How to retrieve text from embedded image in a doc file

When we use Word to write something, we will sometimes scan pictures, photos or text and insert them directly into our document file.

I have been wondering how to retrieve text or photos out of such embedded images. Then one day, through sheer luck, I right clicked the part with the embedded scanned text image and saved it as a jpeg file. When I used my FineReader to scan this jpeg file, I was able to retrieve and edit the text.

Hence I would like to share this experience and tip to readers of this blog. The next time you come across a Word document file with embedded image, just right click and save it as a jpeg file. With this new image file, you will be able to retrieve the text through a scanning software such as the FineReader.

About the word 'melawat'

According to Kamus Dewan, 4th Edition, 'melawat' means 'pergi mengunjungi (negara asing, dll) [go to visit other countries] and 'menziarahi jenazah' [visit the dead]

The example given for 'melawat', that is 'melawat ke Jepun' shows that it is an intransitive verb.
Hence, it would wrong to write 'Saya akan melawat negeri Kedah pada hujung minggu ini.' It is correct to write 'Saya akan melawat ke negeri Kedah pada hujung minggu ini. [I will visit the state of Kedah this weekend.]

Alternatively the above sentence can be written as 'Saya akan melawati negeri Kedah pada hujung minggu ini.' because 'melawati' is a transitive verb.

As for the second meaning of 'melawat', you can also use it to mean 'visit the sick' such as 'Ali akan melawat neneknya yang sakit itu.' Here 'melawat' is treated as a transitive verb when used in this sense but it has no passive voice because 'dilawat' does not exist in Malay. If you need to do exercise for changing from active voice to passive voice, it would be better to word the above sentence as:
'Ali akan menziarahi neneknya yang sakit itu.' [Ali will visit his sick grandmother.] Then you can turn it into the passive voice as follows:
Neneknya yang sakit itu akan diziarahi oleh Ali.

To sum up the discussion, 'melawat' can be used to mean visiting a place but it must be followed by the preposition 'ke' whereas it can be used directly in front of 'jenazah' [the dead]or ' orang yang sakit'[the sick] to mean to visit 'the dead' or 'the sick'.

So much for the word 'melawat'

Dun Wu Jie falls on tomorrow

Come tomorrow and the Chinese will be celebrating the annual Dun Wu Jie or Chang Festival.

Rice dumplings are a common sight a few before this festival which is meant to commemorate Chu Yuan, the patriotic poet who committed suicide at Milo River in China. He ended his life because his suggestions of reform to the Emperor was rejected.

Legend has it that the Chinese put cooked rice wrapped in bamboo leaves and dumped them into the river on the tragic so that the fish would not devour his dead body since they could eat the rice dumplings thrown down the river as their food.

Dun Wu Jie falls on the fifth day of the fifth moon according to the Lunar Calendar. For this year it falls on 6th of June 2011.

So much for a little bit of legend about the Chang Festival.

The difference between it's and its

Many of my students often do the guessing game when it comes to these two words: it's and its.
They can't differentiate between them.

In this post, I shall try to explain their difference.

Actually, it's is the contraction of 'it is'. You can make sentences such as the ones below.
1. It's getting cold. Let use get inside the house.
2. It's going to rain soon.
3. It's not my fault.
4. It's the only way I know how to get there.
5. It's really easy, believe me.

It's can also be the contraction for 'it has'. For instance, you can say 'It's been a long time since I visited my granny.'

As for its, it means 'of or belonging to it.' Look at the following sentences to see what I mean.
1 Its tail is quite long. [It can mean the dog's tail is quite long]
2 Its surface is smooth. [It can mean the table's surface is smooth]
3 Ir comes with its own carrying case. [It can mean a laptop's carrying case.]

So much and the difference between it's and its.