South Sudan needs a country code
So it’s official now. The Republic of South Sudan is a country. In case you’re curious what you have to do to become a country, here’s a brief list. The …
Web Globalization
Going Global with JavaScript: Coming this Fall
JavaScript enables everything from simple online sign-up forms to complex web-based applications. But there is not much information out there on how to effectively internationalize and localize JavaScript code. Which …
Web design with the world in mind
I was interviewed recently by Paul Sawers of The Next Web. He wrote a great article about the challenges and opportunities of web internationalization. I recommend sending this link to …
Blogging in tongues: Focus on Forrester
Brian Walker, an analyst at Forrester, noticed recently that his blog post was seeing active retweets in a number of different languages. And yet the blog post itself was available …
Delta’s global gateway: When complexity kills
I’m always amazed when I come across global gateways that I find complicated in my native language. Like Delta Airline‘s global gateway. What you see here is not one but …
Web globalization leaders of industry
Over the past few months I’ve profiled a number the industry leaders from the 2011 Web Globalization Report Card. But I won’t be able to profile them all, so here …
Emirates: Best global airline web site of 2011
Sometimes a web redesign is a big step forward; sometimes it is a step in reverse. In the case of American Airlines (when viewed from a web globalization perspective) a …
My web browser went to de, fr, jp, za and all I got was this lousy t-shirt
Yes, I’m aware of just how globally geeky this shirt is, but I love it nonetheless. Should you want one of your own, you can order it here. And you can …
Dear Airbnb: Please take down your mutant flag
Airbnb is one of the hot new travel web service startups. It basically lets you rent out your spare bedroom or look for a spare bedroom when you travel. That’s …
Starbucks modifies its global gateway, but problems remain
I noticed recently that Starbucks had launched a new web design, probably to coincide with its newly austere logo. Unfortunately, the new global gateway didn’t improve on the old global …
Learning from the not-so-global web sites
I’ve highlighted the top 25 global web sites in the 2011 Web Globalization Report Card. Now it’s time to focus on the other end of the spectrum — the 25 …
Language negotiation in a mobile world: Improving the global user experience
Language negotiation is the process of detecting the language setting of a web browser and responding with the matching language, if available. Companies such as Google and Facebook have used …
Byte Level Books is looking for authors
I’m pleased to announce the formation of a new publishing imprint dedicated to “books with a world view.” To date, we’re published two books — The Savvy Client’s Guide to …
Walking through jelly
Just because a global company mandates one “global” language doesn’t mean that everything will run smoothly. English is typically the global language selected, which is nice for those who were …
Upcoming Webinar: The New Global Enterprise
On March 15th I will be participating in a half-day online forum sponsored by the American Marketing Association and Localization World: The New Global Enterprise: Core Competencies for Localizing Marketing Communications …