"Universal Translator"

Wed Oct 20 20:33:58 UTC 1999

I thought that this was appropriate information in light of today's
'heated' discussion.  I just received the following information from one of
our board members.  I will pass on her comments and also the information
that she sent regarding the software.  I hope this can be of some use to you.

Lindsey Taxman

>I've just purchased a promotional software item that is advertised on AOL
>Shop Direct (800-884-3372) that I'd like to bring to your attention. It's
>called Univeral Translator-costs $29.95, plus $5.60 shipping and handling.
It
>is identified as item #11265. There's a $30.00 mail in rebate which must be
>received by the vendor by November 1, 1999-which means that the item is
>"free" and it must be ordered quickly in order to comply with the rebate
>terms.  You can  click on <A HREF="http://www.languageforce.com/">Language
>Translation Software by LanguageForce</A> to get additional information. It
>is essentially being offered as a free item by the vendor to reach potential
>customers.
>
>However, there is a deluxe version, Universal Translator 2000 (for 40
>languages), which includes OCR software, as well as word processing, and is
>Office 2000 compliant.  For Russian, there's a program which is now
>included-The Russian Power Tools which includes Grammar Support Sentence
>Structure. Ukrainian does not have a separate Grammar Support program, but
>there is a Polish Grammar program that will be ready soon.
>The retail price is $149.00 and $15.00 for shipping. The group discount will
>be $50.00 off the retail price.  I'm told by Dennis, the VP of Direct Sales
>(LanguageForce, Inc. at 1-888-837-8887at Extension 204 ), to please identify
>yourselves as a member of UCSJ to get the reduced price of $100.00 plus mail
>and handling.  I've placed my order with him today so I cannot tell you how
>well the program works.

--UCSJ Board Member

>
>P.S. The vendor emailed the following info:
>
>Here's information on the Universal Translator 2000.  The Universal
>Translator 2000 is the newest translation software for the Millennium.
>
>You can now instantly communicate in all 40 Languages -- with the most
>sophisticated technology available!  You can translate documents, e-mail and
>web pages in all Windows 95/98/2000 and NT applications.
>
>Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch,
>English US, English UK, Esperanto, Farsi, Finnish, French (Canadian), French
>(European), German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Indonesian, Japanese,
>Korean, Latin, Norwegian (Nyn), Norwegian (Bok), Polish, Portuguese
>(Brazilian), Portuguese (Portuguese), Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish
>(Latin Am), Spanish (European), Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog, Thai, Turkish,
>Ukrainian, Vietnamese and Zulu.
>
>New Features
>* Even more powerful features with higher accuracy
>* Expanded and modified dictionaries for all languages
>* $300 worth of Power Tools FREE!  French, German and Spanish Level II
>   (This gives you grammar support and sentence structure from English to
>the Foreign
>   Language only, if you need grammar and sentence structure from the
>Foreign
>   Language to English for French, German or Spanish, it will be a separate
>$97.00 per
>   language.)
>* $99 Universal OCR FREE - This product allows a User's scanner to scan,
>   read and convert to text files.  It preserves formatting, spreadsheets
>and
>   reads all document types, including faxes.  The Universal OCR is able to
>   recognize all the languages on the Universal Translator 2000; except
>Arabic,
>   Chinese, Farsi, Hebrew, Japanese, Korean, Thai and Vietnamese.  We do
>   have OCR's for Chinese and Japanese at $149.00 each language.
>* Total Voice Solutions - Using Microsoft Voice technology, UT 2000 offers
>direct
>   dictation into all UT 2000 applications.
>* Translate Foreign Web Pages - All formatting, link, and graphics remain
>intact
>    from your original text.  UT 2000 even supports the latest in WEB page
>creation
>    including XML, dynamic HTML, and cascading style sheets.
>* Omni Directional - Translate over 1560 language pair combinations and
>translate
>   directly from one language into the other without using English as an
>integral step.
>* Automatic Push Button Translation for documents, e-mail and web pages with
>   modifiable dictionaries.
>* Type in all 40 languages using your favorite word processor
>* Spell Checking for 35 languages
>* Great New Learning Games - Such as Space Attach and WordTris
>* Works Right Inside Office 97 and Office 2000 - Click on the menu bar or
>click
>   on one of the tool bar icons and your documents are instantly translated
>into any one
>   of 40 languages.  You can even send E-mail messages to Outlook right
>through the
>   Universal Translator 2000 Editor.
>* Unicode and True Type Font Support
>
>We are convinced that these innovations will meet or exceed your
>expectations.
>You can take advantage of this superior technology for only $149.00!
>
>We are committed to our customers to provide the highest in quality and
>service.  We will deliver the functionality "you need" with the cost savings
>"you want."
>
>Grammar support from English to the Foreign Language and from the Foreign
>Language to English (Level II.5) can be purchased for $97.00 per language.
>The Level II is available for Chinese Simplified, Chinese  Traditional,
>Danish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian,
>Spanish and Swedish at $97.00 per language.
>
>System Requirements
>* P166 or faster processor
>* Windows 95/98/2000/NT
>* 16 MB RAM (32 MB Ram recommended)
>* 4-20 MB of Hard Drive Space per Languages installed (545 MB to install all
>40
>   languages)
>* CD-Rom Drive
>* Mouse or other pointing device
>* Sound Card & Microphone for Dictation (64 MB Ram recommended)

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For more information on Jews and human rights in the former Soviet Union,
please contact ucsj at ucsj.com or visit us on the web at
http://www.fsumonitor.com.
Union of Councils for Soviet Jews
1819 H Street, NW Suite 230
Washington, DC 20006
(202) 775 9770
(202) 775 9776 (fax)
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