Below is the ranking of the top 4 qualities, according to the survey results.

Inspires a Shared Vision
An effective project manager is often described as having a vision of where to go and the ability to articulate it, that is, they are visionaries and are able to draw new boundaries. It was once said that a leader is someone who “lifts us up, gives us a reason for being and provides the vision and spirit to change.” Most importantly, visionary project managers enable people to feel they have a real stake in the project.

Good Communicator
The ability to communicate with people at all levels is usually pointed out as the second most important skill by project managers and team members. Project management calls for clear communication about goals, responsibility, performance, trust and feedback. The leader must have the ability to effectively negotiate and use persuasion when necessary to ensure the success of the team and project.

Integrity
One of the most important things a project manager must remember is that his or her actions, and not words, set the modus operandi for the team. Good leadership demands commitment to, and demonstration of, ethical practices. Creating standards for ethical behavior for oneself and living by these standards, as well as rewarding those who exemplify these practices, are the responsibilities of project leaders. Leadership based on integrity represents nothing less than behavior consistent with the values of honesty and dedication to team members and the company as a whole.

Enthusiasm
Plain and simple, people do not like managers who are negative – they bring them down. The team wants to believe that they are part of an invigorating journey; they want to feel alive. Enthusiastic managers are committed to their goals and express this commitment through optimism. Enthusiasm is contagious and effective managers know it.

Do you agree with these qualities? Would you like to include some more? Send us your comments. Or check out how we can help you.

The labor legislation in Brazil establishes at least 20 or 30 consecutive days of statutory annual vacation. However, those who take 20 days leave have the option of receiving compensation for the other 10 days through a raise in their salary.

The employee must go on vacation during any date between 12 and 24 months from the hiring date, or since the last vacation taken, in order to provide the employee a rest period. In my case, I am sure it is a well-deserved rest. With this in mind, employees cannot deprive themselves of vacation time even by choice and they must use at least one third of the entitled period.

Mercer released a study called Worldwide Benefit and Employment Guidelines (http://www.imercer.com/products/2011/wbeg.aspx), which was designed to provide data on working practices and regulations. According to this report, Brazil is the country with the most paid days off worldwide.

Check out the top five countries with the most vacation time (excluding holidays):

Brazil
After one year, the employee is entitled to 30 days leave, plus holidays.

Australia
Employees get about four weeks off.

Germany
The minimum entitled vacation time is 24 days per year, not including Sundays and holidays.

Spain
Altogether, employees have 22 days leave.

Argentina
Those who worked more than six months are entitled to 14 consecutive days. Those who worked less than this, receive one day per month worked. Accordingly, the vacation time can reach as high as 35 days, depending on the period worked.

The top five countries with the least vacation time (poor them… =)

Mexico
Employees have six days off during the first year, increasing to two days per year until reaching the limit of 12 days over a four-year period. From this point on, two days are added every five years.

China
Only 10 vacation days per year.

Japan
After working six months non-stop, the employee gets 10 days off; in two years, gets 12. It is hard to get more than 20 days leave over time. On the other hand, in Japan there are 14 national holidays.

Canada
Ten days that can hit two weeks depending on the local government.

India
This country offers 12 days leave per year worked.

The latest update of Google Translate has a feature called Conversation Mode, which was launched last year. The Alpha version, still in trial mode, it is a tool that allows you to translate a real-time conversation between two people in different languages. For now, the application is only available in English and Spanish. As the tool is still in trial mode, some errors can be noticed due to different accents, noise and rapid speech.

Google also launched the Google Translate for iPhone users. It comes with a simultaneous translation tool that recognizes words spoken or written in 15 languages and can translate them into 53 other languages! But the Conversation Mode is only available for phones with Android 2.1 or later.

Even with these minor issues, the folks at Google are excited about the future of this technology, which will be able to help people connect even more. See below for a Conversation Mode demonstration presented by Hugo Barra, Product Management Director at Google.

Pretty cool, huh?

The main elements that should be considered are the following:

- Operating System
- Keyboard Shortcuts
- Spelling Rules
- Date Formats
- Paper Sizes
- Measures
- Format of Decimal Numbers

The main elements that should be considered are the following:

During the localization testing, we should take into account various aspects. The first involves things that are often changed during localization, such as user interface and content files.

The second involves specific areas of culture and language specific to each country. Examples are standards of the region, spelling checkers, and so on.

Other areas of localization testing should include basic functionality tests; setup, upgrade and uninstall tests that are run in the localized environment; and, finally, application and hardware compatibility tests that are planned according to the product’s target market.

In general, localization testing should cover the following items:

• Validation of all application resources
• Checking for typographical errors
• Checking the printed documentation and online Help
• Checking usability of the user interface
• Assessment of cultural appropriateness
• Checking for politically sensitive content

On January 31, Pro Teste (Brazilian Association of Consumer Protection) sent a notification to Warner and Microsoft requesting them to correct problems with the subtitles of the games “Mortal Kombat”, “Gears of War 3″ and “Forza Motorsport 4″.

Translation errors were found, such as “[Player] LEFT” translated as “[Jogador] ESQUERDA” (when in fact it is an indication that the player left the room and was not on the left side), “Split Time” translated as “Dividir” (when it should be “Tempo parcial na pista”) and “Primer Golpe” which should be “Primeiro Golpe”. In addition, there are problems of accentuation and passages simply without any subtitles.

These terms, theoretically, are not difficult to translate. But on the other hand, game localization is not easy. What could have happened in the process for the games to be released with such errors? Did the translators know the products? Were they provided with enough context or just a list of words? Did they perform tests after the games had been localized? I am pretty sure it is not just a matter of translator’s mistakes, but a serious flaw in the localization process.

Pro Teste claims that this kind of problem can affect the player experience. Our very dear Wandrianne Dias has a son who is an expert in video games. Despite the young age, he said that these errors do not interfere when playing: “But that is because I know the original versions of the games, Mom…” Our junior expert agrees that for those who do not know the English version, the errors could create a problem: “It really is much nicer to play when situations are translated and the references are from Brazil!”

If you are curious about the topic and want to learn more, there is a great edition of the Ccaps Newsletter on the world of game localization. Go check “Localizing Fun” and then come back here and tell me what you think.

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But China passed a recent law banning English to be printed in Media and on the Internet. This seems like an outlandish concept for a country that has over 10,000,000 English speakers, according to the Wikipedia based on a survey several years back. The numbers must be much bigger now.

China also requires its students to learn over 20,000 English words and is expected to have a larger number of English speakers by 2025 than the rest of the world population combined.

The ban, which was put in place by the General Administration of Press and Publication, is a result of the belief that English or half-English (I am coining the phrase Chinglish, you heard it here first. ?) is a threat to the purity of the Chinese language and is a disruption to China’s “harmonious and healthy cultural environment.”

English words or abbreviations can only be used if a Chinese translation immediately follows. This is an interesting concept for the translation industry as I imagine that someone will have to create new Chinese words for words that were previously expressed in English. The ruling is so serious that violators will be punished by law.

One company that has already seen repercussions even before the official ruling is Yeeyan, which is a news site dedicated to translating English news into Chinese and vice-versa. They have been taken offline several times by the Chinese government and have struggled to remain online. Let’s see how they accomplish this with the new ruling…

I believe it’s possible to be successful or not in any profession. In Brazil, a good example comes from the teachers, whose income is knowingly low, but many of them still make a fair or even a great living out of their work!

So how do we “get there” in our sector? Or better yet, what does getting there even mean exactly? Is it about getting paid well or becoming recognized? And what would that recognition be?

We all know that you don’t need a specific education to work as a translator; “all” you need to do is translate from one language into the other, and ideally write well in the target language. So for me, “getting there” means doing a good job and getting my deserved personalcompensation, not only in terms of self-esteem but also financially, since no one wants to live out of charity.

Localization (L10N) is the process of adapting products and services originally designed for a single Market, so it can be launched in international markets. The adaptations go far beyond the language (translation) and include changes to any information that could compromise the understanding that the user has of the product.

Although the localization and the localization testing are not strictly a part of the process of software development, localization only becomes possible once you have developed the software and prepare it for localization; this process is called internationalization.

Localization testing checks how well the software has been localized to a specific target language. In addition to verification of the translated content, called a language test, functional tests should be performed. In these tests, we check whether the entire application is really working and is ready to be marketed and is ready for use in the market for which it was localized.

In the next post I will talk about what should be taken into account in the localization testing process and where you should focus on when carrying out the tests.

Researchers have tested volunteers in different environments and have verified that music doesn’t boost productivity at all. Volunteers were placed in an acoustically treated room (silent) to carry out their tasks, while others worked to the sound of artists such as Rihanna, The Stranglers and Arcade Fire, in addition to the track “Thrashers” by  the Death Angel group, which nobody liked.

Do you know what the result was? Those working in silence had a much better performance than that of their other colleagues. Experts say this is because during working hours, acoustic variations confuse us and make us less efficient. They also suggested that the ideal solution would be listening to music before starting work as a way of preparing the mind for daily tasks.

Well, this topic raises lots of discussion and opinions vary. But what I want to know is what you think…

Oh, and you don’t have to get mad at me over this post. After all, your boss doesn’t have to know this research exists, does he? =)

The other day, as suggested by a friend, I watched the video “Try something new for 30 days” by Matt Cutts and I felt that a whole new world was opening up before my eyes.

Here is the idea: Do something new (or stop doing something) for 30 days. I have never liked New Year’s resolutions. At least for me, who tends to not be a very dedicated person, doing something new for a whole year can turn out to be rather difficult. I usually give up and end up feeling weak. But by following this concept, it would only be for 30 days. Not too long, but long enough to create a habit. If it works, great! I can add a new habit to my daily routine. If it doesn’t, at least I completed my goal. I can move on and try something else.

And like Cutts suggested, we can do this with simple as well as complex stuff. Some ideas I had include exercising daily (you have no idea how difficult this is for me), cut out sugar, try new things, and read about different subjects. To start up the process, I am going to watch a different TED video every day; each day a different topic.

In 30 days I will be back to tell you all about this first experience. By the end of the year I hope to have plenty of new activities to share with you!

Care to join me?