A very British post today for our Monday smile. Hope you like it! It comes from a satirical UK website called NewsBiscuit – The news before it happens…
Kent Police were this afternoon formally congratulated on the outstanding success of Operation Ploughmans. Speaking from outside Downing St, Prime Minister David Cameron praised the two month operation as ‘a significant contribution’ to Britain’s home economic security.
I think that most people reading this will agree that interpretation (or interpreting) is not the same as translation. However, outside the strict circle of the profession, the difference is not so well known.
Today we shall see how this distinction is causing a real furore!
The US Supreme Court is currently deliberating over whether costs of translation differ from costs of interpretation, in a case involving a Japanese man. Indeed the transcript of last Tuesday’s session goes into great detail. It’s 63 pages long (perhaps demonstrating the complexity of the issues involved), but well worth reading if the issue piques your interest.
I think you might find this very witty post on the So Meta blog, After DuPont bans Teflon® from WordNet, the world is their non-sticky oyster, amusing (or possibly sad).
It involves the giant DuPont that has threatened WordNet, an open-source database of the English language, with legal action because it wasn’t happy with the entry concerning Teflon®.
WordNet, based at Princeton University, provides data for researchers in many fields. It is not a commercial undertaking.
Here are some questions for you. Was WordNet right to capitulate and change the entry? Did DuPont have legal standing to threaten action anyway? (see Dr Butters’ comment at the end of the So Meta post) How much responsibility does a lexicographer have for entries they provide?
Brought to my attention by Dr Tim Grant at Aston among others.
As you may remember, a little while ago I posted some information about the world’s first ever Twitter moot – click here to read more.
Well, it’s almost here already! It should start at 10 am Pacific Standard Time tomorrow, Tuesday 21st February 2012, which will be 7 pm Central European Time, if I’m not mistaken. My poor brain cannot work out what that will be for those of you in Australia, but I’m sure you can!
As promised, dear readers, here are the results of the poll to find out who is reading this blog. A big thank you to everyone that participated!
We have a nice range of people from different areas, and it’s very interesting to see that lots of you have several roles – just like me!
If we want to build those bridges I keep talking about, I think it would be good to have some more input from more people who are legal professionals only. What do you think?
How about inviting a lawyer you know?
Today, dear readers, I am reporting back from the United Nations Office at Geneva, Switzerland, where I attended the CIUTI International Standing Conference of University Institutes of Translating and Interpreting.
First of all, I have to say that I was delighted to see that several presentations specifically talked about “building bridges”. So it seems that this blog is up with the trends!!! Continue reading
On Monday I added a little poll to the left sidebar of the blog – to find out more about my readership. I will publish the results in a couple of weeks when people have had time to vote.
I’d also like to know what sort of posts you want to see. You can tell me either by email (the form is at the bottom of the sidebar if you scroll down), or by adding a comment to this post.
Do vote in the poll and write in with your suggestions – I really would like to hear from you!
On Tuesday, February 21st, 2012, at 10am PST (1 pm EST), the non-profit organization West Coast Environmental Law in Canada will be hosting the world’s first ever Moot Court to be held on the popular social media platform, Twitter.
Three judges and teams from five law schools across Canada will make social media and legal history, participating in a mock appeal of a recent precedent-setting environmental case, with the teams and judges all participating via Twitter. (Thanks to Library Boy for bringing this event to my attention).
Click here to go to the moot website
How you can participate…
Spreading smiles, to use the words of a reader of this blog, is so important at the moment. So let’s start the year that way…
Considering the sleep habits of most translators, lawyers and academics, I think this humorous talk by Arianna Huffington, the founder of the Internet newspaper Huffington Post, is excellent advice: “How to succeed? Get more sleep”!
Hope you enjoy it!
Also see this Wikipedia page to read about all the other New Years…
From Words to Deeds: translation & the law 
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