Export Marketing
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PAL Update
Six months ago, the Professional Association for Localization was more a concept than a reality. Now, after much hard work and dedication, that reality is truly taking shape.
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What Now?
Client companies and industry providers are battening down the hatches and bailing, throwing all but the essentials overboard including the ballast. The "R" word, so long uttered only in hushed tones, now spans the headlines: Recession. Faced with a justifiably nervous client base and stressed resources, the localization industry must now come to terms with a new reality. But what is that reality?
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A New eMagazine with a Client Side Perspective
"There are many periodicals in many formats out there for the general localization population. These have a broad range of topics and appeal to a broad audience. [ClientSide] will be dedicated to the interest of the professionals purchasing and managing localization on the client side of the industry."--Shaun P. Daggett
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Reflections: September 11, 2001
A personal essay
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IMHO
"You lucky so-and-so! You make your own hours," people say to freelancers. "No alarm clock, no commute, no suit, no tie, no panty hose, no fixed lunch hours, no dog and pony shows for the clients from out of town ..." Contrary to popular belief, life as a freelancer is not a lark, a walk in the park with Fido and a double capuccino at 3:00.
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Changes
For over half of the last ten years, I have worked freelance, as a technical writer and as a desktop publisher specializing in localization. Recently, I accepted a full-time position at the Boulder office of ForeignExchange Translations as a document localization lead. I announce the transition for two reasons.
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Color Counts
To reach a desired audience, many factors must be considered when choosing colors: age, income level, gender, and the essential nature of the "message". The larger and more diverse the audience, the more complicated the choice becomes. Choosing colors to satisfy a global audience can be a mind-boggling undertaking.
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DTP Training at Welocalize.com
Linda McMurrer, Desktop Publishing Manager at Welocalize, developed a training program for her department. In an e-mail interview, she explains the process and the results.
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Localization at UQAH
The combination of linguistic and technological skills can be synergistically productive. Miscommunication can undermine the synergy. The new localization program at the University of Quebec at Hull (UQAH) acknowledges the importance of both disciplines, and embraces and promotes their synergistic potential.
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DTP Source Evaluation
Half the battle of a localization is a meticulous analysis of the source documentation. This article describes the process for analyzing the DTP component of the source document in broad strokes.
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Take 2 and Rolling!
Remakes: "a trend in which Hollywood buys French comedies and experiments on them to see if they can be made into English with all the humor taken out."--Richard Ebert.
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Silence on the Set! And Localizing!
Depending on budget and expertise, a localized film may be boffo box office or mercilessly panned by the critics and shunned by the masses. And technology, although important, is only part of the story.
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Alis Technologies: Maverick à la canadienne
Luc Faubert, vice president of globalization, neglects to offer a visitor coffee on a winter morning at 10 a.m., not because he's ill-mannered. Hardly. He's primed, nearly vibrating with enthusiasm, to talk about his company, Alis Technologies, its past and, most importantly, its future.
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Localization: A Traditional Perspective
In an interview this spring, Gilles Gamas, president of Société Gamma Inc., shared his perspectives on localization and the future of the translation industry in Canada.
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A Meeting of Minds at McGill
In a recent interview, Dr. James Archibald, Director of the Department of Languages and Translation at McGill, discussed localization and its place in his department's curriculum.
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XML: The Hope and the Hype
In between you and the person at the other end of the cyberstream is a vast network that demands sophisticated "computer to computer" communications. A technological innovation that is changing the way computers communicate is XML (Extensible Markup Language).
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Getting a Handle on Content Management
There are almost as many types of Web sites as there are web masters. Web site globalization only complicates the task of content management further. The dynamism of the medium makes effective globalization a constant challenge.
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An International Cast of Characters
One of the fundamental challenges to software localization and Web site globalization is the chaotic character of character encoding. Character set standards, from ASCII to Unicode, attempt to methodize the madness, calm the chaos, and make the world safe for multilingual computing.
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PAL: A Nascent Organization for Localization Professionals
A new organization—PAL (Professional Association for Localization)—will "serve and represent those who prepare software and documentation for the world." The organization's focus will be "its member translators, localizers, internationalizers, and globalizers." PAL is an ambitious and much-needed endeavor, an idea whose time has come.
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MT Renaissance (second in a series)
The failures of early MT research, increased computational capacity and speed, and a revised perception and expectations together informed and directed post-Alpac efforts.
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Globalization with a Capital "G"
In the last week alone, Ministers Menard, Landry, Manley and former Canadian foreign minister Lloyd Axworthy have all addressed the Summit either in press conferences or, in Axworthy's case, in writing. Why is the Summit a preoccupation and why, in a forum devoted to localization, does it deserve attention?
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Translation: The Brave New World
Used to be that a college degree, a collection of dictionaries, a typewriter and a supple intellect were all you needed to be a translator. New technology, perhaps starting with affordable PCs, changed that. These days, being a language wiz is not enough to stay on the cutting edge in translation. Computer savvy, string decryption and mind reading skills also come in handy.
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Book Review: The Guide to Translation and Localization
The Guide to Translation and Localization does not provide exhaustive step-by-step instructions. It does get to the core of the localization process, provides a good sense of the process' complexity and the range of skill sets required to prepare a product for the global marketplace.
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Canada's Bilingualism: Problem or Potential?
Canada belongs to a rather select fraternity of countries that is officially bilingual. Far from a liability, as it is often portrayed, if valued, properly understood and embraced, bilingualism might give Canada a distinct commercial edge.
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A Hard Science
Human communications, breathtakingly complex, difficult if not impossible to quantify, tabulate and interpret with any degree of certainty, may never bend to the rigors of a hard science. Localization goes to the heart of human communications and figures out what makes it tick.
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Localization: The Beast from a Bird's Eye View
The localization process, a complex undertaking that involves many different professionals, often conjures the Indian parable of the three blind men and the elephant ...
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Writing for Translation
Clarity and precision are essential to effective writing no matter what the genre. Writing for translation requires both and more.
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Globalization: The Debate
A recent economic slow-down in the U.S. and the failure of the dot-coms may have taken the wind out of the globalization sails. It is highly unlikely, however, that such superficial setbacks will reverse the trend. Globalization, and the debate, undoubtedly will continue for a long time to come.
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Art Meets Science: The Early Years of MT Research
"When I look at an article in Russian, I say, 'This is really written in English, but it has been coded in some strange symbols. I will now proceed to decode." — Warren Weaver, machine translation pioneer, 1947
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Localization Lingo 101
Every industry develops its own jargon. To understand the industry, you must speak, or at least understand, its language. For example, what does DBE mean in the context of localization. Hint: it does not mean "Digital-Based Exciter".
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Lernout & Hauspie: Anatomy of a Disaster
Lernout & Hauspie, once the star of the high-tech cosmos, now struggles to re-build its image and investor confidence, and get back to the business of providing cutting edge voice recognition products.
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Beyond Language, Beyond Borders: Localization
Localization: Introduction to a vibrant, dynamic new industry.
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