September 16, 2009
Please Translate That for Me
Please Translate That for MePlease Translate That for Me
by Paula J. Hane
Posted On September 3, 2009
The news from the Official Google Blog seemed pretty impressive to me. Google recently added nine new languages to Google Translate (http://translate.google.com): Afrikaans, Belarusian, Icelandic, Irish, Macedonian, Malay, Swahili, Welsh, and Yiddish (http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/google-translate-now-speaks-51.html). That means that Google Translate now supports 51 languages and 2,550 language pairs-including all 23 official EU languages. While the company admitted that the translation quality of these newest languages is still a little rough, it said this will improve over time. And the company is continuously working to improve the quality of all languages supported by Google Translate. I had no idea the language support was so extensive.
While I've occasionally used the translate function within the Google Toolbar to translate a webpage into English, I didn't realize the company was also working to integrate Google Translate into some of its other products. "[Y]ou can already translate emails within Gmail, webpages using Google Toolbar, RSS feeds in Google Reader, and most recently, documents within Google Docs."
For some folks needing to translate content into other languages, the machine translation offered in this function might not be adequate. Fortunately, Google also offers a Translator Toolkit (http://translate.google.com/toolkit), which provides an easy-to-use editor that enables translators to add a human touch to the machine translation. The tools include translation search, bilingual dictionaries, translation memories, and collaboration. The system is integrated with Wikipedia and Knol and supports common document types including Word and HTML.
Having had my eyes opened to what Google offers for translation, I decided to review what else is available. After all, our increasingly global economy means that we're going to experience more communication in languages foreign to us-email, documents, articles, and websites.
Google isn't the only search provider that offers a translation service. Microsoft's Bing web search will show a "Translate this page" message next to a result that is presented in a different language from the default when it can offer a translation. Microsoft also offers Bing Translator (www.microsofttranslator.com), which provides text and website translation, a bilingual viewer, language auto-detect, website widgets for translation capabilities, and a translator button in the optional toolbar.
The Yahoo! Toolbar includes the optional Babel Fish Translation tool (http://babelfish.yahoo.com), which also uses machine translation technology to translate sentences presented in one language into another. You can also add a free search box to your website to enable visitors to translate text. Babel Fish can translate either text or full webpages, but it doesn't offer nearly as many languages as Google-just 12 of the more common ones. I assumed that the Babel Fish technology came from Yahoo!'s acquisition of AltaVista-a name some of us old-timers still remember. But the site says "Powered by SYSTRAN," which is a well-known supplier of language translation software.
Digging a bit further, I found that SYSTRAN also offers a free online translation service called SYSTRANet (www.systranet.com). Users who register for a free account can translate texts, webpages, websites, and Microsoft Office documents and can receive foreign language RSS feeds in their native language. Of course, if you need more features, the company will be happy to sell you one of its software products-for desktop, server, or online use.
If you're in a humorous mood, try the Lost in Translation site (http://tashian.com/multibabel), which machine translates a phrase back and forth among five different languages-an application certainly never intended by SYSTRAN. As the site says, "The resulting half-English, half-foreign, and totally non sequitur response bears almost no resemblance to the original. Remember the old game of ‘Telephone'? Something is lost, and sometimes something is gained." Here's a classic example:
I'm a little tea pot, short and stout.
translates into
They are a small POTENTIOMETER, short circuits and a beer of malzes of the tea.There are many commercial sites that promote the services of professional translators. Some, such as WorldLingo (www.worldlingo.com), offer free teasers-a limit of 500 words-with subscriptions for other levels of support. The company has numerous global enterprise clients. Microsoft has integrated the WorldLingo translation technology into Word-a feature I unfortunately didn't know was there. It's actually very cool. A Microsoft representative tells me that the next version, Office 2010, will add the Microsoft Translator service as a new service alongside the existing WorldLingo translator.
For a more in-depth look at what's out there, see the June 2009 article in C&RL News, "Translation Resources on the Web: A Guide to Accurate, Free Sites" (www.acrl.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/publications/crlnews/2009/jun/translation.cfm). It's written by Rebecca A. Martin and Sarah McHone-Chase, librarians at Northern Illinois University Libraries. The authors cover gateways to multilingual dictionaries and glossaries, as well as directories with access to professional tools. They include some academic institutions that serve as megasites for hundreds of free translation resources, for example, a site with advanced glossaries for scientific and technical translations and a site that helps with health information translations (www.healthinfotranslations.com).
The authors also shared some interesting tips about searching with Google.
For example, after using preferences on Google to select a language in which to search, a translator can try out a phrase within quotation marks to get not only its context, but also a sense of its usage by observing the number of hits. In addition, the Google string searches for synonyms (the tilde), definitions (define:), and fill-in-the-blank (the asterisk) all work in foreign languages albeit with varying results.
I've barely touched on the resources that are out there-all the free glossaries, dictionaries, and tools. I learned a lot exploring this topic, and I won't hesitate to click on a search result in another language-keeping in mind, of course, the inherent limitations of machine translation.
Finally, as a news hound, I was surprised to stumble on this site: NEWSTRAN.COM, The Original Multilingual MetaNews Translator (www.humanitas-international.org/newstran/index.html). It claims to translate 10,000-plus foreign newspapers for free. NEWSTRAM.COM is a free educational service of Humanitas-International.org, an independent, nonprofit human rights organization. The site offers a split-screen browser that it says has become popular with language instructors, students, and travelers. Very cool indeed.
Here are a few more links for you to check out:
Web ȸ small jokeⅠ・シニシズムは知識人のダンディズムである。 Dandyism, is the cynicism of intellectuals. byメレディス（英・小説家） by Meredith (English novelist)
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・シニシズムは知識人のダンディズムである。 Dandyism, is the cynicism of intellectuals.
byメレディス（英・小説家） by Meredith (English novelist)
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「なぜ君は彼女と結婚しないんだね？」 "You're why I'm not married to her?" ある大学の文学部の期末試験は「宗教」「皇室」「セックス」「謎」の四つのテーマを全て含んだ小説を書け、というものだった。 Final exam in literature at the University said, "religion" "imperial," "Sex," "mystery," write a novel containing all four themes, it was. 飛行中のジャンボ機内で、不安顔の紳士がスチュワーデスに尋ねた。 In a jumbo jet in flight, the stewardess asked the gentleman's face anxiety. 動物園で新入りのライオンがバナナを餌にもらって食べていた。 Was eating a banana and getting a lion feeding fledgling zoo. 男があるレストランに入りウェーターにコートを預けて席に着いた。 ある男が犬を売った。 The man who sold the dog. 算数の授業にて。 In math classes. 「ようミュラー。だいぶ変わったな。髪は白くなったし、ヒゲも生えてる。それに太ってしまったな」 "As Muller. And much has changed.'s Hair has turned white, I grew the beard. And it had fat" ある学者がムカデを使った実験をしていた。 The experiment was a scholar with a centipede. 「ムカデは足を半分に切ると、耳が聞こえなくなる」 "Centipede is cut in half feet, go deaf" ワシントン大学での英語学序論の期末試験でのことである。 The final exam is that the introduction of English at the University of Washington. このクラスは800人も学生がいたので、１年生の他の多くの科目と同じく、この試験も新しい学生を振り落とすためのものだった。 This class had 800 students, so people, many other subjects like the one-year, new students were also intended to shake off this test. 試験は２時間で、問題用紙が配られた。 Two-hour test, test papers were given. 答案用紙の山をさっと持ち上げ、素早く自分の答案用紙をその中ほどに差し込んで教室をでていった。 Quick lift a pile of exam papers, went to plug in a middle school in its own exam papers quickly. ある男が街を歩いていると、少年に呼びとめられた。 You're walking down the street and a man were called to bear a boy. 「釣りをなさっているんですか？」 "Why are you doing fishing?" 親から世間知らずに育てられたある男が結婚した。 He married a naive man who grew up with parents. 「トイレに頭をつっこんでとれなくなったお客さんがいるんですが……」 "I've got some company that was dead in the head in the toilet Tsukkon ..." 夜遅く、街灯の下で男が何か探していた。 Late at night, a man was looking for something under a lamppost. 娘「ねえ、ママ。この前、天使には羽があってお空を飛べるといったわよね」 Daughter, "Hey, Mom. Not long ago, I went to the angels You're there with the birds fly the sky." |
Jerry Lee Lewis X-Rated 'WLSGO'
Jerry Lee Lewis sings his most famous song, "Whole Lotta Shaking Goin' On" (would peter checksfield please let me know the statistics for how that is written?) in a rare private outtake recording during the Dick Tracy Soundtrack Session. This track finds the Killer expansive and improvising throughout most of the lyrical passages. And while this may not be unusual for this particular trademark song of Lewis--and Rock 'n' Roll for that matter (John Lennon called WLSGO the perfect song), the subject matter gets about as personal and nasty as Jerry Lee gets (that YOU can hear anyway). There are other outtakes and private stashes; live performances by the hundreds, where he waxes profane while feeling no pain, but this one has a particular theme which you'll just have to take thirty seconds out of your life to discover.
And when you do, you'll want to hear it over and over again-- specially now that I've included as dressing, so to speak, the enchanting seductive Maria Lopez and portions of this Italian TV presenter's equally spontaneous and downright dirty-sexy dancing (you get to see everything except the malfunction...sorry, not my rule).
Yes, this is a concept made in Heaven, celebrating the Hellfire of a great song, a great artist, and the reason we all get out of bed in the morning, hopefully to fall back in later that night with something like Maria--a problem that I hope is never solved.
September 15, 2009
Bonnie and Clyde
Bonnie and Clyde
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Audio Extra: Serge Gainsbourg’s 1968 Bonnie and Clyde track with Brigitte Bardot.
Created by Wayne Fitzgerald
4 Responses
Au Courant - Personal Nest - Los Angeles magazine
Stave off shaving, say the new fans of Jesus beards
Stave off shaving, say the new fans of Jesus beards
Los Angeles magazine, September 2009
Illustration by Ruth MartenThe Nashville band Kings of Leon has revived more than the indie Southern rock that has won them Grammy awards. They are also partly responsible for the return of full beards. As the band’s star has risen, the bushy-faced look of the four musicians has started to replace the manicured goatees favored by their fans. One of the only grooming choices that can still provoke, a Jesus beard (which also carries associations with Appalachians, Rip Van Winkle, and the Unabomber) is thought by many to indicate the wearer has lost touch with reality—think Joaquin Phoenix.
Austin Brown started growing a man-mane in 2005 to protect his face when snowboarding. What helped him on the slopes, though, became a hurdle at LAX. “The TSA guy looked at me like I was Taliban and really gave me a hassle,” says Brown, a 34-year-old music marketing executive with an untrimmed four-inch reddish beard flanked by light brown shoulder-length hair. Billy Gibbons knows the feeling. His band, ZZ Top, has been synonymous with face fur for 30 years. “The discovery of avoiding lather and razor is catching on,” he says. What appears to be a shift from the ’90s metrosexual clean-shaven aesthetic is rather an affinity for naturalism and punk rock’s disregard for mainstream trends. The newly hirsute say their chin pets don’t represent a desire to drop out of society. “People are intimidated by it,” says Pete Majors, a record shop manager with a kinky brown beard. “But I’m a big teddy bear.” Gareth Stehr, a pro skateboarder, likes the attention attacted by his scruff. “Some people might think my beard looks tough, some might think it looks stupid—but they thought of it.”
It’s a plus that shrubbery turns off some folks, says Ryan Koontz, singer for the San Diego band Dirty Sweet: “It weeds out people I would not want to associate with.” Some of Koontz’s bandmates sport long beards, too, but style watchers wonder if the habit will continue as the group gains popularity. The Kings of Leon, notably, display fewer chin locks with each new album drop.
Au Courant - Personal Nest - Los Angeles magazineKeith Floyd R.I.P. Best of Floyd on France - Video Obituary
RT @mrjyn - Keith Floyd R.I.P. - http://j.mp/Mrp2G - Best of Floyd on France - Video Obituary #YouTube #video -
Keith Floyd specialised in cooking in the most extraordinary places. With a whisk in one hand, a glass of wine in the other and wearing his trademark bow-tie, Keith Floyd transformed the face of television cookery.
Whether rustling up a spicy prawn dish on a beach in Thailand, 40-clove garlic chicken in Provence or jambalaya in Louisiana, Floyd's idiosyncratic, often shambolic, style of presentation endeared him to millions of viewers around the world.
After working as everything from a potato peeler to a dishwasher, Keith Floyd opened his first restaurant, Floyd's Bistro, in Bristol. He was a mere 22 years old. His culinary style, with its emphasis on fish, proved a hit and he was soon running three establishments.
The 1985 series Floyd on Fish established him as a star.
The first episode, for example, featured Floyd cooking on a trawler while out at sea, meeting other chefs and demonstrating their recipes. But Floyd's lack of business acumen, and a staggering propensity to distribute largesse to all and sundry, soon proved his downfall, just as they would throughout his career.
After selling up, he sojourned in France for a while before buying a restaurant there. This too, was a failure and Floyd returned to Bristol and opened yet another bistro. This restaurant, situated near the city's BBC studios, was frequented by a television producer and bon viveur by the name of David Pritchard. It was Pritchard who first recognised the star potential of the place's eccentric, Stranglers-loving, patrons.
As a presenter, Keith Floyd was unique. Well lubricated with the ubiquitous glass of wine, both booze and banter would flow as he directed his long-suffering cameraman Clive to show either his face or the dish with regular commands like "back to me". Additionally, Pritchard would often order scenes to be re-shot, with a recharged glass each time so, as Floyd later admitted:
"I used to come off those shoots just wrecked."
It should probably have failed, but the alchemy produced by the flamboyant chef and the immediacy of Pritchard's production style proved an instant hit.
Series after series followed - Floyd on Food, on France, Spain, Italy, Australia, Floyd's American Pie and Far Flung Floyd, to name but a few. And the books of the series made Floyd a wealthy man.
But the good times were not to last. Having ploughed a million pounds into his dream pub, The Maltsters Arms in Devon, Keith Floyd lost the lot.
His media commitments prevented him from spending much time there and not even the presence of superchef-in-waiting Jean-Christophe Novelli in the kitchen was consolation for diners who wanted to meet the man himself. Floyd eventually went bankrupt, allegedly after he accepted a £36,000 cheque for a drinks order. The cheque bounced.
And matters got even worse when the BBC canceled his shows. In an era of Nigella, Gordon, Jamie and a re-emergent Delia, the airwaves were packed with cookery programmes.
More recently, Floyd appeared on channel Five and had been in negotiations with the BBC about a return. But many bridges had been burned. He fell out spectacularly with David Pritchard and was bitter, both about his treatment by the BBC and his own legacy.
"We don't cook any more, we just watch TV programmes about cookery," he told one interviewer. "Nobody takes cookery seriously now, it's just cheap entertainment. I'm totally to blame. I started it all and now I'm going to go down in history for having started a series of culinary game shows.
"It makes me terribly sad."
BBC NEWS | UK | Obituary: Keith Floyd
BBC NEWS | UK | Obituary: Keith FloydObituary: Keith Floyd
Keith Floyd specialised in cooking in the most extraordinary places
With a whisk in one hand, a glass of wine in the other and wearing his trademark bow-tie, Keith Floyd transformed the face of television cookery.
Whether rustling up a spicy prawn dish on a beach in Thailand, 40-clove garlic chicken in Provence or jambalaya in Louisiana, Floyd's idiosyncratic, often shambolic, style of presentation endeared him to millions of viewers around the world.
But Keith Floyd almost stumbled into stardom. Born in 1943, he was educated at Wellington School, Somerset, and became a junior newspaper reporter before the sight of the Michael Caine film Zulu led him into the Army.
He served as a second lieutenant in the 3rd Royal Tank Regiment before leaving to pursue a career in the catering industry.
After working as everything from a potato peeler to a dishwasher, Keith Floyd opened his first restaurant, Floyd's Bistro, in Bristol. He was a mere 22 years old.
His culinary style, with its emphasis on fish, proved a hit and he was soon running three establishments.
The 1985 series Floyd on Fish established him as a starBut Floyd's lack of business acumen, and a staggering propensity to distribute largesse to all and sundry, soon proved his downfall, just as they would throughout his career.
After selling up, he sojourned in France for a while before buying a restaurant there. This too, was a failure and Floyd returned to Bristol and opened yet another bistro.
This restaurant, situated near the city's BBC studios, was frequented by a television producer and bon viveur by the name of David Pritchard.
It was Pritchard who first recognised the star potential of the place's eccentric, Stranglers-loving, patron.
Well lubricated
Though Floyd was well known among Bristol's foodies, and had already written his first book, Floyd's Food, it was television exposure that made him a star.
The 1985 series Floyd on Fish was unlike anything that had come before. For a start, Pritchard moved the action out of the television studio.
The first episode, for example, featured Floyd cooking on a trawler while out at sea, meeting other chefs and demonstrating their recipes.
Keith Floyd's effervescent style made him famous around the worldAs a presenter, Keith Floyd was unique. Well lubricated with the ubiquitous glass of wine, both booze and banter would flow as he directed his long-suffering cameraman Clive to show either his face or the dish with regular commands like "back to me".
Additionally, Pritchard would often order scenes to be re-shot, with a recharged glass each time so, as Floyd later admitted: "I used to come off those shoots just wrecked."
It should probably have failed, but the alchemy produced by the flamboyant chef and the immediacy of Pritchard's production style proved an instant hit.
Series after series followed - Floyd on Food, on France, Spain, Italy, Australia, Floyd's American Pie and Far Flung Floyd, to name but a few. And the books of the series made Floyd a wealthy man.
Bankrupt
But the good times were not to last. Having ploughed a million pounds into his dream pub, The Maltsters Arms in Devon, Keith Floyd lost the lot.
His media commitments prevented him from spending much time there and not even the presence of superchef-in-waiting Jean-Christophe Novelli in the kitchen was consolation for diners who wanted to meet the man himself.
Floyd eventually went bankrupt, allegedly after he accepted a £36,000 cheque for a drinks order. The cheque bounced.
Cheers! Floyd took cookery programmes out of the studioAnd matters got even worse when the BBC cancelled his shows. In an era of Nigella, Gordon, Jamie and a re-emergent Delia, the airwaves were packed with cookery programmes.
More recently, Floyd appeared on channel Five and had been in negotiations with the BBC about a return.
But many bridges had been burned. He fell out spectacularly with David Pritchard and was bitter, both about his treatment by the BBC and his own legacy.
"We don't cook any more, we just watch TV programmes about cookery," he told one interviewer.
"Nobody takes cookery seriously now, it's just cheap entertainment. I'm totally to blame. I started it all and now I'm going to go down in history for having started a series of culinary game shows.
"It makes me terribly sad."
BBC NEWS | UK | Celebrity chef Keith Floyd dies
BBC NEWS | UK | Celebrity chef Keith Floyd diesCelebrity chef Keith Floyd dies
Keith Floyd, flamboyant TV chef, dies
Celebrity chef Keith Floyd has died following a heart attack, aged 65.
He died at his partner's Dorset home on Monday. Floyd, diagnosed with bowel cancer in June, enjoyed a last meal of oysters and partridge, with champagne.
He shot to fame in the 1980s in ground-breaking cookery shows, presented with huge enthusiasm and wine glass in hand.
Chef Marco Pierre White said Floyd had "inspired a nation" with his programmes, while Jamie Oliver said he had been "the best television chef".
An incredible man who lived life to the full and an inspiration to me and to so many others
Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver
Floyd's eccentric, often shambolic style of presentation endeared him to millions of viewers around the world.
White said: "He had this great ability at the stove, great confidence. He was a natural cook.
"But his very special talent was he could articulate himself and deliver inspiration with words. He spoke in a way that everybody could understand."
He added: "A little piece of Britain died yesterday which will never be replaced.
"He was an individual, he was a maverick, he was mercurial, he was magical, he was special, he was rare."
Floyd's unique presentation style was an instant hitOliver said: "Keith was not just one of the best, he was the best television chef.
"An incredible man who lived life to the full and an inspiration to me and to so many others."
"I think all of us modern TV chefs owe a living to him. He kind of spawned us all," said Antony Worrall Thompson.
Floyd opened his first restaurant, Floyd's Bistro, in Bristol, at the age of 22.
Years later, it was running another establishment near the BBC studios in the city that Floyd was discovered by television producer David Pritchard.
Their 1985 series, Floyd on Fish, was an instant hit, and subsequent series took the chef all over the world.
Wine-fuelled flamboyance
The programmes were ground-breaking at the time for taking the cooking out of a studio, but it was Floyd's wine-fuelled flamboyance that viewers loved.
"That was his charm, completely, the fact that if it all went wrong he just threw it in the bin and carried on," said TV chef Phil Vickery.
Janice Hadlow
BBC Two controller"He didn't live in the sanitised world of perfect studio cookery; he was out and about, he loved his drink and he loved engaging with other people."
His former manager Stan Green said Floyd's passing was, "the end of an era for many of us".
"We are aware that Keith enjoyed life to the full, right up to the end, but we may also remember him for the innovative, brilliant Floyd television series."
BBC Two controller Janice Hadlow said Floyd had "pioneered a new kind of cookery programme driven by his exuberant passion for good food, good wine and a good time".
Floyd wrote more than 20 books, many of them best-sellers. His autobiography, Stirred But Not Shaken, is due to be published next month.
Mr Steen, the book's ghost-writer, said: "For an autobiography you have to be introspective and he found that difficult to start with, but yesterday when I spoke to him he was a really happy man.
"He was very excited about it. The experience for him was therapeutic."
A lack of business acumen plagued Floyd throughout his career, and he went bankrupt in the 1990s reportedly after a £36,000 cheque he had accepted for a drinks bill bounced.
He was married four times, with a son from his first marriage and a daughter from his second.
Dorset Police said the death had been reported to the coroner for west Dorset, and a routine post-mortem examination would be conducted.
I REALLY LOVED THIS SOT: MY STRANGLERS/KEITH FLOYD VIDEO TO COME - STAY TUNED: September 14 2009, Keith Floyd passed away. He will be greatly missed by many - ONCE I GOT INTO A FISTFIGHT AT BALDUCCIS IN THE VILLAGE OVER BOUILLIABASE INGREDIENTS
- Keith Floyd's Official Website - Keith Floyd Recipes, Keith Floyd Books, Floyd's Cookery TheatreOn Monday, September 14 2009, Keith passed away. He will be greatly missed by many.
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Those are really unique! Especially with the typewriter background noise.
Hate to tell you, but the clicking is not a typewriter… it is the sound of an old camera shutter!
You’re right, I forgot! Well that makes it even better.
These titles actually creeped me out the first time I saw them.