If you're looking for a well-thought-out, well-structured blog entry, this isn't it. I'm just going to type out whatever comes to mind, and that will be that. Warning: This may turn into a giant wall of text.
Books: Borders is going out of business. This is probably not news to anyone, but it has been both a happy and a sad time for me. I always liked going in to browse through the books, almost never buying anything, not because I didn't want to, but because I didn't have the extra money. Now, with the going out of business sale, and starting with when I won a Borders gift card soon after they announced that they were going out of business, I have used their misfortune as an excuse to spend money on books. Sure, some of them are "fun" books, but those are usually for my wife. Most of the books that I've gotten have to do with my hobby of learning a new technology or programming language. One excursion that my wife made, though, ended up with her buying me a book from the Animorphs series, which was my favorite series in middle school. It's one of the several that I never got around to reading. I look forward to when I have a chance to read it.
Technology: The programming/technology books that I got lean heavily toward web technologies. The first one that I got was a tutorial book for Django, a web extension for Python. I got it because one of the most recent languages that I've been teaching myself is Python, and I wanted to see what I could do with it and the web. So far, it looks pretty powerful, though the book doesn't really go that in-depth. I can see myself using it in the future, though.
The second one is an intro to HTML5. I do know a bit about HTML, so I wanted to learn about the cool stuff that HTML5 can do, since there's been a big hype about it for a while. It, too, lacks a lot of depth, but it does a bit to wet my appetite, so I guess it's okay. I may use it to see if there's something that I want to do that HTML5 can do more smoothly than how I would do it with HTML4.
Book 3 is about XMPP, and it's my most recent purchase. It looks like it does go a bit more in-depth, and one of the more advanced chapters ties it in with Django, so that will be fun once I get to it. XMPP is used in things like multiplayer games, instant messaging programs and chats. I'm not sure how I'll use it, but I'd seen it on several trips to Borders, and it seemed to be calling to me.
What I was really looking for each of those 3 times was an intro to Android programming. I got a book from the library about Android programming from the library not too long ago, so I wanted to get one for myself. Alas, it was not to be. I found plenty of books on iPhone development and plenty of user guides/manuals for Android devices, but nothing about Android development. Fortunately, though, just today I found what looks like it will probably be a promising tutorial online.
Library: Today, I went to the library, because my wife had several books to turn in, a hold to pick up, and she had an activity to go to that would last until after the library was closed. So I went by myself to turn in her books, pick up her hold, and maybe find a book or two for myself. First, I lightened my load by turning in her books. Then, I set about finding some books for myself. The Android book was checked out. I decided to put a hold on a different Android book. I also got several books by an author that my wife really likes, but that I haven't read yet (Piers Anthony). I had noticed that my wife hadn't given me her library card like she was going to (It's easy to forget when you're rushing off somewhere), but I thought I'd give it a try anyway. I got the attention of a librarian, told her that my wife had sent me to turn in her books and pick up her hold, but that she had forgotten to give me her card. She understood perfectly, and given that we (my wife and I, not the librarian and I) have the same last name and live at the same address, the librarian was willing to make it possible for me to check out the book. I'm sure glad I asked!
Certificate: Today, I got a message from my folks that an envelope came from my grad school. They thought it might be my diploma, but I had already picked that up from the school. I called them and told them to go ahead and open it, thinking it was something from the photographer at graduation or something. It turns out that it was a certificate for a translation exam that I took near the end of the year. Since I passed the exam, I get a certificate... saying that I passed the exam. So now I have my diploma, as well as a certificate proclaiming that I'm recognized as a competent Spanish-to-English translator.
Plant: Near the end of July, my grandfather passed away. He was my last living grandparent, and since we share a birthday, there was no way that I was going to miss his funeral. When I got back from the funeral, I'd found that the company that I work for had gotten my a small potted plant (A fittonia, or nerve plant). This last three-day weekend left its soil pretty dry, and it was really limp--it almost looked dead. I watered it, and by the early afternoon, it was as happy and perky as ever!
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There. Wall of text. Enjoy.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Update on "A thought on localization"
The original post is here.
An employee at Adobe suggested that I copy my rant (which I had originally posted on G+, which is where he saw it) onto an post on Adobe's blog, so I did. That post was one of the things that "inspired" my rant in the first place, so it seemed fitting.
Just this last week, a representative from SDL (makers of Trados, the leading translation tool in the industry) posted a reply. It said basically what I expected it might, that a lot of people might not understand the filters well enough, that generic XML filters might not give the segments to the translators in an "optimal way," and that other information relevant to the document (formatting, etc.) might be difficult or impossible to obtain with a generic filter.
They do admit, though, that "a generic filter could have some value where no specific filter exists." And a major producer of translation tools responded to my comment. Which is awesome.
I still think that variations on a zipped XML filter would be valuable. One could create specific filters for Docx, Xlsx, Idml, etc. and translate those files directly in the original format instead of a middle format, which is what virtually every translation tool that isn't a Word macro does. Trados, Wordfast, Lingotek, Idiom WorldServer, OmegaT... All of them convert your original document into some middle format, usually XML-based itself. Why not create a tool that would take out the middle man? It might be something to look into some time in the future, but it might not be enough of a selling point if the other tools' middle formats can be satisfactorily converted back to the original formats. But then I think of those Word files that we translated in class, not too complex, whose formatting got mangled by the various translation tools that we subjected them to...
Ok. This rant is over. The moral of this post: People listen to you in unexpected ways sometimes.
An employee at Adobe suggested that I copy my rant (which I had originally posted on G+, which is where he saw it) onto an post on Adobe's blog, so I did. That post was one of the things that "inspired" my rant in the first place, so it seemed fitting.
Just this last week, a representative from SDL (makers of Trados, the leading translation tool in the industry) posted a reply. It said basically what I expected it might, that a lot of people might not understand the filters well enough, that generic XML filters might not give the segments to the translators in an "optimal way," and that other information relevant to the document (formatting, etc.) might be difficult or impossible to obtain with a generic filter.
They do admit, though, that "a generic filter could have some value where no specific filter exists." And a major producer of translation tools responded to my comment. Which is awesome.
I still think that variations on a zipped XML filter would be valuable. One could create specific filters for Docx, Xlsx, Idml, etc. and translate those files directly in the original format instead of a middle format, which is what virtually every translation tool that isn't a Word macro does. Trados, Wordfast, Lingotek, Idiom WorldServer, OmegaT... All of them convert your original document into some middle format, usually XML-based itself. Why not create a tool that would take out the middle man? It might be something to look into some time in the future, but it might not be enough of a selling point if the other tools' middle formats can be satisfactorily converted back to the original formats. But then I think of those Word files that we translated in class, not too complex, whose formatting got mangled by the various translation tools that we subjected them to...
Ok. This rant is over. The moral of this post: People listen to you in unexpected ways sometimes.
Friday, July 22, 2011
A thought on localization
Here's a l10n thought I had the other day, and I'm sorry if it gets too technical:
Why is it so hard to add a supported file format to translation tools? A lot of formats, including the current Microsoft Office formats (PPTX, XLSX and DOCX) and IDML, the current export format for InDesign, are simply ZIP files renamed. What's inside of those ZIP files? XML files. That's right: plain text.
It's relatively easy to set up a filter for any sort of plain text file, be it XML, HTML, TXT or whatever, as long as you know a few things: Where is the translatable text? Are there patterns to find the translatable text? What do I do with the non-translatable text? (For example, is it interior formatting information, etc.) What's the encoding?
Most translation tools have filters set up for HTML already, and for TXT as long as everything's translatable. Most will even have some sort of customizable XML filter. It wouldn't be that hard to set up an interface that would let you define a compressed (ZIP) file extension, define which folders and/or files the translatable text would be found in, and define where in those XML files the translatable text is. So why has nobody done this? Sure, there are filters for the MS Office files, but most tools that I'm familiar with, if they support InDesign at all, are stuck back at only supporting INX files, which are the previous export file type, and they're XML to begin with!
What I want is a generic "compressed file" filter that will allow you to find the content. Java JAR files with translatable content are compressed files that (if they're done right) contain PROPERTIES files, which are a type of plain text. The above mentioned file formats are all compressed files that contain XML files. Who knows what files in the future will simply be compressed files that contain plain text information? If there were a generic way in some tool to define where and what is translatable, it would make our lives easier.
While we're at it, we need a better plain text filter. Some image formats contain translatable text information, but as far as I know there are no tools that support those file types.
Maybe I'll work on this stuff eventually, at least in pseudo code. Maybe someone in the right place will come to the same conclusion and make this widely available. Maybe.
Ok, I'm done ranting now.
Why is it so hard to add a supported file format to translation tools? A lot of formats, including the current Microsoft Office formats (PPTX, XLSX and DOCX) and IDML, the current export format for InDesign, are simply ZIP files renamed. What's inside of those ZIP files? XML files. That's right: plain text.
It's relatively easy to set up a filter for any sort of plain text file, be it XML, HTML, TXT or whatever, as long as you know a few things: Where is the translatable text? Are there patterns to find the translatable text? What do I do with the non-translatable text? (For example, is it interior formatting information, etc.) What's the encoding?
Most translation tools have filters set up for HTML already, and for TXT as long as everything's translatable. Most will even have some sort of customizable XML filter. It wouldn't be that hard to set up an interface that would let you define a compressed (ZIP) file extension, define which folders and/or files the translatable text would be found in, and define where in those XML files the translatable text is. So why has nobody done this? Sure, there are filters for the MS Office files, but most tools that I'm familiar with, if they support InDesign at all, are stuck back at only supporting INX files, which are the previous export file type, and they're XML to begin with!
What I want is a generic "compressed file" filter that will allow you to find the content. Java JAR files with translatable content are compressed files that (if they're done right) contain PROPERTIES files, which are a type of plain text. The above mentioned file formats are all compressed files that contain XML files. Who knows what files in the future will simply be compressed files that contain plain text information? If there were a generic way in some tool to define where and what is translatable, it would make our lives easier.
While we're at it, we need a better plain text filter. Some image formats contain translatable text information, but as far as I know there are no tools that support those file types.
Maybe I'll work on this stuff eventually, at least in pseudo code. Maybe someone in the right place will come to the same conclusion and make this widely available. Maybe.
Ok, I'm done ranting now.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
A Series of Pleasant Events
- This last week, I found all sorts of nerdy stuff to occupy my time, such as Google Labs's App Inventor, which allows you to create your own Android apps without a great amount of programming knowledge. It's kind of limited, but it's kind of fun, too! (I also found, or re-found, a development environment for making games called Game Maker and some apps that will hopefully allow me to use scripting languages on my Android tablet, but I haven't really had a chance to play around with those yet.)
- Today started without an alarm clock. It was still kind of early, but I woke up on my own schedule, and not on that of incessant beeps that usually go off at the same time each morning.
- I made breakfast for my wife, and got to serve it to her in bed. I also pulled some bread dough out of the freezer so that it could thaw and rise.
- Then I got breakfast for myself and ate it in bed with my wife.
- A bit after breakfast, we walked to McDonald's and each got a Happy Meal with a Pokémon toy.
- From McDonald's, we walked to the aquarium, where we were amazed by an updated exhibit and got to wonder all over again at the marvels that live in and around the sea.
- We rode most of the way home on a free trolley service that runs during the summer.
- After resting up for a bit, we drove to the shopping center to do some window shopping.
- We weren't going to buy anything, but we noticed that Patricia Briggs's Masques, which has been out of print forever, has been re-released with some edits, along with its sequel, written after 20 or more years more of experience as an author. We had to get both.
- We also took note of a couple of other books that we are going to request from the library.
- I got a gumball from a gumball machine.
- At the game store, we noticed that a used copy of a game that we had kind of wanted to get for a while was only $10, so we got that, too.
- The rest of the day will include a homemade dinner, a relaxing evening, and probably some reading.
- Edit: After the original posting of this, I decided to make peach cobbler, which is currently in the oven. And we're going to get ice cream to go with it.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
A shock and a revelation
Today I found out that my grandpa could not be awakened. He was still alive, still breathing, but they just couldn't wake him up.
This news would likely come as a huge shock to most people. However, Grandpa has been fighting cancer for some time now, and has long since gone through all viable options of treatment. For him, it's a matter of time. In fact, it's been a lot longer than anyone has really realistically expected.
Still, although the shock wasn't as big as it otherwise would have been, there was still a shock, and I started preparing myself for a trip that may come at any time, to Grandpa's funeral.
It turns out that it wasn't the cancer at all. There was some mixing of medications that multiplied the effect of his Tylenol PM. They couldn't wake him up because he was sleeping it off.
I don't know whether to be relieved that Grandpa's alright or upset at the apparent lack of information that led to this medical mix-up. I think that I'll go with "relieved," though.
Edit: Grandpa has woken up and is doing a lot better.
Note: Abrupt change of topic, one blog post. I'm still working on transitions.
On Sunday, we were reminded about Christ's parable of the talents, and how by using our talents, we can multiply our blessings. How many of us hide our talents, or let them decay like an abandoned building... I play the violin, and could be good at it if I tried. I have a knack for languages, and at a time was at a near-native level in Spanish. I can think through problems a step at a time, and can sometimes transform those steps into computer code. I'm not a horrid writer. I like to doodle, but can only really do stick figures. What do I do with these talents?
My violin's case is a great dust collector. I still speak Spanish on occasion, but my Spanish language books are in about the same condition as my violin case, and though I've thought about trying to pick up another language, it ends there. I do still occasionally write some code if it will save me some time, but I know that there are some things that are still beyond me when it comes to programming. My writing is usually limited to short responses to emails and the occasional Facebook update. A couple of years ago I bought a drawing pad and some pencils, but since then, they're in my closet. Remember the violin case? My art supplies are even better at collecting dust.
Instead I fill my time with nonsense. Sometimes I find myself switching between Facebook, my email, and the one forum that I visit, hoping that one of them has updated. Sometimes I'm playing games, leveling up my characters, deleting them and creating new ones. Sometimes I sit, wondering what to do...
I tell myself that I don't have time for my talents, that there's no time to practice my violin, no time to study another language, no time to really get serious about programming, writing or drawing. But the truth? While still getting a full 8 hours of sleep, I have about two and a half hours between when I wake up and when I go to work. Sure, some of that is spent getting ready for work, so to give myself plenty of time to get ready at a nice, relaxed pace, we'll say that I have one and a half hours. After work, there are about four hours between when I get home and when I go to bed. There is dinner to consider, and getting ready for bed. There is also helping to get dinner ready, helping with housework, etc. Let's give me two hours. That's three hours per weekday that I could be doing something productive to better myself. Add in all day on Saturday, and even a few hours on Sunday, as long as it's something spiritually uplifting, and that's quite a few hours a week.
So, here's what I'm going to do. I'm not going to give up Facebook or games, but they are going to take a backseat to other things. I'm going to read in Spanish every day, at least a little bit. I'm going to at least get my violin out on Saturdays and Sundays. I may even find a time in the evening that's not too late to annoy neighbors. I'm going to write more consistently in this blog, but I'm also going to write short stories and try to expand their length, little by little. I can do that in any short period of time. And, on weekends, I'm going to find some scenic place to sit, and I'm going to try to draw it. It's going to be ugly at first, and it may stay that way, but I am going to work on drawing. I'm not sure how I'm going to work on language acquisition or programming skills, but I'll find a place to fit those in.
Hopefully I can spend a little less time regretting the neglect that I've shown regarding my talents and more time developing them so that I can become a better me.
This news would likely come as a huge shock to most people. However, Grandpa has been fighting cancer for some time now, and has long since gone through all viable options of treatment. For him, it's a matter of time. In fact, it's been a lot longer than anyone has really realistically expected.
Still, although the shock wasn't as big as it otherwise would have been, there was still a shock, and I started preparing myself for a trip that may come at any time, to Grandpa's funeral.
It turns out that it wasn't the cancer at all. There was some mixing of medications that multiplied the effect of his Tylenol PM. They couldn't wake him up because he was sleeping it off.
I don't know whether to be relieved that Grandpa's alright or upset at the apparent lack of information that led to this medical mix-up. I think that I'll go with "relieved," though.
Edit: Grandpa has woken up and is doing a lot better.
Note: Abrupt change of topic, one blog post. I'm still working on transitions.
On Sunday, we were reminded about Christ's parable of the talents, and how by using our talents, we can multiply our blessings. How many of us hide our talents, or let them decay like an abandoned building... I play the violin, and could be good at it if I tried. I have a knack for languages, and at a time was at a near-native level in Spanish. I can think through problems a step at a time, and can sometimes transform those steps into computer code. I'm not a horrid writer. I like to doodle, but can only really do stick figures. What do I do with these talents?
My violin's case is a great dust collector. I still speak Spanish on occasion, but my Spanish language books are in about the same condition as my violin case, and though I've thought about trying to pick up another language, it ends there. I do still occasionally write some code if it will save me some time, but I know that there are some things that are still beyond me when it comes to programming. My writing is usually limited to short responses to emails and the occasional Facebook update. A couple of years ago I bought a drawing pad and some pencils, but since then, they're in my closet. Remember the violin case? My art supplies are even better at collecting dust.
Instead I fill my time with nonsense. Sometimes I find myself switching between Facebook, my email, and the one forum that I visit, hoping that one of them has updated. Sometimes I'm playing games, leveling up my characters, deleting them and creating new ones. Sometimes I sit, wondering what to do...
I tell myself that I don't have time for my talents, that there's no time to practice my violin, no time to study another language, no time to really get serious about programming, writing or drawing. But the truth? While still getting a full 8 hours of sleep, I have about two and a half hours between when I wake up and when I go to work. Sure, some of that is spent getting ready for work, so to give myself plenty of time to get ready at a nice, relaxed pace, we'll say that I have one and a half hours. After work, there are about four hours between when I get home and when I go to bed. There is dinner to consider, and getting ready for bed. There is also helping to get dinner ready, helping with housework, etc. Let's give me two hours. That's three hours per weekday that I could be doing something productive to better myself. Add in all day on Saturday, and even a few hours on Sunday, as long as it's something spiritually uplifting, and that's quite a few hours a week.
So, here's what I'm going to do. I'm not going to give up Facebook or games, but they are going to take a backseat to other things. I'm going to read in Spanish every day, at least a little bit. I'm going to at least get my violin out on Saturdays and Sundays. I may even find a time in the evening that's not too late to annoy neighbors. I'm going to write more consistently in this blog, but I'm also going to write short stories and try to expand their length, little by little. I can do that in any short period of time. And, on weekends, I'm going to find some scenic place to sit, and I'm going to try to draw it. It's going to be ugly at first, and it may stay that way, but I am going to work on drawing. I'm not sure how I'm going to work on language acquisition or programming skills, but I'll find a place to fit those in.
Hopefully I can spend a little less time regretting the neglect that I've shown regarding my talents and more time developing them so that I can become a better me.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
A New Start
I had a thought the other day. That thought was that I should start blogging again. That I should really be keeping some record of my life, and it's easier to do that here. If I do it in a physical journal, it takes up space and I run the risk of not being able to read my own handwriting. If I do it in a conventional word processor, my computer may explode or something, and then I'd be out of luck. So I choose to write here, where I can share my life with the people who choose to read about it.
It's almost the start of a new era for my little family. I'm about to get a masters degree and start my first real career. I've been at this company for a while now as an intern, and I've recently decided to accept their offer to hire me full time once I graduate. Things are looking up.
Endings and beginnings can be tough sometimes, but that's what leaps of faith are for, right?
It's almost the start of a new era for my little family. I'm about to get a masters degree and start my first real career. I've been at this company for a while now as an intern, and I've recently decided to accept their offer to hire me full time once I graduate. Things are looking up.
Endings and beginnings can be tough sometimes, but that's what leaps of faith are for, right?
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Vacation Time!
My school has what they call "J Term," which is this: During January, there are hardly any classes for "regular" students. Instead, they hold a bunch of seminars and certificate classes. Most students, including myself, take this opportunity to have an extra long winter break.
Between January 4 and 19, my wife and I took advantage of the extra time off to visit our families in Utah. I had to also take the time off from my internship, but sometimes the sacrifices are worth it. :)
It was great. We visited both my family and hers, and we also had a chance to visit some friends. It was pretty low key other than that.
I did take the chance to send my resume out to a few companies, and even got an offer for when I graduate in May! And, as of today, another place that I sent my resume out to called to express some interest.
So, as always, life is good.
Between January 4 and 19, my wife and I took advantage of the extra time off to visit our families in Utah. I had to also take the time off from my internship, but sometimes the sacrifices are worth it. :)
It was great. We visited both my family and hers, and we also had a chance to visit some friends. It was pretty low key other than that.
I did take the chance to send my resume out to a few companies, and even got an offer for when I graduate in May! And, as of today, another place that I sent my resume out to called to express some interest.
So, as always, life is good.
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