it-s - KDE 4.3 Counter Update

KDE 4.3 Counter Update

Monday, July 6, 2009 5:06:10 AM

We have revised code a little, making it smaller and easier to add translations to. The changes however may, or may not introduce a problem for some users. So if you are one of the people with the problem(s) please let us know right away. New translations have been added: Hebrew [He] Dutch [Nl] Turkish [Tr] Russian [Ru] Now, regarding the translations themselves - many of the translators somehow seem to think that the best way is a literal translation, forgetting, however, that this in fact is an AD (advertisement). And an AD to be effective requires some "creativity". Taking German translation as an example: Power of the Web at your fingertips - is translated - "Die Macht des Netzes an deinen Fingerspitzen" But "at your fingertips" is an English idiom and I highly doubt there is a direct German equivalent. As yet "an deinen Fingerspitzen" seems to mean exactly that - "at your fingertips". Does this sentence really mean to a German speaker the same it means to an English one? My German knowledge maybe limited, but I still think this is too literal a translation, and it could be handled better. And this isn't only just German, I'm sure quite a few translations there are simple transliterations of our English originals. Maybe it's actually my fault to begin with. I should have made it clear from the start that we do not expect your translations to be exact. Instead you need to get a little creative. Maybe even change the meaning a little to make the sentence sound good in your own language. Sometimes even reinvent the sentence so it suits the picture it describes rather then following our script. But anyhow, I would like to personally thanks each and every translator who donated his/her valuable time to make our humble promotional effort into a success

Thanks! Just a reminder. To include the counter into your own page(s) use the following code:

<div>
<script type="text/javascript">
Size = 'Banner'; // default value for 186x60 size
// Size = 'Square'; // for 125x125 square size
Lang = 'En'; //Use your own language abbreviation to get strings in your language
</script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://games.kde.org/counters/4.3/Slideshow.js"></script>
</div>

KDE 4.3 release counter follow upWallpaper a day

Comments

Anonymous # Monday, July 6, 2009 5:49:07 AM

Anonymous writes: Well, for the German example. It is not just too literal, it is just wrong. ;) "At your fingertips" translates to "zur Hand". "To have something at your fingertips" means "Etwas zur Hand haben" which means something like "having something available". But well, I decided to stay out of these marketing stuff if it comes to translations because I am not creative enough. ;)

Anonymous # Monday, July 6, 2009 8:26:20 AM

HOMBRESINIESTRO writes: I would suggest: „Das ganze Netz in Deiner Hand“.

Anonymous # Monday, July 6, 2009 8:28:47 AM

Anonymous writes: "zum Greifen nah" ? It is important to discuss idioms and naming schemes to avoid false friends. Often some English phrases do exist in German but on a different style level, e.g. "referenzieren". Automated translation often makes people chose the false fried.

Anonymous # Monday, July 6, 2009 8:35:03 AM

mzanetti writes: Well. Here's an alternative german translation: Banner size strings: 'KDE community releases KDE 4.3 in %s days' KDE 4.3 wird in %s Tagen veröffentlicht 'KDE 4.3 will be released today' KDE 4.3 wird heute veröffentlicht 'KDE 4.3 is released' KDE 4.3 - Jetzt erhältlich 'Simple and intuitive configuration'; Einfache und intuitive Konfiguration 'Better then ever file management'; Dateimanagement besser als je zuvor 'Photo and Image viewing made easy'; Foto- und Bildbetrachtung leicht gemacht 'Power of the Web at your fingertips'; Die Macht des Webs in deiner Hand 'Enhanced search and application launcher'; Schnellerer Zugriff auf deine Daten und Programme 'Fantastic communication solutions'; Hervorragende Kommunikationslösungen 'Desktop experience like never before'; Arbeite am Rechner wie nie zuvor 'More than 60,000 updates'; Über 60.000 Updates 'More than 2,000 all new features'; Über 2.000 brandneue Funktionen Square size strings: '%s days left'; noch %s Tage 'Release Day' Erscheinungsdatum '4.3 is Released' 4.3 jetzt erhältlich 'Configurability'; Konfigurierbarkeit 'File management'; Dateimanagement 'Picture Viewing'; Bildbetrachtung 'Web2.0 Browsing'; Web2.0 'Enhanced Menus'; Erweiterte Menüs 'Communications'; Kommunikation 'Better Desktop'; Der bessere Desktop '60,000 updates'; 60.000 Updates '2,000 new features'; 2.000 neue Funktionen

Anonymous # Monday, July 6, 2009 9:08:21 AM

Anonymous writes: Concerning the original English text: 'Photo and Image viewing made easy'; A photo is a subclass of an image. Just 'Image viewing made easy' covers all the bases and is more correct. This may be a bit late in the game, but maybe worthwhile to change. The same goes for at least the English and Dutch translations.

Anonymous # Monday, July 6, 2009 1:47:22 PM

jpetso writes: I agree with Anonymous, "zum Greifen nah" sounds like the most suitable translation of the above suggestions, followed by "in deiner Hand" (let's spell "deiner" lower-case, mmkay? it's just colloquial anyways). I also like "Das ganze Netz" instead of "Die Macht des Netzes", because "Macht" sounds a little like Macht in "use the force, Luke", less than the intended "powerful".

it-s # Monday, July 6, 2009 1:51:09 PM

Originally posted by anonymous:

A photo is a subclass of an image. Just 'Image viewing made easy' covers all the bases and is more correct. This may be a bit late in the game

While I do agree with you on this one as far as the language is concerned, one must always remember that advertising is not always about technical correctness. In this particular case we are deliberately separating photos and images which, though technically are one and the same thing still may apply to some two different market groups - photo professionals, and imaging enthusiasts.
In computing it often happens like this. Consider sound and music. Music is a sound, but a system that is capable of playing music is not the same as a system capable of sound processing. Not in computing it isn't.
Hope this answers your question. And thank you very much for your concern, and comment.