Creative Commons is a type of license used to allow artists to share works and ideas freely. I want to make this a new category here on my blog. In it I’ll put forth my ideas and work. Anyone is free to take it and run with it. I want to inspire, and to spark discussion. With each idea I want yall to answer 4 questions:
1. Is it a good idea?
2. If so, has it been done yet?
3. If not, what is the best way we can get it done?
4. What could make this idea even better?
First idea:
International chat room. This chat room would have the ability to do real time translation between any language to another. This would allow people to “chat in tongues.” Each user could type and see responses in his own language. This could allow for easier communication between international friends or 21st century “pen pals.” It might also help small businesses without a budget for translators to effectively communicate with international partners.
1. Is it a good idea?
2. If so, has it been done yet?
3. If not, what is the best way we can get it done?
4. What could make this idea even better?
1. Good idea yes.
2. Not to my knowledge, or not at scale.
3. —
The reason it hasn't been done is because of the cost to run servers doing that kind of live translation.
If you could find a way to translate stuff cheaply, it'd be fantastic.
Google Translate seems to be able to do a very quick job of translating text. It's almost real time as I type. Don't know if there's a way to use that or a similar algorithm [is that even the right term?] to accomplish that in chat/IM. I don't even know if anyone would use it.
Ah, a quick Google returned thishttp://www.whoson.com/chattranslate.aspx. It's a service that does just this, but they charge about $100/month and a 10,000 message limit. Apparently it can be done, and people are willing to pay.