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April 2002 | ||
The Translation E-Buzz |
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Employee of the Month Gregory LeBlanc
Gregory LeBlanc joined RMTC as a programmer and systems analyst in January. He hails originally from Houston, Texas where he enjoyed growing up as part of a large tight knit family with lots of aunts, uncles and cousins from southern Louisiana. Throughout childhood Gregory zealously pursued learning construction, auto repair, and electronics from his uncles. Summers and holidays were spent with family on grandfather's farm in Louisiana where Gregory enjoyed riding horses, running from geese, racing pigs, plowing the fields, and sharing the crops with the neighbors. He remembers the combination of hard work and good clean fun with great fondness. Gregory's first computer was an Altar, built from schematics from an issue of "Radio Electronics." He likes to build and fix things, and RMTC staff members find plenty of ways to provide Gregory with this opportunity at RMTC. His favorite response is "Not a problem," which has made him wildly popular with the staff he supports. In addition to a passion for programming and systems work, Gregory came to RMTC with years of well rounded experience. He worked in technical support for Global Services and for Dell Computer, in systems support, database administration, and programming for the Texas General Land Office, and as a content developer for all.com during the dot com frenzy of activity. Gregory adamantly believes that Texas is the best place in the U.S. to live and he is pleased to have found his niche at RMTC in Austin. Greg easily ticks off his goals. He plans to obtain a master's degree in Computer Science, travel around the world at least once, learn to oil paint and stone carve, build his own 40 foot cabin cruiser, and build an Aronica Champ full size airplane. (Did I mention he likes to build things?) His hobbies include rock climbing, model airplane building/flying and scuba diving. His most memorable experience? "During a surface interval of a night dive, a giant manta launched itself out of the water, glided over a boat and across the moon, then slipped back in the water." Hey diddle diddle..........And the MANTA jumped over the moon! We are delighted to learn more and more about Gregory, as he continues to surprise and fascinate us with his wide ranging interests and peaceful spirit.
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The Evolution of an Industry Chronicled at RMTC With historical roots in Austin, Texas as a family business, McElroy Translation has emerged as an industry leader that enjoys high profile visibility and a reputation for excellence. Our niche has always been very technical, and we have evolved to meet the emerging needs of our corporate client base. Historically, our core business was technical translation to facilitate R&D. This overlapped and expanded into the legal arena with translations to support patent prosecution and litigation. In the 1980s we became a major supplier to the medical and pharmaceutical field. Currently, globalization and e-commerce are the two driving factors affecting activity growth. RMTC helps clients reach new markets with localized communications and web sites. While remaining focused on technical niches, RMTC has evolved with clients to handle a wider spectrum of evolving needs. Many clients now approach our team with requests for software localization. While this type of localization introduces new types of challenges, RMTC is able to assist with successful software localization in many cases. Our preference is for the delivery of the text (menus, dialog boxes, and messages) in "localization-friendly" form. When text is not embedded in the source files, but exists in separate resource files, it can be delivered as "resource script," or plain text in uncompiled resource files. Otherwise, the scenario is considerably more complex. Additional production time is required for our team to search through the code and determine what must be translated. The other consideration for software localization projects is the testing that is required. Client engineers should test a program for its internationalization suitability prior to localization. RMTC is able to assist with post-localization testing in conjunction with client. At this point, we confirm that everything in the localized program fits, looks, and runs as it is supposed to. Finally, client foreign offices or liaisons normally handle final functionality testing--making sure everything works on the target operating systems. The Silicon Valley Localization Forum provides this checklist for software designers developing applications which will be localized:
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RMTC To Open a Drive up Window for Expedited Translation...HAPPY APRIL FOOL'S DAY!You are now in on an RMTC insider's joke as we use humor to handle the pressure of ever tightening deadlines. Of course, we are always responsive to client needs. Our staff realizes that circumstances often demand rush handling. In these cases, our clients communicate their expectations when normal 10 working day turn for TO English and 15 working day turn FROM English will not suffice. More on April Fool's DayThe following article is reprinted from
http://wilstar.com/holidays/ Unlike most of the other nonfoolish holidays, the history of April Fool's Day, sometimes called All Fool's Day, is not totally clear. There really wasn't a "first April Fool's Day" that can be pinpointed on the calendar. Some believe it sort of evolved simultaneously in several cultures at the same time, from celebrations involving the first day of spring. The closest point in time that can be identified as the beginning of this tradition was in 1582, in France. Prior to that year, the new year was celebrated for eight days, beginning on March 25. The celebration culminated on April 1. With the reform of the calendar under Charles IX, the Gregorian Calendar was introduced, and New Year's Day was moved to January 1. However, communications being what they were in the days when news traveled by foot, many people did not receive the news for several years. Others, the more obstinate crowd, refused to accept the new calendar and continued to celebrate the new year on April 1. These backward folk were labeled as "fools" by the general populace. They were subject to some ridicule, and were often sent on "fools errands" or were made the butt of other practical jokes. This harassment evolved, over time, into a tradition of prank-playing on the first day of April. The tradition eventually spread to England and Scotland in the eighteenth century. It was later introduced to the American colonies of both the English and French. April Fool's Day thus developed into an international fun fest, so to speak, with different nationalities specializing in their own brand of humor at the expense of their friends and families. In Scotland, for example, April Fool's Day is actually celebrated for two days. The second day is devoted to pranks involving the posterior region of the body. It is called Taily Day. The origin of the "kick me" sign can be traced to this observance. Mexico's counterpart of April Fool's Day is actually observed on December 28. Originally, the day was a sad remembrance of the slaughter of the innocent children by King Herod. It eventually evolved into a lighter commemoration involving pranks and trickery. Pranks performed on April Fool's Day range from the simple (such as saying "Your shoe's untied!), to the elaborate. Setting a roommate's alarm clock back an hour is a common gag. Whatever the prank, the trickster usually ends it by yelling to his victim, "April Fool!" Practical jokes are a common practice on April Fool's Day. Sometimes, elaborate practical jokes are played on friends or relatives that last the entire day. The news media even gets involved. For instance, a British short film once shown on April Fool's Day was a fairly detailed documentary about "spaghetti farmers" and how they harvest their crop from the spaghetti trees. April Fool's Day is a "for-fun-only" observance. Nobody is expected to buy gifts or to take their "significant other" out to eat in a fancy restaurant. Nobody gets off work or school. It's simply a fun little holiday, but a holiday on which one must remain forever vigilant, for he may be the next April Fool! Copyright © 2000, 2001 by Jerry Wilson.
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