| Pages sur ce sujet: < [1 2 3] > | Off topic: Rehashed Polls - Is anyone else bored? Auteur du fil: Ty Kendall
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Ty Kendall 
Royaume-Uni
Local time: 10:54
hébreu vers anglais
AUTEUR DU FIL | Similarity....Proximity??? | Mar 30, 2012 |
What is the most serious mistake one can make when translating? ....30th March 2012 (Today)
The worst thing a translator can do would be... 28th February 2012
[Edited at 2012-03-30 09:17 GMT]
| | | | Robert Forstag
États-Unis
Local time: 05:54
espagnol vers anglais
+ ...
...to remedy this problem would be to post polls less frequently. One would hope that less frequent polls would result in more pertinent questions, as well as sensibly worded questions and answers.
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday could work. And the question could be left up until it is replaced by its successor.
Look at the positive side. At least there hasn't been any question asking translators to identify with a particular Disney character or flower.
| | | | opolt
Allemagne
Local time: 11:54
anglais vers allemand
+ ...
| The polls themselves are not really the problem | Mar 30, 2012 |
Ty, I've just noticed this recent repetition, which is very striking -- as if someone wanted to prove your point :-]
What bothers me most about this is not the polls themselves, which can easily be ignored. Rather, it's a question of whether those among us who care about the community part of ProZ have any influence at all on the way the site is run. The polls issue is really a very minor one, but one gets the impression that no-one among the staff seems to really care -- neither ab... See more Ty, I've just noticed this recent repetition, which is very striking -- as if someone wanted to prove your point :-]
What bothers me most about this is not the polls themselves, which can easily be ignored. Rather, it's a question of whether those among us who care about the community part of ProZ have any influence at all on the way the site is run. The polls issue is really a very minor one, but one gets the impression that no-one among the staff seems to really care -- neither about the polls nor about this discussion. I have observed this very problem elsewhere. So for me, I'm increasingly asking myself whether there's really any "community" to speak of here, or whether ProZ is just a site run by someone, with some forums attached to it, and that's it. Which would be ok. But maybe one should be more sincere about it.
For instance, in my case, it took a few hours of thinking, imagination and research to create the poll that I've mentioned before, in a language which is not native to me. (I'm aware that some might not have liked it at all, which is fine by me.) But frankly, the feedback/cooperation from ProZ staff was disappointing.
So to me it seems there is a mismatch between ProZ the community and ProZ the commercial site. Maybe the latter simply hasn't enough employees to keep up with all the issues, dunno.
@Robert: I assume I'm not to take your comment about flowers etc. personally :-] I agree that polls could be run less frequently. Less obsession, better content. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Disney and flowers | Mar 30, 2012 |
LOVE the Disney and flowers idea. I'm about to offer a new poll in that sense.
(irony intended - is there an emoticom for that?)
Jenny
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Ty Kendall
Royaume-Uni
Local time: 10:54
hébreu vers anglais
AUTEUR DU FIL | Less frequent polls | Mar 30, 2012 |
Nice idea Robert, I also think less frequent polls would allow for the poll discussions to run for longer and develop more. At the moment, once the new poll comes along, the previous poll discussion withers and dies....even if it was just getting interesting, which is a shame.
At least there hasn't been any question asking translators to identify with a particular Disney character or flower.
It would be Aladdin and Amaranthus caudatus [love lies bleeding] respectively
| | | | opolt
Allemagne
Local time: 11:54
anglais vers allemand
+ ...
There's no poll to be had here, Jenny, because there's only one true translator's flower and it is ...
... the daisy!
"Why?", I hear you ask.
Lives a modest life very close to the bottom, in densely populated areas. Easily survives in a highly competitive environment, despite regular cutting measures. Looks bright & shiny in the correct context. Available in abundance, and not easily extinguished despite being trampled on all the time by humans and CATs. Ac... See more There's no poll to be had here, Jenny, because there's only one true translator's flower and it is ...
... the daisy!
"Why?", I hear you ask.
Lives a modest life very close to the bottom, in densely populated areas. Easily survives in a highly competitive environment, despite regular cutting measures. Looks bright & shiny in the correct context. Available in abundance, and not easily extinguished despite being trampled on all the time by humans and CATs. According to Wikipedia, daisy species have ..."a worldwide distribution, being found everywhere except Antarctica and the extreme Arctic".
;-]
Oh I'll shut up now. Have a nice weekend,
-- o. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Trying not to blow a gasket | Mar 30, 2012 |
With the recent rash of rehashed polls, I really do feel that my (read "our") intelligence is being put to the test - kind of like a mediaeval ordeal.
I, too, have suggested polls that would have been for the benefit of the translators community here and would have got some kind of active response and constructive discussion going. But, nooooo. Alas, the powers to be have forestalled fate yet again!
I'm wondering right now how many other people have suggested original and thro... See more With the recent rash of rehashed polls, I really do feel that my (read "our") intelligence is being put to the test - kind of like a mediaeval ordeal.
I, too, have suggested polls that would have been for the benefit of the translators community here and would have got some kind of active response and constructive discussion going. But, nooooo. Alas, the powers to be have forestalled fate yet again!
I'm wondering right now how many other people have suggested original and through-provoking questions but to see them shelved in favor of recycled ones. Would be enough to blunt anybody's initiative.
I really don't want to be the Poll Police and post comments about it - like I had to do yet again today. And TWO regurgitated polls on the trot. OMG 
As I wrote a couple of days ago:
"I'm wondering right now which rabbit is going to be pulled out of the hat tomorrow."
And, I really don't want to say "I told you so." again. Sigh.... 
It's almost 2 a.m. in sunny 'ole Kyoto, Japan. "Time for bed" said Zebedee, and time for forgetting about polls. I don't want reoccurring nightmares. 
p.s.
Ty, thanks for starting this thread, mate. I really do hope out voices are not falling on deaf ears. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Just ignore them | Mar 31, 2012 |
David Hayes wrote:
I agree with Ty, and am tending to ignore polls more and more at the moment. They could be a great way to swap ideas and experiences, but more often than not they are repetitive and don't go anywhere. Pity. Definite room for improvement in how these are monitored.
But it's also true that there is a lot of repetition on the ProZ site in general: polls, translation questions, forum questions ... and the same complaints about such repetitions!
As David wrote above, if you feel that the daily poll has become less interesting, stop answering them. The daily poll is not obligatory, and if you don't feel like participating, then just ignore it.
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Marina Steinbach
États-Unis
Local time: 05:54
Membre (2011)
anglais vers allemand
| Good Advice! | Mar 31, 2012 |
I do the same...
| | | | Ty Kendall
Royaume-Uni
Local time: 10:54
hébreu vers anglais
AUTEUR DU FIL | Is ignoring the answer to everything??? | Mar 31, 2012 |
Yasutomo, David also said
"They could be a great way to swap ideas and experiences, but more often than not they are repetitive and don't go anywhere. Pity. Definite room for improvement in how these are monitored."
...and I can guarantee nothing will be improved if it's simply ignored. Ignoring a problem doesn't solve it, it just sweeps it under the carpet for me personally and does nothing to provide a poll system which appeals to people nor will it ever be what David... See more Yasutomo, David also said
"They could be a great way to swap ideas and experiences, but more often than not they are repetitive and don't go anywhere. Pity. Definite room for improvement in how these are monitored."
...and I can guarantee nothing will be improved if it's simply ignored. Ignoring a problem doesn't solve it, it just sweeps it under the carpet for me personally and does nothing to provide a poll system which appeals to people nor will it ever be what David envisions it could be.
Similarly, we are often told to "ignore" stupid KudoZ questions, "ignore" abusive KudoZ askers, "ignore" the barrage of SDL marketing on here if it annoys you,...
Once I'm done with all this ignoring, I'm not sure there'll be much left to take notice of.
In addition, whether an illusion or not, it's also to do with the "community" aspect which opolt mentioned earlier in the thread.
Personally, I don't want to ignore, I want to improve... ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Are we getting good value for our money? | Mar 31, 2012 |
Nobody has mentioned the monetary side of this yet, but we all pay a membership fee to be part of and use Proz.com services.
This, I would presume, includes the cost of ongoing site management and maintenance, which quick polls are part of.
By rehashing, repeating and recycling polls, isn't admin skimping on their duties and providing us with sub-standard services for the spondoolicks we have forked over?
If so, then this is definitely NOT something we should turn a bli... See more Nobody has mentioned the monetary side of this yet, but we all pay a membership fee to be part of and use Proz.com services.
This, I would presume, includes the cost of ongoing site management and maintenance, which quick polls are part of.
By rehashing, repeating and recycling polls, isn't admin skimping on their duties and providing us with sub-standard services for the spondoolicks we have forked over?
If so, then this is definitely NOT something we should turn a blind eye to and ignore!
A quiick check of the currency or "recentness" of poll questions would not consume much time and resources, discover rehashed polls and provide all of us translators with fresh new ideas for constructive discussion.
Failure to do so leaves me with a nasty taste in the mouth that we are all being thought lightly of.
In allowing TWO regurgitated polls to be aired consecutively, isn't admin being sloppy and lazy in their duties?
Just thought I'd throw a spanner in the works.
Any thoughts, anybody? ▲ Collapse
| | | | Robert Forstag
États-Unis
Local time: 05:54
espagnol vers anglais
+ ...
| The uses of ignoring | Mar 31, 2012 |
Regarding Julian's point, I agree it is a reasonable expectation, given the decision to include polls as a feature of this site's home page, that the questions not be repetitive, and that they also be relevant to the professional practice of translators. Given that it is well nigh impossible to create 365 relevant and original questions a year, how about settling for 2 or 3 relevant and reasonably original questions a week?
The one thing that I think most of us can agree on is that ... See more Regarding Julian's point, I agree it is a reasonable expectation, given the decision to include polls as a feature of this site's home page, that the questions not be repetitive, and that they also be relevant to the professional practice of translators. Given that it is well nigh impossible to create 365 relevant and original questions a year, how about settling for 2 or 3 relevant and reasonably original questions a week?
The one thing that I think most of us can agree on is that inane and infantilizing "favorite color" and "boxers or briefs" type questions really serve no purpose at all.
"Ignoring what you don't like" is a favored solution proferred by this site to those who complain about particular features of proz.com that they don't find desirable. Most often, such a suggestion is made in the context of Kudoz, where a "dashboard" is even offered that allows one to automatically filter out questions of particular individuals.
Within the context of a site like this that "welcomes all comers," I suppose that recommending an ignoring strategy, and even incorporating it into the portal's functionality, makes a lot of sense. This allows everyone to participate with a minimum of friction.
To what extent such an environment serves the interest of a particular translator, or the profession as a whole, is open to debate.
[Edited at 2012-03-31 12:25 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Ty Kendall
Royaume-Uni
Local time: 10:54
hébreu vers anglais
AUTEUR DU FIL | Shop window aspect | Mar 31, 2012 |
A lot of people just pay the membership fee for the privilege of appearing in the "shop window", so to speak...there's nothing wrong with that at all, but some people want to actually partake in the site features, and it's not unreasonable to expect those site features to function as advertised for the people paying money for them,...which is why people get disgruntled when they become pointless.
If it was free, then I'd be more inclined to take the same stance as I do... See more A lot of people just pay the membership fee for the privilege of appearing in the "shop window", so to speak...there's nothing wrong with that at all, but some people want to actually partake in the site features, and it's not unreasonable to expect those site features to function as advertised for the people paying money for them,...which is why people get disgruntled when they become pointless.
If it was free, then I'd be more inclined to take the same stance as I do with Facebook whenever something annoys me on there, I'd ignore/get over it.
[Edited at 2012-03-31 11:48 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | stop paying... | Mar 31, 2012 |
Ty Kendall wrote:
A lot of people just pay the membership fee for the privilege of appearing in the "shop window", so to speak...there's nothing wrong with that at all, but some people want to actually partake in the site features, and it's not unreasonable to expect those site features to function as advertised for the people paying money for them,...which is why people get disgruntled when they become pointless.
If it was free, then I'd be more inclined to take the same stance as I do with Facebook whenever something annoys me on there, I'd ignore/get over it.
[Edited at 2012-03-31 11:48 GMT]
and you won't be annoyed anymore, like me...
| | | | | It IS free :-) | Mar 31, 2012 |
Ty Kendall wrote:
If it was free, then I'd be more inclined to take the same stance as I do with Facebook whenever something annoys me on there, I'd ignore/get over it.
Haven't paid for years, me. I'm missing nothing (your mileage may vary). Plus which, answering polls = money, 'cos you get browniz for answering these half-arsed polls and can use browniz to pay for a full BB record if needed.
That said, I do actually agree entirely with you that the constant whine of "ignore it" is irritating and, moreover, could be argued as being at least partly responsible for the decline of a once-great website.
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