亦敵亦友/Google Translate達基本訊息

Google線上翻譯 救了聾啞中國孤兒 〔編譯張沛元／美聯社加州山景市7日電〕網路搜尋巨擘Google的線上 翻譯服務Google Translate使用爆量，一天得處理10億筆翻譯，文字量媲美100萬本書，內容從了解營養午餐菜單到蒐集國安情報不一而足，語言也多達65種，不僅 改變使用者的生活，美國密西西比鄉間一對夫妻甚至靠它成功拯救一名聾啞的中國孤兒，編織出一段感人的故事。 儘管翻譯功能急遽進化，這項功能 的負責人歐齊（Franz Och）卻在這對史密斯夫婦身上，聽到前所未聞的動人篇章。歐齊說，他整天面對的都是演算法，聽到Google翻譯能如此觸動生命，是最大回饋。而在史密 斯夫婦的案例中，Google翻譯確實徹底改變這對夫妻與養女的人生。 史密斯夫婦有3個小孩，包括一名從中國領養的3歲女兒，史密斯太太妮 琪（Niki）原本並無打算再添新成員，但不到一年前，她在網路上看到一群孤兒的照片，她一一為這些孩子留下簡單的祝福。然後，她看到了當時還不滿14歲 的聾啞女孩關亞（Guan Ya，譯音）。妮琪說，她第一次在網路上看到關亞，便深信「她應該當我們的女兒。」 關亞是個聾啞女孩，不但不會 說英文，甚至連話都不會說。中國法律規定年滿14歲即失去被領養資格，為了領養關亞，史密斯夫妻透過線上翻譯，不斷發送電子郵件與填寫表格。某日，妮琪接 到關亞以中文寫來的電郵，她急著想知道準女兒說了些什麼，卻看不懂中文；此時，Google翻譯幫了大忙—當妮琪將中文信一段段翻譯，翻譯框內神奇地顯現 關亞心聲。 Google翻譯開啟了史密斯夫婦和關亞關於愛、家庭和生活的溫暖對話，也讓關亞順利成為史密斯家庭的新成員。妮琪說，電腦與翻譯軟體只是工具，但她深信這些工具讓她與關亞間的情感交流更為簡便。 美 國華盛頓州「貝爾維尤學院」（Bellevue College）的翻譯與口譯計畫負責人魯瑟洛（Jamie Lucero）說，一般大眾以為只要將外文輸入電腦翻譯就能獲得所需，結果當然並非如此；高品質的翻譯，如文學、行銷文案或電腦語法，還是得透過真人翻 譯；但對那些只想傳達基本訊息的人，利用機器翻譯還是有幫助。 Facebook, Google and Apple: Partners and rivals, too Bend Bulletin Their competing interests are reminiscent of the complex relationship between Google and Apple — sometime-partners who mutually profit from Apple's decision to feature Google's services on its popular iPhones and iPads, even though they're ... See all stories on this topic »

Google must defend privacy policies to 6 European agencies PCWorld Data protection authorities in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the U.K. have resolved to conduct investigations or inspections of Google's privacy policy, following an initial investigation by the French data protection authority ... See all stories on this topic »

Rumor has Google close to buying WhatsApp for $1B Apple Insider Sources reportedly close to the negotiations tell Digital Trends that Google is looking to acquire the popular messaging app, and that WhatsApp's team is "playing hardball," holding out for an acquisition price close to $1 billion. Bringing WhatsApp ... See all stories on this topic »

Google doodle honours German naturalist Maria Sibylla Merian Hindu Business Line There is something distinctly different about the Google doodle today. It's not an interactive one, but has a variety of insects like a wasp, butterfly in various stages of its metamorphosis and a chameleon on some leaves of a tree. The search engine ... See all stories on this topic » Hindu Business Line

Google could indulge in Vice USA TODAY Vice, the young-man-focused skateboard, sex, travel, music and international derring-do multi-media empire based in Brooklyn, was the subject of a favorable story in last week's New Yorker magazine. Alone among media companies, Vice appears to have ... See all stories on this topic »

Landing Google Fiber network would be 'great for Austin technology' Austin American-Statesman Kansas City won the first round of a competition set up by Google in 2010 to see which local communities would propose to be sites of the high-speed network that can send information streaming between users at speeds as high as 1 gigabit (1 billion ... See all stories on this topic »

Have replied to Survey of India queries: Google Moneycontrol.com As Delhi Police investigates whether Google violated rules in holding a competition that asked users to add information about their local areas for its online map, the US Internet company today said it had responded to queries raised by Survey of India ... See all stories on this topic » Moneycontrol.com

Meet Google's Next Generation Of Superstar Executives (GOOG) San Francisco Chronicle It's a good thing Google keeps coming up with new challenges. Some of Google's up-and-comers, while not big names outside the company, have hit the radar of competitors. In the past, Google has fought fiercely to keep its best talent, but some have ... See all stories on this topic »