In the past, people who bought Japanese VCRs were often puzzled by the unclear, strange and often hilarious use of language in the “Getting Started” manual. The instructions were no doubt crystal clear when the technical writer composed them in his native Japanese, but something got lost in the English translation. ‘Japanese VCR manual syndrome’ What became known as “Japanese VCR manual syndrome” ...
Read More...

Journalism in the Internet era is about collaborating with users and about expanding the channels, not hiding content behind paywalls. So said senior Guardian executive Meg Pickard in an address today to Internet World in London. The Guardian's digital strategy differs sharply from other traditional media organisations in Ireland and elsewhere, led by Rupert Murdoch's decision to start charging for online access ...
Read More...

What have "coterminosity", "lowlights" and "wicked issues" got in common? They are all on the 2010 banned words list issued by Britain's Local Government Association (LGA). The LGA, which describes itself as a voluntary lobbying organisation that acts as the voice of the local government sector, says its list consists of "words that shouldn't be used by the public sector to ...
Read More...

Next time you’re thinking of taking a pot shot at someone in your blog, through Facebook or through an online forum, think twice about what you write. Bloggers, website owners and indeed anybody who publishes content online need to be aware of Ireland’s new defamation law, which came into force this month. A conference on the Defamation Act 2009, organised by Hayes ...
Read More...

Online user reviews are increasingly popular, from the quick comment about a hotel stay to the in-depth book recommendation on Amazon. User-generated content is the bedrock of many Web 2.0 type business websites, and a growing amount of evidence shows that user-generated product reviews can be a powerful tool in converting browsers into buyers. User reviews are big business in other ...
Read More...

The Internet doesn't just reflect the big stories of the day - often it amplifies them, building a social momentum of its own and starting to make its own headlines too. A case in point is the controversy over Thierry Henry's handball in the Ireland-France match on Wednesday night. By yesterday morning a Facebook site called "We Irish hate Thierry Henry ...
Read More...

It is often more difficult for companies to correct factual inaccuracies published online than in traditional media, according to AMAS Managing Director Aileen O’Toole. Quoted in a feature in the business section of The Sunday Times, she said online reputation management is“a hugely challenging issue and one that the biggest brands in the world are struggling to cope with.” While traditional media ...
Read More...

Web-based automated translation services can be very useful. Mostly for getting the gist of a phrase or short passage. They can be surprisingly good at times, but on the other hand they often provide a stark reminder of the sharp limitations of computers, no matter how powerful they become. Google announced this week that Irish was being added to the list of ...
Read More...

Newspapers and other businesses often use URL shortening services such as TinyURL and bit.ly. On the surface it seems a no-brainer: the print versions of these web addresses are much shorter. They won't wrap onto the next line of text (or add stray hyphens to the address through automatic hyphenation). Printing a URL like this: http://tinyurl.com/55mp6b takes up far less space than printing one ...
Read More...