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July 2004
Microsoft goes Irish  

The IRISH TIMES newspaper reported on Friday, June 11, in their Business Supplement that Microsoft, in partnership with Foras na Gaeilge, the University of Ulster, the University of Limerick and NUI Maynooth is developing its software packages Windows XP and Office 2003 in Irish. 

The translated versions of the software will be available within the next 12 months at no cost by simply downloading a language interface pack from the internet. The Localisation Research Centre (LRC) is Microsoft's partner in the University of Limerick. 

For more information on the terminology work currently being undertaken at Microsoft, visit http://members.microsoft.com/wincg. 

Translating & the Computer 26 Conference: Organised by ASLIB

ASLIB is a world class corporate membership organisation with members in some 70 countries around the world. It works with a wide range of organisations worldwide, promoting best practice in the field of information management. It is holding its 26th Translating & the Computer conference from 18-19 November 2004 at 1 Great George Street, London, UK. Registration forms and a call for papers are available at: http://www.aslib.com/conferences/

26th Internationalization and Unicode Conference

The 26th Internationalization and Unicode Conference, entitled: Internationalization and Web Services, will be held in San Jose, California, USA from September 8-10, 2004. This is the premier technical conference for software and Web internationalization and a great source for the latest information on standards, best practices, development tools and advances in the globalization of software and the Internet.

The Internationalization & Unicode Conference features a number of presentation formats including tutorials, workshops, lectures, and panel discussions to support different learning styles.

KDE Project ships third translation and service release

The KDE Project has announced the availability of KDE 3.2.3, a maintenance release for the latest generation of the free desktop for GNU/Linux and other UNIXes. KDE 3.2.3 ships with a basic desktop and 18 other packages (PIM, administration, network, edutainment, utilities, multimedia, games, artwork, Web development and more). KDE's tools and applications are available in 51 languages (now including Arabic, Croatian and Upper Sorbian compared to KDE 3.2.2).

KDE, including all its libraries and its applications, is available for free under Open Source licenses, an independent project of hundreds of developers, translators, artists and other professionals worldwide collaborating over the Internet.

Wordbank opens US headquarters

Wordbank, a marketing communications localisation specialist, has recently opened its US headquarters in Denver, Colorado. The firm will focus on three areas of opportunity for US companies: those targeting non-English speaking Americans; those trying to build business outside the United States; and those addressing what is becoming known as the "Eighth Continent," a borderless virtual commerce zone that crosses national borders via the Internet.

Chris LoPresti, a former director of sales at OneRealm, Inc., is responsible for the new Wordbank office. With over 12 years' sales and marketing experience within the technology sector, LoPresti has also held senior management positions at Requisite Technology, Baan Company, Access Graphics and Mid-State Technologies.

First part of globalization handbook available

MultiLingual Computing, Inc., has made Part 1 of Globalization Handbook for the Microsoft .NET Platform by internationalization expert Bill Hall available for download. In the first part of Globalization Handbook for the Microsoft .NET Platform, Hall examines the requirements for making an application ready for the world and explains in detail how to accomplish this using the .NET platform. He traces a programming example from analysis to solution, introduces important classes such as CultureInfo, formatting and testing methods and basic localisation. Code is also included.

This monograph will be published in PDF format in three parts, each of which will be available separately for download. Parts 2 (expected to be available in autumn 2004) and 3 will build on the material in Part 1 with detailed examinations of other classes, a "Fundamentals of Formatting" chapter, extended examples and an important section on "Localization Basics" that will cover the mechanics of setting up a localization structure for various forms of .NET programs and projects. This is the first in a series of monographs to be published by MultiLingual Press, an imprint of MultiLingual Computing, Inc.

EU launches plan to tackle translation 'crisis'

"Keep it brief" is the order being sent out to EU bureaucrats in a bid to cut the amount of untranslated paperwork facing the newly expanded union. Officials have been told that from now on documents should be no longer than 15 pages - half the current average. For the last five years, translators at the European Commission have been battling a steadily rising workload. With nine new EU languages, the backlog has mushroomed to some 60,000 pages and could worsen if action is not taken.

Translators at the Commission have to cope with a massive 1.48 million pages of documents annually. These include proposals for legislation, political assessments on relations with partners around the world, decisions on mergers and state subsidies in all the member states and written answers to citizens and companies. Prior to EU enlargement on 1 May, there was a backlog of 6,000 pages still awaiting translation - but with enlargement this problem has increased tenfold. With Estonian, Czech, Hungarian, Latvian, Maltese, Lithuanian, Polish, Slovak and Slovene now on the list of official EU languages there are an estimated 60,000 pages to plough through. But since the Commission cannot cut back on the number of official languages used, it has gone for the simpler option of telling its workers not to write so much.

SDLWorkFlow 2004 released, optimizes translation processes for Sun

SDL International, a provider of translation services and technology solutions, has announced the availability of SDLWorkFlow 2004 in May 2004, with new performance, scalability and usability enhancements. SDLWorkFlow 2004 integrates SDLTermBase Online to give Web-based editing and review that is linked directly to centralised terminology and translation memory.

Sun Microsystems, Inc., has implemented SDLWorkFlow 2004 to manage translation processes for its geo Web sites and its on-line catalog. SDLWorkFlow currently manages translation into nine languages, automating many of the processes. The whole translation process is controlled by Sun through SDLWorkFlow's Web portal. This level of automation reduces the administrative overhead otherwise associated with managing frequent updates in multiple languages and reduces the Sun resources required for translation management.

 
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