I don't think this is a question of paranoia, at all.
I just think it would be useful and courteous if someone from the
Google Translate team (GT) told us what GT's policy is, what happens
to suggestions of better translations, what their process is.
I just hope they don't get chucked away; one summer I worked for a Mom
and Pop store, they had a prominent complaints box. They didn't have
many complaints but I was astonished that the contents got chucked in
the bin, unread; and I resigned soon afterwards.
Bliadhna Mhath Ur gu Sean agus a h-uile eile.
(Happy new year to Sean and everyone else)
On Dec 30, 8:48 pm, Rayzen wrote:
> Harald & others, just give it up. Sean is, unfortunately, a little on
> the paranoid side, and is totally convinced that Google is "out to get
> the Irish." I seriously doubt that Sean (like myself) is really all
> that savvy about the algorithms used in a translation software, as
> that kind of stuff is a little on the "techie" side; dunno what Sean
> knows, though, so I can't really speak for him. For all I know, he
> might have a PhD from Oxford in computer language translation...if
> there is such a thing.
>
> Personally, I love the Irish; they're great and everything about their
> culture is great (except maybe the Protestant-Catholic hatred
> problem). Their country's beautiful, their music is great, their
> humor is great, and their folklore is beyond compare. And, to be
> honest with you, I'm a little less than proud of my own culture, by
> comparison, in many areas. But if Google translated "The Star
> Spangled Banner" as being something little "Chicken Little," I really
> wouldn't get all that upset, because it's just not that important, in
> the long run; I'd realize that it's just a computer program glitch,
> that's all. No big deal. Relax. What're you gaining by feeding
> yourself a lot of unhappy, unhealthy thoughts? Even if the people who
> program the Google Translate site were that evil (and I'm sure they're
> not), then that would be their problem, not yours; why would you want
> to lower yourself to that level?
>
> And, anyway, would such a purposelful, nasty translation change
> anything about Ireland and the good Irish people? They'd still be
> great, so just forget it.
>
> On Dec 30, 4:19 am, Ian Parker wrote:
>
> > There is one very simple fact. Irish Gaelic is an EU language and most
> > of the training set will be political. It would seem therefore quite
> > natural that one national anthem should be translated, partially at
> > least, as another.
>
> > Arabic is used in the UN and Google is far better at translating
> > political texts than (say) scientific.
>
> > - Ian Parker
>
> > On Dec 29, 2:42 pm, Mike Duffy wrote:
>
> > > On Dec 28, 2:14 pm, Harald Korneliussen wrote:
>
> > > > Ever heard of Godwin's law?
>
> > > I believe it applies in this case.
>
> > > > This happens. This is what failed GT translations look like. And it's
> > > > nothing new. Bad translations can always offend people, bad machine
> > > > translations are no exception. But you would do well to remember: It's
> > > > a _machine_. It has no feelings or attitudes, so it's a pointless
> > > > thing to get offended at.
>
> > > I agree with Harald. If you look at old entries in this forum, you
> > > will see mistranslations much more egregious than the one that bothers
> > > you, Mr. Ó Briain. Usually, the people who complain the most are those
> > > who feel that their race or religion (not simply a nation or
> > > geographic region) has been disrespected.
>
> > > As Harald points out, that is not possible unless the translation
> > > databases have been deliberately tampered with by a human, and you are
> > > a long way from providing any sort of evidence of that. If Google had
> > > to add filters to protect the sensibilities of anyone who might feel
> > > offended on the grounds of religion, race, nationality, geographic
> > > region, gender, sexual preferences, politics, endianism, etc., the
> > > whole system would become unworkable.- Hide quoted text -
>
> > - Show quoted text -
