h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I just made a complaint about my own posting being removed at http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/F36090?thread=100225 but after reading through a couple of threads I wasn't sure if it'll end up to you at all as I intended, so I'm repeating it here... The removed posting was written in Finnish which apparently is the reason for it being removed since I can't recall writing anything inappropriate. So are the moderators removing everything they don't understand? The post doesn't even say it's being "referred" as I think it should if the reason for it being removed was that it wasn't understood - it says it broke the house rules. Besides, there was a translation in the post... Basically, what I'm asking is that will it be impossible for me and my friends to chat in Finnish here anymore or will the situation change when h2g2 is opened? I don't know how your moderation team works but if you have a need for translations of Finnish posts, I wouldn't mind checking them through to prevent posts being removed for no reason...

Hi Alien

Yes the Finnish post was removed pending translation. It'll be put back once it has been translated. I haven't been able to find a Finnish translator at the moment, I've been too busy trying to get the site back up, so I've put *all* translations to one side.

Thanks very much for offering to help with Finnish translation, I've got your email address and I may well ask for help here, I'm not sure how many Finnish speakers we have in the building.

Once again thanks for offer of help, we'll get those posts back one way or another..

Thanks Peta!

I realise Peta is on holiday, but I have a question about postings in languages. When we were allowed "back in" in early March, some German conversations (up to about the beginning of January) had been re-posted - obviously moderated, translated, passed, and replaced. However, now, some 6 weeks later, no further progress has been made. Did the translator disappear the moment H2G2 went "live" again? Who translated those earlier posts for you? Why did they stop? Why have we had promises that this problem will be seen to as soon as staff is available to take on this work (i.e. fluent enough German speakers), when there was obviously already someone doing this?

There seems to be some inconsistency here.

Please bear in mind that there is little point in plonking someone in front of these German forums who just has a degree in German to their name. Or have you got French or Chinese people with degrees in English (from French or Chinese universities) moderating the English language forums? This is everyday language - as she is spoke. Many words take on a completely different meaning the vernacular, and some people have even written in dialect, so you have to be able to understand the twenty-odd dialects, too.

Not to mention innuendo.

Thank you for leaving the GerManiaConnection pages untouched from the beginning. It is, however, a great effort to write everything in both languages.

Some of the earlier posts were translated by a friend of mine, as a personal *favour, she's now working back in Germany and can't help me now.

The translators need to be native speakers, a student of the language is, as you say, unlikely to be able to moderate properly, for instance they'd be unlikely to understand some of the more colourful phrases.

In order to get language moderation working properly Jim has to redesign the tools so that I can direct postings towards the relevant translator. This is going to take time, he has other programming jobs to do.

Some foreign languages will be passed, I speak French for instance, so I can pass those, if I understand all of the conversation/words. Abi is translating Bubblish.

I do certainly understand the need for translation on h2g2, but as you say its a really big task. It's always going to be a problem with dialects and obscure languages. We can't promise to translate every single language that could ever feasibly be posted onto h2g2, so in the most part I'd just advise people to post in English, whenever possible.

Yes, OK we are sticking to that, but very much as an interim solution.

I would be happy to dump subediting and take on translating instead, if this just meant translating and not actually judging the content. Actually I really love subediting, it's right up my street, but would be prepared to forsake it for this, better, cause. Even if it takes me a couple of days, it would be quicker than it's taking now.

This situation still makes me very sad, as when I joined, there was even talk of allowing entries in German at some point and so we can only see this as a big step backwards. It should bother me least, being English myself; in fact, I am just as upset as all the German researchers, not to forget the Scandinavians. (Why are there so few French/Italian/Spanish researchers - i.e. none at all?)

After years of observing Britain from the outside you get really frustrated at the exaggerated insularity sometimes.

What embarrasses me most is to read the word 'removed' at places where the moderators struck. If it were 'referred to ' then things were somewhat different. 'Removed' means 'gone forever'. That's what makes me wear the Goo Berret, irrespective of any other actions of the Zaphodista or any single members thereof!

The ones that are temporarily removed say 'Removed pending moderation', which means exactly what it says on the tin. Only the failed posts are 'removed', and that doesn't apply to foreign language postings. Okay?

sorry, not quite! The thread "Notizen" consisted of suggestions to read, which we exchanged after the South German Meeting. There were /some/ external links in it, but not in 20 out of 21 postings. I can remember to have posted (in German) a link to the h2g2 "Spoons" entry. So what made the Mod terminally remove the posting can only have been the German language! "Notizen" is at http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/F53354?thread=92923 Quite the same happened to Bolle's Berliner BulettenBude, where a total of 36 out of 200 postings survived.

The 'Notizen' postings now read 'hidden during moderation' !? Although the 'Current Conversation' listing still calls them 'removed'. What is it now, please? Can this be taken as a sign of 'fear not, they might come back?'

Oh, and another question: this posting http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/FFM64969?thread=105870&skip=0&show=20#p932541 is hidden since last week, and I just want to make your job easier by pointing out that it was written in Noo Yawk English, and the translation can be found right in the following posting!

I'd like to volunteer as a Finnish translator, if you still haven't found any...