Finglish according to Google

Google Translate has added Finnish to the supported languages. That is great. All they need to do now is to figure out how the bot could produce understandable translations.

This is what Google Translate returns as I feed in a passage of my own text:

The proposal is a positive, the fact that it would mean a confessional religious education end of the story. At that time, however, the question arises as to whether it is religion in your subject no longer make any sense. The different religions and their ethical views could be presented as part of the history and civic education. Säästyisi scarce resources; religion is not now such an important asia is not that it will complete a subject taught to justify.

Unlike my original post in Finnish, this does absolutely not make any sense. It does not work any better from English to Finnish either as you can see here and here.

Taiwanese in bed

This funny quiz says it is going to determine your sexual nationality. They say I am 61 % Taiwanese. Having read what they mean with that, I consider hiring them for my public relations. And traveling to Taiwan.

Click for a full size image

Silent dissent

The Other Russia writes that organizers of March of dissent in last minute decided to cancel the demonstration planned to have taken place in Moscow yesterday. The opposition did not want to risk mass detentions and violence by the police after the local officials refused to sanction the rally.

I am displaying my silent dissent from distance by not mentioning - apart from this post - the inauguration of Dmitri Medvedev as the puppy president of Russia later today. It took seven years for Putin to bring back the Soviet rule. Unfortunately there are those in the west that misread the development.

Carnegie students ask for your help

If you have 15-20 minutes to spare during this weekend and you want to help a group of Carnegie students, they would appreciate if you took the time to completing an on line survey about your communication habits. I did it yesterday. As you can see in comments to Jaanus’s blog post, there are minor issues with some of the questions but the survey is overall good. You will help a bunch of very talented post grad students to develop user interfaces.

By the way, did I mention that you have a decent chance of winning a $50 Amazon gift certificate?

A transparency statement: I am by no means affiliated with Carnegie University and I have no personal interest in promoting this survey but Jaanus is a long time on line friend of mine.

Are you lesbian or Lesbian?

Activists in the island of Lesbos in Greece are seeking an injunction against Greek lesbians who call themsekves just that (BBC):

The man spearheading the case, publisher Dimitris Lambrou, claims that international dominance of the word in its sexual context violates the human rights of the islanders, and disgraces them around the world.

The term lesbian dates back to ancient Greek mythology. Goddes Sappho, a native of Lesbos, expressed her love to women in poetry. Tough as it may be, the word can equally be understood to refer to native islanders (with capital L) and women with a specific sexual orientation (with minor l).

Trying to litigate against usage of any word in desired context is an interference against freedom of speech. I hope this case is going to be thrown out of the court ASAP. With any success in Greek courts, the Lesbians are likely to carry on the case internationally. The last thing EU needs is a directive of sexual orientation terminology.

Happy birthday, Declan!

Today I am raising my toast for Declan. Happy birthday!

from www.dailymotion.com posted with vodpod

Big Brother Pizza

This is how you order a pizza in future unless you you pay attention to where your private information is stored and by whom.

via Laurie

Is Florida going to screw the election again?

The New York Times writes that Florida may screw the election again like they did back in 2000. Unlike many other states, Florida seems to have made the voter registration and voting subject to more restrictive set of rules.

Which reminds me of this utterly funny video clip from 2004. Remember the Florida voting machine?

Barbie and Batman “destructive” for Iran

Western toys, such as Barbie, Batman, Spider-Man and Harry Potter , are going to cause “destructive and cultural consequences” for Iran, says top prosecutor Dori Najafabadi:

“The appearance of personalities such as Barbie, Batman, Spiderman and Harry Potter and … computer games and movies are all a danger warning to the officials in the cultural arena.”

Not even local versions of Barbie and Ken - Sara and Dara who follow the Islamic dressing rules - are regarded as safe by the Iranian clergy. The morality police are reported to have confiscated loads of “destructive” but enormously popular toys.

Hmm! This must be good news for those in Pentagon and West Wing planning to start a war against Iran. All they need to do now is to parachute plane loads of Barbie and Batman allover Iran to bring the country on its knees. So much cheaper than bombing and it would save so many lives.

Prodi bought by Gazprom?

Estonian MP Marko Mihkelson refers to the Russian paper Kommersant which suggests that the outgoing Italian prime minister Romano Prodi is going to be offered a lucrative job as a board member of the company projecting to build the pipeline South Stream. Gazprom director Andrei Miller is going to meet Prodi in Rome today.

Gerhard Schröder was unable to resist the temptation when he was ousted as chancellor of Germany by the German people. Buying up Prodi would be even a fatter catch for the government run Russian oil mafia. Not only is Prodi a former Italian PM, he is also a former president of the EU commission.

I hope that Mr. Prodi is not for sale. It would be a serious blow for anything even resembling a common EU foreign and energy policy. Romano Prodi is rich enough as it is and he can make all the money he needs without selling his integrity to Russia.

Update: Prodi has apparently refused the offer. I am glad to note that not everybody is for sale.

Have you ever…?

I picked this meme from Siim. I decided to give it a try although some of the questions sound a bit like “Are you now or have you ever…?”. I am not passing this one to any unsuspecting victim. Whoever has the guts is welcome to bring it further.

Have had taken a picture of you naked?

No. Neither have I taken a nude self portrait.

Made money illegally?

Not on illegal activities but I may have received envelope payments without declaring the income.

Had a one night stand?

Repeatedly.

Been in a fist fight?

Yes but the last one took place for about 40 years ago.

Slept with your best friend?

Not while they were my best friend. Some of the people I slept with later became my best friend.

Had sex in a public place?

Technically yes. But a meadow at three in the morning is practically quite a private place.

Ditched work to have sex?

I may have.

Slept with a member of the same sex?

Nope.

Seen someone die?

No but I saw my father shortly before he died.

Ran from the police?

Not exactly ran but I have once in a while tried to avoid meeting a police officer.

Woke up somewhere and not remember how you got there?

It happens occasionally on varying reasons.

Worn your partners unmentionables?

I stick with my own.

Fallen asleep at work?

Sure, both intendedly and accidentally.

Used toys in the bedroom?

Not in the context obviously intended but I sure played with toys in bedroom as a kid.

Ran a red light?

I do not drive but I have walked a red pedestrian light.

Been fired?

Yes.

Been in a car accident?

Yes. I was seriously hurt at age eight.

Pole danced or done a striptease?

Not my pint of bitter.

Loved someone you shouldn’t?

Most relations are like that.

Sang karaoke?

Never! And I am not likely to do it.

Done something you told yourself you wouldn’t?

Happens all the time.

Laughed so hard you peed your pants?

Not literally.

Caught someone having sex?

Sure.

Kissed a perfect stranger?

Yes.

Shaved your partner?

I am not running a barber’s saloon.

Given your private parts a nickname?

No, they are private enough that I recognize them without a nick.

Ever gone in public without underwear?

Yes.

Had sex on a roof top?

I would not climb onto a roof top for any reason.

Played chicken?

No.

Mooned/flashed someone?

No.

Do you sleep naked?

Not when I am on my own.

Blacked out from drinking?

It has happened.

Felt like killing someone?

Not seriously.

Had sex more than 5 times in one day?

Probably. Who is counting when in the mood?

Been with someone because they were in a band?

Certainly not! If it had any importance, being in a band would rather effect the other way.

Taken 10 shots of liquor in a day?

I sure have, on many days. 10 is not very much.

Shot a gun?

Yes, in the army.

Gone outside naked?

What else would you expect in a country with thousands of saunas at thousands of lakes? It would be weird if I had not.

Upgraded to Ubuntu 8.04

I just upgraded both of my computers to Ubuntu 8.04. In the desktop the upgrade went without problems, other than it took several hours to download. The download was much faster for my laptop but after the upgrade I received an error message saying that my system may be unusable. After a restart it seems to work normally, though.

I have not had much chance to evaluate the new goodies. Tracker Searh Tool is fantastic, I can say that much. After indexing the files it finds all files where a searched word occurs. F-Spot photo manager looks interesting as well. The export tool seems to be able among other things to upload pictures to Flickr, Picasa Web and other places but I have not yet tried it.

I am looking forward to getting used to the new features in Hardy Heron. And I hope that no hidden problems are going to appear in my laptop.

March of dissent

The oppositional Russian organization The Other Russia have filed the necessary paperwork to Moscow officials to organize a demonstration on 6th May under the slogan “March of Dissent”. It remains to be seen whether the rally will be allowed to take place at the Griboyedov monument, in vicinity of Chistye Prudy metro station. Last time a similar event was announced on 3rd March 2008, it was stopped and 200 persons were detained by OMON.

Presidential dance

Two presidents, two dances: Boris Yeltsin and George W Bush:

from watchedbylarko.vodpo

Happy birthday, Laurie!

Happy birthday, Laurie!

from larko.vodpod.com