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SIC Notes from Localization talk

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The localization talk had three speakers for a one hour session that ran a bit over. Rough notes below

Speaker #1 Claude Ostfeld
<aside>He literally just read his slides and his slides had way too much text</aside
- Don't publish prices on the Web <aside>Me and an audience member disagree with the speaker on this one, but when he was asked, he said he meant for bulk purchases (200+ licenses)</aside>
- Remote partners need to know they can sell
- Treat resellers like key clients, be selective in choosing

Treat a localized version as a brand new product

Don't hardcode english language captions into your software
 
5 W's of s/w loc
Where should it be sold
- Direct/Inderict
- Potential for profit?
- Decide where you have the most resources
- Local contacts (packaging/marketing)
-
- Using Google or Altavista
Don't use automated translations [French language]
- doesn't sound foreign, sounds weird

Focus more on shrink-wrapped software then localization

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Jean-Guy Ducreux - Localizing software
www.junkwarden.com

Babel Toolbar

Never embed string in your code
Resource or ini files
Delphi 2005
www.balmsoft.com for Delphi

Unicode - Double-byte
- Asian fonts need larger size (need to make out the strokes)
- 9pt as the minimum

BCDS, his company, does localization for French market
Top Systems for Germany
Use System font (shelldlg for Delphi)

***********
Phil Schnyder

Localization means more then just translation
menus, text, dialog
docus, help
installation
icons/graphics (stop sign)
character set
Dates and Times
Currencies ( new Euro symbol)
Numbers
right-to-left and left-to-right

Translation Kit - the process of translation
Don't need to give source code, just resource files

Give
Resource files, not source code
Word documents not PDF files
Help files in a format that can be edited
Separate code from language

Does your product make sense in other territories? (Tax software, baseball stats are two examples that won't matter in foreign markets)
If you build it, will they come? What about sales, marketing, and support?
Is it legal? Exporting encryption, copying DVDs - Turkish prisons are no fun

Prioritize for where you think you'll do the best

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