Skip to main content

Google webmaster and other Google product interface language

There is something that is driving me nuts about Google webmaster? It's that i can not change the interface language to English. No really, I’ve tried like a zillion times, but somehow I just can’t figure it out.

In Google products I always set English as my default language. I’ve even set that I live in U.K. so that Google do not dare to offer me Latvian. But somehow webmaster is different. It knows me. It knows me deep inside. It even scares me ;D.

The reason why I prefer English over Latvian is pretty simple though – when the specific words are being translated into Latvian, in most cases text become unreadable, and I constantly need to think – now what's that word would be in English.

Some examples include:

  • Noildze – delay;
  • Rādītājs - index;
  • Iesūtne - inbox;
  • Rāpuļprogramma - crawler;

Not only words are confusing, but in many cases translation is ambiguous too. It can easily be seen, that translator did not take context into account. And today I was exceptionally upset, because I wanted to see, why my site is not included in radītājs, even though rāpuļprogramma, was able to access my site.

So i clicked on help, and this is what i got:

“Sorry, no translation is available on your language, please view this English help page instead.”

And this English help page says “Please press settings, and than press manage my sites”. Well, I really would like to press Settings and Manage my sites, BUT I DON’T HAVE THEM. Instead I have “Iestatījumi” and “Vieņu pārvaldnieks”. When help got more complicated I decided to give up. Better luck some other day. Well basically I stopped problem solving because I know that angry people are less capable of reasoning.

PS: I always listen to positive music & think positive thoughts when working ;D

Nevertheless I must admit, that I love Google technologies. For example Google recently has announced a new GoogleMap API for flash with 3D support. So I instantly started to work with it – and it turns out to be very simple, yet powerful. Check this simple example. I created it when experimented on how to use these new maps in our new project Apūtas komplekss Dridži.

Check out 3D map here

Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
One other reason why it is better to write in Eglish is that Your text understand friends who are living in other countries and are not speaking in Latvian, such as France, Spain, Britain and other nation.
29 Nov 2010, 12:01:00
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Left/Right brain conflict

Here is one tricky task called "Left-Right conflict" Look at the chart and say the COLOR , not the word. Your right brain tries to say the color, but your left brain insists on reading the word.
1 comment
Read more

What is the difference between conjecture and hypothesis?

Similarities. Both of them are statements based on observations, that seem to be true, but have not been proved or disproved jet. Differences . As explained in G.Pólya and L.Bowden book "Mathematical methods in science", difference is in level of credibility that explanation is based on. Hypothesis is testable, and explanation is based on accepted grounds. Conjecture is proposition based on inconclusive grounds, and sometimes can not be fully tested. Another difference is that conjectures, unlike hypothesis, are used in math. Hypothesis usualy are used elsewhere. If conjecture is proven, it becomes a theorem . Still, the border between two terms remains blurry, and terms sometimes are used as synonyms. For example in math there is a conjecture called ' Riemann hypothesis ', which correctly should be called ‘Riemann conjecture’.
3 comments
Read more

What is "impossible triangle"? (In business)

Impossible triangle, in business, is triangle that describes any good or service that is provided by any company. And it states that three values Quality, Speed and Price can not all be combined into one offer. One MUST be sacrificed. Either product will be delivered fast and in good quality, but it will cost more. Either it will be in good quality, cheap, but it will be delivered in ordinary time. Or maybe it will be fast, cheap but the quality will be sacrificed. I heard, from one Harvard's graduate, this is what they learn in first semester, in business school. I think this is what i learned in first week in 'life school'.
3 comments
Read more