What is the Most Daring Move You Ever Made as a Freelancer? Thread poster: Renvi Ulrich
|
|---|
Renvi Ulrich 
Cameroon
Local time: 09:45
Member
English to French
SITE LOCALIZER
As I was doing some reading this morning, I came across this inspiring story about Apple's fonder, Steve Jobs:
At 12, Jobs wanted to build a frequency counter, but he didn't have the parts. Ever sensible, he suspected that Bill Hewlett, then the CEO of HP, might have some extras. And so, with the bizarre confidence of an 8th grader, he found Hewlett's number in the telephone book and called it.
"He answered the phone and he was real nice," Jobs recalled in a 1985 Playbo... See more As I was doing some reading this morning, I came across this inspiring story about Apple's fonder, Steve Jobs:
At 12, Jobs wanted to build a frequency counter, but he didn't have the parts. Ever sensible, he suspected that Bill Hewlett, then the CEO of HP, might have some extras. And so, with the bizarre confidence of an 8th grader, he found Hewlett's number in the telephone book and called it.
"He answered the phone and he was real nice," Jobs recalled in a 1985 Playboy interview. After a 20 minute chat, Hewlett agreed to give Jobs the parts — and he also offered him a summer job at HP, assembling frequency counters."
The rest is history.
And you, what is the most daring move you ever made as a freelancer? ▲ Collapse
| | | | Renvi Ulrich
Cameroon
Local time: 09:45
Member
English to French
TOPIC STARTER SITE LOCALIZER
In my case, it's when I was still starting in the industry. I searched the English to French translators directory and saw a user named "Gilou". Looking at his profile, I saw that he had a great deal of experience, and was the all-time leader on the Kudoz ranking. I wrote him to tell him how impressed I was with his experience and knowledge and ask if he could share a few tips to help me get started in my freelancing career. He was surprisingly very nice and helpful. Though he wasn't available t... See more In my case, it's when I was still starting in the industry. I searched the English to French translators directory and saw a user named "Gilou". Looking at his profile, I saw that he had a great deal of experience, and was the all-time leader on the Kudoz ranking. I wrote him to tell him how impressed I was with his experience and knowledge and ask if he could share a few tips to help me get started in my freelancing career. He was surprisingly very nice and helpful. Though he wasn't available to really be a mentor, he took the time to share with me some tricks that are still very useful to me today. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Mr. Satan (X)
English to Indonesian
| Switching to Linux | Sep 4, 2023 |
The biggest gamble I've taken as a freelance translator is switching from that piece of s**t operating system called Windows to Linux. I practically needed to re-learn everything, which I'm still doing even as I write this post. But the immediate consequence is I can't use Trados or memoQ, the two most popular CAT tools in the industry. I had to turn down jobs from clients who insisted me on using these. To put it in another perspective, I intentionally forego quite a large chunk of the market. ... See more The biggest gamble I've taken as a freelance translator is switching from that piece of s**t operating system called Windows to Linux. I practically needed to re-learn everything, which I'm still doing even as I write this post. But the immediate consequence is I can't use Trados or memoQ, the two most popular CAT tools in the industry. I had to turn down jobs from clients who insisted me on using these. To put it in another perspective, I intentionally forego quite a large chunk of the market. Not that I ever want to use such bloatware since the first place, anyway. I also double-dipped by only relying on LibreOffice for all document processing. No cheating by booting up Windows in a VM, either. This, believe it or not, has served me well.
I do still deploy Absolutely Proprietary™ software in my subtitling projects, and this fact is aggravating me to no end. There are some other cloud-based translation platforms that I have to work with as well, whose source codes are not publicly auditable. It pains me, it really does. I've been contemplating about ways to solve these nuisances and finally be able to have a 100% libre and open-source translation ecosystem up and running. Yet another bold move, if you ask me.
Sorry for going all technical. It's just the world I'm living in. :3
Footnote:
Using Linux has made me a happier person. It reinvigorated my interest in computers, after 15+ years being tormented from administering that sick man of an operating system.
[Edited at 2023-09-04 14:15 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » What is the Most Daring Move You Ever Made as a Freelancer? | Anycount & Translation Office 3000 | Translation Office 3000
Translation Office 3000 is an advanced accounting tool for freelance translators and small agencies. TO3000 easily and seamlessly integrates with the business life of professional freelance translators.
More info » |
| | CafeTran Espresso | You've never met a CAT tool this clever!
Translate faster & easier, using a sophisticated CAT tool built by a translator / developer.
Accept jobs from clients who use Trados, MemoQ, Wordfast & major CAT tools.
Download and start using CafeTran Espresso -- for free
Buy now! » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
Translation news
