04/30/2007 - 05/01/2007

Google Releases Multilingual Desktop

Just in time for spring, Google has released the newest version of Desktop in full multilingual bloom. In March, the company had released the English version of Desktop 5 Beta, and now has added 29 languages. The language support includes French, Spanish, German, Dutch, Japanese, Chinese, Russian, and, for the first time, Hindi. The new version of Google Desktop, an application for Windows Vista, XP, or 2000, can search a user's local hard drive or the Web from a single toolbar.

SDL Announces SDL Translation Management System 2007

SDL, the leading provider of Global Information Management (GIM) solutions, today announced the release of SDL Translation Management System 2007(TM) - a new release of its industry leading on-demand solution which empowers companies to create and reuse multilingual content throughout the complete global content lifecycle.

Word of the day: credulous

credulous \KREJ-uh-lus\, adjective:
1. Ready or inclined to believe on slight or uncertain evidence.
2. Based on or proceeding from a disposition to believe too readily.

Credulous monarchs were easy game for the numerous charlatans and tricksters who toured the courts of Europe trying to dupe them into parting with real gold by means of little more than a promise that they would repay such investments thousandfold. -- Janet Gleeson, The Arcanum

Foreign language expertise & cultural awareness are key competencies

The U.S.Defense Department needs more servicemembers who understand other languages and cultures to meet current and envisioned 21st-century challenges, a senior official said at a Capitol Hill hearing.

“Foreign language and regional expertise, which includes cultural awareness, are emerging as key competencies for our 21st-century Total Force,� Gail H. McGinn, deputy undersecretary of defense for plans and the department’s senior language authority, said in her prepared statement submitted to members of the Senate Armed Services Committee’s emerging threats and capabilities subcommittee April 25.

Italian Language Baffles Holiday Homeowners

Just 12% of British holiday homeowners in Italy say that they benefit from speaking the language abroad, according to a new survey conducted by holidaylettings.co.uk. Whilst this may demonstrate the nation's linguistic failings, it also indicates that being unfamiliar with the Italian language is not necessarily a barrier to buying property in the country.

Pharmacies Fail To Translate Prescription Labels For Patients

Despite widespread capacity to provide prescription medication labels in languages other than English, few New York City pharmacies do so and as a result, limited-English patients face serious risk of medication error, according to a study by The New York Academy of Medicine presented at the annual meeting of the Society for General Internal Medicine (SGIM) in Toronto, Ontario.

Word of the day: supplant

supplant \suh-PLANT\, transitive verb:
1. To take the place of (another), especially through intrigue or underhanded tactics; as, a rival supplants another.
2. To take the place of and serve as a substitute for.

He's your rival. The one you'll have to supplant. -- Peter Brooks, World Elsewhere