<nettime> The bias of translating programs

[wade tillett <tenthousand@lokmail.net>]

felix stalder wrote
> For me the most interesting aspect of this experiment was not so much to
> show "how bad" these translation programs are. Of course, if you translate
> back and forth several times, distortions occur.... 
>(all translators are liars).

For me, the interesting part IS the distortions. I think what I got out of
it was infinitely more interesting than what I put in. I think the real
cultural bias of translating programs, or programs in general, stems as
much from the user's expectation of output as the programmers. 

The largest bias of a program is that it should produce something. And the
user (and programmer) judges what this production is. Bugs, errors,
inaccuracies, distortions, degradations... are all names for productions
which do not mean the user's expectations. The user judges whether this is
accurate or what the author intended, as opposed to finding what is
interesting in it and following that direction. I have, over the past
couple years, been collecting this junk output. I have a whole stack of
printer test sheets, printer error sheets, and other papers with errors
that I weeded out of the final version of what I was working on.

What translators give us is an opportunity to re-invent multiple
degradations of a text rapidly. It would be really interesting to cross
these translators with some sort of random number program and see what sort
of results we could get. What if these translations were created
simultaneously as we type, so that there is no original, only simultaneous
parallel deviations of which none can be called the true original? A sort
of fuzzy creation without borders (without limits?) which is free from the
user's expectation of the original....?



*-----------------
In a sort-of-related project I did a while ago...


(all of the numbered links show files that i sequentially derived from
the_scheme article published yesterday.) i started with some simple find
and replace. 
changing spaces to h 
then i did some formatting by changing letters to numbers, tabs, paragraphs. 
after it was sufficiently broken down (at no. 17) 
i decided to see what bill gates could do to make sense of it.  i laughed
out loud at the ridiculous suggestions the stupid animated staple gave me
like, 
"Fragment. If the marked words are an incomplete thought, consider
developing this thought into a complete sentence by adding a subject or a
verb or combining this text with another sentence. Instead of "meteors the
entire night." Consider "we watched meteors the entire night." the
technology can not understand that it is nonsense because who would ever
use a program to make nonsense? to deconstruct. to not produce. 
so i changed and autocorrected everything bill told me to, seeing what he
can construct.  the technology isn't quite there yet but i am sure in a
couple years i will be able to feed in no. 17 and get a perfect essay.
probably win the pulitzer. (fragment, consider...) 
no. 18 is what i got after receiving the message "spelling and grammar
check complete." i decided to help our buddy the staple out and change the
weird formatting and numbers to letters. 
finally i rechecked the whole document and removed anything bill didn't
have any suggestions for except 'ignore'. i also removed all orphaned
letters with find and replace 

-------------
some outtakes from this experiment (see the whole thing at the website
http://members.uss.net/kkim/life_series/frame1.htm ) ----------
1
can we produce a framework for life, for chance, as with the sheet in the
wind.  provide criteria which will take life w/ chance.  where upon we let
go + give it a life of its own.  free of our control.  (spark memory and
let it burn)  we set up a context which will incorporate life + chance.
something which self perpetuates + renews + changes.  like a sheet in the
wind.  random lights on a skyscraper.  curtains in the breeze.  rain on the
roof.  sand on a black floor.  headlights on the walls.  neighbors voices
laughing in the gangway.  the smell of coffee.  or bacon.  crickets.
shadows.  drafts and breezes.  the clang of pots and pans.  soft voices in
the morning.  the creak of a house.  the squeak of a floor.  a refrigerator
hum.  the clanging of the gate.....  --------------------
17
c          .           ‘/(‘:r     ,uc(‘     ‘fr         m(/       rk’f
r’#

f(,’f       r’c’       .           c(,’       u’/

8’’8’(‘u’((8’

.           ‘8’(‘/

.           ,.’’:r                  

,(‘cr

8(r

            ‘/’

c’’/

>##’8     k(‘#....
-------------
38
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 Cut caulk: cane coax loc lies icier: nana self-c Unum call. Age lace cuff:
cry: fauna coca cuie age cu. Silk moon call. Age ill. Ann., no slag.
Unyokes: cr. Carnal. At age cobra coca Run. un., pancake sinner. slag.
nisus. Nil cu snag at age ganging. Chum cuss cc. Rink. Crick cask nil.
Snafu. Bra coca vexes. Cuss. No: nay. Ext. Snarl nil call. Age comer. Age
cocky ck no nap claque ck no fanner. Frog cranny um. Cocas. Neither Ill.
near cognate nor no LA: aqua ck. refers. Salad. Nun, lid. Ana nark mob fem.
Concave slackly. Age. Scrub sill. Ribbon cu. Credendum nr runs. At Slag. At
age slunk Limy sabot contour nun. Urn’s Slog Uranus. Snaky fleuron. A Man
nil Quips can. Unseen Cline. Rill: scary cocks. Ulna: nark cuss. Conga c:
urn: sc. vex. S: fury snug, font. Age crinum sky son bulged laming. Um
cusses near crank ram. Imam cry, Snafu. Brannon. Can guru. An age inky nm
Fl cuss, Un you Cake CY cue inurn rum knurls. Fang. Muff, and far cubit
salad nisus. Ill., info moa cuss box unfit slag us. Ay cuss box unfit salad
Ana nark cup. Earns Conner gone. Bragged car age sky. No laky Yoruba sis,
nil call. Age slunk chuck. Rang. G? Gnu shark. Urns cry corny. Garbing
smocks age nosy. Gong cu Can Auk’s, cru. Fr cu bra manus. Iron. Unsnap
auk. Bolus croons. Air call. Age screw sebum: ex. Snafu c: ex. Cans no.
Churn: crony. Oar, Scapula cal. UN. Early. Arena. Lusts. Lack. No aura.
Urging. Cru. Un icon clay slag s: runic, can coax sun. Upon ca. Curing
menu. An. nun. Grin cuss nun sassy. Incubi slog no us cm. icier ill. Nil.
Runs: crone. Clock can ill. Nil. In Mr. nil chi Airing crick. Ankle. Sunup
ex. Age chum cuss foment Rill. Age Angus cuss.....


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