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 …
The Chinese domain name bubble bursts
Nearly one year ago, I asked Will .CN become the next .COM? And perhaps I was right in more ways than one. Because now it appears that .CN is experiencing …
The Branding of Country Codes: A list of “countryless” ccTLDs
A country code top-level-domains (ccTLD) has traditionally been used to signify a country-specific web site or resource, or simply to tell users where a given organization is located. For example, …
Global by Belarus
Here is an example of ccTLD usage that hits rather close to home. And it’s not some upstart web company out of the Bay Area. No, this is a company …
Decyphering Google Translate on your web logs
Whenever I read this site’s web logs, I’m always fascinated by the number of referrals via Google Translate. Every month there seems to be more of them, which could mean …
What does Libya have in common with Twitter? Ask Bit.ly
Bit.ly, the URL shortener now used by Twitter, is not the first company to craft its name out of a county code top-level domain (ccTLD). But Bit.ly does appear to …
The best mini-series you’ve probably never seen
The one-line description on Amazon says: Police detective Ronnie Craven investigates the killing of his own daughter and becomes embroiled in a vast conspiracy. Edge of Darkness is a 1985 …
TED is translation-worthy
Earlier this year, TED began recruiting volunteers to translate its recorded presentations, known as TED Talks. It looks like the venture is off to a strong start. According to TED, …
Type Russian without the keyboard
There are shortcuts on most English keyboards for entering characters such as á and é. But I can never seem to remember what those shortcuts are. Fortunately, there is TypeIt, …
Note to Google Books: Please rotate
I just noticed that the book I wrote several years ago Beyond Borders: Web Globalization Strategies is now up on Google Books. I appears though that Google still has a …
Just how global is your browser?
Firefox 3.5 is now out and available in more than 70 languages. Yes, 70 languages. Naturally, I was curious to learn how many languages the other browsers currently support. Here …