Global by Design

There are tons of articles about Google vs. Baidu, but few of these articles take an in-depth look at how Google compares to Baidu from a Chinese user’s perspective.
In this article, I do just that, and I render a verdict as to which Web site is better.
Search
The best way to compare search engine quality [...]

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If you’ve read this blog recently, you are aware of John’s reports on Facebook’s efforts to translate its Website into German and other European languages. I am a keen observer of the “kraut-sourcing” efforts. However, in Germany Facebook faces an entrenched competitor: “StudiVZ”.
StudiVZ is a social networking platform, very similar to Facebook. In contrast [...]

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The Apple iPhone goes on sale today in the UK and Germany.
Awhile back I wondered how Apple would localize its Web keypad, which features the .com button to accelerate the input of URLs. I own an iPhone and really do make use of this button.
So I took a look at the German keypad demo today [...]

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The customized Google home page known as iGoogle has been localized into a bunch of additional languages, bringing the grand total to 42. Here are the most recently added languages:
- Arabic
- Bulgarian
- Catalian
- Croatian
- Icelandic
- Indonesian
- Latvian
- Lithuanian
- Malay
- Serbian
- Slovak
- Slovenian
- Tagalog
Since languages span borders, the total number of country domains now supported by [...]

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There are many problems with using pull-down menus on a Web site, but the one that jumps out at me occurs in those “Select Country” pull down menus.
Today I tried to register on a popular consumer Web site that will remain nameless.
My default country came up as US Virgin Islands for some strange reason. [...]

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Last year, Montenegro split up with Serbia, becoming an independent country, as well as the 192nd member of the United Nations.
This has created a bit of a headache for companies and organizations that manage things like maps and locale-dependent software and even those country code extensions that you see on Web sites, like www.apple.fr [...]

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Microsoft has played a major role helping to establish Unicode as a global standard.
Microsoft first migrated to Unicode for its Windows 2000 operating system. In doing so, it cleared the way for faster development of global software. It also allows users to more easily share documents that includes multiple languages and scripts.
This Microsoft article [...]

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Quechua is the language of the Incan Empire and is spoken by roughly 10 million people throughout South America, the majority of whom live in Peru and Bolivia.
Recent developments suggest that this “minority” language is not going gently into that good night.
Google currently supports Quechua with a localized search engine.

And it is not the only [...]

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Google Desktop began as a simple application that would let you search your computer’s hard drive as quickly as it searches the Internet. And, best of all, it was free.
It still is free, but now it supports lots of little desktop applications, known as gadgets, and 28 languages, including Finnish, Turkish, and Romanian (excerpted here).

You [...]

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I got an email last week from Chris Wood, one of the authors of “Bilingual Software Standards and Guidelines in Wales.”
I realize that this may not sound like the most exciting read, but I recommend downloading a copy (hey, it’s free!).
I’m reading it now and have found that it includes good advice for anyone involved [...]

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