Financial Crisis?

The stock market keeps dropping here in New York, and it isn't clear where it will stop. It is even having a big effect on daily life in the city: restaurants are less busy, and traffic is even less congested.

Is the financial crisis changing your life at all?

New Year, New Chat

Happy New Year everyone!

2009 has started with lots of work here at yappr! We removed our chat feature last December because it wasn't fast enough to support all the yapprs that were using it. It was responding slowly, and, worse, it slowed down the entire site.

Our engineers have been working diligently to improve yappr's performance and I hope you will notice that the pages return much more quickly.

And we finally introduced the newly re-engineered chat application. There will still be a few items to polish and fix, but chat should be faster, more reliable, and will not slow down the web pages at yappr any longer.

Please thank the engineers at yappr, many of whom slept overnight to get chat released to the web site!

Patrick

Happy Holidays!

With people from around the world living in New York, we don't say "Merry Christmas" very often any more. You can never know whether someone celebrates Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa!

Nonetheless, even with the crisis this year, the streets of New York are full of holiday scenes: shopping (for smaller gifts), christmas trees (a bit shorter this year), and chorus groups signing on the street.

I wish you all happy holidays!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is tomorrow. Which means:

Traffic!

I am driving to Boston, about 300km away. But Wednesday before Thanksgiving is one of the busiest driving days of the year. It could take 5 hours to get there!

Thanksgiving recalls the first harvest by the Pilgrams in North America. The native Indians had taught the Pilgrams how to survive the brutal winters and to thank them the organized a big feast at the end of the harvest season. 

According to legend, turkey was served. However, wild turkey is a very difficult bird to hunt and I read today that they more likely ate goose and duck.

Well, I'm not hunting so I hope there is turkey this year!

Happy Thanksgiving.

Game are available!

Games

If you have watched the development of yappr over the last few months, you might have noticed a link up top that said "games (coming soon)". It was there a LONG time! So long I eventually removed it.

We have finally launched games at yappr! Click on the "play" link and you can try your hand at Bank Robber and Twist List, and hopefully learn a few new words in the process.

I play a few times a day, so see whether you can beat my scores!

The Markets

Living here in New York there is a lot of focus on Wall Street. And these last few months have been quite scary!

The US government is facing a very difficult decision about whether to offer any support to the US  car manufacturers. If they don't, one or more of them will likely fail. If they do, US taxpayers will probably be forced to give money to these companies for many years, and they will likely fail anyway.

Today the US Congress told the car companies to prepare a better argument about why the US taxpayer should support them, and the stock market fell upon hearing that news.

I don't think the bad news is over!

Weaklings or walking?

Weaklings or walking?

Election Relief!

The Presidential election is finally finished!!

They have been campaigning for more than 2 years, so it is a great relief to have it over. Now we have 2 years without discussions about the next presidential election; then it will start over again.

People were driving around the streets of NY honking their horns as the results were announced. It sounded like the Yankees had won the World Series of baseball, or Italy had won the World Cup of soccer!

Now Obama has a lot of work ahead of him!

What did people say about the election in your country?

Patrick

(We have lots of clips of the election coverage at http://www.yappr.com!)

Halloween

Today is Halloween here in the United States. Kids dress up in costumes and visit neighbors collecting candy. The tradition was brought to the US by Irish and Scottish immigrants, but has spread to other countries as well. Read more on Wikipedia.

Of course, the scariest costume this year would be the stock market!

Happy Halloween to all!

Patrick

US Elections

In less than two weeks, the US will select a new president.

Right now it looks like the Democratic candidate, Barack Obama, has an advantage over the Republican John McCain. But the campaigning isn't over yet, and things could change.

If you want to follow the election as it is being covered in the US, click here. We have many examples of both news coverage and of the candidates speeches!

Help Check Translations!

Hi everyone!

A few weeks ago we released the ability for anyone in the community to translate videos. My goal was to increase the number of videos on yappr. I still had each translation checked to make sure it was of high quality. 

Unfortunately, I couldn't keep up with all of the videos that everybody worked on! We kept getting further behind in publishing your translations.

So last Wednesday we updated yappr.com to allow yapprs to check the translations.

So please help out by checking these translations. Each video needs three people (in addition to the person that originally translated the video) to check the translation before it gets published. If you're the third checker, the video becomes immediately available to the entire community with that translation!

Let's get as many videos out to the yappr community as possible!

Patrick

Back to Blogging

Hello yapprs!

I was very busy over the summer and haven't had the time to keep up with the blog. I apologize!

We have added many new people to the yappr team, and we are all working to bring new features to yappr.com as quickly as possible.

More Videos!

One of the directions we are focused on is getting more videos onto yappr. As you have probably noticed, I have asked for your help in both selecting the videos and in translating them. With today's new release of software, the process is getting a little smoother.

Starting today, yappr.com allows the community to review translations and approve them for release to the main portion of the yappr.com. I don't want to release translations that aren't high quality, but when I was having them reviewed internally I couldn't keep up with the number of videos yapprs are translating!

So if you click on one of the links below you will see a list of videos that have been translated by members of the yappr community. Before a video will appear on the front page, three other yapprs must approve the translation. Please take care in reviewing a translation so that yappr.com can remain a high-quality language learning tool.

Approve Spanish translations

Approve Portuguese translations

Approve Chinese translations

Approve Japanese translations

Approve Korean translations

Approve Hindi translations

Approve German translations

US Elections

One of the biggest topics of conversation in the United States right now is the upcoming Presidential election. I know from living in Japan and Italy that many people abroad follow our elections, and most have their own opinion about who should win! I am always asked about how the candidates are seen by Americans, so I thought I would include an election video a day until the campaings are done. Click on the Election category to see them!

Coming Soon

We are working on some additional types of video that people have been asking for, as well as some features everyone has been asking for.  We'll be telling you about them here as they become available. And if you have any other requests for features, please let me know by writing here.

I'll keep blogging, and will get some of the new members of the team to tell you about what they are working on as well. See you soon on yappr!

Patrick

chief yappr

Car Show - Smart Car

This car was quite popular in Italy during the time I lived there. It is easy to park and gets great mileage.

http://en.yappr.com/welcome/Video.action?videoGuid=CF5A5E06-6217-4D0C-B9EE-FEE99E8D6FF7

イタリアに住んでいたとき、この車は非常に人気がありました。駐車がし易く、燃費の面で優れています。

http://jp.yappr.com/welcome/Video.action?videoGuid=CF5A5E06-6217-4D0C-B9EE-FEE99E8D6FF7

Where the economy is going (by shadowstats.com)

John Williams, a consultant economist, forecasts where the US economy is going.

http://en.yappr.com/welcome/Video.action?videoGuid=7D0EF451-1255-4D8B-9EF1-CDCF835DFA84

経済コンサルタントのジョン・ウィリアムズが米国経済の成り行きを予測する。

http://jp.yappr.com/welcome/Video.action?videoGuid=7D0EF451-1255-4D8B-9EF1-CDCF835DFA84

James Blunt - You're Beautiful

Blunt said of this song, "It's kind of miserable. It was about seeing my ex-girlfriend on the Underground in London with her new man, who I didn't know existed. She and I caught eyes and lived a lifetime in that moment, but didn't do anything about it and haven't seen each other since."

http://en.yappr.com/welcome/Video.action?videoGuid=9D020A75-1256-4A7D-BA89-8E24296B3E73

ブラントさんはこの曲のことを「ちょっと惨めなんだ。この曲はロンドンの地下鉄で、元彼女が新しい彼氏と一緒にいるのを目撃するという歌。彼女と僕は目と目があって、その瞬間を一緒に生きたんだ。でもそれに対して何もしなかった。そしてそれ以来お互い会わなかったんだ」と語る。

http://jp.yappr.com/welcome/Video.action?videoGuid=9D020A75-1256-4A7D-BA89-8E24296B3E73

P. Diddy, Faith Evans - I'll Be Missing You

"I'll Be Missing You" is a song and hit single recorded by Puff Daddy and Faith Evans featuring 112, in memory of fellow Bad Boy Records artist Notorious B.I.G., who was murdered on March 9, 1997.

http://en.yappr.com/welcome/Video.action?videoGuid=E1B03FF3-F88D-407E-ACBE-A4211803E853

「アイル・ビー・ミッシング・ユー」は、バッド・ボーイ・レコードのパフ・ダディにより、同社所属のアーティストで、1997年3月9日に何者かによって殺害されたノトーリアス・B.I.Gを追悼するために発表された一曲でヒット・シングルです。この曲にはフェイス・エヴァンスとR&Bグループ「112」が参加しています。

http://jp.yappr.com/welcome/Video.action?videoGuid=E1B03FF3-F88D-407E-ACBE-A4211803E853

Jimmy Kimmel explains what Miss South Carolina said

One of our top videos shows Miss South Carolina in the Miss Teen USA competition. Comedian Jimmy Kimmel analyzes her answer.

http://en.yappr.com/welcome/Video.action?videoGuid=B87A583C-18E4-43B4-A9A2-C99E5D4C443B

閲覧者数でトップグループに入っている動画の中にミス・ティーンUSAコンテストに出場したミス・サウスカロライナの動画がありますが、コメディアンのジミー・キンメルが彼女の答えを分析します。

http://jp.yappr.com/welcome/Video.action?videoGuid=B87A583C-18E4-43B4-A9A2-C99E5D4C443B

Talk Talk commercial

A British TV commercial in which people form different figures. It's awesome!!!

http://en.yappr.com/welcome/Video.action?videoGuid=271F2B5B-6451-46FD-8489-D1D5B521A92F


人々が色々な形を描くイギリスのコマーシャル。印象的です！

http://jp.yappr.com/welcome/Video.action?videoGuid=271F2B5B-6451-46FD-8489-D1D5B521A92F

Jeep Liberty "Rock me gently" Commercial

Introducing the all new Jeep Liberty.

http://en.yappr.com/welcome/Video.action?videoGuid=8F37477B-5C56-4B1F-BCE2-00B2382C6583

全て新しいジープ・リバティの紹介

http://jp.yappr.com/welcome/Video.action?videoGuid=8F37477B-5C56-4B1F-BCE2-00B2382C6583

CNN - Serbs protest in London

With shouts of ''Kosovo is Serbia,'' British Serbs protest in London on Saturday. CNN's Owen Thomas reports.

http://en.yappr.com/welcome/Video.action?videoGuid=C2A3733D-8D88-4582-809E-DA6C32D1CD70

「コソボはセルビアだ」と叫びながら、英国在住のセルビア人達は日曜日にロンドンで講義を行った。CNNのオーウェン・トーマスがレポートする。

http://jp.yappr.com/welcome/Video.action?videoGuid=C2A3733D-8D88-4582-809E-DA6C32D1CD70

2008 Oscar Funny Moments

Funny Moments during the 2008 Oscar award ceremony.

http://en.yappr.com/welcome/Video.action?videoGuid=3CF22219-CD6D-4F94-BB43-900296A5F6C3

2008年オスカー授賞式の間に起こった笑いを誘う一瞬。

http://j.yappr.com/welcome/Video.action?videoGuid=3CF22219-CD6D-4F94-BB43-900296A5F6C3