Browniez abuse Thread poster: Heike Behl, Ph.D.
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After all this talk about Kudoz abuse, I'd like to raise the issue of Browniez abuse.
A lot of people abuse their personal glossaries as a way to earn Brownies, maybe in order to access the Blue Board or to pay for part of their membership. There are plenty of glossaries around with duplicate entries and ridiculous entries. E.g.:
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an old hand ein erfahrener Mann
an old hand ein erfahrener Mann
an old hand ein erfahrener Mann
an old hand e... See more After all this talk about Kudoz abuse, I'd like to raise the issue of Browniez abuse.
A lot of people abuse their personal glossaries as a way to earn Brownies, maybe in order to access the Blue Board or to pay for part of their membership. There are plenty of glossaries around with duplicate entries and ridiculous entries. E.g.:
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an old hand ein erfahrener Mann
an old hand ein erfahrener Mann
an old hand ein erfahrener Mann
an old hand ein erfahrener Mann
an old hand [in] ein alter Praktiker [in]
an old hand [in] ein alter Praktiker [in]
an old hand [in] ein alter Praktiker [in]
an old hand [in] ein alter Praktiker [in]
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No Extra Stops Keine besonderen Unterbrechungen
2 Extra Stop Per Stop, Max 2 besondere Unterbrechungen pro Unterbrechung, max.
3 Extra Stop Per Stop, Max 3 besondere Unterbrechungen pro Unterbrechung, max.
4 Extra Stop Per Stop, Max 4 besondere Unterbrechungen pro Unterbrechung, max.
5 Extra Stop Per Stop, Max 5 besondere Unterbrechungen pro Unterbrechung, max.
etc. until 16!
Or what about this one:
a ein
Or someone who systematically entered words from a very general dictionary (e.g. dog = Hund)?
In my opinion, it's good to offer Brownies for entering answers from Kudoz questions since this will help enlarge the generally very useful KOG.
There are a good number of very helpful entries in the personal glossaries as well, but more often than not they are buried among tons of garbage. Could we please stop awarding Brownies for entries in personal glossaries? ▲ Collapse
| | | | | No, the Browniz should continue, but any abusers should be stopped | Sep 5, 2005 |
Hi Heike,
I wasn't even aware of the kind of thing you mention here.
I believe that Browniz should continue to be awarded for personal glossary entries, because I have, on many occasions, found translations of quite unique and special terms in people's glossaries, and I am sure they deserve Browniz for their contributions. Some of the terms cannot only not be found in dictionaries, but cannot be found anywhere else on the entire Internet.
I rather think th... See more Hi Heike,
I wasn't even aware of the kind of thing you mention here.
I believe that Browniz should continue to be awarded for personal glossary entries, because I have, on many occasions, found translations of quite unique and special terms in people's glossaries, and I am sure they deserve Browniz for their contributions. Some of the terms cannot only not be found in dictionaries, but cannot be found anywhere else on the entire Internet.
I rather think that anyone who abuses the system, in the way you mention, should be reported to a moderator and have both their entries and the corresponding number of Browniz points deleted. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Ken Cox 
Local time: 04:24
German to English
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What people won't do to score points! I hope they at least cut and pasted from an existing dico/glossary instead of typing everything in by hand (the mind reels...).
I'm with Astrid: notify the moderator so the culprits can be properly pilloried.
| | | | Lia Fail (X)
Spain
Local time: 04:24
Spanish to English
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| translators being paid for creating a resource that benefits them) | Sep 6, 2005 |
Astrid Elke Johnson wrote:
Hi Heike,
I wasn't even aware of the kind of thing you mention here.
I believe that Browniz should continue to be awarded for personal glossary entries, because I have, on many occasions, found translations of quite unique and special terms in people's glossaries, and I am sure they deserve Browniz for their contributions. Some of the terms cannot only not be found in dictionaries, but cannot be found anywhere else on the entire Internet.
I rather think that anyone who abuses the system, in the way you mention, should be reported to a moderator and have both their entries and the corresponding number of Browniz points deleted.
I don't think professional translators should be 'paid' for creating a resource that benefits professional translators such as themselves, surely the existence of a good glossary is payment in itself? The glossaries are extremely useful, but also full of rubbish, partly becuase of BrowniZ. I personally only enter items when I feel quite certain about them, as I would like to think that when/if ever I browse the enries they will be meaningful. As for reporting, how does a fulltime, busy translator find time to monitor entries?
We should be entering items becuase we feel they may benefit teh coimmunity/ourselves at soem point in teh future, not encourage entries becuause we get paid for them....
That said, who can seriously enter "ein Hund = a dog" in their glossary and not feel a little ashamed of the image they portray as a translator, wahtever about 'points'?
[Edited at 2005-09-06 00:33]
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| Keep BrowniZ, weed out "rubbish" entries | Sep 6, 2005 |
Clearly, the BrowniZ for glossary entries is being exploited by some. But this doesn't mean that this incentive should be done away with. Instead, perhaps there should be an option to flag ridiculous duplicates (like the brilliant examples Heike found) and "rubbish" entries and then, yes, deduct BrowniZ accordingly.
For me personally, the BrowniZ are an incentive to remain active on the site and to enter hard to find terms into the glossary. The time and effort of entering terms (e... See more Clearly, the BrowniZ for glossary entries is being exploited by some. But this doesn't mean that this incentive should be done away with. Instead, perhaps there should be an option to flag ridiculous duplicates (like the brilliant examples Heike found) and "rubbish" entries and then, yes, deduct BrowniZ accordingly.
For me personally, the BrowniZ are an incentive to remain active on the site and to enter hard to find terms into the glossary. The time and effort of entering terms (especially manually) are well deserving of their BrowniZ. Also, as someone who can't yet afford membership, it also gives me a goal - that is, reaching enough BrowniZ to get a bit of a discount. ▲ Collapse
| | | | FullCircle (X)
Netherlands
Local time: 04:24
English to Dutch
| Only Browniz for questions asked and answered | Sep 6, 2005 |
Another option might be to award points for questions asked and answered and not for the rest. That probably weeds out a lot of nonsense entries (sad that people actually do that). Of course, it might be that people will no longer contribute to their own glossaries because there's nothing in it for them anymore, but that's the risk.
But that's just my 2p worth.
Marion
| | | | sarahl (X)
Local time: 19:24
English to French
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| About duplicates | Sep 7, 2005 |
I am with you 100%, Heike.
However, I don't think we have a way to know a term has already been entered in the KOG at the time our answer is chosen and the system asks us to enter it. The site administrators should probably add some kind of feature that would prevent entering duplicates. I'm sure a number of people entered those without even realizing it, as we are "blind" from a kudoz question for all practical purposes.
| | | | craigs
Local time: 22:24
English to Portuguese
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| I think she means exact duplicates in one's own personal glossary. | Sep 7, 2005 |
Such as what one would do simply to get BrowniZ, with zilch in the way of intent of assisting fellow honest translators.
Duplication of terms between separate, unassociated personal glossaries is helpful to me in that, as in Kudoz, mass concordance can indicate veracity.
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craigs
Local time: 22:24
English to Portuguese
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| But really, is there really much "status" to be gained with BrowniZ? | Sep 7, 2005 |
They may feel slick as they cheat the system, but it's like stealing penny gum from the store. Somebody may care, but will anyone lose any sleep over it?
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