language

How to change the OS X system language

Like most operating systems, OS X supports multiple languages, with full character sets and fonts for practically every language. In addition, there is full localization for a number of these languages, so you can have the system display menus and other system features in the language of your choice.

To do this, open the Language & Text system preferences, and in the Language tab drag the language you would prefer to the top of the list. After a restart, your system and applications will use that language, if they include localization support for it. Be aware of that qualifier because … Read more

Tackle a missing Chinese word list update from Apple

Recently a number of OS X users who use Chinese input options in OS X have noticed an update to Apple's Chinese word list dictionary; however, for some reason this list has not been made available to everyone.

The update seems to be spurred by the use of some third-party software packages; however, it is not listed as a standard available update by Apple.

MacFixIt reader Sanchai recently wrote in regarding this issue:

"I'm running Mountain Lion and found that on my friend's machine, Chinese Word list update had been updated to version 1.1 on … Read more

Dart, Google's attempt to outdo JavaScript, passes first milestone

Google released its first stable version of Dart, a programming language for Web applications that it believes improves on the incumbent JavaScript language.

"I'm pleased to announce that the M1 release of Dart is ready...This release is a more stable and comprehensive version of Dart," said Lars Bak, a programmer and key figure in the project, in a mailing list message today about the milestone 1 release. "Moving forward, we'll mainly focus on performance and completeness without introducing breaking changes to the Dart programming language."

It's hard to get new programming languages … Read more

YouTube debuts video translator for 300 languages

YouTube is looking to help video makers grow their global audience. Google's video hosting platform announced today that videos can now be translated into more than 300 different languages -- from Turkish to Tagalog to Tswana.

"Growing a global audience on YouTube means having your videos reach many people, speaking many languages," YouTube product managers Jeff Chin and Brad Ellis wrote in a blog post today.

YouTube has two types of translating services. One is the automatic caption translation service that uses Google Translate and has more than 60 languages. The other service translates more uncommon languages … Read more

Leap Motion: Gesture tech's come-hither allure

Developers eager to be among the first to create applications for Leap Motion's new gesture control system think it could be used to auto-translate sign language.

That was among the details the company released this morning about the initial round of requests from developers to design tools that work with the Leap -- technology that lets users control what's on their computers with hundredth of a millimeter accuracy with nothing more than their fingers or their hands.

The San Francisco company said that in the two months since pulling back the wraps on the Leap, more than 26,… Read more

Practice your verbs with Coniuno

One of the hardest things about mastering a foreign language is learning how to properly conjugate verbs. Coniuno offers conjugation practice for verbs in German, English, Spanish, Italian, French, Latin, and Portuguese. It's not the most intuitive program we've seen, and it might not be the best choice for language learners who are really new to the concept of conjugating verbs. For users who have some foreign language experience and a familiarity with conjugating, however, it's definitely a good way to hone your skills.

Coniuno's interface makes use of a couple of toolbars across the top … Read more

The 404 1,086: Where we left our dreams in a cab (podcast)

Filling in for a Justin Yu who thinks his air conditioner got him sick is the wild card Joey Kaminksi, a man who can apparently talk about -- in painfully great detail -- tipping etiquette in and around New York City. We love Joey for his tangential speaking habits, but also because he lends us his unique skew on the important matters of the day -- that and the fact that he brought us a Google Nexus 7 tablet for us to play with.

Do you have a game plan if you ever left your phone behind in a cab? Our producer Ariel Nunez tells the tale of such a predicament. Does Ariel get the phone back? Or is he forced to plop down $500 on a new device in addition to non-defective shorts?

The 404 crew also dishes out the dirt that saw multiple Web sites and services go down over the weekend including enormous time-suckers Netflix, Instagram, and Pinterest. How did planet Earth go 45 minutes without commenting on a sepia-filtered photo of your dessert? Find out inside!

Make sure you start your holiday week on the right foot by listening to these stories and so much more on today's show! … Read more

At DLI deli, military mementos abound

MONTEREY, Calif.--It never stops. One after another, Army soldiers and Marines walk through the doors in search of lunch -- or an early dinner -- and before they can even get to the food, they get a huge and hearty welcome, usually by name.

This is Compagno's Deli, just about the only shop in an otherwise residential neighborhood high on a hill overlooking this coastal town about two-and-a-half hours south of San Francisco. But a block away is an entrance to Monterey's Presidio, home to the world-famous Defense Language Institute, and that means a lot of very … Read more

Google confronts extinction of more than 3,000 languages

More than 3,000 languages are on the verge of extinction and Google is trying to do something about it.

Collaborating with scholars, researchers, and language communities, the Web giant launched the Endangered Languages Project today, backed by a coalition called the Alliance for Linguistic Diversity. Through the project Web site, people can learn about the Earth's endangered languages and see what kind of documentation is being created to preserve them.

The diverse languages range from Navajo, which is spoken by only 120,000 people in the Southwest U.S., to Koro, a previously unknown language that was documented … Read more