Email and ethics and doing it exactly right (a hat's off in mid-post)

Ooh, what nice things I get in my inbox. First, a bunch of kind comments by some of you readers. Under the assumption that if you’d have wanted to comment publicly you would have, I’ll do my share and keep your names private. But hey, I loved that you read it, jointly and severally.

Also, yesterday was the day for Jost Zetzsche’s Tool Kit – the 56th. I’ve been reading them since #13 and lovin’ ‘em to bits. Their ain’t nothin’ technological going on that escapes Jost’s attention. I love that he covers not only the expensive solutions but also free and Open Source ones, since things like Ubuntu suggest a far happier model to me than the Other Kind. Since his newsletter’s free, although there are always some teasers for the for-pay content – and everyone seems to read them. If you don’t yet, sign up and try it out...

Last from the inbox, the ATA PR Committee is getting some traction in webcasts: look for a series of conversations with leading lights in translation on My Technology Lawyer. The specific show is right here, and you can listen to it on Real Player or Windows Media Player. (How’s about a podcast on translation, y’all? Who wants to be stuck at their desk while listening to a discussion when spring is so very near?)

Back to the trenches, or the Sudani equivalent, one of our colleagues induced a bit of a mess. A government interpreter (who’s referred to as “translator” in the story) neglected to interpret the important words “The rebels are even within the AU base and are taking their cars to go around the town at night.” It makes me wonder if the interpreter was overworked, multitasking, and in some state of mortal terror. Could it be? I know we don’t have enough interpreters to go around, but gosh-golly how’s about some training in gist-extraction before we send them out into the field?

Hopefully unrelated to the Sudan situation, the World Medical Association came out with nine guidelines for physicians concerning torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in relation to detention and imprisonment. Considering the role translators play in international disputes, including the blood-and-gore-intense variety, I think we ought to come up with a response, as well. Were there any translators implicated in the Abu Ghraib war crimes? (Oh, and don’t Google that combination of words; trust me on this ::she said, turning green::).

A code of ethics would help.

We can wash the horrible thoughts out of our minds with this happy story of an interpreter translator making a huge difference in the world. Gul Akbar is a policewoman in Sana, Pakistan, and her work was the make or break of the U.S. medical relief effort in her town. “Her role as a key to the success of military hospital.” – take a moment to appreciate that. Gul Akbar, you RULE!

A little levity before I sign off for the day: Slashdot reports a new Sony “translator”, into which you can shout words in your own language and play a translation into another. It’s designed to be hand-held and low-weight and generally evokes the image of tourists shouting into their devices instead of at locals. Picture that in a Middle Eastern souk...

And finally, eye-candy, courtesy of my hiker-dude: Ethan Welty isn’t even twenty yet, but his eye for composition is eternal.

Catch y’all tomorrow, I’ve got a deskful of paper to wade through.