Vol. 64 April, 2006
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ClientSide News with Derek Woodgate
Planning the upcoming ClientSide News Expo presentation with Derek Woodgate of The Futures Lab has been a riveting experience. He is in the business of thinking outside and beyond the proverbial box. Derek has invested a significant amount of time researching the translation and localization industry and discussing with me the role that McElroy plays and will play in that space. His presentation at the CSN Expo in Miami on April 27 will address what emerging issues will impact the global business environment, how translation services will interface with new devices and delivery systems, and the future of the industry given the evolution of global business. Derek became a “Futurist” after years as a corporate executive charged with strategic global planning. He became interested in looking even farther out and contemplating an even broader range of change factors. An article this month by Operations Manger Kim Vitray addresses the value of annual goal setting. Whether planning for the next one year or the next twenty a vision for the future helps get us to our intended destination.
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Think the Unthinkable
On April 27 at the ClientSide News Expo in Miami, McElroyTranslation will sponsor Derek Woodgate as a guest speaker. Once a translator himself, Derek will take a fascinating futurist’s look at the translation and localization industry.
From the future of women’s fiction to the future of chicken, it is all in a day’s work for Austin-headquartered The Futures Lab, which is fast becoming the company to go to if you are looking for a revolutionary take on future potential for your company.
According to company’s President, Derek Woodgate, who was recently referred to in the special centenary edition of Canada’s Macleans as the “clever” futurist, The Futures Lab’s growing popularity stems from its client’s belief that The Futures Lab has an unrivalled ability to generate the unexpected. This view is corroborated by Ford Motor Company’s VP of Global Futuring and Global Consumer Insights, Christine Stasiw, who recently added that “TFL’s unique process additionally leverages the knowledge of internal and external subject matter experts to deliver a roadmap for success.”
While Stasiw and executives from clients as diverse as Purex, Dial, Nestle and Casio refer to The Futures Lab’s highly creative yet robust Futures Studies approach, Oliver Markley, Emeritus Professor of Human Sciences and Studies of The Future and author of America Beyond 2001 and 21st Century Earth, refers to Woodgate and The Futures Lab as social alchemists, with “the rare ability to translate thinking from unconnected sources, as an inspirational and productive way of creating practical applications for business.” Dr Markley continues, “It is in this creative bridging that the creative genius of The Futures Lab is most recognizable, making its approach almost a unique paradigm in the professional futures field.” Markley describes The Futures Lab as practicing “social alchemy,” in the sense of wisdom and truth seeking as a means to creating incredible future potential for their clients, or as he puts it “finding the gold.”
In a recent TV documentary on futures consulting filmed for Current TV and Croatia TV, Director Tomislav Perica asked Woodgate why and how corporations use futurists. Woodgate explained how creating the desired or preferred future was the key and that using an approach that is not based upon extrapolation, but discontinuous change, implying considerable disruption, as well as researching emerging issues rather than trends that are already framed, was imperative.
Woodgate also talked of the company’s “wide-angled lens” approach, which ensured that their thinking stretched way beyond the perimeters of the specific industry that each project involved, and the equally important notion that creating the future invariably required the development of new paradigms based upon radically new viewpoints and contexts.
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“
The best way to predict the future is to invent it.
Alan Kay
Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present.
Albert Camus – French philosopher & writer
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Derek Woodgate – President, The Futures Lab, Inc, Austin, TX
Practicing Futurist and founding board member of the Association of Professional Futurists (APF), Derek set up The Futures Lab at the end of 1997, having previous experience as an executive on the board of two major corporations (Vivat and VF Europe) and over fifteen years Senior Vice-President-level management and operational responsibilities in international businesses and a nine year spell with the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office.
Derek is best known for creating revolutionary futures for major corporations including Nissan, Casio, WorldSpace, Ford, Pennzoil, Nestle, Dial Corp, Tyson Foods, Harlequin books, Cadbury-Schweppes, Hugo Boss, Intercontinental Hotels, MTV and many more.
He graduated with a Bachelor Degree (Hons.) from University College London, in Contemporary Slav Studies and then gained his Masters in Economics (concentration in politics) from Zagreb University, a city where he spent fourteen years. He is a frequent conference speaker, panelist and commentator on the future and author of Future Frequencies, a book about leveraging ideas and concepts from progressive culture for future studies. His new book Future Flow, which deals with new ways of developing personal futures, will be published in 2006. Derek also contributed to the major work on William Burroughs Calling the Toads.
Derek has lived and worked in eleven countries and is at home in seven languages (English, Croatian, French, Italian, Bulgarian, Russian and Dutch).
Not surprisingly therefore, he has undertaken numerous translations and interpreting, mainly from Croatian into English and vice versa. His translation work has included novels, films, poetry, articles and professional works and conferences. His past life also involved acting and fronting a number of bands, including Camouflage with whom he made three albums.
Derek is a professional member of The World Futures Society and on the board of the Central Texas Chapter, The World Futures Studies Federation and is also on the Vision and Strategy Committee for the future of Central Texas.
InttraNews Reports
McElroy Translation is regularly engaged to translate medical labels and product inserts. This article hits home with dramatic emphasis on the potential importance of this type of translation.
From Inttranews:
03-02-2006 Translated prescription labels could save 98,000 deaths a year
New York, USA (Genetic Engineering News): Providing language-appropriate prescription labels could eliminate some of the medical errors responsible for 98,000 deaths each year in the United States, but chain-owned pharmacies were less likely to provide them than small, independent drug stores in a study in the February issue of the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved (JHCPU), published by Meharry Medical College.
For more information, please visit:
genengnews
Tech Talk
Evan Norman
I recently came across a fascinating interview posted on Slashdot. Many of us are curious about what goes on in the Arab world. The picture painted for us by the daily news is of a war-torn world of primitive living, constant rioting, and endless political and religious repression. We know that millions of people in the Middle East carry on with their daily affairs, but we rarely hear or read about how they interact with information technology.
In other words, wouldn’t it be great to know what their online behavior is like, what kinds of software they use and prefer? For some of us this means: what market potential is there for our online product and service offerings? Did you know that there is an enormous blogging community in Iran, (mostly) freely chatting away about their lives, much the way kids do in large numbers in places like Brazil, Singapore, or the U.S.? What follows below is the entire copy of the interview, reprinted here in its entirety because I felt that there were many great insights into the technical communities of the Arab world.
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United Kingdom
The People
Four countries make up the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Residents of any of these countries may be called “British.” Use “English,” “Scot” or “Scotsman,” “Welsh” and “Irish” or “Northern Irish” only when certain of a person’s heritage. While the four countries share many customs, each has its own set of cultural nuances.
In England, politeness, reserve, and restraint are admired. The English are courteous, unassuming and unabrasive and are very proud of their long and rich history.
Scots are passionate about their country, guarding its uniqueness and refusing to go along with English ideas. While cool and aloof externally, they are extremely sentimental about their family and their country. Overall Scots are free of class consciousness and social elitism, except in religion.
Generally, Protestants mix only with Protestants and Catholics mix only with Catholics.
Scots have a keen, subtle sense of humor and value generosity, respectability.
Wales has been part of the United Kingdom for more than 400 years, but has kept its own language, literature and traditions. Most residents of Wales are of Welsh or English heritage. Many are immigrants from former British colonies and other parts of U.K. Welsh take great pride in their country and their heritage. The Welsh love to sing and talk and spend much of their free time at home with their families.
Two-thirds of the Northern Irish have Scottish or English roots. The others are of Irish descent. Irish value friendliness, sincerity and nature. They dislike pretentious behavior and possess a strong work ethic. Family ties are very important in Northern Ireland.
Meeting and Greeting
- The British are reserved, which may cause them to appear cool and indifferent or overly formal. In fact, they are very friendly and helpful to foreigners.
- Shake hands with everyone present — men, women, and children — at business and social meetings. Shake hands again when leaving.
- Handshakes are light — not firm.
- Women should extend their hand to men first.
- Use last names and appropriate titles until specifically invited by your British hosts or colleagues to use their first names.
Body Language
- The British are not back slappers or touchers and generally do not display affection in public.
- Hugging, kissing and touching is usually reserved for family members and very close friends.
- The British like a certain amount of personal space. Do not stand too close to another person or put your arm around someone’s shoulder.
- Staring is considered rude.
Corporate Culture
- In Great Britain, punctuality is important for business meetings. Be on time.
- Brits prefer a congenial business relationship, but tend to get right down to business after a few moments of polite conversation.
- Business is best initiated through a well-connected third party.
- The Board of Directors is the source of power and the principal decision making unit in a company. Formal approval of the board is required for most decisions. Decisions may be slow in the making.
- Expect formalities and protocol to be observed in business, especially in London.
- Business organization traditionally is multi-layered with a vertical chain of command. A network of committees, formal and informal, exists in larger companies. Group consensus is preferred to individual initiative.
- In older companies, business still centers around the “old boy network” with prep schools, universities and family ties being of great importance. Newer companies are more progressive.
- Meetings should be scheduled well in advance.
- Meetings generally have a concrete objective, such as: making a decision, developing a plan or arriving at an agreement.
- Presentations should be detailed and subdued.
- Scots are known for being skilled businesspersons, priding themselves for being internationalists. They also are suspicious of “go-getters” and respect success only when it is achieved over time.
Dining and Entertainment
- Summon a waiter by raising your hand. Don’t wave or shout.
- Most business entertaining is done in restaurants or pubs over lunch. The host, the one who extends the invitation, pays the bill.
- A British business associate may invite you to watch cricket or to the regatta. Both are prestigious events. Wear your tweed sport coat or blue blazer.
- An invitation to someone’s home is more common in England than in the rest of Europe.
- Do not discuss business at dinner in someone’s home unless the host initiates the conversation.
- In England, when invited to someone’s home, arrive at least 10-20 minutes after the stated time. Never arrive early. In Scotland and Wales, arrive on time.
- A male guest of honor is seated at the head of the table or to the right of the hostess. A female guest of honor is seated to the right of the host.
- Wait for your host to begin eating before you eat.
- Host or hostess always initiates first toast, which is usually only given at a formal dinner.
- At a formal dinner, do not smoke until after the toast to the Queen or until otherwise indicated by the host.
- Keep your hands on the table at all times during the meal — not in your lap. However, take care to keep your elbows off the table.
- When finished eating, place knife and fork side by side on the plate at the 5:25 position.
- You should leave a very small amount of food on your plate when finished eating.
- The guest of honor should initiate leaving a party.
- When the host folds his napkin, this signals that the meal is over.
- Leave a dinner party shortly after dinner ends.
- Write a thank you note to the hostess.
- It is considered impolite to ask for a tour of your host’s home.
- Entertain anyone who has entertained you, but don’t try to impress British guests with an extravagant dinner. The Brits prefer understatement.
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Localization Summer Workshop at California State University, Chico
The Localization Program at California State University, Chico, GALA, Localization Institute and Austin Community College are offering a summer workshop. Participants will receive a Triple Certification in Localization from California State University, Localization Institute & GALA and a Special Topics Certificate from Austin Community College. The workshop is for students and professionals at various stages of their career path in localization, translation, and business related fields.
The goal of the workshop is:
- To provide quality and affordable education and training in localization and international e-business.
- To help create a well trained workforce that can take up several different roles in the translation and localization industry and related business fields.
- To help entrepreneurs learn a skill set to effectively conduct international e-business.
- To provide a well recognized qualification offered by California State University Chico, GALA, The Localization Institute and Austin Community College.
- To provide an option to participants to be tested and certified.
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McElroy’s Vision Statement
Setting the industry standard in customer satisfaction
McElroy’s Mission Statement
McElroy Translation provides translation and localization services in all languages to business and government clientele enhancing their ability to compete in global markets.
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Think the Unthinkable (continued)
Woodgate added “Whilst the client may see a windshield as protection, we would see it as a vision aid, which by adding nanotechnology to the mix, turns the role and benefits of the windshield on its head.” Similarly, Woodgate explains that in working with Casio it was necessary to shift their thinking from timepieces to wrist devices, by understanding that “the wrist was valuable real estate.” This is what led to the creation of the MP3, camera, data, GPS, remote control wrist devices.
So why do corporations engage consulting futurists such as The Futures Lab? It is easy to understand why traditional companies in mature markets need future-proofing and direction, but how about those that are already renowned for their rapid innovations? Leveraging otherwise unforeseen future potential by creating unique future business platforms ahead of competition is tough unless you know how to juggle with a wide variety of unknowns.
As Marc Benioff, Chairman & CEO of salesforce.com recently quipped: “in general, people in our industry (CRM technologies) overestimate what you can do in one year and underestimate what you can do in ten years. There is no difference between being wrong and being early. This might be a good time to make a product that involves voice and the Internet because Skype has trained millions of people to talk to their computers. 1998 was not a good time for that.”
Futures studies also has a growing role in providing a long term vision for the launch of a future business to ensure that they are likely to be viable way beyond the initial investment period. Much of The Futures Lab’s work leads to significant category redefinition or completely new types of businesses and categories being formed. The same applies to cities, with Woodgate himself highly involved in the future of Austin and the Central Texas Corridor. His close colleague, Wayne Pethrick, who heads up the Australian subsidiary but spends half his time at headquarters, is currently leading a project in Western Australia, aimed at turning a sedate family seaside town into a major music and entertainment hub.
Founded in 1997, The Futures Lab Inc. now has offices in the USA, Australia and Mexico, and partners in Tokyo and Europe. While the staff from all the offices regularly collaborate on projects, the partners at the London offices, Simon Ratcliffe and Clive Cooper, are also involved along with Woodgate and Pethrick with the overall TFL global operational strategy.
The vast majority of its clients are Fortune 500 companies in categories ranging from entertainment and fashion to automotive, tourism, communications, foodstuffs and fast moving consumer goods. The company’s work ranges from creating new categories, to products, ways to market and future business models, all of which require the ability to change your perspective about how business functions. As Jonathan Schwartz, President and COO of Sun, commented recently in reference to open source software: “You buy a car that has a hood, whether you plan to open it or not.”
Often creating new future business opportunities involves the fusing of industries and categories, such as real estate and healthcare in the form of responsive homes that monitor our daily activities and health as a response to the growing trend towards proactive preventative healthcare. Equally, the emergence of the collaborative economy through the integration of economic, behavioral and technology factors and the convergence of CRM, enterprise and communications middleware and the growth in intangible assets will lead to a new value model which will cut across fields. Consequently, The Futures Lab is constantly looking at how categories and industries will cross-fertilize and which new industries could emerge or be created.
Much of this is covered in Woodgate’s book Future Frequencies, which was written with the help of Pethrick and published by Fringecore in 2004. The book has created considerable interest for its unique approach to future studies and understanding the future in general. Fellow futurist Paul Schumann in reviewing the book says: “This is the first really new book about a different way to look at the future in quite some time. It’s creative and original. And, it offers the potential of a methodology to stimulate non-linear thinking that could lead to breakthroughs. The way Woodgate thinks is truly unique and powerful.”
Dr. Peter Bishop, Chair & Professor, Studies of the Future, at the University of Houston, who is a fellow board member of the Association of Professional Futurists with Woodgate, says “Future Frequencies gives us a peek into the future while adding a vitally important new approach to understanding the future in general.”
Woodgate is now writing a new book, together with psychotherapist Dr. Mac Hruska, on a new approach to personal futures.
Off the back of Future Frequencies, Woodgate has had an extraordinary year of speaking engagements, with keynote appearances for organizations such as Clear Channel, on the future of media and entertainment, and Public Strategies Inc. and Avenue One, on the future of the home and real estate business, as well as for the Urban Libraries Council (the future of libraries), SNPA (the future of publishing and newspapers), CPA International (the impact of the emerging collaborative economy) and a number of international conferences, where he has been talking on the new generation gap. At the heart of Woodgate and The Futures Lab’s success is their motto “Think the unthinkable.”
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Read about McElroy’s localization services.
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United Kingdom
(continued)
Dress
- People in the larger cities dress more formally, especially in London.
- Men and women wear wools and tweeds for casual occasions. Slacks, sweaters and jackets are appropriate for men and women.
- Avoid striped ties that are copies of British regimentals.
- Men’s clothing often expresses affiliation rather than style. Ties are important symbols. School, army, university or club ties are worn.
- For business meetings, men should wear dark suits and ties. Women should wear suits, dresses or skirts and blouses.
- Do not wear a blazer to work. A blazer is country or weekend wear.
- For formal events men may wear black ties, business suits, morning coats or tails. Inquire which is required. Women generally wear cocktail suits or dresses.
Gifts
- Gifts are normally not exchanged in business settings.
- When invited to someone’s home, always bring a small gift for the hostess. Give flowers, chocolates, wine, champagne or books. Present the gift upon arrival.
- Gifts are opened upon receiving.
- It is polite to send flowers in advance of a dinner party. Do not send white lilies, which denote death.
Helpful Hints
- Men should open doors for women and stand when a woman enters a room.
- Always hold the door for a person following behind you.
- Honor rank when entering a room. Allow higher rank to enter first.
- Don’t insult the royal family or show great interest in their private lives.
- Respect the British desire for privacy. Don’t ask personal questions, such as where a person lives or what a person does for a profession or job. Don’t talk about money.
- Do not violate a queue. It is considered very rude to push ahead in a line.
- Do not shout or be loud in public places and don’t use excessive, demonstrative hand gestures when speaking.
- Staring is considered impolite.
- Do not be too casual, especially with the English language.
- The English avoid speaking in superlatives. “I am quite pleased,” means they are extremely happy.
- Never try to sound British or mimic their accent.
- Humor is ever-present in English life. It is often self-deprecating, ribbing, sarcastic, sexist or racist. Try not to take offense.
- In Scotland, kilts are worn by men at formal occasions (i.e., black tie, weddings, etc.). Don’t make jokes about or ask a Scot what he wears under his kilt.
- In Northern Ireland, religion and politics have created conflict in for many years. Avoid discussing these topics if possible.
Especially for Women
- The ’Old Boy Network’ is alive and well in the United Kingdom. However, women are becoming more common in managerial positions in the United Kingdom than in most EC countries, especially in service industries and public sector jobs.
- Foreign women will have little difficulty conducting business in Great Britain.
- Don’t be insulted if someone calls you love, dearie, or darling. These are commonly used and not considered rude.
- It is acceptable, but may be misconstrued, for a foreign woman to invite an English man to dinner. It is best to stick with lunch.
- If a woman would like to pay for a meal, she should state this at the outset.
- Crossing your legs at the ankles, not at the knees, is proper.
-- Excerpted from the “Put Your Best Foot Forward” series by Mary Murray Bosrock. These publications are available for the U.S., Asia, Mexico/Canada, Russia, Europe and South America.
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Not visiting The United Kingdom? Browse our newsletter archives to read about doing business in other countries.
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The Localization Program at California State University, Chico
(continued)
The certificates have two components:
- Forty-five hours of online instruction, in form of videos, presentations, lecture notes, and interactive quizzes. This online module will provide a broad and good understanding of all major localization concepts, and concepts related to conducting international e-business and international site design. Multilingual Computing, industry experts, and CSU Chico faculty are contributing to the online module development.
- Twenty-four hours of face-to-face interaction and lab work California State University, Chico. The workshop will be held June 20-22, 2006. The workshop will bring in industry experts to train you in important localization concepts and localization tools.
Topics offered include:
- Content Management Strategies
- Terminology/Documentation
- Localization Tools
- Project Management
- Localization Workflow
- MT and the Future of the Industry
Who will benefit:
This certificate program will not only provide training in the field of localization but also in important issues and strategies related to successfully conducting international e-business. Thus, this program will be of benefit to professionals like:
- Localization professionals
- Translators
- Project managers/executives
- Businesses development executives
- Web development professionals
- International marketers/Marketing executives
- Entrepreneurs and small businesses wanting to design international web sites.
For more information and to take advantage of our early registration please check the web site at: www.csuchico.edu/localize
Professor Nitish Singh heads the Localization Program at California State University, Chico. He is has been actively researching and publishing in the localization field for the past 6 years, and has recently authored a book, “The Culturally Customized Website: Customizing Web Sites for the Global Marketplace.” Upon successful completion of the Triple Certificate, students will have an option to earn three university credits from CSU Chico. He can be reached at ncsingh@csuchico.edu or 530-898-6090.
Bob McGoldrick heads the localization program at Austin Community College in Austin, Texas. The ACC program, established in 2000, is an online program offering graduates a Localization Generalist Certificate certified by many leading companies such as Pervasive Software, Lionbridge, Inc., Bridge360, Hewlett-Packard, IBM/Tivoli, Common Sense Advisory, Client Side News and McElroy Translation. Successful completion of the Special Topics Certificate can be applied towards the Localization Generalist Certificate. Information on the ACC program is at www.austincc.edu/techcert/. He can be reached at rmcgoldr@austincc.edu or 512-223-7662.
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Goal Setting is Important
(continued)
Are you setting goals for yourself? your department? your company? If not, give it a try, and see if helps you move further toward where you want to be at the end of the year. Remember, make your goals SMART— specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and tangible (from Paul J. Meyer’s Attitude Is Everything). Happy goal-setting!
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Tech Talk
(continued)
(Each question is prefaced by topic and by the ID of the user who sent in the question)
(1) Arab and Israeli communities
by Yonkeltron
Is there any collaboration between the Arab and Israeli communities when it comes to blogging, Free/Open Source Software or general computing?
Isam:
I will start with the Open Source Software: Arabic, Farsi and Hebrew languages have many similarities which make them overlap in some areas with language support. Example is general Multi-Lingual support, and the BiDi (Bi-Directional) support of applications. Such similarities made it reasonable to communicate and collaborate in certain projects. A great example is the FriBidi library which was introduced by 2 Iranian developers, and now used by many open source projects, some of which originating from Israel. As well, there are Open Source volunteers from Israel who are working in BiDi support in applications (Ex. Wine) and one can find communication between individuals working on similar projects... Another example is the Arabic Wikipedia, as Arabic language is an official language in Israel, so there are contributors who work in both Hebrew and Arabic wikipedias..
As for Blogging, I am not sure if it would be accurate to call the blog collective from countries a community, because basically they are people with totally different opinions, each expressing it in his/her own space, so it won’t be fair to characterise and generalize them. Nevertheless, you would see small blogger-interactions such as comments, track backs, tagging, and pingbacks happening between bloggers from Israel and other parts of the Arab world.
Now I am not sure I would call this “community-level” or “individual-level” interaction. I know that it is happening, because it makes sense in some cases. Nevertheless, I think that with no final solution for the middle-east issue in horizon, such cooperation will stay mostly limited, and won’t rise to be a community-level cooperation..
(2) Straight Outta Casablanca
by Doc Ruby
You have solid credits for several “Arab versions” of modern software. The Mideast was where many technologies, like writing, urban living, astronomy and symbolic math were invented or mastered. What new uses of the Internet and open SW do you see originating in Mideastern hands? Which brand new apps are people in your world using in a way more familiar in the Mideast, which could make the jump to global popularity the way so much Western tech already has?
Isam:
In my opinion, the Arabs are in a completely different state than when those technologies were invented or mastered. At that time, It was the prime time for the Islamic culture, where other parts of the world were busy hunting witches and wizards. Today, Arab countries is in a knowledge crisis (Ref: Arab Human Development Report 2003) which appears in information reach, technology use, and thus effecting innovation. We should be more worried about meeting basic needs when it comes to knowledge and education, than to think about global reach, and having larger world influence.
Now talking about Internet and software, while there are a number of innovators from arab countries, leading in certain segments, niches. As well, you would find a general state of imitations for successful models and businesses, example: Arabic versions of many of the popular softwares and services: search engine, blog services, photo-sharing, iTunes-like music stores, arabic-centric versions of many of the Mashups, and so on. Once imitation is done, uniqueness may start to emerge, which is very likely to have global visibility and reach. I do not see that happening in the next 2-4 years, but again, who knows.
Regarding Open Source software, as long as adoption for the software is limited to individual level, and do not reach cooperate or governmental or even academia levels, I do not see that we will be seeing successful sustainable projects, as individuals and pioneers are met with great challenges and resistance from those who are supposed to support their efforts.
(3) Credible Sources for Arab Bloggers by tabdelgawad
As a founder of an Arabic (Jordanian) blogging community, what do you perceive to be the source of news most popular/trusted by Arab bloggers? Is it local, Arab (AlJazeera, etc), European (BBC, TV5, etc), or American (NY Times, Washington Post, CNN, Fox News, etc)? Is the Arab blogging community a large echo chamber for the latest and greatest western conspiracy theories, or is there genuine diversity of sources and opinions?
Isam:
With the aggregation, tagging, and news alert systems we have today, Internet as a whole is considered the primary source. It became easier to watch and track 100s of sources from all over the world, and filter what you might be interested in. Most of the Bloggers today are Internet savvy people, monitoring the media in general.
Nevertheless, Arab news sites such as Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabeya, and elaph are on the top Arab news sites that people refer to, comes along with them BBC Arabic service (which many consider the most credible).
It is needless to say that bloggers have a more open eye to the media of the west than the English speaking media in Asia, Africa, or Latin America. Reason would be a combination of both 1) International visibility for those western media 2) Arab bloggers being more focused and concerned about how the west perceive them than other parts of the world.
(4) Down to earth... how does it feel?
by TINGEA77
As an Arab, a Jordanian, a regular Slashdot reader, and a computer addict my self, I feel compelled to ask this question. But first a little about why I’m asking... I started my addiction when I was in Jordan at an early age in the mid 80’s, and moved to the United States in the late 90’s. So I think by now I’m out of touch with how things are advancing in our part of the world. I used to be considered as a knowledgeable geek, but that was a long time ago when I had more time on my hands. :(
My questions are (really it is the same LONG question:)
Now that online communities and computer volunteering (especially OSS) is growing on the highest rate in the western part of the globe, how do you see participation and understanding of such participation in Jordan in specific, and the middle east in general?
Do you see the Arab population is going toward a more active role, or maintaining a technology consumer role as it used to be in the old days? Do you feel that you are a loner in what you do and contribute? Or do you get a whole lot of “Hey man that is soo cool, how would I start contributing like you do?”
Last but not least, from your day-in-day-out interaction with the local-online-communities, when do you see us (Arabs) technologically maturing to a level where we can be a major contributing force in the OSS global community... is it happening now?
Isam:
Volunteerism within computer and online communities could be within the same levels as you would find in the west. But considering the Internet penetration, and number of people with DSL lines, you would find the number to be low. You would find many volunteer-based community sites on the Internet, ranging from general forums, community-news, Sport fan sites, tech support, mobile tips, and so on.
As for OSS volunteerism, one of the big challenges is the language barrier... it is almost a prerequisite to have good English language to be able to participate and contribute. This causes many of those who are potential volunteers to be driven away to communities that do not have this language prerequisite. Another aspect, is the university educational systems, which do not encourage, in fact some time discourage, students from being active in Open Source projects and communities. Lack of understanding and knowledge from most of the academia about what is Open Source, its benefits to their students and them, causes having generations of students who lack the understanding, or even sometime fear the participation.
A good thing is that there are some communities rising in Arab countries, with the focus of promoting Open Source and activism in the community. Example is Arabeyes project, which focuses on adding Arabic language support to Open Source programs, as well the NoISA project that came out of Jordan LUG, and many other projects that came out of LUGs (Egypt-Lug, Linuxegypt, Saudi LUG). As well, the Arabic Wikipedia is growing in size in terms of articles and community, making it one of the successful examples of collaborative projects in the Arab world.
One thing to note, is that I am no longer active, or having a leading role in either of the projects I was involved in before: Arabeyes, Jordan LUG, or Arabic Wikipedia. I still maintain good ties and relation with those communities, but I am no longer involved as I am shifting focus into different fields and communities.
(5) Exportation of Technology
by DaedalusLogic
A lot of people in the states are familiar with anti-export warnings on encryption technology:
Are their any technologies that the government of Jordan specifically mandates not be exported outside of its borders?
OR
How common is it that encryption technology that the U.S. Government asks not be used overseas is actually implemented “against their will"?
Isam:
I am no expert in that field. To start with, the top technology companies in Jordan are Microsoft/CISCO/HP/Oracle partners. The government itself have a partnership with Microsoft and CISCO on the high levels. Nevertheless, there are restrictions applied with exporting technology to Jordan from US companies. I am not aware of encryption-related restrictions and how they are handled. But I know that US export policy prevents having servers with large number of processors sold to companies or even universities in Jordan, powerful computers are just not present in server rooms here. The alternative had always been having multiple servers, with load balancing or clustering, to do a task that could have been done in one powerful machine.
I am not aware of any Jordanian export restrictions related to technology. Infact, some of my friends found that question funny when they read it in slashdot.. Jordan limiting export to US :) .. There are hardly any software or technology-related house here that could be working on sensitive projects, and even if they do, US funding and partnership will be a part of that project.
(6) Dilbert by Lev13than
I’m going to guess that office and IT environments around the globe probably share more in common than their superficial differences (language, decor, degree of automation etc...) suggest. Indeed, petty politics and general insanity are going to raise their heads regardless of your office’s time zone. As such, how well does Dilbert [ dilbert.com], the quintessential North American corporate satire, translate into Arabic? Do you see your office in these cartoons? If not, is there an Arabic version that does a better job?
Isam:
Although I regularly follow Dilbert, because I didn’t have a long office-work experience (I worked as on-my-own consultant for most of the time) I do not really relate to most of Dilbert management/office-related cartoons, nevertheless, most of my friends who are in the IT field, or large telecom companies tell me that they really relate to it, and swear by it.
Unfortunately, comics or cartoons are not very popular in this part of the world. There are no office/IT related cartoons known in the Arab world, as well, Dilbert is not even translated to Arabic. You won’t find a half or full page of comic strips in Arab newspapers, but rather the political one-big cartoon.
(7) Stereotypes and those who would further them... by d3ac0n
Ok, Two-parter here...
1)As an Arab in today’s world, how do you deal with those in the Western world who further the stereotype of “Arabs As Radicals"?
Isam:
What saddens me the most, is that the Media plays a great part in forming this image, and the general public do not take an extra step to verify or validate such image. The stereotype of Arabs go beyond the image of being Radicals, it starts by the believe that we are “totally” different, out-of-this world. Once people buy this, then any other mis-information will just easily get in the minds of ordinary people.
Another problem is the way the media highlight and focus on nationality, for example, every time Abu Musaab is mentioned, he is mentioned as “The Jordanian” or “Jordan-born” Abu Musaab, while in positive contexts, it is rare to have nationality mentioned, you won’t hear in any news “The Jordanian Dr. Rima Khalaf Assistant Secretary General and Regional Director of UNDP” or “Jordan-born Usama Fayyad, the chief data officer and senior vice president of Research & Strategic Data Solutions in Yahoo". Such success models from Jordan (and I can go on and on for other Arab countries) are rarely associated with the country of origin when referred to in the media, making it easy for anyone to have a visual image of a radical when I first tell them that I am Jordanian, as they would think Abu Mussab, rather than Dr. Usama Fayyad.
d3ac0n
2) In addition how do you, as a forward-thinking Arab, address the issue of those in the Middle Eastern world that would seek to further the radical elements of Islam for thier own purposes, regardless of the consequences or the stereotypes this may create in the West? In other words, how does one function as a concientious objector in Middle Eastern Society?
Isam:
I had something like 3 drafts to answer this question, and I came to the conclusion that I am no expert in that field to be able to give a good answer for that question... short answer: politicians and those seeking power would use anything, including religion, to empower themselves, and weaken their opponents.. We’ve seen this all over the world through out the history, not only in Islamic countries..
(8) Which is more important to develop...
by Viperion
A communication infrastructure, or a transportation infrastructure? I ask this because what my American viewpoint sees of the middle east is the seeming lack of mass-transportation systems like we have in American (highways, railroads, and the like.) The Middle East also seems to lack a stable communication infrastructure, especially to rural areas. Which do you think is more important, communications or transportation?
Isam:
Transportation comes first. Being able to go to school or work, have goods and food reach you is part of life basics.. once that is fulfilled, definitely communication comes.. with proper communication it doesn’t matter where you are working from.. Talking about Jordan, we currently have a good road infrastructure, and an acceptable transportation system, so now there is great focus on communication. There are many projects in that field, such as inter-university fiber connection, the broadband-to-schools, and PC-to-every-home projects.
(9) Cartoons and website defacement
by Weaselmancer
So, what’s your opinion on the arabic kids who are defacing websites in protest to the Mohammed cartoons?
Isam:
Crackers who found an easy target .. Just like many others who point their guns on the wrong people. Myself, as much as I find the cartoons in question offensive, I think that the reaction caused even more damage to Muslims image than what some silly cartoons may do..
(10) Arabic hacker food by DarkClown
Pizza and some caffeinated beverage with an occasional foray into sushi are typical geek food in the west - what is finding its way down the typical arabic chair dwellers gullet?
Isam:
Arabic and Turkish Coffee comes as the top source of caffeine from most geeks, as for food, a mixture of Falafel and Shawarma would be the applicable food for Jordanians. I am not sure about other parts of the Arab world.
(11) Impact on lifestyles
by tomhudson
I know that here, many people are spending an inordinate amount of time on the computer, to the point where it has negatively impacted their time spent with people in social settings (iow - people are becoming less social). Blogging is yet another time sink, on top of the web, email, etc.
Do you foresee the same negative long-term effects in the middle east as we’ve experienced?
Isam:
Well, people here are extra-social, so maybe being less social will introduce some balance :) kidding.. well I am sure that there will be always those who spend the days and nights of their weekends playing World of Warcraft (I know one :) ), spend their evenings writing or playing with PEAR components, or read and digg blog posts .. but I do not see a “long-term” effect happening because of this as technology spread is limited, at least for the foreseeable future. From what I see, from people I know and myself, spending time in front of a computer took time from TV or book reading rather than socializing..
(12) Arabic-translated open source software
by typical
I know that a number of people work on doing translation work for various languages -- as a whole, what is the state of Arabic-translated open source software? Is it possible for someone to work on a Linux desktop fully within Arabic, or is it necessary to use English?
Isam:
Arabeyes Project is currently leading the Arabization of Open Source software. When the project first started, it focused on the GUI interfaces (KDE, Gnome) and lots of effort was put into it (99% of KDE is translated, while only 43% of Gnome is, probably because it wasn’t updated to the most recent version of Gnome). Today, volunteers focus more on the major applications, such as “Debian Installer”, “Firefox”, “OpenOffice” and so on. Looking at the statistics and activity today in Arabeyes, I would say that the lack of awareness of the importance of the project had caused having small numbers participating. Many of the translation projects are inactive, or with very small activity, making it lagging specially that Open Source software have a short release cycle, making a 8 months old translation out-of-date. Another problem is that that Arabic translation projects need is to get the interest of other profiles of users. Currently most of translators are in the IT-related field, and most are students.
Now while it is possible to work on GUI linux in Arabic and have almost all the basic application in arabic interface, with the fast advance in the Open source applications, and the slower movement in the translation effort, the gap might go large at certain times of the software and release lifetimes.
This interview originally appeared as “Answers from ‘Our Man in Jordan’” on
the SlashDot website, reprinted with permission from Isam Bayazidi, the gentleman interviewed, and
Robin Miller the interviewer.
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