Recently, I downloaded the latest version of IE (yes, I use IE) and all of a sudden, Skype stopped working. I just couldn't sign in. Since I've been extremely busy, I let it slide for a bit but today I just needed to get this resolved. After searching through the Skype forums, I found this very helpful little trick.
If you get the message,"Skype has stopped working - A problem caused in the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program and notify you if a solution is available," try this:
1. Right-click on the Skype shortcut or icon under Programs.
2. Select "Properties"
3. Click on "Compatibility"
4. Disable any "Run this Program in Compatibility Mode for..."
and voila, Skype works again. And life is good.
23 May 2011
24 December 2010
Restoring the Trados Toolbar
I don’t know if anyone else out there has the same issue but every so often my Trados Toolbar disappears. I have no idea why and I’m sure there are more technologically-minded people out there who would better be able to explain why this occurs but I have a solution. I don’t know if this will work for all of you but for those on a PC with Windows 2003, try the following:
1. Close Word.
2. From the Start menu, select Run.
3. Type regedit into the Run box, and click OK.
4. Open the following key:
* Word 2003: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Word\Data.
5. Highlight the Data key, and press [Del].
6. Confirm that you want to delete the key.
7. Close the registry.
8. Launch Word again. The toolbars and menu bar are reset to their default options.
This did the trick for me. If there are any others out there with the same problem, hopefully it works for you as well.
1. Close Word.
2. From the Start menu, select Run.
3. Type regedit into the Run box, and click OK.
4. Open the following key:
* Word 2003: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Word\Data.
5. Highlight the Data key, and press [Del].
6. Confirm that you want to delete the key.
7. Close the registry.
8. Launch Word again. The toolbars and menu bar are reset to their default options.
This did the trick for me. If there are any others out there with the same problem, hopefully it works for you as well.
29 September 2010
Do I Still Qualify As a Translator If All I Do Is Rewrite Stuff Lately?
I'm in the midst of a tift with a client about this sentence:
The shadow moves over the bodies, and the people start to flirt with it. It’s a real game which has soon caught on with everyone in the room. Split between light and shadow, this dance is rhythmed by a strong musical beat.
This is from a translation that I'm reviewing and it's supposed to be for a marketing text. Not great, right?
Here is my dilemma. When you get something like this, do you a) retranslate the entire thing from scratch? b) rewrite the entire thing from scratch? or c) work with what you have?
My problem is that no one is paying me to retranslate or rewrite. They paid the translator a decent rate to produce this not-so-top-notch work and now I'm stuck with trying to fix it - in an hour or less per 1,000 words, naturally.
I guess the obvious solution is no more revision work for me. Anyone else experiencing this problem? Is it just another effect of the economic downturn or do people just really not get that marketing texts require writing skills, not just translation skills?
28 September 2010
A Thousand and One Meanings
I’m working on a file today that needed editing. Naturally, there is no source text so it’s particularly vexing. There are so many places where I just want to climb into the brain of the person who wrote the text and say “What did you mean?” Or rather, yell at the translator who translated it. I’m not 100% sure it was a translation though because if it were, wouldn’t there be a source text somewhere?
The English is also not truly atrocious enough to be the work of a non-native but it’s certainly the work of someone who doesn’t write well. When I received it, the client said “My client sent this to his customers but they complained that it was hard to understand.” If anyone out there is awarding prizes for the understatement of the year, this one might just be a candidate!
Here’s an example. Please note that this is a standalone sentence with its very own subheading and all. There is no other context before or after.
The ADVERTISER alone shall be responsible for the definition, design, digitalization, modification and interruption of the latter’s PARTNERSHIP PROGRAMMES on the PLATFORM.
Naturally, the question is the “latter” – who is the latter in this case? Isn’t it helpful to have TWO subjects so that there actually are a former and a latter. Are we talking about the Advertiser or someone else that was supposed to be mentioned and wasn’t. The part that says “on the PLATFORM” isn’t great either. It seems like it should be “programs involving the platform” rather than “on the platform.”
I suppose this is just all part of the job but it’s a frustrating part. Why not leave writing to writers? Or in this case, lawyers? These are sales conditions after all so a lawyer should have been involved. I realize there is a recession/depression/bad economy but the penny-pinching I’ve seen of late really just results in sloppy work and the need for revisions (resulting in more money being spent). Why do people never learn?
The English is also not truly atrocious enough to be the work of a non-native but it’s certainly the work of someone who doesn’t write well. When I received it, the client said “My client sent this to his customers but they complained that it was hard to understand.” If anyone out there is awarding prizes for the understatement of the year, this one might just be a candidate!
Here’s an example. Please note that this is a standalone sentence with its very own subheading and all. There is no other context before or after.
The ADVERTISER alone shall be responsible for the definition, design, digitalization, modification and interruption of the latter’s PARTNERSHIP PROGRAMMES on the PLATFORM.
Naturally, the question is the “latter” – who is the latter in this case? Isn’t it helpful to have TWO subjects so that there actually are a former and a latter. Are we talking about the Advertiser or someone else that was supposed to be mentioned and wasn’t. The part that says “on the PLATFORM” isn’t great either. It seems like it should be “programs involving the platform” rather than “on the platform.”
I suppose this is just all part of the job but it’s a frustrating part. Why not leave writing to writers? Or in this case, lawyers? These are sales conditions after all so a lawyer should have been involved. I realize there is a recession/depression/bad economy but the penny-pinching I’ve seen of late really just results in sloppy work and the need for revisions (resulting in more money being spent). Why do people never learn?
17 September 2010
Walmart Strikes Again!!
This has been an incredibly busy month so far (fingers-crossed it stays that way) and a certain company that I've wrote about before has been very quiet. Likely because I've said that there is no way I'm working for the peanuts they are offering. But, lo and behold, today I got a mass e-mail from them offering an "exciting opportunity" to translate 200,000 words of legal text with rolling deliveries - you have plenty of time, don't worry! - for the bargain rate of.... wait for it.... can you guess?.... $0.06?... No, that's low but we can go lower!... $0.05?... No, that's insulting but let's see if it could be worse. $0.04!!! Yes, that's right. That's what I charge for proofreading and that's ONLY if the text is a decent quality (otherwise I charge by the hour).
So, let's say that 200,000 words can be translated in about 333 hours (600 words an hour, which might even be high without seeing the text). Plus you'd need about that to proof the text. So let's say 600 hours of work.
200,000 x 0.04 = $8,000
$8,000/600 = $13.33
Deduct for taxes and such and you could basically flip burgers and make more.
I deleted the e-mail without responding, naturally. AND I hope everyone else does the same.
Actually, I hope that they find someone whose native language is not English to take on the translation, it is massively botched, they get sued and the judge awards the law firm that suffered the consequences of their penny pinching so much money that they have to close their doors forever.
Alright, back to work for my clients who actually pay decent rates!
So, let's say that 200,000 words can be translated in about 333 hours (600 words an hour, which might even be high without seeing the text). Plus you'd need about that to proof the text. So let's say 600 hours of work.
200,000 x 0.04 = $8,000
$8,000/600 = $13.33
Deduct for taxes and such and you could basically flip burgers and make more.
I deleted the e-mail without responding, naturally. AND I hope everyone else does the same.
Actually, I hope that they find someone whose native language is not English to take on the translation, it is massively botched, they get sued and the judge awards the law firm that suffered the consequences of their penny pinching so much money that they have to close their doors forever.
Alright, back to work for my clients who actually pay decent rates!
03 September 2010
Italian in English
On Twitter today, someone posted a link to this website, claiming that it cites foreign expressions commonly used in English. Curious, I went to check out the Italian section.
The Italian section had 14 words, some of which I think are debatable. They include:
al dente: yes, this expression is used. I also think that most restaurants are completely incapable of cooking their pasta al dente too so I’m not sure if it’s meaning is understood…
al fresco: okay, sure.
basta: really? I’m not sure if you walked down the street and asked people, they would know this means enough.
chiaroscuro: in the art world, okay. Elsewhere? Hmm…
conoscenti: since my spellchecker just changed this to cognoscenti, I’m not at all convinced. I didn’t know this was used in English!
cosa nostra: maybe but again, only a select segment of the population will know this.
da capo: no, sorry, this is not commonly used.
dolce vita: maybe a bit more common
fiasco: definitely
graffiti: definitely
lingua franca: okay, not sure about common but used
ma non troppo: really? I don’t think so.
prima donna: definitely
sotto voce: not common but I’ve seen it
All in all, not so impressed with this list. Anyone impressed with the other languages? I’m trying to think of other words that should have been included in this list and weren’t but haven’t come up with any yet.
The Italian section had 14 words, some of which I think are debatable. They include:
al dente: yes, this expression is used. I also think that most restaurants are completely incapable of cooking their pasta al dente too so I’m not sure if it’s meaning is understood…
al fresco: okay, sure.
basta: really? I’m not sure if you walked down the street and asked people, they would know this means enough.
chiaroscuro: in the art world, okay. Elsewhere? Hmm…
conoscenti: since my spellchecker just changed this to cognoscenti, I’m not at all convinced. I didn’t know this was used in English!
cosa nostra: maybe but again, only a select segment of the population will know this.
da capo: no, sorry, this is not commonly used.
dolce vita: maybe a bit more common
fiasco: definitely
graffiti: definitely
lingua franca: okay, not sure about common but used
ma non troppo: really? I don’t think so.
prima donna: definitely
sotto voce: not common but I’ve seen it
All in all, not so impressed with this list. Anyone impressed with the other languages? I’m trying to think of other words that should have been included in this list and weren’t but haven’t come up with any yet.
01 September 2010
The Big Project and the Cancelled Project
Today I had NOTHING to do. Literally, nothing. No translations at all. Of course, I wasn't particularly worried because I was waiting for files to come in for a largish project that will take up a few days. Very exciting. AND it's for a good cause, which always makes me happy.
It's a nice way to start off September. Naturally, though, I would have been happy to take on something else - small that could be completed in a day or two - should the need have arisen but today was also the day of cancelled projects. I had three different clients e-mail about projects only to cancel them later. What's going on with that? One, in particular, insisted that I guarantee availability because it was "super urgent" only to e-mail four minutes before her day ended in Europe to cancel. I *suspect* that if what she said was true and she had spent hours finding translators for the project, it was more likely that she had found someone cheaper. Especially since she never sent the Project Order... Hm, maybe I'm just a bit jaded. Working with certain agencies does that to you. At least my big project didn't cancel!
It's a nice way to start off September. Naturally, though, I would have been happy to take on something else - small that could be completed in a day or two - should the need have arisen but today was also the day of cancelled projects. I had three different clients e-mail about projects only to cancel them later. What's going on with that? One, in particular, insisted that I guarantee availability because it was "super urgent" only to e-mail four minutes before her day ended in Europe to cancel. I *suspect* that if what she said was true and she had spent hours finding translators for the project, it was more likely that she had found someone cheaper. Especially since she never sent the Project Order... Hm, maybe I'm just a bit jaded. Working with certain agencies does that to you. At least my big project didn't cancel!
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