Maybe it was all those viruses going around during the last couple of days, but there seems to be a new outlook (pardon the pun) in the IT industry. Here some interesting thoughts.

It has been reported widely in the press that a movie starring Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn would be made at UN headquarters in New York, where Hollywood has failed for decades to get permission to film. The movie, to be directed by Sydney Pollack, is called The Interpreter.

Kidman will play a Kenyan-born UN interpreter (at least that’s what I gather from the title – the press calls it “translator”) who overhears an assassination plot, becomes a target herself and helps stop the killing of an African leader addressing the UN General Assembly.

According to a UN official, Kofi Annan, the secretary general, and senior members of the general assembly and security council had given their approval. “The secretary general and his advisers decided it was in the organisation’s interest to bring its work to the attention of the ordinary cinema-viewing audience in this case.”

It was –2°F when I got up this morning and the garage door was frozen to the ground. The good news is that it will warm up to a whopping 12°F. Now, for students at the Arctic College in Iqaluit, which I mentioned earlier here and here, this may be balmy, but where I live there is only one word to describe such temperatures: cold. Not a sign of global warming in sight.

Alle Jahre wieder erscheinen einschlägige Artikel über den falschen bis sinnlosen Einsatz des Apostrophs im Deutschen – so auch jetzt im SPIEGEL unter dem Titel „Deutschland, deine Apostroph’s“. Schon einmal, im Juni 2000, nahm sich das Nachrichtenmagazin dieses Themas unter dem Titel „Überall Fliegendreck“ an – und dann noch einmal im Juli 2001 unter dem Titel „Was soll da’s?“. Aus gegebenem Anlaß hier einige Beispiele aus der „Apostroph-Gruselgalerie“.

I have to fly from St. Louis to Charlottesville on Friday. This is rather short notice, and ticket prices, already pretty high out of St. Louis, are at their peak just before the departure date. Because time is so short, it has to be Charlottesville-Albemarle airport. The best deal I found was $1250 – no way I am paying that much. I could fly to Australia for that.

Then I remembered William Shatner and his goofy commercials for priceline.com way back when the dotcoms were booming. Did Priceline still exist? It does!

I bid $160.00 for the ticket – no takers. But for $238.90, including tax, United is flying me now to Charlottesville. Isn’t saving money great?

Margaret Marks mentioned in Transblawg the performance of John Cage’s 4′33″ which should have taken place on BBC Radio 3 tonight. The piece does not contain any notes. In an interesting reference, Typographica links the event to a font named Cage Silence which is available from P22 Typefoundry. See for yourself.

In my experience, it is rare that T/I companies simply do not pay their bills. One of the notable exceptions is RWS Group, and I talked about them before last July 3, July 16, and August 3. My experience is not an isolated one – when I attended the annual conference of the American Translators Association last November in Phoenix I met quite a number of colleagues with similar stories.

In their last communication, RWS assured me that “the remaining amount due to you will be sent as soon as possible, which should be mid-to-late August” and that they “will communicate any changes to this time frame.” Well, I have given away the punch line. This was their last communication. No further word on changes in the time frame and certainly no money.

So today I am celebrating the 1-year anniversary of the oldest unpaid invoice. Quite a milestone and a vivid reminder not to take on work from RWS (in any incarnation) anymore. If you are a language professional and you like to get paid for your work: Don’t touch them.

Ich sehe gerade, daß ich heute um 6.23 Uhr einen Besuch vom Thüringer Innenministerium (195.145.245.249) erhalten habe. Ob das wohl ein offizieller Besuch war? Doch eher nicht, denke ich mir, denn dann würden die doch nicht solche Spuren hinterlassen….

If you have a broadband connection and a bit of time, visit Bush in 30 Seconds to take a look at the 15 finalists of a polititcal advertising contest sponsered by moveon.org Voter Fund. My favorites: Child’s Play and Desktop.

Mark Liberman’s Public Service Announcement: Wedding Vows are not Wedding Vowels over at the Language Log will make your day.