The International Macintosh Users Group presents:
Meadan: a Project for a World That Doesn't Talk Enough -
Hybrid Distributed Natural Language Translation and
a Visual Social Media Browser
Group: International Macintosh Users Group (IMUG)
(A Forum for Multilingual / Multiscript Computing)
Date: July 19, 2007, 7-9 p.m.
Speaker: Ed Bice (Founder & CEO, Meadan)
Topic: Meadan: a Project for a World That Doesn't Talk Enough
Location: Apple Computer, Apple Campus, 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino
Take Saratoga/Sunnyvale exit off 280, turn South into
Cupertino, turn left onto Mariani Avenue, left into
Infinite Loop. Meeting is held in the Singapore Room.
Please arrive by 7:10, as the door is not monitored
after this time.
Admission: $4; free for IMUG members
Contact: Roger Sherman, (650) 859-5981
roger [dot] sherman [at] sri [dot] com
Website: http://www.imug.org
Ostensibly, this is going to be a talk about a hybrid approach to language translation. We will, however, spend a bit of time looking at the larger Meadan project, which can be roughly understood as a design-heavy effort to lure the world into talking to itself by creating the iPod of cross-language global social media browsers. (No, this is not the official branding line, but perhaps it will draw a crowd.) Meadan's open beta is scheduled to release in early 2008 with English/Arabic chat and batch translation capability. We are currently working with IBM researchers on a significant effort to train an MT engine on Arabic and English chat and IM.
HDNLT is a new approach to language translation – reputation-based, with redundant distribution and re-assembly of text fragments using a mixed network of human and machine translators. High-quality translations are obtained by marshaling the resources of a large number of intermittently available translators with varying levels of competency. HDNLT is useful in cases where machine translation is unreliable (or even non-existent), and especially in cases where the discourse in dialogues or documents is colloquial, dialectical, and informal. The basic principles of HDNLT are language-independent. The approach is consistent with emerging trends in so-called "Web 2.0" applications, where overall value arises from small, shared contributions that are combined using reputations adjusted by performance measures and user feedback.
Ed Bice has a BA in Philosophy from Carleton College, where he was fortunate to study with the late Paul Wellstone. He founded and led an environmental residential design company in Teton Valley, Idaho, for twelve years before he and his family moved to San Francisco, arriving on September 11, 2001. He has been working on various aspects of the Meadan project since 2003. Meadan is supported by IBM, MacArthur, Ford, Cisco, and Nathan Cummings, among others.
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