There is no such thing as a global slogan
Here’s an article that confirms what consumers apparently know but many companies have yet to figure out — that English-language slogans don’t make much sense to people who don’t speak …
I’m flattered that Pentagram would “imitate” my country codes poster
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, the saying goes. So I suppose I should have been flattered when I came across four new posters by the esteemed design firm …
Kindle goes international, but not multilingual
The Kindle has gone international, sort of. That is, Amazon is launching a new Kindle outfitted with a radio chip that works in most of the world’s cellular markets (100+) …
Job posting: Marketing Manager – Localization
I was contacted recently about a rather interesting and specialized job opening in the globalization space. So I thought I’d throw it open to the readers of this blog. The …
.YU we hardly knew you
It’s funny how top-level domain names (TLDs) outlast the countries they represent. In 2007 I wrote about the end of .YU (Yugoslavia), though it didn’t exactly go away back then. …
Three rules of global gateway design
It’s been awhile since I’ve written about global gateways — those landing pages and header elements that companies use to direct visitors to localized web sites. I came across one …
Chinese IME, aka Etch A Sketch
I’m fairly certain that I’m not using the iPhone Chinese IME in the way it was intended.
IDNs on are the “fast track”
Could it be happening? Finally? After all these years? Internationalized domain names at last becoming a reality around the world — and not just in China? It’s looking that way. …
Bit.ly is leaving Libya for the islands
So Bit.ly has launched an even shorter URL: J.mp. You can’t get any shorter than this, at least not until we see single-digital TLDs. I can’t help but wonder if …
North of Norway
This post has absolutely nothing to do with web globalization. You’ve been warned. About two years ago Midge and I took a cruise to Svalbard, a group of islands a …
Chinese IME: From iPhone to laptop
Via Blogos, I was fascinated to read that the new Mac Snow Leopard OS features a Chinese input method editor (IME) that allows users to input characters via track pad. …
Google Translate: Now in 51 languages
In February of this year, Google Translate surpassed 40 languages. Six months later, Google added ten more languages, a two-year growth trajectory illustrated below: Google went from 13 languages to …
WordPress launches wp.me
Another day, another URL shortener. Only this one I think will be around a lot longer than many that are out there. That’s because it’s supported by WordPress. It’s also …
Starbucks puts its web site where its growth is
Starbucks may be closing stores in the US, but it’s still growing internationally. According to the Seattle PI: Starbucks recently opened stores in the Czech Republic, Amsterdam and Poland. And …
Unicode (used creatively) makes your Tweets go further
I’m not exactly a power-Tweeter, so I can’t say I have the need for a tool that stretches Twitter’s 140-character limit. Still, I get a kick out of Maxitweet. To …