I just finished a new — the second public — version of the dict.cc german-english translation plug-in for Dictionary.App

Besides a recent snapshot of dict.cc’s database I incorporated a number of smaller and bigger changes. Updating is advised, although the space requirements went up to 300MB.

Go ahead and download the current version.
Have fun.

Check out the list of changes after the break…

Several people have asked me if the dict.cc Dictionary.App Plugin will update itself and how often new releases will be published.

Answering the first question is easy: The plugin does not and probably will not contain an automatic update mechanism. In contrast to applications, that can actively look out for updates, this plugin is basically a bunch of static HTML files without any own intelligence. That’s the downside of fitting perfectly into many OS X services (Have you tried Ctrl+Command+"D" on a selected word yet?) .

However, I’ve set up a newsletter that you can subscribe^* to. I will sporadically update the plugin and post a quick note to all subscribers.

^*I hate Spam as much as you do. Therefore I will not distribute your email addresses and I will not spam you. I promise.

On freerice.com you can feed hungry people by finding the right synonym for a word. Each time you answer correctly, advertisers from the site will donate 20 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program.

A fairly simple example might be to select another word for perspective out of: limitation, pharmacist, eruption, or view.
If you choose the correct answer view, you have donated your first 20 grains of rice to somebody starving.

The difficulty is permanently adjusted and will match your skills. If you get a question right, you get a harder word. If wrong, you get an easier word.

This site makes you smarter. It improves your speaking, writing, and thinking skills…

It also provides pointers to other sites about fighting hunger and what you can do besides improving your vocabulary!

Dieses Paket erweitert das Lexikon von Mac OS X 10.5 um eine offline Version des kompletten dict.cc Deutsch-Englisch Übersetzungsvokabulars.
Es funkioniert im Lexikon selbst, aber auch in anderen OS X Diensten wie Spotlight oder dem Dictionary-Widget im Dashboard.

(Jump to the english version of this text)

This package enhances Mac OS X Leopard’s (10.5) Dictionary.App by providing the complete german-english vocabulary from the fabulous dict.cc dictionary for offline use.
It works great in Dictionary.App and other core OS X services like Spotlight or Dictionary-Widget.

(Spring zur deutschen Beschreibung)