets on her "links"
bar: dictionary.com, thesaurus.com, GEDs, Confidence
Booster, Days Left This Year and Page Freshness. She
has now run out of room. She can be reached at lfraser@burntsand.com
or by telephone at 613-940-2172.
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