Auto-generate Flow Chart from Java/C++ Codes:
Raptor Flowchart Tutorial For Beginners
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Maksud Computer Software (Perisian Komputer)
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Copying Head Scarf Pattern [Dressmaking,Pattern Drafting]

Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Maksud Computer Program
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Mindef’s website translation howlers
Mindef, Stop Poking Others' Eyes
When I entered the office this morning and upon reading up the online newspaper, I bumped into one shocking news entitled "Mindef blames Google Translate for 'poke-eye' blunder" (P.Aruna, The Star Online, 10th Jan 2012). The article reports that Mindef (Ministry of Defence) has all this while relied on the free online translator service, Google Translate, to provide Malay to English translation for its English version website content. I just can't imagine how a government agency's website such as Mindef's can fully rely on a free service like Google Translate. As we all know, Google is no way a Malaysian company and so their products. Knowing this alone, can we expect them to know precisely what a Malay language sentence could mean in English? Most of the time it will be poorly translated to English language as the translator algorithms were developed in some ways to provide direct conversion for any Malay word in the search phrase.
The tests
To check on what Mindef has claimed, I opened up Google Translate and typed in "pakaian menjolok mata" into the textbox and by choosing the translate option of Malay to English, I can see the English translation on the right-hand side of the screen.
I was hoping for a funny phrase like "clothes that poke eye" but instead it gave me "dress scantily" which I think was a good translation even though it was not accurate enough. I have no idea what Malay phrase to enter to get me that "clothes that poke eye" as an answer or maybe the guy who did this just wanted to show his sense of humour by 'poking' someone's eye?
I checked another translation found in the newspaper report which reads "baju berkolar dan baju Melayu cekak musang berbutang tiga" and Google Translate gave me a crappy answer "shirts with collar and button shirts Malay civet tight three".
In this case, the guy at Mindef shouldn't have followed the translated sentence since it is too obvious. Does someone there have any time to review or double-check whatever content they put on the web for public viewing?
For the third phrase from their website that said to be jumbled up is found in the background information of the Malaysian Defence Forces. The Malay version reads as "selepas pengunduran tentera British, Kerajaan Malaysia mengambil langkah drastik untuk meningkatkan tahap keselamatan negara dari sebarang ancaman". Google Translate-d the phrase and gives me "after the withdrawal of British troops, the Malaysian Government to take drastic measures to improve the security of the country from any threat", which is very comprehensible.
If this is the case, how can Mindef came out with different and confusing sentence like "after the withdrawal of British army, the Malaysian Government take drastic measures to increase the level of any national security threat"? Weird, isn't it?
The blame game
Based on these findings, I think it's not wise for Mindef to blame others on your own mistakes and negligence. I also think Mindef failed to allocate resources to do manual translation from Malay to English before this and they took shortcut and use Google Translate or any other translation applications available on the web. It's harmless to use such translator services but using them without thinking could cause funny but embarassing sounds which later earn you harsh remarks from readers.
Having said that, all humans make mistakes and those mistakes can be corrected in some ways. Mindef has took down the English version of their website and corrective action is currently being taken to ensure more accurate translation can be provided to their portal visitors.
Sunday, January 08, 2012
Change Now for A Clean Malaysia!
A simple analogy of why we should change detergent brand. You wouldn't want to spend money, effort, time and life with something that doesn't deliver the job. Of course changing brand might be risky as well, but it's better to try on other brands rather than not doing anything at all.