Translation Please

I figured out a new use for Google Translate today. Obviously, many people have probably done this before, but I finally thought about doing it this way. Power soccer is obviously a worldwide event. There are major organized leagues in several different countries, but as you might know, the 2007 World Cup was held in Japan. That is pretty excellent and a great place to hold the tournament, but that also meant that much of the information about the tournament on the official website was written in Japanese. Finally, I realized that Google Translate could do the job for me. I was a little disappointed because grammatically it did not make sense when Google translated it, but it was still very cool that I at least could understand the overall theme of what they were talking about. It is very cool how technology can do things like that for us. I didn't need to pull out my old Japanese to English dictionary which I don't have nor have I ever had. I was able to pretend I was a lot smarter than I was, and that is definitely a good thing. Just kidding, but I was excited when it finally dawned on me that I could do this. Incredibly basic, but it was something that I never thought about before.

Photo by Leo-seta on Flickr

Discuss This

See, today is Friday. That means that I will be writing fiction. This fiction is going to be slightly different as I am hoping to do it all in dialogue. Here it goes.
"Hey man, what's goin' on?"
"Nothin' too much really, just the usual."
"It seems like that's all that really ever goes on, the usual. Nothing really changes around here."
"I know how that is; I've been going to the same newsstand every morning for the past 10 years to buy the same paper from the same clerk. For a society obsessed with progress, it seems like we got left behind."
"Did we get left behind, or did we choose to stay behind? It seems like they're just as many people who oppose all of the technological development as those who embrace it."
"I personally chose to advance with society, but that is where the problem lies. Just because I chose advanced technology, I am all of a sudden incompatible with those who wouldn't catch up. I benefit so much from using my new computer programs when I am working with users who have the program, but it takes me twice as long to convert back to the old-fashioned ways."
"Was it really worth it then to upgrade?"
"It's like anything; if you only do something halfway, it's going to be worse off. It's better to run less efficient compatible programs than to run incompatible programs that will take much more time to convert anyway. It's all in consistency; old or new, compatibility is what's important."
Photo by Klearchos Kapoutsis

A New View

Welcome to the world of tomorrow. According to a recent release from the Associated Press, the British network Sky Sports will broadcast the first live sporting event in 3-D when Arsenal and Manchester United collide on Sunday. It will be broadcast in nine pubs across Britain and Ireland. Maybe I will need to take a trip across the Atlantic this weekend...

I believe that this technology will revolutionize the way people watch sports simply because many people complain about the fact that TVs do not have the same depth as live sports. While nothing will be able to replace live sports in terms of fan interaction and experience, this technology will enable the fan to always feel, as EA Sports would say, "in the game." However, I wonder how this will appear when a player kicks the soccer ball directly at the camera. Will the ball appear to come flying out of the TV only to be intercepted by a player who comes into the picture that the viewer did not notice before? Or will the camera angle be zoomed out far enough that hidden players that I described before would not seem totally out of place when they appear? I don't know the answer, so I guess they'll have to wait until Sunday to find out. However, I think that this is only the first step to a television revolution. What I predict will happen is that once 3-D television is all but perfected, people will buy 3-D projectors. They will attach that projector to the roof so that it will project an image on the floor or some other flat surface. The entire court or field will be visible on the surface so that people will be able to see the entire game as it happens in small 3-D programs. I know this sounds like the tiny holograms that are used in Star Wars; however, once the 3-D television is mastered, I cannot imagine the 3-D projector being very far behind. I personally would love this as it would allow you to view the entire game from an angle that would allow you to see the plays developed and executed to perfection.

Maybe I'm dreaming, and this idea might not turn into the insanely popular idea I think it will be. However, as someone who loves to play with new technology, I am excited for the US media debut when ESPN broadcasts the World Cup in June. People say science fiction should stay as science fiction; in this case though, I think that we can make these dreams of George Lucas and other writers a reality.