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  • Advertising’s acceptable face

    Steve WoodsLanguage, Linux, Media, Oddities, Open Source, Tech

    KDE is one of the 2 major providers of GUIs and applications for Linux systems (some KDE applications are also now available for Windows too! Ed.).

    It’s currently holding the KDE Akademy 2013, a free, non-commercial event organised by the KDE community, in Bilbao in the Basque Country of Northern Spain from 13th to 19th July.

    The local public transport company has also picked up on this event and is advertising it on its ticket machines; and in 3 languages too!.

    image of Bilbao public transport ticket machine
    Free software advertising – Bilbao

    Would London Underground or the UK’s train operating companies do likewise?

    I’ve written before of my dislike of advertising (posts passim), but advertising for community-based projects – even if those communities are scattered throughout the world – is something for which I’ll make an exception.

  • France: Twitter hands over anti-Semitic tweets data

    Steve WoodsLanguage, Politics, Social Media, Tech

    Twitter logoMicro-blogging site Twitter is complying with a recent judicial decision to hand over identification data for anti-Semitic and racist tweets, reports Le Monde Informatique.

    In October last year, there was outrage after numerous anti-Semitic comments were posted on Twitter using the hashtags #UnBonJuif (a good Jew) and #UnJuifMort (a dead Jew). When alerted to the tweets, Twitter immediately removed them. The UEJF (French Jewish Students Union) and four other human rights and anti-racist organisations appealed to the courts to force Twitter to hand over personal details of users who had posted the tweets so they could be prosecuted under French laws against publishing racist and discriminatory hate speech.

    In June 2013 the Court of Appeal in Paris dismissed a plea by Twitter and confirmed the social media site’s obligation to pass on the details of the authors of racist or anti-Semitic tweets to five human rights associations concerned.

    Twitter announced yesterday that it had handed over the “data likely to enable the identification of certain authors” of anti-Semitic tweets. Twitter also regard this move as settling the dispute with the UEJF, which had directly criticised the social network and its CEO, Dick Costolo, requesting €38.5 million in damages. The parties to the dispute are now going to work together to fight racism. Twitter added that this included “taking measures to improve the accessibility of the reporting procedure of illegal tweets”.

  • Inadequate interpreter supplied, case adjourned

    Steve WoodsLanguage, Politics

    Yesterday’s Wales Online carried a report of a court case at Cardiff Magistrates Court involving public order offences by Tamil protesters on 20th June connected with a protest at the city’s Swalec Stadium against the presence of the Sri Lankan cricket team on British soil.

    Hidden in the report was yet more evidence of the failing interpreting contract between the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and Capita Translation & Interpreting (posts passim), in this instance, the provision of an incomprehensible interpreter.

    An eighth man admitted throwing a stone at a passing car outside the stadium, while a ninth man accused of common assault was unable to submit a plea because he could not understand the Tamil interpreter provided by the court – his case was adjourned until July 23.

    How can the MoJ continue to claim that the contract is working well when courts around the country experience delay, disruption and additional expense?

    If any reader has evidence of court delays for whatever reason (e.g. Capita not providing an interpreter, G4S failing to produce defendant for hearing, etc., they can be reported at https://courtdelays.wordpress.com/.

  • Little bird, big name

    Steve WoodsBristol, Language

    The other afternoon I was having a rare afternoon pint in the shady garden of The Volunteer Tavern in St Judes when mine host Peter Gibbs asked me a question along the lines of: “What are these small brown birds I keep seeing in the garden?”

    I told him that I’d frequently seen (and heard; as the RSPB remarks, “For such a small bird it has a remarkably loud voice.” Ed.) wrens in the garden.

    image of a wren
    The Eurasian Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

    The wren is Britain’s smallest bird, measuring 9.5-10 cm, and used to feature on the back of Britain’s smallest coin – the pre-decimal farthing, which ceased to be legal tender after 31st December 1960.

    image of George VI farthing
    George VI farthing. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

    Despite its small size, the wren has a big binomial name: Troglodytes troglodytes.

    The wren is found across the UK in a wide range of habitats – woodland, farmland, heathland, moorland and islands and is a regular visitor to gardens, including pub gardens in central Bristol. 🙂

    In European folklore, the wren is named the King of the Birds. According to a fable attributed to Aesop by Plutarch, when the eagle and the wren strove to fly the highest (presumably for the title of King of the Birds. Ed.), the wren initially rested on the eagle’s back and then when the eagle tired, the wren took off from his back, soared above him and so won the accolade.

  • Bristol Post Balls 2

    Steve WoodsBristol, Language, Media, Oddities

    Below is a screenshot of the story in today’s Bristol Post reporting on Professor Peter Higgs – one of the team that postulated the existence of the particle named after him back in the 1960s – being granted the freedom of the city of Bristol.

    screenshot of Bristol Post article
    Headline quality control in action. Click on image for full size version.

    Professor Higgs is a former pupil of Bristol’s Cotham Grammar School.

    For a local media report of the event that has a proper headline, I recommend Bristol 24/7’s offering.

    Bristol & Avon Family History Society has some interest background information on the history of the Freedom of Bristol and Burgesses, as Freemen (and they were men in medieval times. Ed.) were originally known.

  • Court ‘interpreters’ being sent to Fire Service College

    Steve WoodsLanguage, Politics

    Reposted from RPSI Linguist Lounge, with added links.

    Anonymous writes:

    You might be aware that Capita acquired the Fire Service College, the award-winning leader in fire and emergency response training, for £10 million. The Fire Service College, located in Moreton in Marsh – Gloucestershire, gets clients from all over the world, including: the UK, Europe, Middle East and Asia.

    Some of their delegates can’t speak in English, so therefore Capita has tried improving their Fire Service College by bringing their very own, cheap, ‘Interpreters’ to assist the delegates.

    So now, as you can see, the court ‘Interpreters’ which work for Capita are now being sent to the Fire Service College, to interpret for the delegates who are being trained for emergency response; I just hope they can interpret accurately.

    Anyway, Capita called me up and offered me a 3 month interpretation project at the Fire Service College before it was actually official that Capita had acquired the College. I gave it a go, but I didn’t really like it because it was actually quite hard compared to Court Interpreting but it actually looked like Capita hired their best interpreters which have been on the NRPSI.

    However, Capita had told me that I had to arrive the night prior to the day I interpret for the delegates. So, it becomes clear that Capita don’t trust its interpreters and know that they are unreliable.

    Now let’s get to the interesting part, the rates. The normal day is 8:30 to 17:30 with a 1 hour lunch at about 12:00, so for the day (8 hours of full interpreting) you just get paid a flat fee of £140. That’s the amount of 7 hours interpreting in a court. But what was different was that they paid me door-to-door travel time and of course millage [sic].

    Therefore, Capita pay you less, for harder work.

    But on the other hand, Capita do give you free accommodation (which is on-site but not nice at all), they also give you free food; including breakfast, lunch and dinner. Also, there is a bar, gym, swimming pool and some small shops.

    It does look quite appealing, doesn’t it? But it does mean leaving your family for 5 days in the week and giving you only 2 days (Saturday and Sunday) to go back home and spend it with your loved ones.

    If any of you, Interpreters, have been to the Fire Service College, please leave a comment.

    Many thanks.

  • Crapita in the dock this morning

    Steve WoodsLanguage, Oddities, Politics

    As the screenshot below shows, Capita, that paragon of outsourcing efficiency, is due to appear at 9.30 at Blackfriars Crown Court in London before His Honour Judge Marron QC regarding “Interpreter Issues”, presumably the failure of Capita Translation & interpreting to fulfil its courts and tribunals interpreting contract with the Ministry of Justice (posts passim).

    screenshot of case listing at Blackfriars Crown Court

    Update: 10.00 am.Peter Shortall has just commented as follows on the RPSI Facebook page:

    Just left Blackfriars CC. It’s being heard in chambers, so I and a lady who had turned up to watch were asked to leave so the judge could talk to the Capita rep privately. So much for transparency!

    Peter also added in an earlier comment that Neal Kelly is Capita’s “relationship manager” who handles “high-level complaints”.

  • Crapita loses contract in double-quick time

    Steve WoodsLanguage, Politics

    Transport Extra reports that our friends at Capita (posts passim) have lost a contract with a term of 5 years, an option on a further 2 years and worth £100 mn. just eighteen months into the contract.

    The contract was with the DVLA and concerned vehicle excise duty enforcement.

    The contract has now been awarded to rival outsourcing outfit NSL.

    Well done Crapita. How much longer before you lose the courts interpreting contract with the Ministry of Justice? Let’s face it, you’ve been under-performing on that one ever since you took over the under-performing ALS (subsequently rebranded as Capita Translation & Interpreting. Ed.)?

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