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Off topic: What 'other' devices do you use for work?
Thread poster: Sery Media (X)
Sery Media (X)
Sery Media (X)  Identity Verified
South Korea
Local time: 02:56
Korean to English
+ ...
Feb 15, 2015

*This seemed more off-topic than 'smart shopper'.

Besides your computer, what other devices do you use for work?

For me, I mainly use two. My phone and my kindle.

On my phone, I write emails and check attachments. It's a blackberry so the physical keyboard certainly helps; and with a decent data plan, I can keep up prompt communication even away from the computer.

When using the kindle, the main focus is on reducing eye
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*This seemed more off-topic than 'smart shopper'.

Besides your computer, what other devices do you use for work?

For me, I mainly use two. My phone and my kindle.

On my phone, I write emails and check attachments. It's a blackberry so the physical keyboard certainly helps; and with a decent data plan, I can keep up prompt communication even away from the computer.

When using the kindle, the main focus is on reducing eye strain. The big screen glares too much for my liking, and the paperwhite version offers a better view. Being rather obsessive when it comes to work, I like to fully understand every detail of the material and that means a whole lot of reading pre-translation. It's part of my post-translation process as well - proofreading is easier when it's on a paper-like surface. The computer is good for a lot of things but sometimes analog is better.

Would you share your device routines?
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Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:56
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Left to my own devices Feb 15, 2015

I hate Kindles. I'm a bibliophile. I like the smell and feel of books, and the thickness, to see how far I've got and how far I have to go and anyway, 99% of the books that interest me are certainly not available for Kindle. Stupid name anyway, it suggests that books should be used for lighting fires! OK rant over.

I don't suffer from screen glare, because I chose my display very carefully (with a non-reflective screen). This is it:
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I hate Kindles. I'm a bibliophile. I like the smell and feel of books, and the thickness, to see how far I've got and how far I have to go and anyway, 99% of the books that interest me are certainly not available for Kindle. Stupid name anyway, it suggests that books should be used for lighting fires! OK rant over.

I don't suffer from screen glare, because I chose my display very carefully (with a non-reflective screen). This is it: http://tinyurl.com/odoazcy

I have set the desktop background to a blue-green that's known to be very easy on the eye, and have positioned it so that the top of the display is in line with my eyes. When I turn my head to the left, I can see through the window and all the way down the street, which means that I'm shifting constantly from short focus to long focus, which is very good on the eyes.

My office chair is the best I can afford: here it is http://tinyurl.com/keoq6yr

I have a cheap, but very efficient, quick, and silent printer like this http://tinyurl.com/o674qk9

I never carry a mobile phone because if a job came through, I would need to open the documents on a big screen and compare them before accepting the job. So the tiny screen on a mobile would be useless for me. I do own a mobile, but I never take it with me. It's somewhere here on my desk.

Very important:

1. An external hard drive, to which I clone my main hard drive several times a day.
2. A lightweight wearable microphone, which I use all the time for dictating. As a matter of fact I'm dictating this post.
3. Italian keyboard
4. Apple magic trackpad
5. Post-it notes
6. Coffee cup (currently empty)

[Edited at 2015-02-15 15:26 GMT]
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Tina Vonhof (X)
Tina Vonhof (X)
Canada
Local time: 19:56
Dutch to English
+ ...
Two monitors Feb 15, 2015

My most important 'device' is two monitors, where I can have the source and target documents open side by side plus several online dictionaries or search engines in the background.

 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:56
Member (2008)
Italian to English
One screen is enough Feb 15, 2015

Tina Vonhof wrote:

My most important 'device' is two monitors, where I can have the source and target documents open side by side plus several online dictionaries or search engines in the background.



My display is wide enough to take both of those side-by-side, plus the other stuff in the background. Additionally, the multiple desktops option included with the Mac operating system means that I can create up to 10 completely different desktops and slide from one to the other. Not that I use it much, but it's handy sometimes when you really have a lot of stuff going on, such as Spotify playing in the background, for which I want to keep the window open, but I don't want to see it on my screen; just have it on a different desktop and flip to that desktop any time I want to check what's playing-

[Edited at 2015-02-15 18:31 GMT]


 
Carmen Salomón Hernández
Carmen Salomón Hernández  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 02:56
English to Spanish
+ ...
Anyone using a tablet? Feb 15, 2015

Hi!

Very often I get emails on my smartphone when I am on the street, so I can't check the documents on the laptop because it's too big to be opened at the bus for example. Since my smartphone is not a phablet, I usually carry a 7" Google Nexus Tablet along so I can read comfortably enought the source document before accepting the job.

Sometimes I also use foxit reader along with Google Drive and Office to review documents or PDFs while I'm on the go with my tablet (I
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Hi!

Very often I get emails on my smartphone when I am on the street, so I can't check the documents on the laptop because it's too big to be opened at the bus for example. Since my smartphone is not a phablet, I usually carry a 7" Google Nexus Tablet along so I can read comfortably enought the source document before accepting the job.

Sometimes I also use foxit reader along with Google Drive and Office to review documents or PDFs while I'm on the go with my tablet (I spend 1 hour at the bus every day and that time is precious...). I guess it's very uncomfortable for most people, since I read previous posts and they're all about bigger screens... haha. But if you get used to it you can do proofreading almost anywhere.

I would be very glad to know if anyone else has heard about useful tricks for translators using tablets!
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Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:56
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Useful Feb 15, 2015

Carmen Salomón Hernández wrote:

Hi!

Very often I get emails on my smartphone when I am on the street, so I can't check the documents on the laptop because it's too big to be opened at the bus for example. Since my smartphone is not a phablet, I usually carry a 7" Google Nexus Tablet along so I can read comfortably enought the source document before accepting the job.

Sometimes I also use foxit reader along with Google Drive and Office to review documents or PDFs while I'm on the go with my tablet (I spend 1 hour at the bus every day and that time is precious...). I guess it's very uncomfortable for most people, since I read previous posts and they're all about bigger screens... haha. But if you get used to it you can do proofreading almost anywhere.

I would be very glad to know if anyone else has heard about useful tricks for translators using tablets!


Finally - a use for a tablet !



I can see how that would do what can't be done on a mobile phone. Interesting. But I don't spend hours on public transport, so don't really need it.


 
Carmen Salomón Hernández
Carmen Salomón Hernández  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 02:56
English to Spanish
+ ...
Finally indeed! Feb 15, 2015

Tom in London wrote:



Finally - a use for a tablet !


That's exactly how I felt when I realised I could actually use the tablet for this... Hahaha!

I guess if you are always near a computer it's no use... I know tablets were designed mostly for recreational purposes, but I can't let it go, I need to figure out a way of making them a working tool.


 
Gordana Sujdovic
Gordana Sujdovic  Identity Verified
Serbia
English to Serbian
+ ...
Not a device... Feb 15, 2015

https://justgetflux.com/

It seems to be helpful


 
Frank Wong
Frank Wong  Identity Verified
Local time: 09:56
Chinese to English
+ ...
need another monitor Feb 16, 2015

The screen of my laptop is 14''. It is not big enough when the source and target columns are on the same page. In this case, I will create a new word file to accommodate the target column. I am considering connecting a lager display to get the work done easier.

[Edited at 2015-02-16 03:35 GMT]


 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 02:56
Spanish to English
+ ...
Low tech Feb 16, 2015

I have a magnifying glass for tiny print... it came in handy yesterday.

 
Christine Andersen
Christine Andersen  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 02:56
Member (2003)
Danish to English
+ ...
Pencil, paper, red pen... Feb 16, 2015

I am still back in the days of the mythical secretary who tried to stick Tippex on the computer screen.

Well, not quite, because I have learnt to use the Delete and Backspace keys, and I never could handle Tippex...

But I frequently use a pencil.
You know, those 20th-century wooden relics with a stick of graphite down the middle, and what our American friends call an eraser on one end. I also have a stock of add-on erasers, as the ones sold with the pencils get w
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I am still back in the days of the mythical secretary who tried to stick Tippex on the computer screen.

Well, not quite, because I have learnt to use the Delete and Backspace keys, and I never could handle Tippex...

But I frequently use a pencil.
You know, those 20th-century wooden relics with a stick of graphite down the middle, and what our American friends call an eraser on one end. I also have a stock of add-on erasers, as the ones sold with the pencils get worn out fast.
Naturally, I also have a device for sharpening the business end of the pencil, with a little container for the shavings. These also follow me when travelling.

They are simply indispensable for some texts, along with a supply of paper. Before I start translating in earnest, I check through the text or a section of it, and note down terminology and any particularly apt phrases that come to mind in the margin on a printout of the source.

You can tablet, Kindle and double screen as much as you like, but I can't note terminology as efficiently on any of them as I can with pencil and paper....

I enter some terminology in Multiterm later, but it is in fact quicker and easier to do it 'on the fly' with the text visible on the screen as I translate in the CAT.

The red pen is for proofreading my work. I no longer use all the old-fashioned printers' symbols, but I mark the text and indicate what needs to be changed or corrected.

*** *** ***
Before anyone wails about all that paper, it comes from managed forests, is FSC certified, and carefully recycled after I have finished with it.



[Edited at 2015-02-16 15:37 GMT]
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Ben Senior
Ben Senior  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 02:56
German to English
Reluctant to change Feb 16, 2015

Tom in London wrote:
My display is wide enough to take both of those side-by-side, plus the other stuff in the background. Additionally, the multiple desktops option included with the Mac operating system means that I can create up to 10 completely different desktops and slide from one to the other. Not that I use it much, but it's handy sometimes when you really have a lot of stuff going on, such as Spotify playing in the background, for which I want to keep the window open, but I don't want to see it on my screen; just have it on a different desktop and flip to that desktop any time I want to check what's playing-

[Edited at 2015-02-15 18:31 GMT]


I think two monitors are a must, I have a 27" and a 24" side by side for my computer and additionally use my laptop to the left to access reference material. My wife (who is also a translator) was a one screen person, but when it came to changing her monitor she bought two, saying if she didn't get on with two I would get one of them. Now she would never go back to a single monitor and has even asked about three monitors. A lot of people I know, especially in the CAD field, were one screen people until they had tried two, now they are totally two screen converts. It's the same with many things, people stick with what they are familiar with and are reluctant to change.

Ben


 
Christine Andersen
Christine Andersen  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 02:56
Member (2003)
Danish to English
+ ...
Me too Feb 16, 2015

neilmac wrote:

I have a magnifying glass for tiny print... it came in handy yesterday.


I forgot that! Large, solid DDR quality. Bought as a toy for my son. (I had one when I was six and have always loved them.) It is too heavy to be portable, so I have a smart, thin plastic strip for my handbag.

Mercifully smudged source texts from the fax are a thing of the past!


 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:56
Member (2008)
Italian to English
WHo - me? Feb 16, 2015

Ben Senior wrote:

people stick with what they are familiar with and are reluctant to change.

Ben


I have no intention of changing from something that works well to something else that I don't need.


 
Balasubramaniam L.
Balasubramaniam L.  Identity Verified
India
Local time: 07:26
Member (2006)
English to Hindi
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER
iphone-ipad combination Feb 16, 2015

I hate to sit permanently parked before the computer waiting for a job to come. After I acquired last year an iphone and an ipad, I have been successfully untethered from my computer. I now use the iphone to check emails from anywhere in the house, and if any reply has to be given, I do that on the ipad, as typing is easier on its larger virtual keyboard. My house is fully wi-fi-ed.

I have even done minor proof-checking on my ipad. It opens pdfs beautifully.

For more co
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I hate to sit permanently parked before the computer waiting for a job to come. After I acquired last year an iphone and an ipad, I have been successfully untethered from my computer. I now use the iphone to check emails from anywhere in the house, and if any reply has to be given, I do that on the ipad, as typing is easier on its larger virtual keyboard. My house is fully wi-fi-ed.

I have even done minor proof-checking on my ipad. It opens pdfs beautifully.

For more complicated jobs, I return to my desktop.

The kindle is of no use to me as first of all it does not connect to the internet at all - only to amazon store (its browser is as good as a dud - I have one of the earliest kindles that came on the market, not kindle fire or paperwhite). Secondly, it does not support the Hindi script, so it can't open any Hindi file. Moreover, it handles pdfs very poorly, unless they have been specifically formatted for the kindle screen. I use the kindle for its stated purpose - that of reading English novels.

[Edited at 2015-02-16 12:06 GMT]
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