LookIt

How much text is needed to translate?

Google says that its Translate service now works in 51 languages. Great, but now many of them does it translate well? I have become Facebook "friends" (gag) with about a dozen Danes (relatives) and Swedes (IETF folks). The latter usually slip in one or two Facebook status messages in their native tongue a week; the former do so almost exclusively. In both cases, Google Translate usually comes up with something barely understandable. I assume that it is because there are only a few words to work with, and they are probably written informally, but it is not confidence-inspiring.

For example, my Danish cousinish person says "KuskSynes godt at det der ondt i ryggen snart må holde op!", which comes out as "Coachman Seems good that it is a pain in his back soon must stop!" That doesn't seem right.

After Mac OS 10.6

A proposed design for the packaging for the next Mac OS. Fortunately, it applies to so few people working on Apple OSs, it won't happen. But still.

The enduring popularity of bluegrass music

Some of my friends wonder why I like bluegrass music, given how little I have in common with its themes. Bluegrass and the Preservation of the American Myth covers this beautifully. It's comfort music, even to some of us who don't buy into the myth that it is selling. You don't even have to listen to the lyrics to enjoy the high, lonesome sound bluegrass lives by.

The first tenth

Someone taped Bruce Springsteen's first live performance of Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out, July 20th, 1975. The energy of the song, and the quality of the taping, is amazing. This is why I bow deeply to the folks who tape live concerts, and to the bands that encourage/allow/tolerate them.

Padrón peppers

Had yet another great meal at Ristorante Avanti last night. A lot of their menu is based on locally-raised foods, often organic. Our appetizer was pan-roasted padrón peppers (just peppers, oil, and salt, with a bit of Manchego shaved on the top); very yummy. So I bought a basket at the farmer's market today; they were grown about half a mile from my house.

Why can't we make the Internet more secure?

Here's the answer. Short and to the point.

Down the hall

The VPNC lab is in an office building with other folks. The two who I hang out with are Rachel Nelson-Smith (I have seen this piece in various states of completion) and Cryptic Sea. Others (with whom I mostly just share a parking lot) include FreeFind, Evans Data, and Mindwalk Consulting (not any of the ones that Google returns....).

Overweight lies

"Top 10 Reasons Why The BMI Is Bogus " is a short and completely-understandable read. Bad math passed down from the government is still bad math.

Another OS, this one for real

Five years ago I said I wanted my GoogleOS. Maybe I'll see it next year.

This could be huge. It could overtake Linux on the laptop in less than two years if done properly with good licensing. Ubuntu has done a good job making Linux-with-Gnome a desktop environment as stable as Windows XP was, but I suspect that Google Chrome OS will be at least as good as that from day one. As long as the set of initial work tools is good, Google's lack of half-baked, never-finished Gnome-based apps will actually help it, not hurt it.

If done well enough, it could hurt Apple if a $700 would-have-been-Windows laptop has the same ease of use and shininess and stability as a $1200 MacBook (and ditto for a $1100 / $1800 split for the higher end). For many PC users, Google's brand impression is better than Apple's; if nothing else, this could dampen the rate of switching.

I am excited, to say the least.

Popular culture, 2009-06-26 version

This could use a dallop of Neda Agha-Soltan and Ed McMahon, but does show what the week in popular deaths feels like here.