Der ADÜ Nord führt derzeit bis zum 31. Januar 2005 eine Umfrage unter freiberuflichen Übersetzern und Dolmetschern mit der Arbeitssprache Deutsch durch. Der Fragebogen kann unter www.adue-nord.de/index.umfragestart.html ausgefüllt werden, und die Teilnahme ist geografisch nicht begrenzt. Bei Beantwortung des Fragebogens im Internet nimmt man an einer Verlosung teil. Erster Preis ist eine Teilnahme an den 2. ADÜ-Nord-Tagen im April 2005 in Lübeck. Also nix wie hin!

„Ich hoffe, Weihnachten ist bald vorbei. Es macht mich kirre. Ich bekomme kaum Mails, nicht mal Spam. Ständig bin ich beunruhigt, dass unser Mailserver kaputt sein könnte.“
(Nico in lummaland)

It wouldn’t be Christmas without a glass of Nutella. Every year we allow ourselves one glass of this absolutely delicious chocolaty hazelnut spread. There is something addictive in the secret Nutella recipe, and without the one-glass-only rule we would go on buying it throughout the whole year.

You know it’s got to be good when somebody in the Low-Carber Forum writes: “I think Nutella has to be the worst junk food of all time. It’s full of fat, sugar, caffeine & is aimed at children.” And this is a quote from First Person Singular: “I would marry Nutella if I didn’t think the right wing would have a problem with that.” A powerful endorsement. To get the official information on the brown spread go to http://www.nutellausa.com/ — there you can find the nutritional information and a store locator.

But believe me, one taste of Nutella, and you will not care about the nutritional information anymore.

Literary translation is not my field, and so this website project initiated by the Federal Cultural Foundation, Germany in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut and the Frankfurt Book Fair was new to me. It introduces German literature with sample translations in English and an additional different linguistic region each year. For the few remaining days of 2004, this additional language is Arabic. In 2005, the region will be China.

Out Of Stock

Wal-Mart, unfortunately, has run own out of this hot little item. Their website describes it: “The TV Guardian foul language filter mutes more than 150 different offensive words and phrases from both TV shows and videos to protect sensitive ears. A great way for families to enjoy movies together without unpleasant surprises.” The Sensitive Ear Guardian uses the closed-captioning system to detect what’s offensive and does not work with live TV programs, according to the description. I wonder what fills the list of 150 — above and beyond George Carlin’s famous 7 words… There is, of course, a much cheaper filter for offensive TV: the OFF button.

This small translation agency in Southern California (which shall remain unnamed to protect the innocent) decided that the recent ATA conference in Toronto was the right time to take the plunge and acquire translation memory software. They decided on SDLX. In order to bring their contributing translators (who are scattered all over the place) up to speed, a training session originating in Britain was scheduled for this morning with on-line samples, conference call and the whole nine yards. As one of the translators I had my phone and computer ready early, but the start of the session was not without problems: delays, last-minute changes of phone numbers and access codes. Now I am not really in the market for TM software. I am (did I almost say “happily”?) using Trados and don’t really see why I should negotiate another learning curve to be faced with maybe not the same, but almost certainly problems. The tiny bit of curiosity about SDLX I might have had, however, was clobbered when I tried to log on to the training site and the screen told me in no uncertain terms to use Microsoft Internet Explorer or to go home. The conference moderator did not even seem to know what I was talking about when I asked. So I gave my Firefox a hug and went home.

…for “Best Blog” the Chinese 18摸狗日报 (which, as of last accounts, was unreachable — probably due to heavy traffic).
…for all other categories, go to the “BOBs” page of Deutsche Welle.

“Millions of inscrutable e-mail messages are clogging corporate computers by setting off requests for clarification, and many of the requests, in turn, are also chaotically written, resulting in whole cycles of confusion,” writes Sam Dillon in today’s New York Times (What Corporate America Can’t Build: A Sentence). And not only e-mail messages. I just finished translating 18,000 words of a prospective e-commerce website and I can confirm that even more confusing than the source text were the client’s answers to my requests for clarification.

Alison Krauss

Just got back from a concert of Alison Krauss and Union Station. It was such a pleasure to see a group of highly talented musicians walk on stage and, without pretenses, play a 2-hour show. The sound in the arena was almost perfect, and AKUS, as they are known, had a nice mix of old and new songs.

This tour is to promote their new album Lonely Runs Both Ways. Personally, I prefer Live, a live show recorded in Louisville, Kentucky (and not because I used to stay overnight in Louisville on my frequent road trips between Missouri and Virginia). It is interesting to note the warm reception this album received in other countries as well.

The audience, predictably, did not really get into the swing of things until Dan Tyminski sang I am a Man of Constant Sorrow, the most memorable number from the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou?

My love affair with bluegrass music started at the end of the 60s, and I was severely taken to task for it by my peers in Germany. I had to wait to listen to my Earl Scruggs records until nobody else was around. It was considered totally uncool. AKUS has helped to broaden the appeal of this music.

„Ein Journalist, der die Sprache des Landes nicht spricht, braucht einen Dolmetscher, der sich darüber hinaus noch gut bei Behörden, Institutionen und im Land auskennt. Den zu finden, ist eine meiner Hauptaufgaben, im günstigsten Fall nur für die ersten Tage. Manchmal glaube ich, so einen Mitarbeiter zu finden, ist schier unmöglich, oder es ist das Schwierigste bei dem Job überhaupt. Die wirklich Guten sind bei der US-Armee für horrende Summen angestellt. Die dritte Wahl will inzwischen schon 150 Dollar am Tag. Ein Journalist in einem fremden Land hängt am ‚Tropf‘ der Schnittstelle des Übersetzers zu den örtlichen Kontakten. Der Übersetzer ist mein größter Kostenfaktor.“ Erwin Decker im Tagesspiegel über seinen Irak-Einsatz.