|
ADVERTISEMENT
|
|
Have a wonderful summer holiday!
IIf you
have ever wondered why memoQ users look that bit more relaxed and seem
to take longer holidays why not try memoQ and find out!
memoQ.com
|
|
1.
SDL Trados' Service Release
|
|
There
is a new service release for SDL
Trados 2017. And in the good (recent) tradition of SDL to actually
make its service releases worthwhile beyond error fixes, there are a
couple of interesting things.
One
is the "LookAhead" feature, which starts to search for matches and
terminology data for the next segment while you are still working on
the current segment. Why is this helpful? Because it at least
potentially eliminates any wait time for finding matches when you go to
the next segment. You likely have the same question I had, so in the
finest Jeopardy form (Jeopardy is an American game show
where you have to guess the question to a given answer), let me give
you Daniel Brockmann's answer sans question:
"Indeed,
it will skip pretranslated segments and look at the first fuzzy match
down the line."
That's
good.
Also,
embedded Excel files within Word and PowerPoint
files are now automatically processed. That's something others have
provided for a while, but it's nice to have it in SDL Trados as
well. Of course, it would be nice to have other embedded (Office)
file types processed, too.
And
then there is the beta of Language Cloud Terminology. This is
an interesting proposition aimed at freelancers or small companies who
don't want to (or can't) afford one of the relatively expensive GroupShare
licenses but still want to share terminology databases between
different translators. According to Massi Ghislandi, "it is not meant
to replace MultiTerm but it is an additional resource at this
stage -- not as sophisticated as MultiTerm -- to create, store
and share terminology in the cloud." And to quote Daniel again, it's
"a
'true' cloud-based terminology offering that is more than a glossary
with a more or less basic data model behind it. The beauty is the ease
with which you can ... share a termbase with anyone else -- i.e., a
terminology service for everyone -- or import an Excel glossary, or set
up even a sophisticated termbase (or ... a basic one - just as you
please), all from within the browser (and then access from within
Studio)."
He's
right, there is a choice between a basic and an advanced, concept-based
data model when you create the termbase online (you'll find the link to
Language Cloud Terminology from within SDL
Trados Studio or via this
portal). Once it's created online in your account, you'll find it
as a selectable terminology resource within SDL Trados, or if
it was selected by someone else, she can send you the link to the
termbase and you connect that way. During translation, the terms from
the cloud-based termbase will appear just like they do from MultiTerm,
and you can add terms to the termbase in the cloud on the fly.
Daniel
also mentioned that it "is still a bit rough around the edges," and
that's true as well -- for instance, I couldn't get the import feature
to work -- but everything else worked as it should have as far as I
could tell.
Here
what really interests me about this: Right now this is still in beta,
so it's free and will be until the end of the year. After that it will
be a paid offering with the price yet to be determined by SDL. This
means that SDL is moving into a hybrid role as a SaaS
(Software-as-a-Service) and traditional software vendor. The mainstay
desktop application acts as the starting point, and other
products/services -- whether cloud-based termbases or machine
translation -- are sold on top of that.
I
asked Massi whether this should or could mean that "SDL [should] lower
the threshold (i.e., price) for purchasing the base product and then
essentially customize it with other paid offerings."
His
response?
"In
terms of the pricing for the desktop and LC terminology -- we have not
yet made firm plans and we will continue to evaluate the market
situation and the value offered by the combination of Desktop with
Cloud.
Over
the years we have continued to lower the entry cost of Trados -- a fact
that is often overlooked.
·
The starting price has not been increased for 10 years; in
fact, it has been reduced -- by €100 -- and is listed at €695
with many promotions.
·
We will be looking at a number of options in terms of
bundles which include a combinations of desktop and clouds solutions."
There
you go. I imagine after the week's dramatic
loss of value in SDL's shares, though, any additional lowering of
prices might be hard to come by.
Of
course, there were a whole bundle of other improvements in the Service
Release. You can read about them on SDL's fancy new
website or in more detail right
here.
|
|
ADVERTISEMENT
|
|
Translate
from anywhere with Memsource!
Work
online and offline, on Mac and PC platforms, with an intuitive and
powerful CAT tool.
Start
a free 30-day trial of Memsource for Translators
|
|
2. How
to Fix a TMX File (Premium Edition)
|
|
As
old-fashioned as TMX (Translation Memory eXchange) files seem to be,
they still play an important role in many of our workflows. How do I
know? I receive a lot of TMX files that are corrupted and need to be
fixed from folks and companies whom I help with technical issues.
Here
are some tricks I use, and you can use them, too, to fix corrupted TMX
(and other XML-based) files.
.
. . you can find the rest of this article in the premium edition. If
you'd like to read more, an annual subscription to the premium edition
costs just $25 at www.internationalwriters.com/toolkit.
Or you can purchase the latest edition of the Translator's Tool
Box ebook and receive an annual subscription for free.
|
|
ADVERTISEMENT
|
|
Need
a target-only, live preview while translating? This feature
and more are now
available in Wordfast
Pro 5.1!
What
do California, Colorado, Minnesota, Ohio and New York all have in
common? They're all confirmed locations for the Wordfast
Pro Roadshow to take place this fall in cities across
America!
|
|
3.
The Tech-Savvy Interpreter: As Remote Interpreting Technology Is Rolled
Out, The Devil Is in the Details (Column by Barry Slaughter Olsen)
|
|
In
the May-June edition of the ATA Chronicle I published an article
entitled "Remote
Interpreting: Feeling Our Way into the Future."
(If you haven't read it yet, just click on the link.) The article
highlights the challenges and opportunities that remote interpreting
presents for multilingual communication, generally, and for individual
interpreters. Just as it has permeated every other aspect of modern
society, whether wanted or not, the increased use of technology to
deliver interpreting services in new ways is inevitable.
The
article was generally well-received. Then came a must-read response in
the form of a letter to the editor from Melissa González, an
NBCMI-certified medical interpreter in Austin, Texas. Her letter is a
real-life example of what happens when we, as a profession, fail to
oversee the changes technology is imposing upon us.
Melissa
details in firsthand a disastrous implementation of remote interpreting
in the workplace. She tells a tale of poorly implemented technology,
disrespected interpreters, frustrated healthcare providers and
ill-served patients. This letter to the editor (published
in the latest edition of the ATA Chronicle)
should be required reading for every interpreter, interpreting agency,
technology vendor and healthcare provider considering how to implement
any form of remote interpreting. I encourage you to click on the link
above and read it now.
From
start to finish, Melissa's story illustrates a clear example of remote
interpreting technology implemented poorly and for the wrong reasons.
I'll share one particularly salient paragraph of the letter here:
"Technology is a tool. When used as such, it can help us accomplish
great things within our profession. However, when technology is
employed as a way of replacing human knowledge and expertise to save
money, it can only lead to poor and often dangerous results." I
completely agree.
New
technologies can and are improving multilingual communication and
expanding access to professional interpreting services. But Melissa's
tale should give any organization pause that is seeking to employ
technology as a principal means of saving money and replacing human
expertise. This is a story that must be shared as widely as possible so
it isn't repeated.
Furthermore,
if the transition and expansion to these new ways of working are to be
smooth, interpreters, professional associations and other interested
parties must get involved now and shape the implementation of these new
technologies. Only through our active engagement will they be used
appropriately to improve communication and expand availability of
interpreting services. Only through our insistence can interpreters be
helped to adapt to a changing workplace.
This
is the purpose of InterpretAmerica
6,
which will take place in Washington, D.C. and online on October 30,
2017. This one-day summit will bring together interpreters,
professional association leaders, language service company executives
and technology providers to spark a collaborative, results-oriented
conversation between interpreters and those who hire them. We've all
seen the disruption the rollout of remote interpreting platforms is
having on working interpreters. But we also see the potential for
highly positive outcomes for increased language access and expanded
work opportunities.
Do
you have a question about a specific technology? Or would you like to
learn more about a specific interpreting platform, interpreter console
or supporting technology? Send us an email at inquiry@interpretamerica.com.
|
|
ADVERTISEMENT
|
|
Cadence:
at the Cutting Edge of Interpretation
The
interpreting market is constantly evolving, with new customers, new
technologies, and new modes of delivery. Join Cadence to keep your
finger on the pulse of the industry and discover exciting new
opportunities to work, learn, and grow.
Go
to www.cadencetranslate.com to
register and learn more.
|
|
4.
Remarkable?
|
|
Awhile
back I tweeted about using paper and (fountain) pen at the beginning
stage of every article, presentation, or other write-worthy utterance
(in case you're wondering whether "write-worthy utterance" has ever
been "uttered" before, Google and Bing say it hasn't...). Really
though, I love the challenge of the clear white page, the ease with
which circles and arrows can connect thoughts, and how new ideas seem
to -- sometimes -- grow out of the paper.
In
response to that tweet, a couple of folks -- Christian Taube and
Victoria Patience -- both contacted me about the same product: reMarkable, a
paper-like notebook from Sweden slated to be released in October of
this year. I didn't contact the developers to ask for a sample after
watching their intro video containing this scene, narrated with "If you
love paper, you have a desk that looks like this":
My
response: What!? This is what you want to get away from? This looks
like a dream come true! Aside from the very first day 20 years ago when
I assembled my current desk, it has never been that clean! Having
established that deep divide between the apparently slightly OCD makers
of reMarkable and me, I didn't look any further. For some of
you, though, it might be interesting. I, in the meanwhile, will still
cherish my white, non-synchable paper and try to rub the ink stains
from my fingers when I feel the need to look presentable.
|
|
ADVERTISEMENT
|
|
The
world's leading CAT tool just got even better!
SDL
Trados Studio 2017 Service Release 1 (SR1) is now available. Key new
enhancements include:
- LookAhead
-- immediate results from translation assets, so there is no more
waiting for searches.
- upLIFT
-- even more leverage from your translation memories.
- New
cloud terminology provider -- create, edit and share terminology via
the cloud!
Learn
more about SR1 »
|
|
5. Do
You Need A Pacemaker?
|
|
Seattleite
Sarah Williams contacted me via ATA's upcoming president Corinne McKay
to talk about Pacemaker, a product she
and her sister developed for all kinds of people who need to achieve a
certain goal per day measured in any kind of unit -- most commonly word
count goals, as it was originally developed for literary professionals
and students. In essence, you enter the number of words of a given
project as well as the number of words you want to do per day, and the
tool then spreads out over how many days you can and should accomplish
the project. At the end of the day you enter the amount you actually
accomplished, and the tool then recalculates the rest.
Overall
the tool has been welcomed by users, as is shown by 10,000 registered
and 2,000 active users.
Awhile
back Sarah was contacted by a translator from Romania, who gave her
some suggestions on how to make this tool more applicable for
translators, such as including the ability to work on multiple projects
at the same time. Sarah and her sister have started to implement those
changes, some of which you can see right
here, which also contains a link to joining the beta program. After
the current three- to four-month beta period the tool will not be free,
with the more advanced multi-project set at $8/month, so Sarah has
promised an additional three free months after the end of the beta
period if you indeed join the beta testers.
I
think there's potential for this tool to be useful. Some features that
I've encouraged Sarah to add include
- An
integration right into translation environment tools (such as with an
add-on into SDL Trados) so there's no need to manually update
the number of words accomplished every day
- The
ability to set different starting dates aside from "right now"
- The
ability to give different kinds of priorities to different clients
These
features would be really helpful to my work process. Everyone's
different, though, and some of you might find the tool helpful even
now. Either way, I'm sure Sarah would be eager to listen to your
suggestions.
|
|
ADVERTISEMENT
|
|
August
Price Melt by Advanced International Translations. Exclusively for Tool
Box Journal readers:
http://special.translation3000.com/toolkit50
10
copies of each product available at 50% off. Get yours, become
organized and have more time and money left for fun!
|
|
6. How
Often Does "Mea Culpa" Appear Next to What Word?
|
|
This
is exactly the kind of question you could find the answer to with Sketch
Engine, the corpus tool I very enthusiastically reported about in
the last Tool Box Journal. A little too enthusiastically, it
turns out.
I
wrote this:
"You
can either upload your own translation memories or you can use the
tool's own search engine mechanism (which relies on Microsoft
Bing) to create a list of bilingual websites that contain the terms
that are relevant to your field, have them automatically align, and
form a corpus."
Uhm,
not so much. I was wrong, and I don't have any excuse (aside from the
fact that I was tired).
It
is true that you can download many websites containing certain terms to
build a corpus. However, you cannot have them automatically align with
a translated version of that website through Sketch Engine.
I'm
sorry about that. On a positive note, everything else I highly praised
about Sketch Engine was accurate.
I'm
going to bed.
|
|
The
Last Word on the Tool Box Journal
|
|
If
you would like to promote this journal by placing a link on your
website, I will in turn mention your website in a future edition of the
Tool Box Journal. Just paste the code you find here into
the HTML code of your webpage, and the little icon that is displayed on
that page with a link to my website will be displayed.
If
you are subscribed to this journal with
more than one email address, it would be great if you could unsubscribe
redundant addresses through the links Constant Contact offers below.
Should
you be interested in reprinting one of the articles in this journal for
promotional purposes, please contact me for information about pricing.
©
2017 International Writers' Group
|
|
