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).