Google Talk gets real-time language translation

20th December 2007
Danny Gorog

Want to speak to someone overseas but can't speak their language? Google has added the world's first live translation system to its instant messaging network, truly delivering on the science-fiction promise of the "babelfish".
Google's IM network is available via the downloadable Google Talk software, on the web using the Google Talk Gadget, or through any software that supports the open-source Jabber chat protocol. It's also available via the left hand side bar in the Gmail window.
Today Google improved on Talk by adding on-the-fly language translation via 'bots' that you add to your Google Talk friends list.
Do you speak French? Or Arabic? Now you do with new Google language 'bots'
Translating using iChat and Jabber
To use the translation tools you'll need to add each individual language-to-language bot as a friend in your G Talk buddy list.
There are currently 24 supported bots and adding them is easy as long as you know the two languages you want to translate between.
You'll also need to append '@bot.talk.google.com' to the end of the two languages. I fired up Google Chat and used it to translate between English and French and English and Arabic and the response is almost instant.
For a complete list of language codes see here . If you add them and nothing happens it means that Google doesn't support it yet.
There's also another feature that I hadn't noticed before called Group Chat - this lets you invite multiple people into a chat, and can be used in conjunction with the languages bots to help a translation between you and your foreign friend. However, it's worth noting that both Group Chat and language translations are only available within G Talk and not to your AIM buddies unfortunately.
If you're not a fan of web-based IM clients then any Jabber compatible client (iChat included) should let you sign on to G Talk and add buddies locally.

Christmas air cargo space short as Australian online sales jump 6-8pc

A SIX to eight per cent jump in online shopping this year is causing a great Australian rush for airfreight space, reports the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
The Australian Horticultural Exporters Association's David Minnis said Christmas was always busy, but the rise in the country's online shopping this year has made life more difficult than ever.
"As a fresh fruit exporter, we're used to having some problems around Christmas time, but for some reason this year Australians are sending lots of presents overseas," he says.
"Certainly space into Asia and then on through Europe is tight because of this movement of Christmas goods," he said.

Long Beach truckers hit with US$35 to $70 per container tax, LA to follow

PORT officials have given a green light to US$35 to $70 per loaded container green tax on truckers to the Port of Long Beach, reports the Associated Press.
The tax will take effect by June and is expected to raise $1.6 billion to replace or retrofit 16,800 trucks to reduce emissions. The nearby Port of Los Angeles is expected to copy the initiative soon.
The cost is expected to be passed on to consignees for all containers leaving by truck with a future aim to include containers leaving by train.
The Clean Truck Programme under Long Beach and Los Angeles Clean Air Action Plan aims to ban trucks without clean-burning engines from the port by 2012. The plan sees an 80 per cent reduction in air pollution from short-haul trucks within five years.
The method of collection of the tax by terminal operators is yet to be decided, but optical character readers that comply with the programme are being considered. Exemptions or credits for owners of green-compliant vehicles have been discussed.

Japan takes humpbacks off kill list

Brendan Nicholson, Canberra, and Andrew DarbyDecember 22, 2007

A DETERMINED Australian-led campaign against hunting humpback whales has succeeded — for now — with Japan abandoning plans to kill them in the Antarctic this year.
Japan has removed a quota of 50 humpbacks from its "scientific research" whaling list because of concerns about its relations with Australia, a Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman said last night.
But Japan will proceed with a cull of almost 1000 other whales, mostly of the smaller minke species. The humpback hunt will be suspended for one or two years.
Mitsuo Sakaba said Japan's relationship with Australia was too important to be jeopardised by any single issue or dispute.
"'We are aware that in Australia and other countries there is strong objection to our scientific research whaling," Mr Sakaba said. "It is clear that a very significant portion of the Australian people, from young children to senior citizens, hold whales, especially humpback whales, very dear."
Mr Sakaba said it should be emphasised that Japan's scientific research whaling program was not illegal.
Another Japanese Government spokesman, Nobutaka Machimura, denied that Tokyo had succumbed to Australian pressure, saying the decision not to kill humpbacks was also made after consultations with the International Whaling Commission.
A spokesman for Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Japan's decision was welcome, but nonetheless there was no good reason why Japan should continue any sort of whaling.
The Government believed there was "no credible justification for the hunting of any whales and will vigorously pursue its efforts, announced earlier this week, to see an end to whaling by Japan", the spokesman said.
The proposed killing of humpbacks, which migrate south along the Australian coast, would have been the first sanctioned hunt of humpbacks in the Antarctic since they were protected by the International Whaling Commission in 1963.
Japan included them as part of a quota of 1035 whales it set using an IWC loophole that allows any member nation to set its own scientific kill target.
The Federal Government announced a new campaign against scientific whaling this week. It will include surveillance of the Japanese fleet to gather evidence for an international legal case, and increasing diplomatic pressure on Japan.
Australia's ambassador in Tokyo, Murray McLean, was due to present the Japanese Government with Canberra's formal protest last night.
Darren Kindleysides, Asia Pacific campaigner for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, said the group would see Japan's decision as an "admission of wrongdoing".
"Certainly, this is a climbdown," he said. "But clearly this year is still the biggest year ever of Japanese research whaling, with up to 935 minke whales and 50 endangered fin whales still in Japan's sights."
Greenpeace said it was encouraging that the decision had been taken away from the Fisheries Agency and handled by the Japanese Government.
Greenpeace and the militant splinter group Sea Shepherd have each sent a ship to Antarctic waters to try to disrupt Japan's whaling. Its whaling ships left Japanese ports for the Antarctic last month.
Greenpeace's ship Esperanza left Auckland this week, but Sea Shepherd's ship, the Steve Irwin, is returning to Australia for mechanical repairs after blowing a piston in one of its twin engines. The ship is likely to dock in Melbourne around Christmas.

WISHING YOU ALL A VERY MERRY AND SAFE CHRISTMAS TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY.

FROM THE CREW AT WILLARD ESTATE LOGISTICS
BRETT, DEBI, JULIE, KERRY AND STROM


Operational hours for Willard Estate Logistics during Christmas /New Year Period
24th December 2007: Limited operation (office unattended but phones tranferred to our mobile). Email will not be read until evening of 24th December 2007 – we will be travelling.
25th – 26th December 2007. Limited operation (office phones transferred to our mobile phone for emergency communication)
27th – 31st December 2007. Limited operation (office will be attended on 27th, 28th and 31st December from 0945 – 1445hrs, otherwise phones will be transferred to our mobile).
1st January 2008. Limited operation (office phones transferred to our mobile phone for emergency communication).
2nd January 2008. It all begins again. All hands back on deck with proposed News Years resolutions to reduce chocolate, coffee intake, do exercise etc.
3rd January 2008 All News Years resolutions put on hold until 2009.
8th August 2008. Day one of the 2008 Olympic Games held in Beijin.

It could be worse!! Customs men locked out.

Reported in the PNG Post Courier.
A LARGE amount of air cargo from overseas has been sitting in warehouses near the Jackson’s Airport since last Thursday while Internal Revenue Commission’s customs office sorted out its rental payments. The customs officers working in the building at Six-Mile belonging to the Steamships property division had been locked out for non-payment of rental of K35,400.48.When the Post-Courier visited the office late yesterday afternoon, they found the property owners had gone to remove the chain to the door and to advise the security guards to let the customs officers in when they come to work today.“IRC had finally got its act together,” said the Steamships property staffer when removing the chain from the door. “They have paid the rent this afternoon.”He refused to comment further but confirmed the outstanding rental was for October, November and December.He said the payment was expected to be paid in October but it never eventuated, resulting in the closure of the office. He said this was not the first time IRC had been locked out from this office due to non-payment of rentals.TNT Air Cargo customers manager and president for PNG Customs Brokers Association Nathaniel Baloiloi confirmed this.Mr Baloiloi said in this year alone this would be the third time for the office to be closed and it was affecting not only private companies, but also the Government which relied on the revenue collected from import duties. Other companies into air freight customs clearance include DHL, Hi-Lift company, Port Moresby Transport, Express Freight Management and News Agencies.Mr Baloiloi said before any cargo was delivered to their customers, there was paper work that needed to be done and duty payments to be made but that could not be done since Thursday.Mr Baloiloi said TNT alone received 10 tonnes of cargo a day. The other agencies also received about that amount or more but kept them in their own warehouses while awaiting clearance before they could deliver them.On Sunday, he said, Air Niugini’s jumbo jet brought in 900 tonnes of cargo which had yet to be cleared. “We receive 10 to 15 tonnes of cargo and if this is put together with others, this would be a lot of cargo that is being held up at the airport,” he said.“This is affecting everyone – us, our customers and the Government as the import duties go to the consolidated revenue,” he said.Attempts to get comments from IRC yesterday were unsuccessful, although the IRC officers were aware of this newspaper’s attempts to get comments from the customs officers.

Bunker Adjustment Factory Summary

The above chart is a recent update of Bunker Adjustment charges and the implementation date. (Information provided by OOCL Line but current for all lines on AAA service).

China container volume returns to steady pace after 2004 peak

CONTAINER volume of mainland ports has returned to steady growth of 20 per cent from the peak of 40 per cent in 2004, said to be the result of Beijing's efforts to curb the trade surplus, Xinhua reported.
Increase of box volume is subjected to import and export growth. Boosted by surging exports, ports in China experienced rapid growth in container throughput of more than 30 per cent from 2002 to 2004.
But starting from 2005, the growth rate has fallen to 20 per cent annually due to the policy on cooling the economy, the report said.
Container ports continue to maintain steady growth in 2007. Statistics of the Ministry of Communications show mainland ports handled 92.1 million TEU in the first 10 months of 2007, an increase of 22.3 per cent year on year.
The top eight container ports including Shanghai, Shenzhen, Qingdao, Ningbo-Zhoushan, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Xiamen and Dalian altogether handled 73.6 million TEU, accounting for 80 per cent of the total.
Shednet 13/12/07

Pacific National plans Tassie rail service sale

SUE NEALES
December 12, 2007 04:26pm
THE Australian Stock Exchange has been told Tasmania's only rail business may be shut down or sold.
The Asciano transport group, which owns the Pacific National Rail freight business, plans to sell or close its Tasmanian operations as soon as possible.
The announcement has come as a shock to the Tasmanian Government, which 18 months ago injected $110 million into Pacific National so rail freight services in Tasmania could continue.
The new Federal Government has just promised an additional $150 million-plus to enhance rail services in Tasmania, including reopening the rail tracks in the Derwent valley and west of Burnie to cart logs to the planned Tamar Valley pulp mill.
The $79 million rail hub at Brighton, which will take all freight and the rail head away from the Hobart port area, freeing up Macquarie wharf area for redevelopment, is also about to commence construction.
The Asciano board of directors has already approved Pacific National's pull-out from Tasmania, as part of a nationwide restructure that allows it to focus on bulk resource commodity transport in Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia.
Pacific National runs the only remaining train services in Tasmania.
Much of the State's freight network depends on the haulage of containers between Tasmania's container port in Burnie and Launceston and Hobart.
Pacific National also freights minerals as well as paper and raw materials for major factories such as the Norske Skog paper mill near New Norfolk.
There are no passenger trains left in Tasmania.
The Liberal Opposition this morning called on the Lennon Government to immediately ensure Tasmania is not left without a rail freight operation.
Liberal infrastructure spokesman Peter Gutwein said questions about Pacific National's commitment to Tasmania were raised earlier this year, when it cut back rail freight services to the North-West.
The State Government defended this as a commercial decision, with Infrastructure Minister Jim Cox, telling Parliament in June it would result in Pacific National becoming more efficient.
Mr Gutwein said announcement demonstrated the State Government had well and truly taken its eye off the ball.
"The State Government needs to tell Tasmanians what action it is taking to ensure the State is not left without a rail operator, at a time when we need to be looking at ways of getting trucks off our roads and onto rail," Mr Gutwein said.
Mr Gutwein said continued uncertainty for rail operations in Tasmania was outrageous, particularly in light of last year's $118 million Federal-State rescue of Pacific National that was intended to secure its future.
Mr Cox said Tasmania has a legally binding agreement with rail operator Pacific National containing strict clauses preventing the company from simply walking away from the State.
Mr Cox said he was disappointed that once again the company and its parent, Asciano, were flagging apparent changes to intermodal freight operations without providing any details to the State Government or the Tasmanian public.
"Through the rail rescue package, the State Government has secured ownership of Tasmania's rail infrastructure, and that infrastructure is subject to open-access," Mr Cox said.
"This means any other freight operator can run trains on Tasmania's freight network, regardless of what Asciano may or may not be considering."
Mr Cox said he would be formally requesting more information from Asciano and in turn advising them of Pacific National's legal obligations under the agreement that came into effect on January 1 this year.

Guangzhou volume up 41pc, set to surpass 9 million TEU

PORT of Guangzhou's cumulative throughput in 2007 increased 41 per cent year on year to 8.4 million TEU by the end of November and is estimated to breach the 9 million TEU mark by the end of the year, Xinhua reported.
In 2006, the port handled 6.66 million TEU with an overall tonnage of more than 300 million tons, becoming the fifth largest in the world and third largest in China.
The port now has 51 container berths and a 15.5-metre navigational channel which can carry a 100,000-ton ship. Its Nansha Port Area has ten 100,000-ton container berths and a quay length of 3,500 metres.

Clarkson sees 2008 container shipping growth slow, but steady

WORLD container traffic will grow 8 per cent in 2008, but capacity is expected to grow 12 per cent, according to UK-based Clarkson Research Services.
Clarkson analysts said the container shipping market will face a supply-demand imbalance, but will maintain a slow and steady growth.
Compared to 2006, the container shipping market was in a slow and weak period of recovery in 2007, said a report on Clarkson's findings from Xinhua News Agency.
A report from the Shanghai Shipping Exchange said the Chinese market is to slow down to a steady rate in the next two years from its recent period of rapid growth. The report suggests terminal operators and carriers adjust accordingly to avoid overcapacity.
Opinion from the industry said the slow recovery in the later half of 2007 is closely related to the change of the shipping giant Maersk's strategy.
To retain market share and cement its industry leadership, after the difficult acquisition of P&O Nedlloyd, Maersk adopted a price-cutting policy which led the industry into a slump, analysts said. The market later began to recover when the new captain of Maersk steered a course towards profitability.
Analysts also said cargo volume on Asia-North America lines have been affected by the slowdown of US economy, but growth on Asia-Europe lines remains strong. New emerging markets such as Vietnam, Latin America and South Africa are also subject rapid development trends.

Australia 'back on the map' with Kyoto decision

Posted 1 hour 22 minutes ago Updated 1 hour 15 minutes ago

Federal Climate Change Minister Penny Wong says Australia's decision to ratify the Kyoto Protocol puts the nation back on the map in the fight against climate change.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd yesterday signed the instrument of ratification of the Protocol in the first official act of his new Government.
Australia will now become a full member of the Kyoto Protocol early next year.
During the United Nations Climate Change (UNCC) conference in Bali, delegates broke into spontaneous applause when news of Australia's decision was announced yesterday.
Some delegates of the 12-day conference gave the Australian delegation a standing ovation.
Senator Wong says the decision sets Australia up for a leadership role at the conference.
"Ratifying the Kyoto Protocol puts Australia back on the map," she said.
"The world now knows that this nation is prepared to do its bit and be part of the global solution to climate change. This gives us an impetus to go into the Bali conference to set that leadership role.
"The purpose of the Bali conference is to set out the road map for what happens post the Kyoto period.
"We want to ensure that what we agree in Bali gives Australia and the world the best chance to moving towards a solution on climate change."
Mr Rudd, Senator Wong, Environment Minister Peter Garrett and Treasurer Wayne Swan are preparing to go to the Bali summit next week.
Emissions trading
Dominique La Fontaine, the chief executive of the Clean Energy Council - the peak body representing the clean energy industry - says Australian business can now benefit from the trading that surrounds the Kyoto Protocol.
Ms La Fontaine is part of the official Australian delegation at the Bali conference and told ABC TV's Lateline Business program that the decision opens up international markets for Australian companies in emissions trading.
"At the moment [that] is worth around $US55 billion per annum," she said.
"It opens up opportunities in the clean development mechanism initiative. It opens up opportunities for Australian companies, through joint implementation, to work with other companies in developed countries to also participate in the Kyoto frameworks."
Meanwhile, Australian Greens Senator Christine Milne says the new Federal Government will need to tackle old growth logging if it is to meet its Kyoto targets.
Senator Milne has welcomed the move to ratify Kyoto, but says Australia will struggle to meet its targets.
"The only reason we had any hope of coming in at the target was because of a one-off benefit from avoided land clearance," she said.
"Now we're really going to have Mr Rudd focus his mind on the fact that we have deforestation in Australia really on a big scale in Tasmania, Victoria and in New South Wales - this is going to be a major issue."

Exports From Tasmania Grow

3 December 2007
Exports from Tasmania continue to outstrip national growth.
The Treasurer, Michael Aird, said ABS figures released today show the value of overseas merchandise exports from Tasmania grew by 17.7 per cent to $3.75 billion in the year to October 2007 compared to the previous year.
“Nationally, overseas merchandise exports increased by just 3.6 per cent in the same period,” Mr Aird said.
“The emergence in recent years of China and India as key growth markets for Tasmanian exports has led to strong overseas export growth.
“Tasmanian produce is highly sought after across the world.
“Japan was the single largest importer of Tasmanian goods in the year to October 2007, accounting for 19.6 per cent of the State's total exports.”
Mr Aird said in terms of Tasmania's export markets, the largest increases in the past year by country and nominal value have been to Japan (up $187 million), Taiwan (up $140 million), China (up $89 million), Korea (up $75 million), Malaysia (up $34 million), the United States of America (up $33 million), New Zealand (up $25 million), Indonesia (up $18 million), Germany (up $12 million), the United Kingdom (up $6 million) and India, the Philippines and Singapore (all up $3 million).

Notice to Importers: Rate Restoration

This announcement received from one of the AAA partners on the 3rd December 2007 - we expect other shipping liunes to follow suit.

Quote
Notice as follows:

South East Asia, Sub-continent, Middle East
To Australia


As part of the ongoing rate restoration programme in the South East Asia trade area to Australia, we announce that there will be a rate restoration of US$300/20’ and US$600/40’ with effect 1st January, 2008

This rate restoration covers imports from South East Asia, Subcontinent, Middle East ports to Australia.

End Quote