Click For More Information

I'm used to browser add-ons that bring up a dictionary or other reference
with a word the user has doubleclicked on.

But I was reading a New York Times article on one of the presidential
candidate debates just now, and I noticed this in smaller-than-the story
body print at the bottom of the page:

<q>

Tips
To find reference information about the words used in this article,
double-click on any word, phrase or name. A new window will open with a
dictionary definition or encyclopedia entry.

</q>

They don't show as links, but that sure happens. It opens a new instance
of Firefox with more information. Unfortunately, when I doubleclicked
"Romney", one of the candidates, it gave me a New York Times weather page
for Romney, West Virginia. But I'll give them credit for effort.

I tried "Washington" and did, indeed get a compilation of information from
the NYT and other sources.

Has this become common, and I've just never read the right pages or at
least not the notes on those pages, or been sleeping?

The page - I don't know if registration is required (I'm registered, but
some stories don't seem to need that) is:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/26/us/politics/26repubs.html?_r=1&ref=p...tics&or

or http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/26/us/politics/26repubs.html (works here)


--
Blinky
Killing all posts from Google Groups
The Usenet Improvement Project: http://improve-usenet.org
Blinky: http://blinkynet.net

freemont wrote:

> On Sat, 26 Jan 2008 02:01:01 -0800, Blinky the Shark writ:
>
>> <q>
>>
>> Tips
>> To find reference information about the words used in this article,
>> double-click on any word, phrase or name. A new window will open with a
>> dictionary definition or encyclopedia entry.
>>
>> </q>
>>
>> They don't show as links, but that sure happens. It opens a new
>> instance of Firefox with more information.
>
> Interesting. Did that here in FF too, but thankfully Opera knows better
> and responds to double-clicking a word the way I expect it to, and the way
> it always has. It highlights the word and displays a context menu with,
> among other useful options, Dictionary and Encyclopedia items.

Are you blocking scripts in Opera and not FF?

> http://i29.tinypic.com/29vzaz6.png
>
> I think a site that managed to break this behaviour with its own notions
> would get on my nerves quickly.

I hear ya.

I don't have anything set up in FF for doubleclicking a nonlink. I do
stuff like look-ups with a rightclick:

http://blinkynet.net/stuff/comp/context_ff.jpg

But if it conflicted with that, yeah, I'd not be too happy either.


--
Blinky
Killing all posts from Google Groups
The Usenet Improvement Project: http://improve-usenet.org
Blinky: http://blinkynet.net