 Language Skills Matter, Funny RL Headline from Yahoo |
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 Feb 11 2006, 02:24 AM
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#1
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Neophyte Runner  Group: Members Posts: 2,026 Joined: 23-November 05 From: Seattle (Really!) Member No.: 7,996  |
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060210/tc_af...et_060210120222
I guess this is a good illustration of just what can go wrong if your characters have poor language skills. Anybody have any funny stories about language skill glitches in their games? |
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Feb 11 2006, 03:01 AM
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#2
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Runner Group: Members Posts: 3,066 Joined: 5-February 03 Member No.: 4,017 |
There are also many tales of bad international marketing attempts. Unfortunately, the only one I can remember clearly enough to describe is automotive.
Nova, a car, with various commercials bragging about its abilities. No va, two Spanish words that translate literally "no go." It didn't sell well in Spanish speaking countries. |
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Feb 11 2006, 03:18 AM
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#3
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Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,026 Joined: 23-November 05 From: Seattle (Really!) Member No.: 7,996 |
Let's not forget the infamous "Nothing Sucks like an Electrolux" ad campaign for Electrolux Vacuum Cleaners
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Feb 11 2006, 03:22 AM
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#4
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Midnight Toker Group: Members Posts: 7,686 Joined: 4-July 04 From: Zombie Drop Bear Santa's Workshop Member No.: 6,456 |
The problem is that latin characters are the standard for website URLs because URLs are encoding in ASCII. Really, if URLs supported UTF-8 or TCVN 6909:2001 then there wouldn't be a problem at all.
And about the Nova thing. |
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Feb 11 2006, 03:40 AM
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#5
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Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,026 Joined: 23-November 05 From: Seattle (Really!) Member No.: 7,996 |
There you go trying to ruin are fun again! And I was just getting ready for the small grapefruit jokes to start flying :grinbig: |
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Feb 11 2006, 04:22 AM
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#6
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Shadowrun Setting Nerd Group: Banned Posts: 3,632 Joined: 28-June 05 From: Pissing on pedestrians from my electronic ivory tower. Member No.: 7,473 |
Bah. My favorite was Gerber baby food being made out of babies in Africa.
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Feb 11 2006, 06:28 AM
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#7
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Manus Celer Dei Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 17,013 Joined: 30-December 02 From: Boston Member No.: 3,802 |
Unless you consider trivial URL spoofing to be a problem. ~J |
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Feb 11 2006, 06:49 AM
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#8
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 276 Joined: 4-September 04 Member No.: 6,628 |
I'd buy one just because of that. Oh the hilarity. :spin: |
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Feb 11 2006, 07:40 AM
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#9
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Immortal Elf Group: Members Posts: 11,410 Joined: 1-October 03 From: Pittsburgh Member No.: 5,670 |
my favorite is the website of the Italian division of Powergen, Powergen Italia.
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Feb 11 2006, 08:06 AM
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#10
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Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,073 Joined: 23-August 04 Member No.: 6,587 |
That would not solve the problem at all. It would just move it. URLs would then contain characters witch the vast majority of computer users in the western world would not know how to type. Last time I checked you have to install a non default windows option to be able to use some of those characters and even then they require strange key combinations to achieve. I had enough trouble when I had to deal with some of the European characters, adding Asian characters would effectively prevent many people from visiting the sites. Edward |
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Feb 11 2006, 08:38 AM
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#11
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Midnight Toker Group: Members Posts: 7,686 Joined: 4-July 04 From: Zombie Drop Bear Santa's Workshop Member No.: 6,456 |
It would solve the problem of impercise language in URLs.
The problem thaa the vast majority to western users don't know how to type these characters is a rather minor one compared to that. One would most likely use hyperlinks to visit these pages anyway. The fact that typing these languanges requires an non standard option to be installed is a deficiency in Windows and should be corrected in the next version along with the need to install new fonts to view Asian characters. |
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Feb 11 2006, 08:55 AM
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#12
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Horror Group: Members Posts: 5,322 Joined: 15-June 05 From: BumFuck, New Jersey Member No.: 7,445 |
Sure. And while we're at it, we'll be installing keyboards the size and general shape of my Durango on everybody's desktop, so that they can type every possible character. While I, and possibly you, might like the idea of a computer interface that you mount, climb into, or otherwise engage with your person, as opposed to merely your fingers, the vast majority would find such contrivances to be incredibly, ridiculously stupid. That said, playing Half-Life 2 in such a rig would rock. Most computer-users in our sphere, IE: the English-writing or other languages which use our alphabet-writing world, do not and will not have a need to type such characters. The fact that they do not come pre-installed is related to the reason my Durango does not have a Hemi engine. In computers, it's about time and resources and resources. The first two referr to the programming time and resources it takes to ensure that such things as estoeric Asian charactersets function properly on our computers in any other place that ASCII text would function, which includes all third-party word-processing programs and browsers and so forth and so on, and the third is the fact that the computer will then be required to keep a <b>VASTLY</b> larger character set in memory. The Unicode font, for example, contains FFFC characters. That's 65,532 characters. It has to keep this set in active memory, IE RAM, at all times. Add in the complete range of Asian characters? Watch that number exlpode through the millions. (The reason my Durango dosen't have a Hemi, of course, is also resources. IE: I don't have the resources for that option. I have a Magnum V8, though. ^_^) And, as I said. What's the point of giving someone something he's never going to use? Can YOU speak and write in ANY of those Asian languages? ALL of them?! If not, why the HELL would you need default access to their character sets, especially when typing one from the keyboard was an insanely complicated process of memorizing alt+ combinations that were about nine keystrokes long? PER CHARACTER you need to type? Or worse, searching through the character map? Or, as I said, strapping yourself into an enormous keyboard the size and shape of my Durango. That periphrial ALONE would probably cost as much if not moreso than the computer itself. Hell, you'd build the computer INTO it's control interface. Actually, that's not a bad idea, but not to have so many keys surrounding me that I look like Mission Control..... No. I want to be surrounded by joysticks and large control surfaces that make manipulating my video games easier. But that's a story for another time. ^_^ |
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Feb 11 2006, 11:11 AM
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#13
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 276 Joined: 4-September 04 Member No.: 6,628 |
They stole my website URL. :D |
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Feb 11 2006, 12:32 PM
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#14
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Runner Group: Members Posts: 3,066 Joined: 5-February 03 Member No.: 4,017 |
No, you just need a DNI or programmable interface so that you can either send the command "m with 5 squiggles" or scroll through 37 complete keyboard layouts looking for the one letter you need. Just imagine how much worse it will get than "www.Micròsôft.com" |
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Feb 11 2006, 07:29 PM
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#15
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Horror Group: Members Posts: 5,322 Joined: 15-June 05 From: BumFuck, New Jersey Member No.: 7,445 |
HoV: While the programmable interface does in fact have merit...
Okay, it's a good idea. Still, I'm not gonna use it for anything more than Half-Life 2. :) |
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Feb 11 2006, 08:49 PM
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#16
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Creating a god with his own hands Group: Members Posts: 1,405 Joined: 30-September 02 From: 0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1 Member No.: 3,364 |
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Feb 11 2006, 09:21 PM
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#17
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Manus Celer Dei Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 17,013 Joined: 30-December 02 From: Boston Member No.: 3,802 |
Right now I have roughly (47*(1 (standard layout) + 1 (shift) + 1 (option) + 1 (option-shift)) + (about 10*4 dead keys, minus 8 for ones counted already) + 1 + 2) characters available to me with at most four keystrokes (option-key plus shift-key). That's 223. Add one additional modifier key and you increase that to 411, even without effective use of additional dead keys. All it takes is a space cadet keyboard and your path is wide open. ~J |
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Feb 12 2006, 01:40 AM
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#18
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Incertum est quo loco te mors expectet; Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 6,548 Joined: 24-October 03 From: DeeCee, U.S. Member No.: 5,760 |
On the original topic...
If memory serves, Ford sold the Pinto, which was fantastically popular (or at least sold pretty well) in most of the markets it was introduced to, except Brazil. SOme later research indicated that 'pinto' means, in Portuguese, 'little penis'. |
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Feb 12 2006, 03:03 AM
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#19
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Shadowrun Setting Nerd Group: Banned Posts: 3,632 Joined: 28-June 05 From: Pissing on pedestrians from my electronic ivory tower. Member No.: 7,473 |
Or maybe it just didn't get to Brazil until people elsewhere found out they explode.
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Feb 12 2006, 04:02 AM
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#20
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Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,026 Joined: 23-November 05 From: Seattle (Really!) Member No.: 7,996 |
I love that site |
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Feb 12 2006, 09:18 AM
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#21
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 530 Joined: 11-June 05 Member No.: 7,441 |
I think it was on Engrish.com -- sadly I can't find it again -- but apparently, there was a sign in a convenience store in Japan near a naval base...
"Semen welcome here." That's definately my favorite engrish. :) |
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Feb 12 2006, 06:50 PM
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#22
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,507 Joined: 27-January 05 From: ...and I'm all out of bubblegum Member No.: 7,021 |
You had me there. |
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