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How 8 Pixels Cost Microsoft Millions
NubKnacker writes "Economic Times, one of India's biggest business daily's is carrying a story about how a small colouring mistake forced Microsoft to recall 200,000 copies of Windows 95. This wouldn't be the first time that has happened to Microsoft. From the article, "Microsoft has also managed to upset women and entire countries. A Spanish-language version of Windows XP, destined for Latin American markets, asked users to select their gender between "not specified," "male" or "bitch," because of an unfortunate error in translation." Ouch!"
This is a dupe. Too bad the editors don't bother checking the dupe email box.
Come one, come all, for the greatest dupe on earth... It's not the exact same article, but it's the exact same source materiel...
If I was low on Karma, I'm sure I could Karma Whore and just copy high scoring posts from the previous article...
[Insert obligatory Chevy "No va" story here.]
"To be absolutely certain about something, one must know everything or nothing about it." -- Olin Miller
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5316664.html
Looks like everyone else is a week behind the times...
-- Dave
up 12 days, 22:30, 2 users, load averages: 993.20, 994.21, 994.56
*makes note to limit user processes...
[Insert obligatory Snopes link here]
8 pixels is nothing to be mad about. Microsoft has flooded Poland in win2k/xp. Just check the map in time zone setting. They didn't get banned here though. Seems they predicted how global warming affects Europe in the future.
I managed to save a screenshot (well, actually HTML) of the pulled story, because everything (including my comment) disappeared. Check out my Journal entry about it. If you try replying to my comment in the Journal entry, you get a message like:
Submitted Comment
There was an unknown error in the submission
An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
In the Spanish version, they used "hembra" instead of "mujer". There is a more descriptive article.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
Ford Pinto was introduced in the USA in 1970, while Ford Corcel was introduced in Brazil in 1968. The Corcel was actually a Renault design, made under license by Willys in Brazil. Ford in Brazil merged with Willys in 1968. They made a "Ford Jeep" for several years in Brazil.
This post was copied from the previous article.
irb(main):001:0>
The problem arises from the fact that there are different words for the english aceptions of "male/female". You use "Masculino/Femenino" for gender, and "Macho/Hembra" for animals, or cable plugs.
To see how Microsoft really feels, read this excerpt from http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,128 5890,00.html
For example when employees were arrested in Turkey because Kurdistan had been shown as a separate entity on maps of the country, a decision was taken to remove Kurdistan from all maps.
"Of course we offended Kurds by doing this but we had offended the Turks more and they were a much more important market for our products. It was a hard commercial decision, not political."
Sigs are for lusers. Hey! wait a second...
*sigh*
Just stop plugging this stuff already. As somebody who has lived in Spain for the last 14 years I can tell you with 100% certainty that "nova" and "no va" are pronounced differently, and nobody says "no va" referring to cars here anyway.
A Spanish-language version of Windows XP, destined for Latin American markets,...
You fail.
~ Aero
Damm Wrong!!!
They used the word "HEMBRA", which us used for female animals, not for women. In every spanish speaking country, the word is considered offensive if applied to a woman, although in some countries is much more insulting than in others.
PENAROL: Seras eterno como el tiempo y floreceras en cada primavera.
I think not. The difference in enunciation to the respective native audiences is exactly the same with both examples.
no-VA vs NO-va, and NO-ta-ble vs no-TA-ble.
Today's weirdness is tomorrow's reason why. -- Hunter S. Thompson
No, snopes is pointing out that a common-usage phrase across all Spanish-speaking langauges ("no va") would not have been a surprise.
"Pinto" is a Portugese Brazillian slang term for penis. This is the same problem that the LaCrosse had... it was a slang term in Quebec/French for masturbation, not a general French word known to all speakers.
Neither of these examples would be caught by your average translator or Spanish/French-speaking marketer.
No, that is not true. I am German and where I come from you always prefix it with 'ein' or 'eine'. Again, "Ich bin ein Berliner" is 100% correct.
Putting aside the parent's comment about where the blame lies, I'd like to clarify the objective part of his point:
In Spain, forms with gender ask you to choose between M and V, or Mujer and Varon (women and man). In the past, H was used instead of M, standing for Hembra, which is the word for the female of a species. Although this wasn't quite as bad as in English (since 'bitch' in our language has several other negative meanings), it still was clearly not OK. Hence the change to M in forms.
No form today in Spain or anywhere would have H for Hembra, and it certainly should not appear in anything put out by a software company.
In Central American Spanish "male and female" can be translated to "macho y hembra" or "masculino y femenino". "Macho y hembra" refer mostly to animals, while "masculino y femenino" are used with humans, and are considered correct when used in, say, a fill out form. "Hembra", while not strictly a profanity sounds very rude when used on women.
The perfect sig is a lot like silence, only louder
bzzz, wrong answer. Hembra is a pretty loaded term in Spain too. The term ss rarely used describing human females. When it is used, it is done typically among males to describe a well-shaped , good looking woman. When used this way, it is similar to the american "babe", Johnny Bravo style.
Thus, for a Spaniard, asking you if you are a "macho" or an "hembra" would be as appropiate as being asked if you're a stud or a babe: The only computer program that could get away with that would be a Larry Laffer game.
"Who would know that the Indian govt. would be overly sensitive to Kashmir?"
Sorry, but this may sound patronizing. India and Pakistan have squabbled and fought minor wars over Kashmir for half a century. Almost every single time India and Pakistan make the news - which they do regularly, here in Europe - Kashmir gets a mention, with India accusing Pakistan of funding, training and arming insurgents in Kashmir, Pakistan denying vehemently.
Since India and Pakistan are now nuclear powers, this gets attention in countries that know what being bombed feels like, i.e. every non-American country. Kashmir may yet spark the next nuclear holocaust.
The map was indeed the timezone map. The all green undifferentiated map is the 'fixed' version. The original had boundary lines; when they removed them for kashmir, they removed all boundaries for all versions of windows.
Note that the Economic Times and the Times of India, while part of the same group (Bennett and Coleman Ltd.), are two different newspapers. The former, which carries the article, is a respected (if slightly sensational) business daily, while the latter, which you cite, is just toilet paper.
The original Age of Empires includes "priest" units that can "convert" enemy units and buildings -- i.e., causing the target (say, a temple) to change sides. Thus I could take a Persian or Egyptian priest and convert Roman and Greek units to my side.
No matter what you do in life, it will offend someone, somewhere. ;)
All about me