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From a social media platform that helps to share and connect one to another, Facebook is now making a huge leap and effort by offering automatic machine translation function on comments made in all other languages into English.
The good news is that this feature is capable of translating various languages such as Hebrew, French, Spanish, Japanese, Thai, and Chinese, you name it. Facebook has successfully rolled out this feature in the late of 2011; however, it has only come to attention by many earlier this year.
Beyond a shadow of doubt, it will definitely be a boon to every user. Hassle of manually translating the comments via Google Translate can now be prevented. An addition of this simple button has made language difference a learning opportunity rather than a language barrier.
For Facebook users who are unaware and have not already tried out the feature, it is powered by Microsoft Bing, another type of machine translator close to the likes of Google Translate. However, machine translation is not flawless. We should not overlook the fact that machine translators only interpret the gist of the content with minimal accuracy.
Machine translators have worked wonder in assisting us to find out the gist of content, however, they should be used with discretion as the translated content may not be professionally sound, most of the time, and hence, definitely should NOT be used for professional and important documents.
By Millet Enriquez, dated 17th February 2012
SINGAPORE: In helping companies deal with the labour shortage, the government said it will enhance the Productivity and Innovation Credit Scheme (PIC).
It will also set aside S$2 billion to the National Productivity Fund (NPF) to provide more targeted support for industries to restructure.
Taking into account feedback from business groups, the government said it will increase the cash payout to companies from 30 per cent to 60 per cent for their PIC expenditures.
This means that a company which invested S$10,000 in staff training will be eligible for a S$6,000 cash payout, compared to S$3,000 under the existing PIC scheme.
The government said the scheme is most useful to companies with limited taxable income.
In addition, the companies can also get their cash payout faster.
From July 1, companies can claim and obtain their PIC cash payouts quarterly instead of waiting for the financial year to end.
So far, the PIC scheme has helped companies enjoy tax savings totalling S$650 million since being implemented last year.
About one in three small companies with a turnover of S$10 million or less have used the PIC.
The scheme covers productivity-related expenses such as training or investment in equipment.
Companies that have used the scheme can see their taxes come down by 40 per cent on average.
“What was lacking in the previous year was that most of the scheme (PIC) was directed towards SMEs, (but) unfortunately the SMEs did not get the benefits. The MNCs and the big business operators ended up enjoying most of the benefits,” said Abhijit Ghosh, tax partner, PwC Services LLP (Singapore).
“So it’s all a matter of education, the right focus and ensuring that you incur the expenses on the right buckets where the government is focusing and enhance your productivity.”
Article reference source from Channel News Asia
Visit Verztec Learning for more highly engaging online training courses.
By Carly Page News Editor, SoMobile
Carly Page is the News Editor at SoMobile, a mobile phone price comparison website in the UK. Carly also manages the site’s handset reviews and the device comparison tool. Let’s listen to what Carly is keen to share about the telecoms giant in India.
This week it has been announced that a new deal has been struck between Bharti Airtel, an enormous telecommunications firm with operations in 19 countries in Asia and Africa, and Mogae Media. This deal is a first in the Indian telecoms industry, and it will be interesting to see the difference it will make to Bharti Airtel’s operations.
Bharti Airtel has announced that it will outsource all its advertising inventory management and mobile-commerce initiatives to Mogae Media. This will mean that Mogae Media will sell all possible advertising space on mobile, DTH and broadband services. Mogae Media is a firm that is being promoted by former Dentsu India Chairman, Sandeep Goyal. Furthermore, Mr Goyal confirmed the deal but would not reveal any financial details.
It has been suggested by analysts that this is the first time a telecoms service provider has collected and outsourced the entire advertising inventory in the country.
Prashant Singhal, the telecoms leader at Ernst & Young, has been quoted saying: “No one has done that in India so far.”
Mr Singhal then went on to add the following: “The model has high potential since the mobile phone is the only medium to reach out to 800-900 million people.”
Meanwhile, an analyst has commented that Bharti Airtel could now generate around 40-50% of the industry’s revenue based on the sheer size of its post-paid customer base. Who knows whether this will lead to Bharti Airtel lowering their rates, and could it, in addition, lead to lower rates when making cheap calls to India?
A spokesman for the firm said that the company would not comment on market speculations and partner relationships, however, it has been announced that Bharti Airtel’s deal with Mogae will work on a revenue-sharing model.
By Lianhe Wanbao dated 15th January 2012
Yet another blooper has appeared in the Singapore Tourism Board’s (STB) promotional material.
Omy’s tech blogger Lin De Yi wrote yesterday that he had discovered Singapore’s Chinese New Year being called “China’s New Year” on STB’s Chinese language website.
Lin noted that STB had made a similar blooper a few years ago, when it translated the Hungry Ghost Festival to “Hungary Ghost Festival”.
And he goes on to lament that Singaporeans are thus celebrating festivals from Hungary and China, instead of our own.
Many netizens agreed with Lin, and are questioning STB’s processes.
Adding to the mis-written festival, another netizen also pointed out that “Chinatown” on the STB website was wrongly translated to “Tang Ren Jie” (Chinese Street), a commonly used name for the Chinatowns in other countries.
Singapore’s Chinatown is named “Niu Che Shui” (Buffalo Street).
On the most recent blooper, veteran DJ Huang Wen Hong feels that it reflects STB’s attitude.
He said, “Singapore has no lack of bilingual talent. This reflects STB’s attitude. Maybe they feel that the translations are targeted towards foreigners and not Singaporeans, so they didn’t take it seriously.”
Local businessman Mr Hong Ding Liang feels that the translation was probably done by new immigrants.
“Locals will respect our sovereignty and not translate Chinese New Year to China’s New Year”, he said.
On the translation of “Chinatown”, both say that they are not satisfied with the translation but it is acceptable as the article was written with foreigners in mind.
But both feel that Chinatown’s actual name “Niu Che Shui” should still be noted in the article.
The STB website has since corrected “China’s New Year” to “Chinese New Year”. As of press time, no changes were made to the name of “Chinatown”.
Article Reference Source from Lianhe Wanbao
verztec x dresshead two piece long sleeved crocheted lace flirtatious hemline dress – solid black/long sleeves
Crafted from a soft crepe material, the classic wraparound style of this verztec x http://www.dresshead.com/c/lace-dresses/ two piece long sleeved crocheted lace flirtatious hemline dress will be flattering to any body type. With its knee length hemline and beautiful black color, it can easily be dressed up or down as needed. Wear it to the office during the workday, throw on a pair of heels, and then you’re ready for a night on the town! The long sleeves and v neck complete the flattering silhouette. To clean, this dress should be gently handwashed in cold water and laid flat to dry.
The details of this verztec x dresshead two piece long sleeved crocheted lace flirtatious hemline dress are:
Regular fit – true to size
Hand wash
100% polyester
Our model wears a uk 8/eu 36/us 4 and is 175 cm/5’9” tall
Lined woven fabric
Round neckline
Button keyhole back
Zip back closure
Flutter sleeves
Embellished shoulder detailing
By Kyle Lagunas HR Market Analyst, Software Advice
Kyle Lagunas is the HR Analyst at Software Advice. On the surface, it’s his job to contribute to the ongoing conversation on all things HR. Beyond that, he makes sure his audience is keeping up with important trends and hot topics in the industry. Focused on offering a fresh take on points of interest in his market, he’s not your typical HR guy. Find out more about him at his blog Software Advice.
Soft skills – those oh-so-important qualities such as adaptability, critical thinking and creativity – are what’s needed to bridge the gap between good and great employees. Unlike with black-and-white technical skills, however, these types of competencies often fall in a gray area of subjectivity. Given the value organizations place on soft skills, it’s essential for human resource (HR) managers to regularly assess their soft skills training programs.
Creating objective ways to measure things that are really subjective, however, can be a serious challenge. There are some things to keep in mind when measuring soft skills programs, and also a few tools that can simplify information gathering and analysis.
Three Keys to Successful Skills Measurement
Leadership needs data that illustrates the value of soft skills training programs. As such you need to identify what matters most to your organization, and there are a few key factors that will help you in uncovering the most actionable information:
● Determine what you’ll be measuring. It’s important that your organization clearly defines which soft skills are most important, and your company’s core values should guide this discussion closely. For instance, if your organization values internal succession then ensuring employees have the right types of leadership development and mentoring would be critical.
● Get leadership on board. Rolling out a measurement strategy will be an uphill battle with little payoff unless you have a unified front. Establish clarity and alignment at the outset, as this measurement process will require buy-in across the board.
● Keep it simple and focused. It’s best to start small and focus measurement around one or two competency areas. The soft skills most essential to your organizations’ specific goals are the best place to start.
Customer & Employee Relations a Good Place to Start
There are two tried-and-true facets of your organization that offer a good starting place to identify areas for improvement. In order to determine where employees need further training, ask two simple questions:
● Are customers happy and coming back? Efforts to provide customers with the service that keeps them coming back may require some intensive company-wide customer service training, particularly in areas such as conflict resolution or active listening. If leadership is looking to measure how soft skills deliver return on investment (ROI), this is a great place to start gathering actionable data.
● Do employees have what they need to succeed? Not surprising, it’s important to understand how your employees feel day to day – and I’m not just talking about general job satisfaction. If your people aren’t happy, it’s bound to show in the way they relate to your customers and to each other – which might be an indication that you’re investing in the wrong areas.
Surveys to Software: Gathering & Reviewing Data
Many organizations rely on traditional performance reviews to measure employees’ soft skills competency. Additionally, focus groups and surveys also offer an opportunity to gather feedback specifically about your soft skills training programs. These data sources combined can be used to begin formulating a baseline of how employees are doing in key areas.
By providing actionable data on key areas – retention rates, time to proficiency, cost per employee, etc. – analytics tools found in many talent management systems go a long way in illustrating benchmarks that your business leaders can understand and appreciate. They offer organizations the ability to gather hard data and identify changes and trends in the workforce – areas that can be tracked to soft skill competencies and development.
Regardless of the type of tool used, though, the point here is that you gather the data. With this information, you can then explore questions, such as: Are you seeing increased employee retention? What improvements are these initiatives having on performance and productivity? Starting small and remaining focused helps, as does a healthy dose of patience and perseverance.
Article reference source from Software Advice.
Verztec is proud to be one of the esteemed winners of the Promising SME 500 award.
The Promising SME 500 award recognizes business excellence in Asia. Awardees are chosen based on a list of stringent judging criteria which includes assessing businesses for astute leadership, use of innovation to create more value for the business and clients alike, consistent business performance, positive ground sentiments and potential for further growth.
Thank you for your continuous support!
Visit the Promising SME 500 website for more information.
