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Becoming a better open source translator

Foci for Analysis — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 07:13:28 -0800

How do I become a better translator for the open source project that I'm volunteering for? For the past year or so, I've been a translator for an open source project that develops an web based e-commerce application. Basically I translate strings in English to another language. I do this for free and the tools provided to me by the project are mostly web based tools to admin, upload and publish translation files.

I want to become a better translator and I'm looking for suggestions in these areas:
* processes: how do professional translators work on highly technical projects? How do you research and translate technical terms when you find out there are no equivalent terms in the target langauge? How do you handle the translation of software when each major version has its own set of translations?

* tools: which tools/communities do the pros use to translate, research, get help and feedback, etc?

Form an orderly queue, ladies

emmajane — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 11:30:06 -0800

How do things change (or do they change) when an IT conference is attended by 50% women? On April 12 in San Francisco I will be giving a talk at LugRadioLive on how to really get more women involved in the open source technology world. Normally this kind of talk is about grrl p0wer and computers and finger wagging about bad behaviour. My presentation is going to be different. It's a very fun look at how to make technology friendly, how we can really get more women using technology, and how important it is to the World Domination [tm] of open source software.

The talk itself is called, "Form an orderly queue, ladies." I've been working on it for months (literally). The basic description goes like this:

"A slightly raucous but very fun look at female participation in open source computing. This presentation includes a subversive tour of the well known articles and statistics about women in open source and finishes with tangible solutions that really do get more women engaged in technology. Drawing on personal experience, Emma will present you with real solutions that have worked in her community. Explore absolutely new ways of thinking about the gender gap and learn how to take the next step towards really increasing the number of women in open source computing."

One of the points that I make in the presentation is that group dynamics shift when the gender balance shifts. The open source world is dominated by men. (A recent European study showed that 98.5% of all developers were male, a slightly older Japanese study shows the same numbers.) There are likely a million reasons for why this is. This presentation is not about those reasons. I care more about thinking in new ways to change the future than I care about analyzing the past. In one version of the presentation I asked the audience to count the total number of people in the room and then to double it to show what would happen if the room were 50% women. I've removed that section. I want to show it with real people instead of making it a hypothetical exercise. I want the room to be double the size because it is 50% women.

Assuming that it's actually doable, do you think it will really change the dynamics of the event?

Poor animator-wannabe wants cheap (or free) flash tools...

enriquem — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 17:04:26 -0800

Argh! Where-o-where can I create a Flash animation for dirt cheap/free (probably a short cartoon with music)? Argh! Where-o-where can I create a Flash animation for dirt cheap/free (probably a short cartoon with music)?

I have a GREAT idea (like all other peoples in this meta-verse) for a flash cartoon series but I do not have the loot to pay for Adobe's software...is there a FOSS/Freeware/Cheap (under 20 bucks) alternative that I can use to make this cartoon a reality? Any help will be great...

Good F/OSS Community Media Sharing Software?

paul_smatatoes — Thu, 27 Oct 2005 10:14:12 -0800

Are there any good open source media sharing/rating tools? This would be for the sort of thing where someone uploads WackyMovie.mov and registered users rate it. Then, the best movies bubble up to the top of their category, etc. (Plugins for WordPress also accepted...)