Wikiwords. Proz.com has just launched a new initiative that may well become a
very important resource for translators and the general public.

It's called Wikiwords.

Here's an explanation from the About page:

Wikiwords is a collaborative project to create a dictionary of all
terms in all languages with definitions and example sentences. It is
maintained and sponsored by the professional translators of ProZ.com.

The Wikiwords schema is built around concepts. For example, a dog is a
concept. It can be conveyed in the English language with more than one
term (such as dog, doggie, etc.). In Wikiwords, these terms are linked
to the concept of a dog, as well as other terms in other languages
that convey this same concept. Similarly, definitions and fields are
also related to concepts. The diagram below summarizes the Wikiwords
schema.




Translators have been helping each other translate difficult terms on
ProZ.com using the KudoZ network since 1999. Many of these
translations have been entered into a browsable glossary of terms
called the KudoZ Open Glossary (KOG). Created in 2003, the KOG now has
term translations in over 900 language pairs. Wikiwords aims to be an
extension of the KOG by making it available to a wider group, making
it easier to grow.

Wikiwords started off with imports from KudoZ, the KOG and Wordnet.

They also publish the following caveat:

Our focus now is on the mechanisms, and we are not
concerning ourselves with content--or quality--yet. So contributions
you make now are likely to get wiped at the end of the beta period.

Tecnorati tag Wikiwords,
Proz, terminology resource

The Yes Men. Identity theft, identity correction and Gilda, the Dow Acceptable Risk golden skeleton.

Leave that booth door open. Here's a very interesting report on interpreter workload commisioned by AIIC. It evaluates psychological, physiological, physical and performance aspects and the relationship between them. It turns out that stress eats us up on the long run but it doesn't seem to affect performance much. And that the booth is an asfixiation-inducing device, with unnaceptable CO2, humidity and temperature levels. As if we hadn't noticed that.

The 10 million dollar question. How the heck to you translate fuzzy trim into Portuguese?

Is frufru vague enough?

Funny but condescending in a way.

Engenho Central. When I was living in Piracicaba one of my favorite places was the old sugar mill. I'd heard it was being revitalized by Arquitetura Brasil, the architects behind the wonderful KKKK Cultural Center, but now some sketches and plans are out.

Marcelo Ferraz (who collaborated with Lina Bo Bardi in several projects including Sesc Pompéia) and Francisco Fannuci have long record of interesting creations, such as a Brazilian neighborhood in Berlin.

And I have a little anecdote about Marcelo Ferraz. One day, a friend sent me a text written by Marcelo for translation. It was a presentation to be given in Holland, a bit trickier to translate than the usual stuff. I translated and e-mailed it just in time to go to the public meeting where the revitalization projects undertaken by Mayor Machado were being discussed. Of course, one of the speakers was Marcelo Ferraz, the man whose words I had just spent the afternoon translating.

Contrapor2006. First Portuguese Translation Conference. Held under the auspices of FIT and organized by the Associação de Tradução em Língua Portuguesa. Lisbon, Sept 11 and 12, 2006. Great tip from the great João Roque Dias.

Fondation Cartier. Contemporary art.