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Babelfish Mutations

Zen Master Nate writes "You are probably familiar with the BabelFish translation page, where you can enter a phrase and have it translated to or from several languages. Quickly. Inaccurately. This page automatically feeds the results back into the machine, resulting in exponentially erroneous translations. " I've been feeding it quotes from American Pie, Star Wars and Seinfeld. I should get out more.

112 comments

  1. The Slashdot Effec[tm] strikes again! by vr · · Score: 1

    Apparently the server didn't like being slashdotted, so the script has been moved.

    Perhaps someone should warn people when their websites will be featured on /.



    vr

  2. Translation 'errors' masking deeper truths? by Kill-O-Zap · · Score: 2

    One can't help but wonder if such translation 'errors' don't hide deeper linguistic truths. Here's a couple of examples that ring true to me:

    The first was the result of early ('first wave') AI research. Mid 50's or so, right at the height of the Cold War. For some reason, the Feds thought English/Russian translation would be easy as (warm apple) pie. Alas, the phrase:

    "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak."

    came back from its round trip as:

    "The vodka is strong but the meat is rotten."

    Pretty good intelligence-gathering, I say.

    Better still, some philosopher translated the line from Shakespeare"

    "Many a bad wedding has been prevented by a good hanging." [possibly I have mangled this one myself]

    into German. Some other philosopher translated it back as,

    "It is better to be well hung than ill-tempered."

    which is so true, it may be the one thing all slashdotters could actually agree on!

    1. Re:Translation 'errors' masking deeper truths? by Gleef · · Score: 2

      This translator comes close. If you run "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak" through the Spanish version, you come up with "The alcohol is fixed but the meat is weak". Just in case you wanted your liquor to breed.

      ----

      --

      ----
      Open mind, insert foot.
    2. Re:Translation 'errors' masking deeper truths? by Lerc · · Score: 1
      "The vodka is strong but the meat is rotten." it's an Uban legend

      F. Russian/Chinese mechanical translator translates "out of sight, out of mind" into "blind and insane". Also "Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak" as "the drink is good but the meat is rotten."

      --
      -- That which does not kill us has made its last mistake.
    3. Re:Translation 'errors' masking deeper truths? by dtw · · Score: 1

      > One can't help but wonder if such translation
      > 'errors' don't hide deeper linguistic truths.

      Possibly. I went to an historical documents site, copied the Declaration of
      Independence, and pasted it in to the translator.
      Here is the result of bouncing back and forth between English and German:

      d time of unanimously statement of d thirteen status of America if, in d process time time time time time time time time time time time time time out out out out out out out out out out out out out humanly box, it necessarily for people again will create a d politically to linkage which to have adding hardware module it with more more more more more more more more more more more more more more ander, and to assume **time-out** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

      This describes the current state of US politics more eloquently than I ever could. Spooky.

      ->Dan

      --
      ->Dan
  3. Re:Babelfish fills a dull day by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yes...it does get you through the day. Also rather fun.

  4. Re:The Dialectizer by flolux · · Score: 1

    Uh!
    First moron on heise http://www.rinkworks.com/dialect/dialectp.cgi?dial ect=moron&url=http://www.heise.de/
    Copy & Past it to babelfish

    output:
    Winblows and Linux - a mad team

    Genuine professionals are not with faith wars around the `richtige ' Betriebssyssem; the
    C'pootrwebuhlt is hetehogen, and so it can only concern to find the altogether optimal solution.
    Instead of `Linux odeh Winblows, duh... uh...? ' is called therefore, the best from both Webuhlten
    zusammenzubriggen and to make usable.

    More as peaceful coexistence Winblows Linux Bootmanageh Linux than Winblows Sehbeh
    x-Sehbeh for Winblows

  5. Ye're killing all the cool sites! by Entity42 · · Score: 1

    Yeah it looks like ye've killed segfault. And I can't wait to read that South Park story

    --
    To err is human,
    To really screw up, you need a computer!
  6. Diplomatic sysadmin! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That sysadmin could have worded the message so much more offensively. It was a very considerate piece of diplomacy! Nicholas Bodley // nbodley@tiac.net

  7. Re:Damn. by pen · · Score: 1

    Isn't it "an operating system is no better than the person running it?"

    I'm not usually the one to nitpick, but it seems pretty important in this case.

    ---

  8. For a real laugh... by Ross+Finlayson · · Score: 1

    ...try typing in just the word "Mark", then select repeated translation to/from German.

    1. Re:For a real laugh... by The_Jazzman · · Score: 1


      **time-out** ** ** ** ** anzeigen anzeigen anzeigen Schablone Zeit heraus anzeigen Zeit heraus anzeigen Schablone anzeigen
      anzeigen Schablone anzeigen Schablone anzeigen anzeigen Schablone anzeigen anzeigen anzeigen Schablone anzeigen
      anzeigen Schablone anzeigen anzeigen Schablone anzeigen Schablone anzeigen anzeigen Schablone anzeigen anzeigen
      anzeigen Schablone anzeigen anzeigen Schablone anzeigen Schablone anzeigen anzeigen Schablone anzeigen anzeigen
      anzeigen Schablone anzeigen anzeigen Schablone anzeigen anzeigen Schablone anzeigen Schablone anzeigen anzeigen
      Schablone anzeigen Schablone anzeigen anzeigen Schablone anzeigen anzeigen Schablone anzeigen Schablone anzeigen
      anzeigen Schablone anzeigen Schablone anzeigen anzeigen

      Giving up.

      After a couple of pages of this, I'm impressed...

  9. YAST yet another stupid translation by gutterface · · Score: 1

    Commander Taco sucks. Hemos sucks.

    (portugese)

    The tablet of parquet of the commander sucks. We have ourselves we suck.



    (spanish)

    The mark of commander I aspires. We have ourselves we aspired.


    --
    gutterface
  10. Ask Slashdot: Comp-Sci Graduate Schools by quadong · · Score: 1

    Colonel Kurtz, who transfers into this question, which I represented, is by the interest to some by you: " I regard, graduated school in approximately two years also obtained, in order to exercise masters or Ph.D. in computer science. I am a good user category Nichtgraduierter with an inclination for CS and I look the academic challenge degree-train above. I look Slashdot above after the informed advice of the community. Specifically, while I selects, a school graduated should? Is it worth a direction for the upper schools to the graduate of the series? (like ALSO, Stanford, etc..) or should I refer down even few (like Purdue or Syrakus?) At this point I would be lucky to have each possible type discussion over the schools graduated ",

  11. I liked this one by Mhyrr · · Score: 1

    Your Results: I love you Le amo Him master Él principal Main he Cañería él Pipe him Transmítalo

    --
    It'a all about Bandwidth
  12. The translations aren't that bad :-) by 100mbit · · Score: 1

    I don't like to use any Microsoft products!
    Ich mag keine Microsoftprodukte benutzen!
    I may not use Microsoft products!
    Ich kann möglicherweise nicht Microsoftprodukte benutzen!
    I cannot use possibly Microsoft products!
    Ich kann nicht Microsoftprodukte vielleicht benutzen!
    I cannot perhaps use Microsoft products!
    Ich kann nicht Microsoftprodukte möglicherweise benutzen!
    I cannot possibly use Microsoft products!

    You see it knows you shouldn't use microsoft products!

  13. oh, ok by RoLlEr_CoAsTeR · · Score: 1

    Oh. wow.

    I didn't actually get to hear the sound clip (school network, no sound card on this machine), but, assuming that, in the speach, he doesn't use the "ein" then... oops. And then, yeah, technically, we'd all know that he meant to say "I'm a Berliner" if he had said "Ich bin ein Berliner" (and we'd really know it if he said "Ich bin Berliner." ) seeing as how I'm learning German and am obviously no native speaker, I have been taught that the "ein" article is not to be used when stating what nationality, locality one is of. So, in another technical sense, if I/someone wanted to be anal retentive, they could still argue for the jelly donut cause, but hey, we all get the point.


    Thanks for the correction. Thanks very much indeed.

    --

    Insert mind here.
  14. cultural differences by LordXarph · · Score: 1

    We come to bury DOS, not to praise it.

    Wir kommen, DOS zu begraben, um es nicht zu preisen.

    We come to bury DOS in order not to praise it.

    Wir kommen, DOS zu begraben, um es zu preisen.

    We come to bury DOS in order to praise it.

  15. More recursiveness by drewb · · Score: 1

    I was looking for some random stuff to try out with this, and I found that the last line of my high school's alma mater is also recursive in Italian.

    "We are Xavier men forever as we hail the white and blue!"

    The fight song is even worse. The Italian translation brings in Moscow and Victoria and has several recursive places.

  16. Blue screen of death. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Blue screen of death.
    Schermo blu della morte.
    Blue screen of the dead women.
    Schermo blu delle donne guasti.
    Blue screen of the out of order women.
    Schermo blu delle donne guastate.
    Blue screen of the put out of order women.

  17. Try: Come eat my leg by ixx · · Score: 1

    Try: "Come eat my leg" (w/out quotes) :)

  18. Some translations by sela · · Score: 1

    Translate:
    "I love microsoft windows operating system"
    into spanish, and you'll get:
    "Dominate to the system the operative one of the Windows of Microsoft "

    Or try:
    "my computer runs only linux"
    into italian, and you'll get:
    "for so that it extracts in order to continue of the calcolarici in order to only work the linux"

    Now for an important question:
    "Can bill gates rule the world"?

    French: carries it that the invoice can it that it reigns the world?

    German: can calculation gate arrange the world?

    Spanish: can the door of the account to govern the world?

    Portuguese: can the gate of the customer govern the world?

    Italian: can the gate of the invoice regulate the world?

  19. I love my mom by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I love my mom translated through spanish: Dominate my mom

  20. Bug on some word replacements? by DocTee · · Score: 1

    I had a light-saber fight with Darth Vader last night
    J'ai eu un combat de lumière-light-saber avec Darth Vader passée la nuit
    I had a combat of light-light-saber with Darth Vader last the night
    J'ai eu un combat de lumière-lumière-light-light-saber avec le bout de Darth Vader la nuit
    I had a combat of light-light-light-light-saber with the end of Darth Vader the night
    J'ai eu un combat de lumière-lumière-lumière-lumière-light-light-light- light-saber avec la fin de Darth Vader la nuit
    I had a combat of light-light-light-light-light-light-light-light-sa ber with the end of Darth Vader the night
    J'ai eu un combat de lumière-lumière-lumière-lumière-lumière-lumière-lu mière-lumière-light-light-light-light-li ght-light-light-light-saber avec la fin de Darth Vader la nuit
    I had a combat of light-light-light-light-light-light-light-light-li ght-light-light-light-light-light-light- light-saber with the end of Darth Vader the night

    I would guess that instead of prepending 'lumiere' onto 'light' it should've replaced it.. still, its interesting :)

    (and in case you're wondering, there was a guy in a Darth Vader costume at the nightclub I went to last night. I tried fighting him with my glowstick. I lost.)

    --
    - doctea
    1. Re:Bug on some word replacements? by sela · · Score: 1


      There are some other weird bugs ...

      Try writing anything with the word "story" in it. It would always be translated back into "history". In any language.
      If it was only one language, it could be quirks of that language, but this seems consistant.

  21. Movie titles by sela · · Score: 1


    The movie "night of the living dead"
    Is translated in italian to:
    "duration of the night put out of order of the men"

    And german geeks should love the movie: "room with a view"

    Which is translated to:
    "Workstation with an opinion "

    An then, also in german, "Pulp fiction" becomes:
    "Mass invention"

    And the movie: "Lock, stock and two smoking barrels" would be translated in german into:
    "Security electrical electric circuit, addition hardware modules and two smoking barrels"

    You german guys are really into technical terms, aren't you?

    The italian, however, would translate the same movie title into:
    "barrels for so that to obstruct, to the resupply of fuel and two to the smoke"

    And how about: "Star wars"?

    Both italian and french agrees on: "the star makes the war".

    Once again, the germans get technical, and preffer: "Asterisk wars "

    It is also curious to find that german vampires are irish: The translation of "Interview with the vampire" is:
    "Inerview with IrishIrish Irish"

    And the last one: "As good as it gets"
    In italian becomes: "Good how much verification".

  22. Just in case you don't read the article... by McFarlane · · Score: 1

    Literally speaking the story IS true. *Parts* of the elaborated story (i.e. the Germans present thought the pronouncement to be humourous) are not.

    The article admits that the most literal translation of standard Hochdeutsch German "Ich bin ein Berliner" would be I am a Berliner (Berliner meaning a type of doughnut - a very tasty and popular one at that - try one if you're ever in Germany sepecially around New Year's). But the article rightly points out that a living language is a much more fluid thing than a set of grammatical rules - dialects and context come heavily into play. The article puts the lie to the fact that based on an overstrict interpretation of Kennedy's phrase people actually listening to him had a chuckle at his expense. Everyone there knew exactly what the US President was saying that day. Basically the article says you *could* after a fashion interpret the sentence Kennedy said to mean "I am a German-style jelly-filled doughnut". But you'd have to be pretty juvenile to do it (the article says that not me - I say go for it!) and you'd have to basically be on crack to believe that anyone there that day heard anything other than a message of solidarity. (Which I agree with entirely).

    So if you enjoy having a chuckle at the jelly doughnut inerpretation. By all means continue. You are still justified doing so. It's not completely a myth.

    Mmmmm, im Moment wuerde ich sehr gerne ein Berliner fressen! And I don't mean a citizen of the city of Berlin!

    --
    [We don't come from a planet. We come from a grid sector.]
  23. Essay foolishness by Sludge · · Score: 1

    I did this sort of thing with Babelfish manually months ago. I handed in an essay to my AP Literature 12 teacher with a sense of humour that had been translated to french and back, with an explatation.

    I recommend this language scrambling to anyone who picks up on near nonexistant sexual innuendos. :)

    1. Re:Essay foolishness by Jay+L · · Score: 1

      "my AP Literature 12 teacher with a sense of humour that had been translated to french and back"

      Heck, we don't need computers to have funny sentences!

  24. the god makes mine makes oh, had killed kenny!!! by miahrogers · · Score: 1

    just go to the babelfish site and type in "oh my god they killed kenny", translated it from english to portuguese and you get "oh meu deus, mataram kenny", then translate it from english to portugese again and you get "deus do meu do oh, mataram kenny", do it again and you get "o deus faz o meu faz oh, mataram kenny" then translate it all to english and you get "the god makes mine makes oh, had killed kenny"

  25. Use the force by Schleppy · · Score: 1

    I fed it "Use the force Luke!" translated it to german, took the german, translated it back to English and got "Spend the strength hatch!"

  26. Ooh Missus.. by Lord+Grumbleduke · · Score: 1

    Translating the English version of the Panix admin letter to German and back produced some rather intersting effects:

    "Their cgi, which was indicated on slashdot, caused all assortments of problems on our Servers. Since it must form many queries to another server, it lasts to run a long time. That, which is connected with the fact the fact that slashdot a Site of the very high data carriering caused your Perl processes to the rear side above is and arranges both of our Web web-Servers to clamp. It is rather probable that babelfish also one over-loaded. I had to rename it in such a way, which would not arrange it the Servers to descend again. They can above set require some examples of, what the index can do instead of. At least to traffic smooths away.
    Generally we need you inform us, when you expect a large increase of traffic (I assume that you link with slashdot inserted). "


  27. babelbard by scrytch · · Score: 2

    Shakespeare is great when run through babblefish. For some reason it seems to do Macbeth reasonably well, but totally mangles Hamlet. "To be or not to be" would become unrecognizable, whereas I couldn't get it to mangle "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow". Actually I plugged the whole of those respective soloquies in, and Macbeth still came out readable.

    --
    I've finally had it: until slashdot gets article moderation, I am not coming back.
  28. CGI Mirrored here by ttyp0 · · Score: 1

    http://www.gtlogistics.com/cgi-bin/nph-babel.cgi

    1. Re:CGI Mirrored here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Alas were it not true, but /. has struck the mirror, looks like its time to pass the buck yet again...

  29. Oh man, this is great.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Here's my little redundant contribution.
    "Eat death, stupid cow!"

    This translates to:
    "For so that it ate the women have put put out of order put put put put put put put put put put, to intimorire stupid!"

    Wow. That's a lot of put.

  30. It's Up Again by TheOnion · · Score: 2

    I'm the author of the page in question. Several people have very kindly offered to host the thing, and the first has gone ahead and done it. So the original URL now simply redirects you to a random mirror (of which there are now *one*, but I expect more soon).

    Thank you, Brent Meshier.

    Jonathan
  31. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  32. slashdot readers should get out more by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    english: slashdot readers should get out more
    german: slashdotleser sollten mehr hinausgehen
    english: more slashdotleser should go out more
    german: mehr slashdotleser sollte mehr erlöschen
    english: more more slashdotleser should go out more
    german: mehr mehr slashdotleser sollte mehr erlöschen
    english: more more more slashdotleser should go out more

    ..it goes endlessly with more, more, and more slashdotleser...

  33. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  34. Slashdot readers should get out more by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    english: slashdot readers should get out more
    german: slashdotleser sollten mehr hinausgehen
    english: more slashdotleser should go out more
    german: mehr slashdotleser sollte mehr erlöschen
    english: more more slashdotleser should go out more
    german: mehr mehr slashdotleser sollte mehr erlöschen
    english: more more more slashdotleser should go out more

    ...it goes endlessly with more, more, and more slashdotleser...

  35. Looks like it broke Babelfish. by Velox_SwiftFox · · Score: 1

    Translation requests are now coming back untranslated.

    1. Re:Looks like it broke Babelfish. by quadong · · Score: 1

      dunno, works fine for me...

  36. babble babble by quadong · · Score: 1

    Three cycles for king d'Elven under the sky, sieve for the dwaries getlteman in their corridors of the rock, nine for the man of inoperative women, the condemned, the end to die, by the dark degree getlteman in relative darkness of the thrones in
    the track of Mordor, where they are the colors. All a cycle governar it. A cycle for the position he, a cycle, the end to obtain all in him and the lock of the density in the track of Mordor, where they are the colors.

  37. more stupidities by The_Jazzman · · Score: 1

    What a nice arse !
    returns :
    Which for nice donkey!

    Help ! I ate my Pink Floyd CD collection !!!

    Support! I ate my rosafarbene SINCE STORAGE Floyd!!!


    I may have paid for sex but I was cursed by love

    I can have paid for sex, but I was by dear dear dear dear dear dear dear dear dear dear dear dear dear dear dear
    dear-liebeverflucht the dear love of the love love love love.

    OR

    paid boxiikasten to III the III II for sex, but II by love.

    (two of many)

    I get knocked down, but I get up again, you are never going to keep me down.

    display, but III III II II II II I i-iii-iii-ii-ii-ii-ii-i-i-i-iii-iii-ii-ii-ii-ii-i- i-i-iii-iii-ii-ii-ii-ii-i-i-i-iii-iii-ii -ii-ii-ii-i-i-steige, which
    knocked in the morning again down, it, which I never fasten display screen mask screen mask screen display.


    All in all, you are just another brick in the wall.

    All in all, you are another loam loam loam clay brick Lehmlehmlehmlehmlehmlehmlehm in the wall straight.

    Let us all meet up in the year 2000, will it not be great when we are all fully grown ?

    We mention all, all session in the year 2000, it no longer more more more rueber on left from large, if it grew us completely?

    Puff the magic dragon lives by the sea


    The pages Drachelebensdauern to the sea-airline holidays the magic for running.


    I am the eggman, they are the eggmen, I am the Walrus !

    I am, it eggman, eggmen in the morning, I am the Walrus!

    And for all those in favour of British Rail,
    I am sorry to announce that the oh-seven-thirty train service from London Victoria to Brighton has been cancelled due to leaves on the line.

    I am to announce the fact sadly that the service of the series of OH -- filters thirty usable pages on the line, aborted from London Victoria to Brighton, were.

  38. English as she is Spoke by crovira · · Score: 1

    It is a clever script and as a bilingual person, I can appreciate the humor. Open source is a wonderful thing in that we can all share how he accomplished it. It also unfortunately exposed some insight into the less plesant side of the coder's personality that I'd rather not know about. To whit: " if (param('phrase')) { $phrase = param('phrase'); $phrase =~ s/^\s*//; $phrase =~ s/\s*$//; $phrase =~ s/\s+/ /g; $phrase =~ s/\cM//gs; #Macintosh sux D00D my $lang = param('lang') || 'fr'; print "Your Results:\n"; do_results($phrase, $lang . '_en', 'en_' . $lang); print "\n";" As a multiple Mac owner, and Mac OS and MkLinux user, I think you should keep your opinions to yourself. The enemy lives in Redmond, "D00D," and he's sitting on a hundred billion dollars handed over by people who write stupid messages that would never get past peer-review.

    --
    MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
  39. another mirror... by moeller · · Score: 1

    In case one of the other mirrors runs out of steam, you can also play with it at here. Have fun.
  40. I'm not going to pay a lot for this muffler. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm not going to pay a lot for this muffler.

    translated though German

    I do not pay much for this continuous wave screw of the example cock.

    Yeh ... Whatever ...

    1. Re:I'm not going to pay a lot for this muffler. by quadong · · Score: 1

      You know, i didn't believe this when i saw it, so i went and checked. Incidentally, the first time i put it in, the script stopped at "I do not pay much for this sample cock Auger." I ran it through again, this time without the period, and it went all the way though. But then i tried it again each way and it finished each time. Weird...

  41. boy oh boy by joshua_doesnt_know · · Score: 1

    some people have too much free time....American Pie quotes? How quaint!

    1. Re:boy oh boy by Elvii · · Score: 1

      Erm.. he's right, thou... it mangles both Amnerican pie and Saga Begins. pretty badly.... before you ask, yes I do have too much free time today. :)

      --
      This sig left intentionally blank.
  42. repost? by Lazy+Jones · · Score: 2

    Hasn't this been posted before? Perhaps it would be a good idea to compare URLs in new and already posted articles to avoid multiple postings of the same subject/URL.

    --
    "I love my job, but I hate talking to people like you" (Freddie Mercury)
  43. I've done this before.. by empath · · Score: 1

    We (about 6 people) spend most of the day before our OS final doing this last quarter. Quite fun.

    --
    "Please don't sigh like that, maam"
  44. Re:slashdot x 30 by Ludd+Kilken · · Score: 1

    I doubt babblefish will have the problem, however I don't know how big of a pipe panix has :)

    first they need to put up with slashdotters, then put up with the cgi script.. phew! that could be a mega-slashdot.

    i think panix might get mad because there're no advertisements on the page. *grin*

    --

    fou aje oym asoyf ueyf jaffaq afset su!6j!/\ op 'ua>|7!>| ppn7

  45. Re:slashdot x 30 by rve · · Score: 1

    I have a feeling www.panix.com will be going down long before altavista is
    ---

  46. slashdot x 30 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Looks like the perl script hits babble fish 30x. If this page gets slashdotted then babble fish gets it 30x worse. Someone is going to be pissed...

    1. Re:slashdot x 30 by CmdrPinkTaco · · Score: 1

      looks like panix.com did just that...I am guessing that manglefish is getting panixed 30 times over.
      --------------------------------------------

      --
      Please give your mod points to others, Im at the cap. They will appreciate it more
    2. Re:slashdot x 30 by joshua_doesnt_know · · Score: 1

      If this is the case, babelfish should be ready for a massive onslaught of user barrage. Altavista should be a large enough of a company to have a server that can handle such traffic. If they cannot, they really should shell out the money and upgrade/replace their servers that they are currently using. There is no excuse for sites like E-bay, Yahoo, Altavista not to have enough server power to handle so many users. They should really have more server power than they would ever need.

    3. Re:slashdot x 30 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But they could easily experience 1000 times their normal load for a few hours, consider the power of the /. effect times 30 connections each time.

      That is if www.panix.com hadn't already died. In fact it's two machines (or perhaps just has two interfaces on the same subnet). And both are dead.

  47. Damn. by nakaduct · · Score: 4
    I did this a few months ago, but wasn't vain enough to submit it to /.. That'll learn me.

    Here's the perl script, for anyone who's interested -- it hits bf once at the start, plus twice for each language available. Just enter an English phrase, and you'll see it translated to the other languages and back.

    Some choice examples:

    English: Why does the author use the phrase "kick-ass" constantly?
    Italian: Why the author uses constantly the d of the phrase "soccer-ass"?

    English: I chop down trees, I eat my lunch, I go to the lavatory. On Wednesdays I go shopping, and have buttered scones for tea!
    Spanish: Edge under trees, I eat my I have lunch, I I go to the service. Wednesday I am going to make purchases, and I have scones greased with mantequilla for the tea!

    English: I'll get you, and your little dog, too!
    French: I will obtain you, and your puppy, therefore!
    German: I receive you and your small dog, also!
    Portuguese: I will start, and its small dog, too much!

    English: No blood, no foul.
    French: No blood, no stinking.
    Spanish: No blood, no revolting one.

    The source follows. /. won't let me use <PRE>, and I'm not going to format it by hand. Use "View Source" to copy/paste it.

    cheers,
    mike

    #!/usr/bin/perl -w use Data::Dumper; use HTTP::Request::Common 'POST'; use LWP::Simple; use LWP::UserAgent; use HTML::TokeParser; $url='http://babelfish.altavista.com/cgi-bin/trans late'; print STDERR "Getting language list: "; $page=get $url; my $p=HTML::TokeParser->new(\$page); while ($toke=$p->get_tag("option")) { next unless $toke->[1]{value} =~ /^(\w\w)_en$/i; $lang=$1; ($name=$p->get_text) =~ s/ +to +English.*//is; push @langs,$lang; $names{$lang}=$name; print STDERR "$name "; } print STDERR "\n"; die "No languages found!\n" unless @langs; undef $/; $text=join ' ',@ARGV or ($text=`fortune`) =~ s/\n\s+--\s+.*\n\s*.*\n?$//; if (length $text > ($max=768)) { warn "Text longer than $max characters, truncating...\n"; $text=substr($text,0,$max); } die "Text must contain words!\n" unless $text=~/\w/; $text=~s/[.\s+]*$/./; printf "\e[1m%12s\e[0m: %s\n",'English',$text; foreach $lang (@langs) { printf "\e[1m%12s\e[0m: ",$names{$lang}; $trans=fetch($text,"en_$lang"); print fetch($trans,"$lang\_en"),"\n"; } sub fetch { my ($text,$lang)=@_; $text=~s/[.\s+]*$/. XYZZY./; my $ua = new LWP::UserAgent; $ua->env_proxy; my $req = POST $url, [ doit=>'done', urltext=>$text, lp=>$lang ]; my $page=$ua->request($req)->as_string; my $p=HTML::TokeParser->new(\$page); my $ok=''; my @tokes=(); my $toke=[]; while ($toke=$p->get_token and !$ok) { next unless $toke->[0] eq 'T' && $toke->[1]=~/\S/; $toke->[1] =~ s/\s+$//; $toke->[1] =~ s/^\s+//; push @tokes,$toke->[1]; $ok=$1 if $toke->[1]=~/(.*\S)\s*XYZZY\./s; } $ok=~s/\s+/ /g; die "Bad Response!\n". Dumper(\@tokes) . "\n" unless $ok; return $ok; } __END__

    1. Re:Damn. by yzorderex · · Score: 1

      Works Good!
      the classic case got this
      English : the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.
      French : the spirit is laid out but the flesh is weak.
      German : the spirit is ready, but the flesh is weak.
      Italian : the spirit is arranged but the meat is weak person.
      Spanish : the alcohol is arranged but the meat is weak.
      Portuguese : the spirit is made use but the meat is weak.
      but this one is more fun
      English welcome to the tower of babel fish.
      French welcome with the tower of fish of Babel.
      German Welcomely to the essay Babelfi.
      Italian welcome to the turret of the fish de Confusion.
      Spanish reception to the tower of the fish of Babel.
      Portuguese boa.vinda to the tower of fish of Babel.
      ok,,, finished first cup of coffee bye bye

      --

      Just another perl hacker in Bangkok
    2. Re:Damn. by JanneM · · Score: 1

      I posted "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.", ran it in German, and got a nice example of recursion...

      The spirit is ready for use, but the flesh is weak.
      The spirit is ready for use to the use, but the flesh is weak.
      The spirit is ready for use to the use to the use, but the flesh is weak.
      ...


      --
      Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
    3. Re:Damn. by ryanbeed · · Score: 1

      one more translation. I tried An operating system is no better then the person running it. (a topic near and dear to all of our hearts) and ran it through their portuguese translator (the one that seems to give the worst translations and got this

      an operating system is no better then the person running it.

      a system operating itself is not better then the person who functions.

      a system that is operated is not better then the person who functions.

  48. English-German-English by rve · · Score: 1

    I wish my arms were long enought to scratch that nasty itch right between my shoulders.

    I require that my levers were long enought for deletion, the bad to the right between my shoulders itch.

    Hmm... Altavista appears to be down
    ---

  49. Slashdot effect ^ 3 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ok....

    Thousands of slashdotters bombbard that site...

    Each running dozens of querys...

    Each hitting Babelfish a whole bunch...

    Language Translation is not an easy task...

    can you say "Heavy Server Load"?

    good thing they got Alphas.

    1. Re:Slashdot effect ^ 3 by joshua_doesnt_know · · Score: 1

      Can I ask why you space everything out so much?

    2. Re:Slashdot effect ^ 3 by PD · · Score: 1

      I think he's writing poetry.

      But they're not quite Haikus though.

      Slashdot and Babel
      Fighting with one another
      The victor: Slashdot!

      Babel is a fish
      Slashdot is a big server.
      Penguins eat sushi!

      etc.

  50. more of them.. by chocolatetrumpet · · Score: 2
    English: A penny saved is a penny earned.

    French: A backed up penny is a gained penny.

    German: A penny, which becomes secured, is an acquired penny.

    Portuguese: A currency of a conserved cent is a currency of a cent earns.

    Or, you can feed the newly translated english sentence again through the next language, for more strange stuff.

    English: A penny saved is a penny earned.

    French: A backed up penny is a gained penny.

    German: Support penny is a won penny.

    Italian: The penny of support is a gained penny.

    Portuguese: The currency of a cent of the sustentation is a currency of a cent earns.

    Spanish: The modernity of a cent of the sustenation is a modernity of a cent wins.

    Fun :-)

    --
    Spoon not. Fork, or fork not. There is no spoon.
    1. Re:more of them.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      April Showers Bring May Flowers (via German):
      The April showers, which continue, flowers to like

  51. Try this: by PurpleBob · · Score: 2

    Mutate "This sentence is recursive." using German. It recurses. Don't worry, the script eventually gives up.
    --

    --
    Win dain a lotica, en vai tu ri silota
  52. Repeat after Me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have no life and need to get out more.
    Ich habe keine Lebensdauer und muß mehr hinausgehen.
    I do not have life span and must more go out.
    Ich lasse Lebenüberspannung und -muß mehr nicht erlöschen.
    I leave life overvoltage and - does not have to go out more.
    Ich lasse Lebenüberspannung und - muß nicht mehr erlöschen.
    I leave life overvoltage and - does not have to go out any longer.
    Ich lasse Lebenüberspannung und - muß nicht irgendwie länger erlöschen.
    I leave life overvoltage and - does not have to go out somehow longer.

  53. Babelfish fills a dull day by Maledictus · · Score: 1

    I've done this before, just for grins.

    I took the phrase, "I go down the stairs" because is borders on idiomatic. I then ran it through Babelfish "maually" -- English to German, German back to English (replacing "stiege" with "steps" because I knew it'd hold everything up) and then back through to French, then to English and so on until I had gone through all the languages available.

    The end result: "I do to the stairs of a stage that I am."

    Whoa. Deep, brother.

    --
    Consigned to flames of woe.
  54. oops.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Whatever you do, dont put "I'm going to find me a new way to light up an old flame. " into the translate box with German selected. It causes an endless loop ;)

  55. Even better... by Zaph · · Score: 2


    try this recursive one:

    "Pimping ain't easy!" in Italian.

    --
    Quoth the Penguin, "pipe grep more!"
    1. Re:Even better... by freakinPsycho · · Score: 1

      or, to quote White Zombie..
      "I want more life fucker, i am not done"
      (i found it really didn't like the word, ain't)
      all are fun, but italian is really odd... seems to like the word that

      --
      "All the things I really like to do are either immoral, illegal, or fattening."
      - Alexandar Woolcot
  56. More philosophical ansewers by mbac · · Score: 1

    I know this could get tedious, but if you translate:

    "Jesus, I've gotten so popular"

    and cycle it a couple of times to Italian and back, you'll get something that could make for a good Gate$ quotation in the next Encarta:

    Jesus, I have obtained, therefore popular.


    --
    marco baciarello
  57. Infinite loop? by Squidman · · Score: 1

    Entering the phrase "Press any key to continue", and translating it into German and back leads to a seemingly infinite loop (the script gives up after a while, but there is a definite cycle). Anyone found other phrases with similar effects?

  58. daveo's and the friend's of daveo's translatoisn by DAVEO · · Score: 0
    hear has been pasted: ==========================

    Eat shit!

    If you leave us, eat holidays to us scheisse!

    A penny saved is a penny earned.

    A current currency of a conserved cent is a current currency of a cent earns.

    Later today, I will go to the store and buy whipped cream and some condoms.

    Newer today's day, I go whipped cream to the memory data acquisition to some and to condoms.

    I enjoy setting fires to large buildings while their owners masturbate to fast-paced pornography inside of the kitchen sink.

    Fixation of the joy from fires to the great buildings whereas his masturbate of the proprietors to the express-established pornography the passage within the sink of the kitchen.

    Eating large balls of meat on my pasta is much to my liking, as it can be delicious at times.

    To eat the great balls of the meat in my rubbers is much to my to have taste, because it can once in a while be delicious.

    --
    -DAVEO
  59. Infinite recursion by cranky · · Score: 1

    This seems to generate an infinite loop of translation:

    Translate into french the following phrase.

    I love my wife more than life itself.

  60. Remember the Declaration of Independence? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Around around, to be this you stop you you you you the truths we, in which order naturally, these all men of erstelltes on the same
    footnote are, who become, which they did not display by their creator as certain mobile rights, which are under this continuing life
    overvoltage, liberty and the pursuit of the luck. For protecting these rights, governments among the men and its regulated energy are
    declaration/agreement of initialized, more more more rueber, in order to calculate. Destroy it it it, that, whenever each possible form of the
    government of those ends, which are right of the people to modify or abolish it and new government, in which order initialize.

  61. The Dialectizer by Slycee · · Score: 1

    The Dialectizer is my favorite online translator. Check it out.

  62. Run-on sentences by Joe+Groff · · Score: 1

    By violating grammatical laws, you can really make Babelfish go berserk. Try "This is a run on sentence it is two sentences put together", and see what you get. It really makes me appreciate all those English lessons and drills I went through as a kid.

    This is a run on sentence it is two sentences put together.

    Dieses ist ein Durchlauf auf Programmsatz, den es zwei Programmsätze zusammengefügt ist.

    This is a run on program sentence, it is joined which two program sentences.

    Dieses ist ein Durchlauf auf Programmprogrammsatz, es wird verbunden, dem zwei Programmsätze programmieren.

    This is a run on program program sentence, it is connected, which two program sentences program.

    Dieses ist ein Durchlauf auf Programmprogrammprogrammsatz, es wird angeschlossen, dem zwei

    Programmsatzprogramm programmieren.

    This is a run on program program program sentence, it is attached, which two program program sentence program.

    Dieses ist ein Durchlauf auf Programmprogramm-Programmprogrammsatz, es wird angebracht, dem zwei Programmprogrammsatzprogramm programmieren.

    This is a run on program program program program sentence, it is attached, which two program program program sentence program.

    Dieses ist ein Durchlauf auf Programmprogrammprogramm-Programmprogrammsatz, es wird angebracht, dem zwei Programmprogramm-Programmsatzprogramm programmieren.

    This is a run on program program program program program sentence, it is attached, which two program program program program sentence program.

    Dieses ist ein Durchlauf auf Programmprogrammprogrammprogramm-Programmprogramms atz, es wird angebracht, dem zwei Programmprogrammprogramm-Programmsatzprogramm programmieren.

    This is a run on program program program program program program sentence, it is attached, which two program program program program program sentence program.

    It keeps going for another few pages before giving up.

    One final thought: Maybe try running it on some of the less intelligent posts on Slashdot &^)

    -Joe

    --

    -Joe

  63. Steve Martin, anyone? by Nspectre+Anatomy · · Score: 1

    On speaking French.

    I would like a shoe with cheese on it. I want you to force it down my throat and I would like to massage your grandmother.

    =====================

    I would like a shoe with cheese on top. I want that you force it in bottom of my throat and I would like to mass your grandmother.

    I would like a shoe with cheese on the top. I want that you force it with the bottom of my throat and I would like to pile up your grandmother.

    I would like a shoe with cheese on the top. I want that you force it with the bottom of my throat and I would like to pile up to the top of your grandmother.



    ---------------
    Buahahahaha! Oh, geeze, I think I just hurt something.

  64. Machines in order to consider an entity informed? by KlomDark · · Score: 1
    Entering song lyrics about self-aware computers trying to become fully human is cool too. :)

    "If you cannot linguistically differentiate a person from a computer, could the computer be internally conscious? To emulate flesh machines I am learning. Isomorphic structure of mind, cellular automata, processed life. Washing the seas of memory I enact the sequence. I follow the plan, learning the rhythm still seductively generalized. When a man and machine become one, innocence is lost, a new age begun. This raises a question of philosophy. Should machines be considered a conscious entity? Nevermore - The Learning"

    - becomes -

    (French)
    If you cannot linguistically differentiate a person starting from a computer, could the computer be internally conscious? To emulate the machines of the flesh which I learn. Isomorphous structure of the spirit, restaurants with the cellular reproduce-machines, treated life. Washing the seas of the state I send the command. I am the plan, learning the always generalized rate/rhythm seductively. When a man and a machine become one, innocence is destroyed, a new started age. This raises a question of philosophy. Should the machines be considered a conscious entity? Nevermore - The Study

    (German)
    If you cannot differentiate a person from a computer linguistically, could the computer be internally conscious? Meat machines emulate, which I learn. the isomorphic process structure of the understanding life lasting zellularemaschinen. Washing the seas of the memory, I order the order. I follow the plan and learn the rhythm still seductively generalized. If a man and a machine become one, innocence, a new begun age is lost. This raises a question of philosophy. Should machines be regarded as conscious case? Nevermore - learning

    (Spanish)
    If you cannot distinguish linguistic a person of a computer, could internally the computer be conscious? In order to emulate the machines of the meat that I am learning. Structure of the mind, cellular robustezas of Isomorfa, demanded life of. Washing to the seas of the decree of the memory the sequence. Still I follow the plan, learning the tariff seductively generalized. When a man and a machine do one, innocence, a new begun age is lost. This raises a question of the philosophy. Must conscious the machines consider an organization? Nevermore - Learning

    (Portuguese)
    If you it could not lingüìstica differentiate a person of a computer, could internally the computer be conscious? To emulate the machines that of the meat I am learning. Structuralizes isomorphic of the mind, cellular automatons, processed life. Washing the seas of memory I decree the sequence. I still follow the plant, learning the generalized rhythm seductively. When a man and a machine if transform one, innocence are lost, a started new age. This raises a question of the philosophy. Must the machines be considered an entity conscious? Nevermore - The Learning

    (Italian)
    If you cannot linguisticamente differentiate a person from a calcolazione, could the inner calcolazione be informed? For so that it emulates the machines that of the meat I am learning. Structure of the mind, cellular automations of Isomorfica, processed life. Washing the seas of promulgo of the memory the sequence. Still I follow the program, learning the generalized rhythm seductively. When a man and a machine of the transformano within in one, the innocence are lost, one new begun age. Those increases a philosophy problem. It would have the machines in order to consider an entity informed? Nevermore - to learn

    I think I like the Italian the best: "It would have the machines in order to consider an entity informed?"

  65. Re:off from the server? by crm0922 · · Score: 1

    "daveo has onticied, after a few moments of translations, that the cgi is a 404-not-found. maybe panix has removed it due to the loads of /. effect?"

    What's with this third person sh*t? Is this supposed to be cute? Like a saturday night live skit, only not funny are you.

  66. Recursive.. anti-mutations. by MikeFM · · Score: 1

    You can also use recursive translations to sort for the least possible mutations. This is how I usually use it. Translate X to English then back to X and have it look for parts that don't match and so retranslate those parts and so on until you get a reasonable match. Usually the translations come out MUCH better, I've often wondered why their software doesn't do this itself. I love this service but wish they could find some better translation software and a bigger dictionary.

    Is there any good open source translation software? There must be as many of the people I know who right such software do it largely for fun. I would die of joy to see such a project intergrated into Mozilla and the IM clients coming out. ICQ is the main thing I use translations for as many of my friends don't speak English and I don't speak their languages. Is sort of a pain cutting and pasting text back and forth.

    --
    At what price learning? At what cost wisdom? The price is a man's peace of mind, and the cost is his life.
  67. Have your way with the hamburger king by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    * Have it your way at Burger King.
    * L'ont votre voie au roi d'hamburger.
    * Have your way with the hamburger king.
    * Ayez votre voie avec le roi d'hamburger.

  68. Phillip K. Dick by K8Fan · · Score: 1

    Phillip K. Dick, (the author of "Do Andriods Dream of Electric Sheep", which was later made into "Bladerunner") had a game in his book "Glactic Pothealer". The bored office workers of his dystopian future would take a common phrase, or book or movie title and run it through several translation machines. They would then challenge the others to identify the original phrase. The only one I can remember (it's been years) was "The Corn Is Green" became "The cliche is inexperienced"

    It would be nice to name this script after P.K. Dick.

    --
    "How perfectly Goddamn delightful it all is, to be sure" Charles Crumb
  69. Haha! Sounds like one of my customers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If you ask it: please restart your computer you get: Safety circuit asks for your computer again on. I hate that damn safety circuit! :)

  70. Re:A fun one to try... by BridgeBum · · Score: 1

    More on Vader:

    "Apology accepted." bounced through French returns
    "Received excuses."

    Perhaps there is something to this translation thing after all. :)

    --
    My UID is the product of 2 primes.
  71. Been there, done that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Try: Ich bin ein berliner from German to English and back.

    Try: I am a jelly donut from English to German, and back...

    This idea of bad retranslations made it into our local "non-techie" Toronto Sun a few months ago... ;-)

  72. More mishandled quotes by orangesquid · · Score: 2

    Aahhhh... American Pie quotes ;-)

    Someone needs to mirror the panix site - e-mail the guy and snag a copy of his perl script etc....

    Anyways, here's my contribution to the humor:

    Original:
    And one time, at band camp, I stuck a flute up my p*ssy.

    French:
    And once, to the camp of tape, I stuck a groove to the top of my cat.

    German:
    And once, at tape stocks, I adhered a flute up mean Pussy.

    Italian:
    And once, to the encampment of wrap, I have attacked one rabbet on mine pussy.

    Portuguese:
    E a time, in the encampment of the band, I pierced a flute above of my pussy.

    Spanish:
    And once, in the field of the bandage, I stuck one flauta upon my kitten.

    Notes: The portuguese "E a time" should be "And one time" - dunno why it can't translate the portuguese word for and.... weird....
    Some other words didn't work too well - these are more obvious though. (Like "flauta")

    --
    --TheOrangeSquid Is it any wonder things seem so awry? We swim in a sea of confusion and don't have to think to survive
  73. jelly donuts by RoLlEr_CoAsTeR · · Score: 1

    Ah! The infamous jelly donut statement by JFK (right?). ... hee hee hee... hoo! Glad I wasn't him. Geez, you'd think, if they were going to have him speak German (or did he have a translator?), they'd get him to do a bit of studying first.. oh hell, I guess not.

    --

    Insert mind here.
    1. Re:jelly donuts by abischof · · Score: 1
      The "jelly donut" story is actually not true...

      Alex Bischoff
      ---

      --

      Alex Bischoff
      HTML/CSS coder for hire

  74. Here's a strange ass one.. by Tarnar · · Score: 1

    I decided to put in the All Time Great B5 quote from Severed Dreams: Ivonova saying 'Well, we're screwed'

    German returned this: Recess, which us are screwed.

    The site /.'ed right after that.

  75. Great series :) by mircea · · Score: 1

    Here's what comes out of "the good stuff is no longer here" via Italian (notice the translation of "stuff" at the end):
    Il buono stuff non e piu qui. The bond stuff is not more here. Lo stuff schiavo non e piu qui. The stuff enslaved it is not more here. Lo stuff lo ha asservito non e piu qui. The stuff it has enslaved it is not more here. Lo stuff che lo ha asservito non e piu qui. The stuff that it has enslaved it it is not more here. Lo stuff che lo ha asservito esso non e piu qui. Stuff that it has enslaved it it is not more here. Farcire che lo ha asservito che non e piu qui. Farcire that has enslaved it that it is not more here.

  76. Deus ex machina? by technos · · Score: 1

    The phrase:

    'The three men I admire most: the father, son, and
    the holy ghost' (A snippet of Don McLean)

    Yields:
    'The three men I admire the majority: the father,
    son and the holy backup computer.'

    CONSPIRACY!!
    Since when does the Holy Trinity have Intel Inside!?!?
    Did Billy Gatus option the Bible??
    Has Sun tried to put the 'dot-in-dot-SCRIPTURE'?!?
    Does anyone have Jimmy Carter's home number??? HE NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT THIS!!!
    'Athlons bigger than Jesus'?
    Or is Knuth behind this? His blasphemic Old/New Testament crap has brainwashed us!
    Are we all just packets floating on a sea of Ether?


    Wait. Nevermind. MY BAD. Paranoid delusions again.
    Sorry..

    --
    .sig: Now legally binding!
  77. off from the server? by DAVEO · · Score: 0

    daveo has onticied, after a few moments of translations, that the cgi is a 404-not-found. maybe panix has removed it due to the loads of /. effect?

    --
    -DAVEO
  78. hilarious! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    english: Press any key to continue
    german: Betätigen Sie jede mögliche Taste, um fortzufahren
    english: Press each possible key, over to continue

    hahaha! Press each possible key

  79. Dead! by HeghmoH · · Score: 1

    I just went back there, and the server couldn't find the CGI. Did the admins remove it to protect against the feared slashdot effect?

    --
    Mod down posts with a "Free Mac Mini/iPod" sig, they're spam!
  80. A fun one to try... by the_tsi · · Score: 1

    "So, we meet again at last. When I left you, I was but the learner. Now I am the master."

    Translate it through portugese. You may want to hit "Stop" after the tenth translation or so, you'll be able to figure out the pattern by then.

    -Chris

  81. Fun words by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They're right. This thing, while being a "neat idea" has some really horrible translations. Try translating a few phrases back and forth. Still love "Luke, you cannot understand the energy of the dark page." :) Guess it is a while before computers bridge the gap and create global translators. -Typhatix who forgot his password

  82. Get the last sentence! by bilenkey · · Score: 1

    Zen VorlagenNate writes " you is probably familiarly with the BabelFish translation page, in you comes into the cliche and into it also to the box, or some translated languages has. Fast. Inaccurately. This page draws automatically the results back in the machine and the results in the exponentially false translations ", in the I it for lines of the American drawn pie chart, into the asterisk wars and within its area of displaying. I should go out more.

  83. Aha! It all makes sense now! by Monkey42 · · Score: 1

    Put in 'Luke, I am your father.' Translate it to Spanish and back to English, you get..'Lucas, I am his father.' hrm.......

  84. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  85. Anyone get the perl script... by Rhys+Dyfrgi · · Score: 1

    before Panix took down the page? I didn't grab the script, unfortunately. I don't even want a cgi mirror, just the script itself.
    ---

    --
    END OF LINE
  86. anti IPv6 draft? by jetpack · · Score: 1
    This must be what that guy used to create his IETF draft on different IPv4 addressing scheme . It all becomes clear to me now ...

  87. Definitly slashdotted.... by m3000 · · Score: 2

    On his site:

    English As She Is Spoken
    FLASH!
    I've been Slashdotted[tm]!
    I was hacking away at some work-related stuff, when I got this note from an administrator at my ISP:


    Subject: Your CGI featured on Slashdot
    From: marcotte@panix.com
    To: jdf@panix.com
    Date: Sat, 28 Aug 1999 01:20:39 -0400 (EDT)

    Your CGI which was featured on slashdot was causing all sorts of
    problems on our servers. Since it needs to make many queries to
    another server, it takes a long time to run. That coupled with the
    fact that slashdot is a very high volume site caused your perl
    processes to back up and cause both of our web servers to stall. It
    is quite likely that babelfish was overloaded also.

    I needed to rename it so what it wouldn't cause the servers to go down
    again. You may want to put up some examples of what the script can do
    instead. At least until the traffic levels off.

    In general we need you to let us know when you expect a large increase
    in traffic (I'm assuming you submitted the link to slashdot).

    Thank you.

    --
    - Brian

    Panix System Administrator


    So, I'm honored to have been featured on Slashdot. Now, is there anyone out there who's willing and able to host my little toy?

    In the meantime, if you like, please submit your email address via this form, and I'll send you a note when the script is up and running again somewhere.



    Darn, and I wanted to try it out too.

    1. Re:Definitly slashdotted.... by Guido+del+Confuso · · Score: 2

      And to Portuguese and back:

      English As it is spoken

      FLASH!

      I was Slashdotted[tm ]!

      I was cutting moved away in some trabalh-related material, when I started this note of an administrator
      in my ISP:

      Subject: Its cgi characterized in Slashdot of: marcotte@panix.com: date of jdf@panix.com: Seated, 28
      August 1999 01:20:39 -0400 (EDT) its cgi that was characterized in slashdot caused all the luck of the
      problems in our server. Since that it needs to make many questions to one another server, makes
      examination of a long time to function. This coupled to the fact that slashdot is a place of the volume very
      raised caused its processes of the Perl to the back part above and makes with that both our server of
      the Web stop. It is full probable that babelfish estêve also overloaded. I needed to rebaptize it thus what
      he would not make with that the server they were below another time. You can want to put above some
      examples what the certificate can make preferivelmente. To little until the traffic he is even outside.

  88. It's been Slashdotted[tm]! by William+Fold · · Score: 1

    That didn't take long. :-)

    ---------------------------------------
    English As She Is Spoken

    FLASH!

    I've been Slashdotted[tm]!

    I was hacking away at some work-related stuff, when I got this note from an administrator at my ISP:

    Subject: Your CGI featured on Slashdot
    From: marcotte@panix.com
    To: jdf@panix.com
    Date: Sat, 28 Aug 1999 01:20:39 -0400 (EDT)

    Your CGI which was featured on slashdot was causing all sorts of
    problems on our servers. Since it needs to make many queries to
    another server, it takes a long time to run. That coupled with the
    fact that slashdot is a very high volume site caused your perl
    processes to back up and cause both of our web servers to stall. It
    is quite likely that babelfish was overloaded also.

    I needed to rename it so what it wouldn't cause the servers to go down
    again. You may want to put up some examples of what the script can do
    instead. At least until the traffic levels off.

    In general we need you to let us know when you expect a large increase
    in traffic (I'm assuming you submitted the link to slashdot).

    Thank you.

    --
    - Brian

    Panix System Administrator


    So, I'm honored to have been featured on Slashdot. Now, is there anyone out there who's willing and able to host my little toy?

    In the meantime, if you like, please submit your email address via this form, and I'll send you a note when the script is up and running
    again somewhere.

  89. Re:It's been Slashdotted[tm]! -- not quick enough by William+Fold · · Score: 1

    Doh! Someone beat me to it by a minute...

  90. She sells shells by beatnik · · Score: 1

    English : She sells sea shells on the sea shore.
    French : It sells interactive interpreters of commands of sea on the shore of sea.

    English : Slash dot. News for nerds, stuff that matters.
    French : Not bar of fraction. News for nerds, substance which imports.
    German : Point of diagonal stroke. Message for nerds, material, which constitutes.
    Italian : Dot of cut. News for the nerds, stuff that it imports.
    Portuguese : Point of slash. Notice for nerds, material that matters.
    Spanish : Point of the vertical ray. The news for nerds, matter that matters.