Category Archives: internet

Internet miscellany/ Vermischtes aus dem Internet

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1. Try out mobile phones / Handy ausprobieren bei TryPhone (more models to be added). via Lifehacker

2. I know why I’d be worried about a referendum on the EU Treaty in the UK: it’s the British media. The Economist blog, Certain ideas of Europe, does a good job of showing them up, on the basis of a Sun article copied elsewhere, that refers to European judges as ‘unelected’ as if English judges were elected and places the ECJ in Luxembourg.

3. Audio: During the German train strike, rob-log produced a spoof ICE announcement to passengers (in German, but with a very authentic-sounding attempt at a brief English message at the end): …bitten wir kurz um Ihre Aufmerksamkeit…

Style of address on mailing lists / Anrede auf Mailingliste

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I quote a mailing list message:

Deshalb ist es ja umso wichtiger, dass sich die Mitglieder ziemen und die entsprechenden Höflichkeitsformen und Ausdrucksweisen wahren, wie z.B. eine entsprechende Anrede überhaupt zu verfassen.

(MM’s emphasis)

Again and again I wonder: is it just in Germany that some lists expect you to write ‘Liebe Forumsmitglieder’ or some such, and are offended if you have no address at all?

I recall a UseNet group for some bookkeeping software where people wouldn’t even reply if you didn’t use a form of address. This was the case no matter if you were replying to an individual or writing a new question to the whole list (in the latter case, there is no really sensible form of address, is there?)

Here are some recent examples:

Liebe Kollegen und Kolleginnen
Liebe KollegInnen
Liebe / lieber X
Hallo Frau /Herr X
Hallo X
Liebe KOUKO
Liebe Liste
Moin!
Liebe Helfer
Guten Abend
Bonjour X
Guten Morgen, X

I really can’t understand why anyone should be offended if one of these is missing. And I believe a formal close is also expected. I have the feeling it isn’t the case on English-language lists.

Translatorscafe.com

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TranslatorsCafe.com in Canada is one of the useful translators’ forums out there. Someone really has it in for them. I’d better not give a link for fear of stirring up what should better be discarded:

Members of TranslatorsCafé use the interface as a medium for illegally spreading untrue and defamatory information about individuals and companies who have simply experienced the misfortune of using the services of one or more of the so-called “Masters” who stand guard over the service.

I am always fascinated by the names these places give to their posters depending on how many messages they have posted: TC Master, Elite Veteran and so on. I’m not so sure about the ‘standing guard’ bit.

Accessibility / Barrierefreiheit

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Jeremy Keith of Adactio went to Berlin last December for the BIENE website accessibility awards and wondered about the German language, under the heading ‘The language of accessibility’:

… I was thinking about the German word being used to describe accessibility: “Barrierefreiheit”, literally “free from obstacles.” It’s a good word, but because it’s describes websites by what they don’’t contain (obstacles), it leads to a different way of thinking about the topic.
In English, it’’s relatively easy to qualify the word “accessible.” We can talk about sites being “quite accessible”, “fairly accessible”, or “very accessible”. But if you define accessibility as a lack of obstacles, then as long as a single obstacle remains in place it’s hard to use the word “barrierefrei” as an adjective. The term is too binary; black or white; yes or no.

This also relates to the fact that creating an accessible website is not such a problem as keeping it accessible, and ensuring a client has an accessible website is not a question of expensive extras, but of fewer extras.

He was also a bit concerned that he might have offended jury members by calling them all du (I presume not).

(Transblawg is a not a barrier-free website)

LATER NOTE: Transblawg may well be more barrier-free since its move to Serendipity.

Linux for translators / Linux für Übersetzer

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An interview with Marc Prior, who has been advocating the use of Linux for translators for as long as I’ve known him, cam be found at Open Source Update. He answers questions on how he got started with Linux, what his current working environment is, some of his favourite Linux programs, and more.

Here is Marc’s Linux for Translators website (website also available in Dutch, Portuguese, Slovenian, Albanian and probably Serbian in Latin script), for more information on Omega T, the (free of charge) Linux translation memory tool.
(Tip-off from an ITI mailing list)

LATER NOTE: I see Linux is featured in Dilbert today.

(via PapaScott)