How to spend a fortune and not learn anything

I've noticed that much of the most recent comment spam arriving here (and nicely caught by Blogger's spam filter) is from sites that sell research papers and other shortcuts of very dubious ethical value to lazy students. All of it seems tailored to the American market.

I've also noticed (teaching online at DU), that the use of paid-for essays, plagiarism and such must be on the rise: until last year, for example, students were only required to subscribe to the university's ethical policy. Now not only they have to do that, but their papers also are scanned using a software program that flags suspected plagiarism.

So: these students are paying for university (normally, paying a lot: university is expensive here), then they pay extra for someone to do their homework for them. Don't they realize that this way they are short-charging themselves, and that this way they will not really learn from what university has to offer?

P.S. This is not aimed at my students: I know they are doing their best in my classes - it's just a general comment prompted by too many spam comments purporting to sell "cheap essays".

Early-bird deadline for the ATA Conference

Friday, September 20 is the last day you can register for the ATA Conference at the discounted early-bird rate.

In their reminder e-mail, the ATA give ten good reasons to attend the ATA annual Conference:

1. MORE THAN 200 SEMINARS, SESSIONS, AND EVENTS
   Practical education from translators, interpreters, and company owners
2. FACE-TO-FACE NETWORKING
   More than 1,800 attendees to meet at this year's Annual Conference
3. TOOL TUTORIALS
   Three days of translation tool workshops and presentations
4. LATEST SOFTWARE, BOOKS, TECHNOLOGY
   Meet vendors and try a little hands-on experience in the Exhibit Hall
5. MOBILE "APPING." NEW THIS YEAR!
   Program, handouts, and more from smart phone, tablet, or laptop
6. ATA DIVISION EVENTS
   Some of the best one-on-one information networking
7. ASSOCIATION MEETINGS
   Find out more about ATA's goals and how you can be part of them
8. TIME TO HAVE FUN
   Things to do, places to go, and fun to be had
9. THE GREAT DEBATE
   Tweet, email, or post your comments online in debate of T&I issues
10. IDEAS, MOTIVATION, AND ENTHUSIASM
    Learn from others, be inspired, and remember what makes your career so great
    
    Review the complete ATA Annual Conference Program now. 

But in addition to that, this year is particularly special for the Italian Language Division: we have more sessions than ever before, and two very special guest speakers: Italian best selling author Beppe Severgnini, and his English translator, Giles Watson.

You can see more details about the Italian Language Divsion events in the ILD's new website.

See you in San Diego!

Great post on how to be a good commenter

John Scalzi, a popular SF author, and, with his 14-year-old "Whatever", one of the first and best bloggers around, has just published a great post with guidelines about how and when to comment, with ten questions each commenter should ask himself or herself before commenting. It will be useful for anybody who comments on blogs or contributes to online discussion threads.

The first three points are:

1. Do I actually have anything to say?
2. Is what I have to say actually on topic?
3. Does what I write actually stay on topic?

There are ten in all and each with a cogent and persuasive explanation, in Scalzi's usual snarky style.

Go and see the post for yourself, and, if you are a blogger, spread the word.

Anti-translator idea of the week

A translator has recently seriously proposed on ProZ a "blueboard for translators" (scroll down until the second post by "Mirellauk"):

There is a growing need for a tool that allows outsourcers to blacklist or at least publicly comment on unreliable translators. Each translation company has its own grading system but, generally, information is not shared. Dealing with unprofessional translators is costly, time consuming and can have serious reputation consequences for a translation company if and when corrective steps are not pursued.

It is fundamental that such tool is created through the cooperation between agencies and freelancers, for instance on a site like Proz, and I am convinced that professional translators would benefit from it.

There are many things wrong with this, from the fact that such a system is morally repugnant (given, among other things, the power disparity between translators and agencies, as a wiser colleague points out in the same thread) to the certainty that it would be abused by unscrupulous agencies, and to the completely unwarranted facile assumption that "professional translators would benefit from it".

Even if one wanted to look at this from the point of view of a translation agency, such a system would signify a complete abdication of the translation agency's own responsibility: "dealing with unprofessional translators is costly, time consuming and can have serious reputation consequences for a translation company" - yes, selecting unsuitable translators would damage a translation company's reputation - and that's precisely why translation companies should take full personal responsibility for the whole selection process, without trying to fend off all or part of the selection to an unethical and unprofessional idea such as this.