A computer newsletter for translation professionals

During a talk to project managers of an LSP a couple months ago, I tried to describe what I think has changed about freelance translators in the last few years. I mentioned the vastly increased access to data and how that has changed work processes; I cited many freelancers' renewed focus on gaining end clients; and I talked about the changes in how we approach technology. I've been mulling over this last point ever since.

When I wrote the first edition of my ebook and then started this newsletter 10 years ago, I was writing to an audience that was markedly non- or maybe even anti-technical. I felt that I could relate really well to my audience (= you) because that's essentially what I was as well. The only difference was that I was determined not to let technology stand in my way, so I had found ways to make it work for me. And that was what I wanted to share.

That's still what I'm interested in sharing, but I believe that I'm talking to a different audience today. Yes, there are still many who feel uncomfortable with technology, but I think that we've come to a far-reaching (though unspoken) consensus: translation technology is as much a part of our profession as is using a spoon with our morning bowl of cereal. Of course, there are still many disagreements about the specifics of that technology and to what extent certain technologies should play a part, and I hope that continues. But I think that we have reached a very big milestone, and I would like to congratulate you!

Many in the media spoke about a different kind of milestone recently in connection with this video depicting Microsoft's Chief Research Officer Rick Rashid using a mixture of speech recognition and machine translation in a speech delivered in China. Most translators know that this really was not as new as the pundits wanted the general public to believe, but there was something in the video that I found disturbing (though not surprising). You see, Microsoft has done a very poor job of branding its machine translation engine. Sometimes it's referred to as Microsoft Translator, sometimes Bing Translator, and sometimes Microsoft Bing Translator. Not really a good way of creating a product image. Therefore it's not surprising that Rick got the name wrong in his talk, referring to Bing Translate at 5:10 (a real no-no, of course, because it's an unholy combination of the Google and Microsoft products). But guess what came out of the speech recognition engine? The correct corporate choice of Bing Translator. Am I alone, or does anyone else get a creepy feeling from this example of a machine replacing/correcting a human's spoken words?

Enough of the creep -- here's something to make you howl with laughter, courtesy of anonymous interpreters at the EU.

Oh, and when you're done laughing, here is the link to purchase Found in Translation, the gift that keeps on giving as Christmas presents for all your clients.

I continue to be humbled and grateful by the great response the book has received.

In the last newsletter, writing about Windows 8 before having an actual look at it, I opined this:

Just this morning a reader asked for advice on whether a new computer that he is about to order should have Windows 7 or Windows 8. Unless you have a specific reason to run Windows 8 on a computer (such as clients who want you to test software on Windows 8 or you just REALLY want to use the touch-screen interface), I would strongly advise you to hold off. Windows 7 is reliable, and the programs that we use are typically optimized for it.

I have to say that I had a pretty good hunch there -- I'd say the same thing now after having put Windows 8 through its paces, but now I'd repeat it a bit more strongly.

You see, in general I don't like technology -- for sure not if it's technology for technology's sake. While this might sound strange for someone who is writing a technical newsletter, I don't think it is. I want to embrace and understand technology as much as I can if I know it helps me to work more productively. I like my work, but, just like you, I have plenty of reasons to work more productively (two that come to mind right away would be "earning more money" and "spending more time with my family"). I don't own a smartphone (don't even carry my 1990s' model of a cell phone around with me most of the time), most certainly don't have a tablet, we don't have a TV hookup at home, and while we do have a Wii game console, I haven't touched it to play for at least a couple of years.

Why do I say all this when I should really be talking about Windows 8? Because the new version of Windows pushes the new world of apps and tablets into your face, whether you want them there or not. When you start your computer you land in the apps interface, the "Modern UI" that's really primarily optimized for touch screen purposes. And while you can navigate it with mouse and keyboard, it feels like an afterthought. Of course, there are ways to quickly leave that interface (see below), but it's less than productive to have to step through that (or have the default installation of a program like Skype suddenly be turned into an "app" that wants to be touched rather than navigated the same way I navigate through all other productivity devices. Tip: uninstall it and download the "Desktop version" at skype.com).

That's the really big gripe.

The slightly smaller gripe is that there were surprisingly many little bugs that I found. While this certainly fits a pattern with previous releases of "new kinds" of Windows (think Windows Vista or the first edition of Windows 98), it still puzzled me and convinced me all the more to extend the warranty period for my Windows 7 computer for another year. Mind you, none of the bugs that I found were show killers (things like missing context menu options or incorrect or uninstallable downloads through Windows Update), but you know that if you've encountered a few there will be plenty more.

Oh, and while we're talking about context menus: Did you know that if you press Shift and then right-click on an item in Windows/File Explorer it will give you an expanded menu, including many more items under Send to? You heard it here first and this works for all kinds of versions of Windows!

Now, let's talk about the positives (from a translator's viewpoint) and how you can adjust your work habits to work in Windows 8.

The first thing you will notice is how much faster Windows 8 starts. It really is so much faster. It's just like what we've always wished for. The problem is that you end up in play rather than productivity world at first, and that's why you'll need to...

... learn some keyboard shortcuts.

The WinKey (you know, the keyboard key with the Windows logo) has risen to more and more significance with the last few versions of Windows, and that is certainly true for this new Windows embodiment. To leave the Time-Waste-Appworld and start to work productively in the familiar Desktop Mode you can either press

WinKey+T or WinKey+D

Don't forget! Those are VERY helpful to know. Yes, there is also a clickable link that will lead you to the desktop, but this way you don't have to take those beautiful productivity extensions (aka "fingers") from your keyboard. And once you've opened the Desktop Mode, just pressing the WinKey will bring you back to Legoland (you realize that this is an experiment: I'm trying to come up with as many derogatory names for the Modern UI as I can).

At this point you'll have heard that the "Start" or "Windows" button is gone from the desktop. That takes some getting used to and a smart "pinning" of your favorite programs to the taskbar. The otherwise easiest way to start a program is to just start typing its name in DL Mode (aka Disneyland Mode or Modern UI). After just a few keystrokes the name of the program will appear and you can start it by clicking on it.

To start any of the many administrative features (such as Program and Features, System, Task Manager, or the Control Panel among many others), you really will want to remember the keyboard shortcut WinKey+X, which works in any mode and brings up a menu with many of the desired links.

The last keyboard shortcut that you might want to remember is WinKey+L, which also gives you access to a number of settings, including the Power Off and Restart options.

All of this will take some time to sink in if you've already made the plunge or will plunge soon for Windows 8, but happily there are a whole bunch of third-party applications that restore some of the old user interface, most notably the open-source Classic Shell.

One super-cool thing about Windows 8 is the ability to install any of 109 (!) languages for the user interface. Earlier versions of Windows also offered the ability to install various languages but only in the expensive Ultra editions -- now it's possible to do that in any language. (You can find a list of all the supported languages for the different versions of Windows right here.)

Actually installing a language takes a little bit of time, but once it's installed, it's a snap to switch. Here is how you do it:

On the Control Panel (accessible through WinKey+X), select the Language option and select Add a Language. You'll be presented with all the many available languages from which you can select one. The mere selection of a language at first will only mean that you have the language-specific keyboards available. (By the way, it has become a little easier to switch between different language keyboards by pressing the WinKey+Space combination; if you've used the Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator to customize keyboards for Windows 7, you can easily transfer those.)

If you want to have all of the Windows user interface displayed in that language, you will need to double-click on the language (or select Options) and select Make this the primary language. Once the necessary language packs are downloaded, you'll be prompted to log on again (no restart necessary!) and everything will be in the language of your choice.

That's really nice!

One other thing that I really liked was an improved Windows Explorer (most easily opened by pressing WinKey+E, just like in old versions of Windows) which is now actually called File Explorer.

It now uses the ribbon menu that most are familiar with from the last couple of versions of Microsoft Office. While it might seem unwieldy at first, it adds to your productivity by often automatically displaying interactive ribbons that match your current selection. Also, while you had to hold the Ctrl(+Shift) key(s) to select multiple files within Windows Explorer, Windows 8 has made it easier to select several files or folders in the File Explorer at the same time to perform one action on them simultaneously (such as delete or copy) by selecting little check boxes to the left of the file name that appear as you select the file.

The backup features within Windows 8 have both improved and gotten weaker at the same time.

The backup system in Windows 7 that allowed you to make regular backups of your complete system was essentially abolished (it is still available under Windows 7 File Recovery in the Control Panel but it's not actively supported anymore). It was replaced by something called "File History".

Essentially, File History is a tool that allows you to go back an unlimited number of versions for each designated file. This sounds good but there are a couple caveats: This feature is not enabled by default, not all files will be backed up, and you will have to have an external backup device connected at all times.

To enable File History, open the File History item on the Control Panel, select the external backup device (which could be a USB stick or an external hard drive), and select Turn on. Under Advanced settings you can set up how often you want to run the backup, how much space it's going to occupy, and how long you want to keep the backed-up versions.

The only files that are being backed up are the files in your pre-configured libraries in File Explorer (Documents, Music, Videos, and Pictures). This means that any files that are not contained in there need to be linked in there (the libraries only contain links to "actual" files and folders).

To me this sounds great for a casual computer user, but for the business user (that's us, fellow translators!) this is less helpful. I would recommend either using the more all-encompassing Windows 7 backup system or purchasing a third-party solution.

A couple of newsletters ago I shared with you which of the translation environment tools are compatible with Windows 8 (most are), and if you are encountering any program that is not compatible there is a decent chance that you can install it by using the "Compatibility Mode." To do this, just right-click on the installation file, select Properties> Compatibility, and then select the version of Windows that you know is compatible. This trick is available in earlier versions of Windows as well.

In short, as you can see, I'm not particularly overwhelmed with Windows 8, and there have already been rumors/reports of a new Windows next year ("Windows Blue"). My sense is that the next version of Windows will be great. And this version is, well, not quite compatible with me.

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(Heading doesn't really make sense to you? I'll send a signed copy of Found in Translation to the first one who "figures" it out and lets me know.)

There are a number of new versions of already existing translation environment tools these days, and it strikes me that the old paradigm of major and minor releases (version 2 vs. version 2.1) really doesn't hold up anymore. Of the three new products, only one is a "major" release in the version numbering sense, but all of them have enough new features to be called major releases.

Heartsome was the "darling" among translation environment tools just a few years ago, and there were plenty of reasons for that. It was relatively inexpensive; ran on all operating systems (Windows, Mac, and Linux); made very extensive use of exchange formats such as XLIFF, TBX, and TMX; and came with a bunch of very helpful, independent conversion utilities.

Then the main programmer, Rodolfo Raya, left the Chinese/Singaporean Heartsome and started his own company in Uruguay, Swordfish, where he at first strongly emulated many of the Heartsome concepts. He was also a lot more engaged with users and steadily updated the product.

Heartsome, on the other hand, went into a long hiatus from which it may only now have awoken. I asked Tom Wang of Heartsome about the reason for this long silence. His answer:

We have invested lots of time and energy to research user needs. We want the new version to be closer to the actual needs of localization companies and language experts. For this, we have rewritten all the underlying coding. Heartsome Translation Studio 8.0 and Heartsome Translation Studio 7.0 really are two completely different software products.

He is spot-on in remarking on the differences between those two versions of Heartsome. The new version is a lot more utilitarian, which I think is a good thing. If I were to compare it to another tool, it reminds me most of Wordfast Pro, with a tabular translation grid, separate windows for TM and termbase, and one that shows the project tree (the project concept as a container for many files is one of the new paradigms for Heartsome). Of course, all of the different windows can be customized or hidden in any way.

Also new is that all the different components of any project can be processed in that one unified interface (rather than in separate programs like before). What's unfortunately not new is the unnecessarily complex way to create termbases and translation memories, which is far from intuitive.

One of the strongest points of Heartsome was and is that it's Java-based, meaning that it can be used on the various operating systems mentioned above. I asked Tom what percentage of users use each platform. Relatively few use Linux, he says, and most are in the Windows and Mac camp. As far as who his users are, he said (and I'm not sure what to make of this) that 70% are enterprise users, 22% are freelancers, and 8% are academic and other institutions. The enterprise customers are mostly small and mid-sized companies with a few large exceptions.

As his main competitors he named Déjà Vu and Trados. This would not have been surprising a number of years ago, but it seems that other tools, including memoQ or Across, would have to be on that list as well, if not even newer tools such as MemSource and others.

Other new features that are worthy of mention include an automatic locking of duplicates once they are populated with translation to avoid any unwanted manipulation (naturally that can be reversed); new filters for FrameMaker; InDesign IDML files and XLIFF files from SDL Trados and Déjà Vu X2 (the number of options to customize any filter are very, very scarce, though); integration of Google Translate and Bing Translator; enhanced and automatic correction of fuzzy matches; customizable shortcut keys; and exportable RTF files for proofreading outside the tool.

The utilities that I mentioned above (CSV to TBX/TMX converter, MARTIF to TBX converter, TMX to Trados TXT memory file converter, TMX validator, and others) are, as you can see, very specialized but extremely useful in those specialized situations. They're all still there but are integrated right into Heartsome's interface only -- that's good for Heartsome users, but for those of us who used to use these tools independently, it's not so great. (Still, it's understandable from Heartsome's point of view.)

You can download a 30-day trial here, and you can find a list of the different versions of the product alongside the features right here.

I wrote about Across not too long ago, and in the meantime a new version is almost ready to be released (version 5.5). I recently had a chance to work with Across for a client, and I found it simultaneously frustrating (mostly because of the very large and tedious installation and the crazy "CrossLanguage" -- every feature and component is some kind of CrossThing, which might warrant an entry as the 6910^th language in the Ethnologue) and enjoyable (because of its nice display of TM and termbase resources and the easy access to those).

Though I haven't seen the new version, the team in Karlsbad described some of the new features for me.

Some of these we're familiar with from other tools, including the locking of segments, customizable Excel processing and better InDesign support, Windows 8 support, and a number of improvements in reporting and localization QA features, but there is one that strikes me as particularly clever and new. With the web-based module of the new version, it is now possible to install protected fonts on the server (such as client fonts that cannot be shared with providers) so the font can be displayed in the web clients to show the restrictions related to the actual length of certain kinds of strings (such as displays on devices). It's not something that everyone needs all the time, but it's helpful for those who do since different fonts occupy different spacing.

You will be able to find more information about the new version in the next few days here; if you're interested in downloading the free freelance edition, you will be able to do that right here.

I know that we just talked about the new version 6 of memoQ, but the team at Kilgray has a hard time resting on its laurels, so version 6.2 that was released this week has surprisingly many new features and a decidedly wacky tendency.

Here's the first feature you will notice: right beside the now-famous Do not push this button button on memoQ's toolbar is a mysterious new button with the yin-yang symbol. When pushed, it gives you the option to Go Zen or Mostly Silent -- some combination of which will transform your office into a New Age study hall filled with, well, very "spiritual" music. Since elsewhere in this newsletter I make a great case for working in a productive environment, I'm going to skip that feature, but I must marvel at Gábor's inquiring mind. (Gábor is the developer responsible for this and many of the other memoQ shenanigans. SDL's Paul Filking remarked on someone's Twitter comment celebrating Kilgray's "whimsy": "That's true... if we had a don't touch that button we'd be inundated with support requests...!" I'm afraid he's right...)

One of the more "serious" features, yet no less playfully named, is "The Muse," a special database that you can train from your TMs or corpora to enable predictive typing -- bringing memoQ on board with that important feature as well.

Also SDL Studio packages can be imported directly. This has been available for Transit projects within memoQ for a long time, and the addition of the SDL Trados package format is a welcome addition (packages are essentially zipped-up projects that contain all the translatables, TMs, and the termbase that can be directly created and opened within the originating program). It escapes me, though, why, just like in the Transit package format, termbase data is ignored during the import. When I talked to folks from Kilgray about this a long time ago they said it was too much effort to do it for the Transit format. Well . . . in that case I want to at least see big disclaimers on the ads for that feature. Fortunately, we can all hope that these kinds of issues will be resolved with the upcoming project exchange standards TIPP and Linport.

The machine translation module within memoQ now gives you suggestions from all connected MT engines (remember that I complained about that in my last newsletter?), and there are a number of other reporting, project management, and other changes, making this a surprisingly rich "minor" release -- but, hey, it's almost Christmas, after all.

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Many of you are familiar with Kevin Lossner's Translation Tribulations blog. To say that Kevin is a man of few words would be incorrect. He likes to communicate, has very strong opinions (many of which I agree with), and his posts are always highly readable.

He also has become one of the prime experts on the translation environment tool memoQ. Now he has decided to distill some of this knowledge into an ebook that he's selling on Lulu. Why write (or buy) a book on a tool that has a decent help system to start with? Aside from several shortcomings Kevin uncovers in memoQ's internal documentation, it makes a big difference to read through a book like this and discover features that you would never find in a help system, even if they're documented. After all, you typically refer to the online help only when you're looking for clarifications on something you already know exists.

Kevin himself says that his book is for both "new and seasoned users," but he qualifies this by saying he "assumed that readers will have some familiarity with memoQ" -- and I think that's an adequate description. You certainly won't find discussions on the merits of translation technology in general or what exactly a translation memory is, but you will find well-written explanations of concepts that are unique to memoQ, such as corpora, versioning, or cascading filters.

I actually read through almost all 200 pages and learned (or felt reassured by) quite a bit.

I found good tips on using the project concept as a structure for per-client files (a process I had been doing with another tool for years and always thought I had invented!), how to move memoQ to a new computer, how to optimize the Views feature, and how to prepare Word and Excel files to exclude certain parts of the documents. I discovered how to perform quality assurance on translation memories, enter forbidden terms in the termbase, decipher the cryptic Aspose feature, and much, much more.

All in all, it's a very helpful book that will make you a lot more productive (if you use memoQ, of course) than the initial investment of the purchase price might make you think.

Kevin is already working on the next edition and a German edition, so be sure to let him know that you purchased it so he can send you the updated editions.

Oh, and I'm sure in the next version we'll all find out what "Entire the desired paths" means. Sounds tantalizing, no? ;-) 

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