Yet another from the Pointless Links department: The Infinite Teen Slang Dictionary. In typical Surrealist fashion, it extrapolates from known slang terms to come up with a rather bizarre colloquial definition for any given word.

cody: adj. owning a drink.
“Do you like my tattoo, bud?” “Yeah, it’s cody.”

codeman38: adj. of a high-quality nature.
“Jackie, you’re so codeman38 – kill my arcade game!”

“Beef: it’s what’s for dinner,” translated to Chinese and back, results in “Beef: What are it are are the dinner.”

And yet another interesting misspelling, this time from the Japanese translator: translating “When I was going to Saint Ives, I met a man with seven wives” into Japanese and back gives us “When I have gone to the saint Ives, as for me the meeting っ it is in the person who has 7 wifves.” “Wifves”?

My results on the Mind Media Brain Persuasion test, a meme that’s been going around quite a few blogs, with my own comments in italics:

Auditory : 54%
Visual : 45%
Left : 23%
Right : 76%

Auditory 54%? I can see how they could label me as right-brained; my mind works in a rather “ADD-ish” way, for lack of a better explanation. But I’ve always thought of my primary style of thinking as verbal-visual. Then again, in a non-verbal capacity– for example, instrumental music or abstract art– I do tend to process things better aurally. Go figure; it’s almost the reverse of how most people tend to think…

(more…)

Well, after yet another week without any posts, I’m back.

This past weekend has been a bit…hectic, to say the least. Suffice it to say that the display panel on my laptop literally came unhinged; there had been a small crack forming near the hinge, and last Thursday, it had expanded under pressure to the point that the panel broke off, leaving a small piece of plastic attached to the hinge. Yes, the computer still worked, but the damage prevented it from closing, and there were a few wires that ended up being exposed; my best bet was to send it in to the repair center, since it was still under warranty, and that’s exactly what I did. (Incidentally, I handled the call to support quite well, telephonophobe that I am, but that’s another story entirely; perhaps I should devote a post later this week to that topic.)

Anyway, I didn’t realize how useful my laptop has been until this weekend; let’s just say that it can be quite inconvenient to use a shared computer in a room that doubles as a parent’s bedroom. The thing is, it could have been worse; imagine if this had happened during the semester, rather than during summer holidays. This laptop is the computer I use on campus (indeed, it was a part of my scholarship!), and it would have been even more inconvenient for this CS major had the damage occurred as finals were approaching.

Anyway, though, I finally got my computer back this morning, with the back of the display panel replaced and the remnants of the crack in the other side of the panel repaired. Needless to say, I’m quite relieved.

Well, I finally managed to see Spellbound this afternoon.

What can I say? The critics are right. Even if you’re the sort who would prefer to have nothing to do with spelling bees, you’ve got to admit that they do make for quite riveting viewing. One letter, just one letter off, and you’re out… no second chance until the following year’s bee (if you’re even eligible the following year, that is).

The contestants whom the documentary follows are actually quite a broad slice of American life; indeed, the film quite overtly debunks the misconception that contestants’ parents are all doctors, lawyers, and other wealthy types. The spelling bee truly is a manifestation of the so-called American Dream, as so many of the interviewees comment: it’s just as likely for the daughter of a bartender or of a farmhand to win as it is for the son of a wealthy doctor.

So yes, it’s a very interesting film, with enough suspense to keep you on the edge of your seat. But as a former National Spelling Bee contestant myself (1997, for those who are curious), I only found it more enthralling– and quite nostalgic, at that. First of all, I could very much associate with the stars of the film, so to speak; I knew what it felt like to be an outcast, for the most part, back in middle school, and like them, I felt an unusual sense of camaraderie at the spelling bee (though admittedly, I’m also glad I don’t have to study long, involved word lists anymore). The bee really was a special event for me, and by the time they showed the first panoramic shot of the Grand Hyatt lobby in the film, I had already begun to shed a few tears of nostalgia. That feeling only strengthened as the filmmakers went through the course of the bee… ah, yes, the inflatable dictionary doll, perhaps one of the best known bits of Bee memorabilia… the various views of the ballroom in which the bee was held… those words! how could I forget them!… ah, memories…

Anyway, go see it if you get the chance… especially if you’ve participated in any contests such as spelling bees. You won’t be disappointed.

Heh. Discovered via an old Slashdot thread, and still not fixed by the Systran folks:

Try translating “Yoda had a light-saber fight in Episode Two” into French and back repeatedly via Babelfish.

Yoda had a light-saber fight in Episode Two.
Yoda a eu un combat de lumière-light-saber dans l’épisode deux.
Yoda had a combat of light-light-saber in the episode two.
Yoda a eu un combat de lumière-lumière-light-light-saber dans l’épisode deux.
Yoda had a combat of light-light-light-light-saber in the episode two.
Yoda a eu un combat de lumière-lumière-lumière-lumière-light-light-light-light-saber dans l’épisode deux.
Yoda had a combat of light-light-light-light-light-light-light-light-saber in the episode two.

Interestingly, this bug doesn’t occur if you spell it “light-sabre”. Go figure.

Also, reminiscent of the multilingual “rink” bug I mentioned a while back on my blog, if we stick only to translating from English to French and vice versa:

rink
patinoire
skating rink
patinoire de patinage
skating rink of ice-skating
patinoire de patinage du glace-patinage
skating rink of ice-skating of ice-ice-skating
patinoire de patinage du glace-patinage du glace-glace-patinage
skating rink of ice-skating of the ice-ice-skating of ice-ice-ice-skating
patinoire de patinage du glace-patinage du glace-glace-patinage du glace-glace-glace-patinage
skating rink of ice-skating of the ice-ice-skating of the ice-ice-ice-skating of ice-ice-ice-ice-skating

Having fun yet?

Ooh. As if yesterday’s spelling bee news wasn’t enough, it turns out that Spellbound is now showing in Atlanta. I’m even considering going to see it this weekend…

Apparently different news reporters have very different attitudes toward Jamaica’s spellers.

In its article on the National Spelling Bee, the New York Times claims that “Trudy C. McLeary [was] a polite 14-year-old from Kingston, Jamaica, whose lilting accent and prim manner charmed the tense audience.”

On the other hand, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution demonstrates a markedly different attitude toward Trudy: “The audience, mostly parents of spellers no longer in the hunt, grew irritated with Trudy McLeary of Jamaica, who asked the announcer repeatedly if he was sure there were no other pronunciations or definitions for her word.”

Hmm… I’ll leave the analysis of those two quotes up to you, the readers. ::grin::

Congratulations to Sai Gunturi, winner of the 76th Annual National Spelling Bee! Faced with such tough words, your attitude was nonetheless quite pococurante.

Congrats are also due for Evelyn Blacklock, who surprised everyone by making it all the way to second place; JJ Goldstein, spelling family protégé who tied for third place; and Samir Patel, the extremely gifted third-grader with whom Goldstein tied.

Who’d have thought it would go on this long? This is allegedly the longest National Spelling Bee ever… but despite the insane length, it was as fun to watch as it always is for this ex-bee geek.

In an IM with fellow National Spelling Bee alum Toni:

codeman38: <geeting all nostalgic about the NSB…>
codeman38: <getting, even.>
codeman38: <the irony.>
mimeinashoebox: hehe ;D

Oh, and I should add: Good luck to all of the 251 spellers who will be participating in the Bee later this week. I’ve been there; I know what it’s like… admittedly, the Bee itself can be quite stressful, but the week as a whole is nonetheless quite enjoyable. Hey, it’s one of those sorts of events where I actually feel like I fit in; what more can I say?