| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Collaborators needed for Macintosh CAT tool Thread poster: Ken Hansen
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Ken Hansen 
Mozambique
Local time: 13:00
Portuguese to English
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Hi all. I am an English-Portuguese translator living in Mozambique. "In my spare time" I have developed an OSX-native software application which is a sort of enhanced-CAT tool, so far just in my own language pairs of en/pt and pt/en but in principle able to deal with any pair. I believe that it could become a viable tool for translators who prefer to work in the Macintosh environment -- in part because I take advantage of advanced Cocoa technologies rather than (kludged) Java ports.
... See more Hi all. I am an English-Portuguese translator living in Mozambique. "In my spare time" I have developed an OSX-native software application which is a sort of enhanced-CAT tool, so far just in my own language pairs of en/pt and pt/en but in principle able to deal with any pair. I believe that it could become a viable tool for translators who prefer to work in the Macintosh environment -- in part because I take advantage of advanced Cocoa technologies rather than (kludged) Java ports.
I have a (round-the-world) trip planned in Oct/Nov/Dec and am hoping to hook up with Mac-user translators who might be interested in collaborating, as beta testers and/or possibly business partners. My itinerary is: Johannesburg/Madrid/Lisbon/Rio de Janeiro/São Paulo/Lima/Mexico City/Vancouver/Hong Kong and back to Johannesburg. As I say, so far the application only has language content for English and Portuguese, but Spanish would likely be the next language to add, and others are equally possible, so no matter what languages you work in, I would be interested in meeting with you, exchanging experiences, demonstrating my app and discussing possible collaboration.
Please contact me if you're interested. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Linux compatibility | Jul 20, 2009 |
Hi! Sounds great, although I'm still using MS & Trados, reluctantly, though. I'm no expert in software development, but it just occurred to me that if you're developing something new, it might be a good idea to consider making it compatible with Linux OS as well, if possible (see wiki.gnustep.org/index.php/Cocoa). Boa sorte!
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 13:00
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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Anna Mantynen wrote:
...it might be a good idea to consider making it compatible with Linux OS as well, if possible. Boa sorte!
Why do you say that, Anna?
| | | | | Why Linux... | Jul 20, 2009 |
If you don't want to use Windows OS, Mac and Linux are the options that can be taken seriously. I don't have anything against Mac, but Linux has become quite popular at least here up north. So why NOT look into this possibility? It was just a proposal
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Ken Hansen
Mozambique
Local time: 13:00
Portuguese to English
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TOPIC STARTER | There are Mac-specific functionalities | Jul 20, 2009 |
Anna Mantynen wrote:
... consider making it compatible with Linux OS as well...
Thanks Anna - I think your comment about Linux compatibility is valid in general, but in the end not in this particular case. Although GNUStep (from the little I know about it) has common ancestry and a lot of common objects with Cocoa on the Mac, there are many functionalities that Apple has developed that don't necessarily get copied over to GNUStep. As far as I know, these include: CoreData, Cocoa Bindings, Core Foundation and Search Kit, all of which are important to my application.
I'm sure this list doesn't mean much to anyone who doesn't do Mac programming (!) so let me try to explain why it's important to the product I'm creating. The application goes beyond simple TM, in replacing the model of the translator translating segments and the system remembering those translations, with a model that offers "in-line" translation options for matches that go from single words through phrases (eg phrasal verbs, including non-contiguous) to full paragraphs, with an absolute minimum of moving about needed by the user, and with a seamless continuum between term/translation pairs that are saved as such into the application's dictionaries, and aligned paragraphs in past jobs, organized by client -- all of which are available instantly but only as needed (through a "CoreData store"). What makes it better than existing CAT tools (in my opinion!) is precisely the use of Macintosh-specific technologies like the ones mentioned above, as well as others that are built into the Mac system as such, like Apple Events and Dictionary Services (which the "Dictionary" application uses but which others can as well, to access built-in and custom dictionaries programmatically).
It would be neither possible in a short message, nor commercially smart on my part (!), to describe everything the program does, but I guess the basic issue for me is that it does things that existing programs don't do, and is not an attempt to re-create generic functionalities on the Mac (which would then be re-createable on other platforms).
In light of all that, I would be very happy to receive requests for CAT functionalities that people feel are missing at present, that a Mac-specific program could provide. Porting the result to Linux might be appropriate at some point much later, but for now the Mac platform is the only one that I see this working on.
Ken
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I am quiet new on ProZcom and I am discovering the forums.
I am a Macaddict and knowing the most about my Mac is my greatest hobby.
Unfortunately, I am living in Brussels but it is not far from Madrid.
I would be interested to collaborate, so if you see any opportunity, please feel free to send me a ProZcom message.
| | | | Paul Daubreu (X)
Local time: 13:00
French to German
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Beila Goldberg wrote: I would be interested to collaborate, so if you see any opportunity, please feel free to send me a ProZcom message.
Seconded. I use a brand-new iMac (Mac OSX 10.6) and would be interested in a Mac-specific CAT tool. I also have a computer operating under Windows Vista but don't plan to use it often in the future, at least not as much I used it in the past to comply with the "Trados only, please" trend.
PS: I live about 1.5 (train) hour away from Luxembourg-Ville.
[Edited at 2009-09-12 06:15 GMT]
| | | | Andrea Re
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:00
English to Italian
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| If you need beta testers... | Oct 23, 2009 |
... I wouldn't mind having a look at that and can try to run some smaller jobs on it (as long as the formats of TM and glossaries are compatible with the tool I usualy use, that is Swordfish).
Andrea
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Ken Hansen
Mozambique
Local time: 13:00
Portuguese to English
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TOPIC STARTER | Compatibility with TM programs while using a different paradigm | Oct 24, 2009 |
Andrea Re wrote:
... as long as the formats of TM and glossaries are compatible
Thanks for your post Andrea. The issue of compatibility is somewhat complex, firstly because I am not creating a "TM" tool as such, in the mould of Trados, Swordfish et al. My application uses a different paradigm, of offering pre-existing basic vocabulary (approx. 20,000 single-word lemmas plus ?? thousand idiomatic phrases) and "links" to equivalents in the target language, with the user navigating the options to use in each paragraph (there's obviously more to it than that, but this shows I think that the basic concept is different). For this reason it is very language-specific. As well, the "memory" that gets developed later by the user (beyond the basic built-in linguistic content) is captured and stored in different ways which don't use the sentence-segmentation-similarity approach. But on the other hand, it will certainly de "compatible", in the sense of importing and exporting to TMX.
The other aspect is that the program is still very much in development, so I can't ask testers to try it yet! I have an earlier version which is functional and which I use for my own work, but I am in the processing of completely re-doing the program. I am presently travelling in several countries and talking to Mac-user translators and others about what a program like mine should provide in the way of functionality. This has been an extremely interesting experience, with a wide variety of experiences and opinions which I am busy trying to integrate into a unified concept. (Speaking of this -- I am still looking for more such Mac translators in Peru and Mexico, so if you read this and fall into that category, or know someone who does, I'd appreciate receiving the contact.)
I work in English/Portuguese and that is the pair I have implemented so far. Spanish and French are strong candidates to be the next to be developed, and Italian logically fits into this group, so at some point I'll contact you directly Andrea to talk about that, if that's OK.
Ken
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1. Do you really think that a round the world trip provides you the best opportunity to polish/beta test/develop your application? Just poll people here on what they would like the program to be like and recruit beta testers over the internet. There is no chance in hell you'll stick around in one spot enough during the trip to get much done anyway.
If the program is not ready for beta testers yet, then just poll people on features they would like and keep working at it. Nothing stops you f... See more 1. Do you really think that a round the world trip provides you the best opportunity to polish/beta test/develop your application? Just poll people here on what they would like the program to be like and recruit beta testers over the internet. There is no chance in hell you'll stick around in one spot enough during the trip to get much done anyway.
If the program is not ready for beta testers yet, then just poll people on features they would like and keep working at it. Nothing stops you from uploading screenshots or videos to show people what you have so far.
2. What in the world is the importance of the language combination? As long as the program handles its characters right, it should handle any language. How do you plan to "add" Spanish or any other language? ▲ Collapse
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Ken Hansen wrote:
I am not creating a "TM" tool as such, in the mould of Trados, Swordfish et al. My application uses a different paradigm, of offering pre-existing basic vocabulary (approx. 20,000 single-word lemmas plus ?? thousand idiomatic phrases) and "links" to equivalents in the target language, with the user navigating the options to use in each paragraph (there's obviously more to it than that, but this shows I think that the basic concept is different). For this reason it is very language-specific.
Ken
Too late my friend. Almost all projects are based in analyses of a certain TM. If, for example, a project with 100 documents is already 90% "made" based in a Trados/Transit/WF/DVX/MemoQ (or whatever) TM analysis, I mean 90% of the documents are 100% match TUs and the price is fixed by this information. How do you want to use your tool to get the same productivity like to use the same CAT from where the analysis is coming?
I think there is no need for a Mac solution today, cause virtualization (VM) is now very efficient, I run Windows in my Mac and is just another application more in Snow Leopard, and since today better with VMware 3.0
Regards
| | | | Ken Hansen
Mozambique
Local time: 13:00
Portuguese to English
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TOPIC STARTER | Not too late for a Mac solution | Oct 29, 2009 |
Fernando Toledo wrote: How do you want to use your tool to get the same productivity like to use the same CAT from where the analysis is coming? I think there is no need for a Mac solution today, cause virtualization (VM) is now very efficient, I run Windows in my Mac and is just another application more in Snow Leopard, and since today better with VMware 3.0
Thanks for your opinion Fernando, although as it happens I don't agree with it.
Compatiblity with existing TMs and with interchange formats is obviously something that a new product needs to provide, but technically it is not a huge challenge. As for whether I'm "too late", this is not at all the impression I'm getting from talking to translators in different countries where I have been travelling. Most Mac users would be overjoyed to not have to ever run a Windows program again in their lives. (I met with a recent Windows switcher in São Paulo who spoke with the zeal of an ex-smoker.) And non-Mac users are frustrated by the cumbersome interfaces of the programs that exist (on any platform) and the non-directness of building up memories using the paradigm offered by Trados et al. With each new contact I'm more and more convinced that my project for a Mac-only translation tool -- and/or someone else's -- will find a strong market.
May there be innovation and competition!
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Laurent KRAULAND (X)
France
Local time: 13:00
French to German
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| My opinion too | Oct 29, 2009 |
Ken Hansen wrote:
With each new contact I'm more and more convinced that my project for a Mac-only translation tool -- and/or someone else's -- will find a strong market.
May there be innovation and competition!
Hi Ken,
I would like to express my support for your idea through this post. Some AV publisher which I will not name here has become conscious of the fact that Mac users may also experience viral attacks. Instead of leaving these users aside, the publisher in question preferred developing a Mac-specific AV based on their experience.
I think the same can be true for a CAT tool and, yes, the .TMX compatibility is not the essential point. We need a CAT tool developed for Mac's and possibly with alternative solutions to cross-platform applications or applications running on virtual Windows machines, thus using the full potential of OS X... and future Apple operating systems.
[Edited at 2009-10-29 16:38 GMT]
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Laurent KRAULAND wrote: Ken Hansen wrote:
With each new contact I'm more and more convinced that my project for a Mac-only translation tool -- and/or someone else's -- will find a strong market.
May there be innovation and competition! Hi Ken, I would like to express my support for your idea through this post. Some AV publisher which I will not name here has become conscious of the fact that Mac users may also experience viral attacks.
I think this is just marketing, trying to get more clients. Maybe tomoorow they start to make a AV for kids, one for old people, etc...
I think the same can be true for a CAT tool and, yes, the .TMX compatibility is not the essential point.
But for people like me it is essential! If you work for clients/agencies that use a certain CAT they make the whole price system based in the segmentation's rules form this specific CAT. If the client use for example Trados, and send to you a project where you should do only a 5% of 50 XML files. You will need a few minutes to do it with Tageditor, but with any other CAT you will need a lot more time cause each CAT has different segmentation rules (AFAIK).
But if you think you can offer something better, cheaper and easier than Wordfast, Heartsome, Swordfish, etc. Please
But consider that for example, Champollion (Worfast) needed 10 years to get a stable product (I was a ßeta tester too) with a very big community correcting bugs during all this years.
... I will continue to use the same like my best clients use, if one day they change to another CAT, I'll change too.
Regards
| | | | Laurent KRAULAND (X)
France
Local time: 13:00
French to German
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Fernando Toledo wrote: ... I will continue to use the same like my best clients use, if one day they change to another CAT, I'll change too . Regards
I think we can dissert endlessly on the different ways to approach clients and/or about our diverging strategies. My best clients so far sought advice as per CAT tools as they were not really aware of the possibilities offered to them by such tools (TM, faster turnaround, consistency, etc). And, on a personal level and although I will continue using Trados when needed -and primarily for my own benefit, I will also steer clear from the "Trados only" school.
[Edited at 2009-10-31 18:05 GMT]
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