Writing Software for Worldwide Distribution Proves Difficult 1391
lupa1420 writes "Insensitive computer programmers with little knowledge of geography have cost the giant Microsoft company hundreds of millions of dollars in lost business and led hapless company employees to be arrested by offended governments."
The whole idea is crazy (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:The whole idea is crazy (Score:4, Funny)
And people didn't fucking buy it and so Microsoft fucking changed their fucking code so that the fucking people would fucking again buy the fucking product.
Re:The whole idea is crazy (Score:4, Insightful)
And above all, if Microsoft didn't decide that not putting a country on the map is just a business decision. If the didn't bend over, perhaps the bully countries in question would give in and use Windows anyway - pirated copies at least - to be able to benefit from business software, CAD, games and other nice products of the civilized world. Use your monopoly for a good cause for a change!
Re:The whole idea is crazy (Score:4, Insightful)
By not taking into account the differences between countries, Microsoft is sending a very broad message that they really don't know their market - something any first year business student can tell you is just plain dumb.
Re:The whole idea is crazy (Score:5, Insightful)
None of us like companies to become political agents in the world- but just doing business in certain parts of the world makes political statements- even if self-serving ones.
Re:The whole idea is crazy (Score:5, Funny)
Re:The whole idea is crazy (Score:4, Insightful)
Basicly some of those mistakes are unavoidable if you are taking a single product and derive localized versions of it. Call them 'social bugs'. It happens, and you should fix them and get over it. It gets really nasty when you are informed beforehand about some blunders and still don't change your product though.
Re:The whole idea is crazy (Score:4, Insightful)
Specific Ocean? (Score:5, Funny)
The annual National Geographic Survey had thrown up the sad fact that only 23 out of 56 young Americans knew the whereabouts of the Pacific Ocean
Oh, cry me a river--like the Pacific Ocean is some big, important thing. I mean, you need to drive all the way to Sweden just to see it!
Re:Specific Ocean? (Score:5, Funny)
Of course not! (Score:5, Funny)
.
[/sarcasm]
Re: the grandparent post, that quote from the article got me too. I was wondering if they were showing an upside down map or something...
Re:Of course not! (Score:5, Interesting)
Whenever I come across a globe that can be fully flipped upside down, I do so. It gives an interesting perspective on the world, especially considering "up" was chosen fairly arbitrarily...
(Yes, I know, "up" was chosen because that's where North is, but try to remember the whole polar reversal thing that happens from time to time)
Re:Of course not! (Score:5, Interesting)
But let's say further that you were a globe-maker from the 1800s. Since we have gravity, hence mounts, and simple mounts at that, then your globes had to have a set orientation when placed in a room. Which way up would you have chosen? Yes, that's right, North
One thing which mystifies me is why the spin axis was chosen to be vertical. If the axis were horizontal, the light used in illuminating rooms would fall on the globe as the sun's rays do
Re:Of course not! (Score:5, Interesting)
Funny you should say "orientation"
Early European maps had EAST at the top
Ever hear of "orienting" a map?
Point the way in front of you towards your destination (the orient)
(Of course on the way back I guess you had an "occident")
--MAB
Re:Of course not! (Score:5, Insightful)
What light source? The electric bulb in your ceiling or the candle on your table?
Re:Of course not! (Score:5, Interesting)
North was also a common choice since the north star was a major navigational point and the only still part in the heavens. In many esoteric understandings the north star was the peak of the cosmic mountain where the Gods dwell. Refer to Isaiah's refereces to "Har Tzafon" or the mountain of the north. Since about 3/4 of the dry land on earth is north of the equator, particularly those areas that developed advanced cultures early, this was also a common model in many cultures.
In every ancient culture maps were designed around spiritual, navigational and astronomical conciderations not on lighting.
As much as slashdotters like to dismiss religon they should really learn to recognize its place in developing almost every aspect of our culture rather than thinking that people of the ancient world centered their lives on which way the light would look best.
Re:Of course not! (Score:3, Interesting)
I do have to admit that Microsoft is not alone in running afoul of the diversity of speech and politics around the world. One of my wife's favorite stories is about Chevrolet being pu
Re:Of course not! (Score:5, Informative)
I'm going to be a git and spoil this one; click here [snopes.com] to see an analysis of this urban legend.
Re:Of course not! (Score:4, Funny)
"Made in Turkey" and "Fabrique en Dinde".
The French "Dinde" is the bird, while the country's name is Turquie in French.
Re:Of course not! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Of course not! (Score:5, Insightful)
So what country are you in? I'm in the US, where most of the citizens wouldn't recognize a Latin mass. The largest single religious group is Catholics, and most of them wouldn't even recognize the Latin words to the mass.
There's an old joke in the US, that if English was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for me.
(Part of the joke is that most religious Americans wouldn't understand that it's a joke.)
Re:Of course not! (Score:4, Funny)
Now, imagine if some Christian zealots wanted to ban or censor offensive music, lyrics or even games. I mean, if that was to happen in the US, it would cause an outrage!
Re:Of course not! (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm not sure this is an apt comparison. I think that the offense came from the fact that the prayer music was part of a profane and violent fighting game. I would be offended too (and I'm not Christian) if Christian religious chanting were used as background music for such a game. Its simply disrespectful to the sentiments involved.
Re:Specific Ocean? (Score:5, Insightful)
So while that's not as extreme as not knowing where the Pacific Ocean is... Americans aren't the only geographically-challenged people out there.
Re:Specific Ocean? (Score:5, Insightful)
There's only two oceans that lap up against US shores
Beyond that
Most Euro countries aren't 3000 x 1500 miles in size, made up of 48 separate states. Can you point out something other than London on a map of England? It's only the size of VA.
- Roach
Re:Specific Ocean? (Score:4, Interesting)
Even taking size into account, most americans have very poor skills. Russia is huge. Most Americans still can't point out where Moscow is, much less Saint Petersburg.
(And I'd be very impressed if they could find Volgograd, Novosibirsk or Vladivostok)
Size isn't a good metric. Montana is big, but only has around what, a million people?
Being an American with good geography skills, living in Europe, I can tell you that IMHO, more Europeans can find Ohio (or at least give its general area) than Americans can find, say, Yorkshire or Bavaria. (and they both have far greater populations than Montana)
Re:Specific Ocean? (Score:4, Funny)
There is no way possible that only 20% of the teenage population in America could identify the United States on a standard globe.
Now, possibly if this globe only had latitude/longitude lines, and no geo/political markings (such as continents, countries, oceans) etc. I could believe it.
We have all stared at maps. We all watch TV where the outline of the country is shown on the news. We know what the outline of the country looks like. Florida is that little thingy on the bottom, and Maine is the one way up on top.
We know what the North/South American landmass looks like...okay, yes, South America and Africa could be mistaken for each other - but North America doesn't look much like Eurasia.
I could possibly, somehow, believe that 20% of the teenagers could NOT find the United States. And I would assume that retards would make up about 1/2 of that number.
Take me to a highschool in the most backwoods, or crack infested neighborhood. At least 50% of those kids have some sort of brain and kind and could find the United States. Then go to a fairly decent high school, and you are talking about at least 95% (the other 5% being the aforementioned retards).
Yes, there are morons like Jessica Simpson (god I'd like to bone her) running around who don't know fish from poultry. But that is not 80% of the population.
Shit...if nothing else, about 20% of the teenagers are immigrants...and therefore by world standards, they must be educated enough to pick out our country on a globe.
Re:Specific Ocean? (Score:5, Insightful)
No
Beyond that, what incentive would someone in Germany have to know where Ohio is? Being from Ohio, I can state with some authority that there is little, if any.
Unless you have a specific reason for knowing
But I sure as hell know where all 50 states are, and the major bodies of water in my own country.
- Roach
Re:Specific Ocean? (Score:5, Insightful)
Most people in France for instance, probably have no idea their country is only slightly larger than Texas, or that Alaska alone is larger than most of Western Europe.
Re:Specific Ocean? (Score:4, Interesting)
But I've been to France and know that Paris to Lyon is a 6 hour drive, 2 hrs on the TGV. It's 7 hours from Columbus to Toronto, so it's easy enough to compare that way.
Failure to "feel distance" isn't the same thing (Score:4, Informative)
But understanding the differing scale of things is much harder for human brains wrap around. Yes, they can be described by measuring distance or travel time, but it's hard to really understand differences in scale until you've been there. E.G., I remember visiting in the UK, and some people described "far away" villages which were closer than my daily commute. This is just one of the many reasons that you need to visit a place to really understand it.
Re:Specific Ocean? (Score:4, Funny)
"So, this is America? That is too bad, I wanted Brazil."
Apples and Oranges (Score:5, Insightful)
You are comparing ignorance of regional districts *within* a country (states) to ignorance of major world countries as a whole.
Europeans not knowing where Florida is is a totally different thing to Americans not knowing where Sweeden is. One os a district, the other is a country.
If you think Europeans should know where Florida is, then that means that Americans should know where South Wales is in the UK. Good luck on *that*.
It is pretty much accepted knowledge worldwide that the vast majority of the US population has little concern with anything beyond its own borders. Just watch your average american 6'oclock newscast and count the international references. Compared to other countries' newscasts it should be embarassing.
Re:Specific Ocean? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Specific Ocean? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Specific Ocean? (Score:3, Funny)
Maybe if you referred to some place in America we'd understand. :)
Seriously, though, I have a friend who was moving from
Re:Specific Ocean? (Score:5, Funny)
A worldwide survey was conducted by the UN. The only question asked was:"Would you please give your honest opinion about solutions to the food shortage in the rest of the world?"
The survey was a huge failure...
In Africa they didn't know what "food" meant
In Eastern Europe they didn't know what "honest" meant.
In Western Europe they didn't know what "shortage" meant
In China they didn't know what "opinion" meant.
In the Middle East they didn't know what "solution" meant.
In South America they didn't know what "please" meant.
And in the USA they didn't know what "the rest of the world" meant
Re:Specific Ocean? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Specific Ocean? (Score:5, Funny)
So you've got your hands held up in front of you to illustrate geographical locations. Maybe they were trying to poke you in the eye for being such a weirdo.
This probably won't translate: (Score:5, Funny)
A very attractive, accomplished, intelligent woman played a prank on me. As a party game, she had me close my eyes and trace the outline of "the ideal woman". I figured the game was to get the guy to lose track and laugh at the deformed outline. Something along the lines of "Her breasts are 2 feet above her neck!"
So I concentraited very hard.
"Ok, show where her eyes are."
"Show where her nose is."
"Show where her hair comes down to."
"Show where her breasts are and their approximate size"
"Show where her navel is."
"Show where her waist is."
"Show where her hips are."
I was focussing really hard as the bits got closer together, sure I was creating a monster.
"Show where her vagina is."
I put my finger out and felt a warm, moist cavity.
I fell over laughing - she'd knelt and put her mouth on my finger. I was pretty surprised. And a bit embarrassed.
New Mexico USA (Score:5, Interesting)
Just imagine if someone invaded New Mexico and 25% of America were upset that we were sending troops there.
Re:Specific Ocean? (Score:5, Informative)
Yes, American school kids are largely ignorant of geography. But the survey also points out the gross ignorance of students in other nations. Reporters and pundits tend to forget this in their zeal to portray the US as a bunch of nincompoops. It is a good thing that this geographical ignorance in the US is highlighted, because it means that we can now move to correct the problem. But it does not imply that other nations are let off the hook!
This was a survey done by a US organization for a US audience. Then the US media reported about are dumb kids. Then the non-US media came along and quoted the US media, and suddenly the whole world is awed at the stupidity of US schoolchildren.
But if you look at the actual results, or merely read a bit further down in the summary, you'll find a slightly different story. That's what's not being reported: the US is not alone in its geographical ignorance!
Some choice quotes: "Others outside the U.S., most notably young adults in Mexico, also struggled with basic geography facts. Young people in Canada and Great Britain fared almost as poorly as those in the U.S." [nationalgeographic.com].
Or how about, "Young adults worldwide are not markedly more literate about geography than the Americans. On average, fewer than 25% of young people worldwide could locate Israel on the map. Only about 20% could identify hotspots like Afghanistan, Iran, and Iraq" [gtpcc.org], and "In France, 24% did not know that that their own country was a nuclear nation."
It doesn't bother me that the world is picking the US for getting a "D" in geography. What bothers me is that the world thinks getting a "C-" in the same class is a resounding success!
Insular US (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Insular US (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Insular US (Score:5, Insightful)
And because it has been widely speculated that they are more responsive to advertising than any other demographic, the networks are probably catering to them.
Re:Insular US (Score:5, Funny)
Yes and one of them is your President!
Re:Insular US (Score:5, Funny)
"To the C students, I say, 'You too can be president of the United States.'" - George W. Bush, 2001
Why would studying C lead you to politics? (Score:5, Funny)
All those pointers and 0 based arithmetic. I swear if I ever have to write another link-list routine, I'll go postal.
Re:Insular US (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Insular US (Score:4, Insightful)
According to Newsweek (4/16/01) the UN pegs the figure at 97% for the U.S. population over 15 years of age.
Bad (~7.5M), but not nearly as bad as your example. And, it still includes some that aren't so by education.
Re:Insular US (Score:3, Informative)
ob simpsons (Score:5, Funny)
Re:ob simpsons (Score:4, Funny)
Homer: (Looking at a globe map...country being Uruguay) Hee hee! Look at this country! 'You are gay.'
Que? (Score:4, Funny)
Perhaps the best known...was a colour-coded world map showing time zones, which showed the disputed Jammu-Kashmir region as not being in India...The mistake led to the whole of the Windows 95 operating system being banned in the country, losing large sales. For its replacement, Microsoft, Office 97, Microsoft removed the colour coding and sold 100,000 copies in India.
Office 97 replaced Windows 95? Yikes.
Cheers,
Ian
I wish I had a nickel... (Score:3, Funny)
1) Office 97
2) Office 98
3) Windows 97 (and they will refuse to be corrected)
23 in 56 can locate the Pacific Ocean? Seems a little high, to me.
Re:Que? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Que? (Score:4, Funny)
But you Unix types wouldn't bat an eye if the text read "...replacing Windows 95 with emacs!"
Most of these aren't geographic errors... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Most of these aren't geographic errors... (Score:5, Insightful)
Also, one of the major errors - the inclusion of a chant of verses from the Koran in Kakuto Chojin - was made by Japanese developers.
The article illustrates the value, more than anything, of hiring consultants for each and every country into which you intend to market a product.
Lame article (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Lame article (Score:5, Funny)
Yeah, who cares about little piss-ant countries like Pakistan. Call me back when they have nukes...
*RRRINNNGGGG*
Re:Lame article (Score:5, Insightful)
No, the reasonable thing to do would have been to develop different versions of the software for each country where it is sold, so that in Windows India Edition the Kashmir region is displayed as part of India, while in Windows Pakistan Edition the Kashmir region is displayed as part of Pakistan.
Microsoft appears to be trying to sell Windows as a global product, but there is no globally-accepted geography that can be used in it. Some degree of localization is necessary.
Oh come on (Score:5, Insightful)
Americans may have a poor understanding of Geography, but I don't really see that being an issue in this case. All Microsoft could have done is more thoroughly research the area.
Other items which caused offence (Score:5, Funny)
Several Arab countries resented being called either "Oil" or "Just terrorists".
Several former Soviet Bloc and Warsaw Pact countries objected to the name of their countries being followed by "(or whatever they are calling themselves this week)."
Not Just MS (Score:5, Insightful)
Geography? (Score:5, Insightful)
If you read the article, you'll see the computer programmer's problems have nothing to do with geography... and everything to do with understanding and respecting differences in the cultures that may purchase MSFT products. I think showing the programmers where the Pacific Ocean is isn't going to do very much to make the software more culturally acceptable.
Not too sure about this.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Not too sure about this.... (Score:3, Insightful)
You mean like READING?
I live in the same county of the same state I was born in and I certainly knew Kashmir is a disputed region between India and Pakistan, and I certainly knew China refuses to acknowledge Taiwan exists as a separate entity from China.
These aren't esoteric things. It's not that big a world.
I mean... don't any of you play RISK?!
Re:Not too sure about this.... (Score:3, Insightful)
TFA makes little sense (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:TFA makes little sense (Score:5, Insightful)
Bigger problem I see (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Bigger problem I see (Score:4, Insightful)
Read up on the history of Kashmir and it'll be clear that this isn't trivial. Besides, the engineers were detained for breaking a law... Maybe that law seems silly to you, but I'm sure there are tons of examples of from your homeland that seem silly to outsiders. Although, they are probably not likely to trigger a war.
In the eye of the beholder ... (Score:4, Interesting)
I agree that it is a problem.
But, put yourself in their shoes and see how it looks. As trivial as a map may look, there are political implications behind it. For example, in this case, an area inhabited by a ethno-linguistic minority asserts its independance, although the de facto situation is that this is within the bounds of a soverign state. What is worse, is that they see this as a conspiracy from more powerful countries to assert the reverse of the status quo.
Some issues appear really trivial, but are really sensitive/contentious in other countries/cultures. Here are some examples:
Every culture has those "hot button" issues.
There are many other cases I am sure, but you get the idea ...
Passing the buck (Score:3, Insightful)
hapless company employees
Talk about passing the buck. Some of the top problems in the article:
This isn't hapless employees. This is government oppression, and the bans on free speech necessary to pull them off.
I beg to differ (Score:3, Insightful)
This isn't hapless employees. This is government oppression, and the bans on free speech necessary to pull them off.
Censorship, tough laws, whatever, but if you're going to do business in a country then you'd damn well better get yourself familiar with the way that country works. As the oft-repeated phrase goes, "Ignorance of the law is no excuse."
Master / Slave HDD (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Master / Slave HDD (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Master / Slave HDD (Score:5, Insightful)
When I hear the word "Slave" the first thing that comes to mind is white women with blonde hair and big tits dressed up in leather that doesn't cover any of their goodies and strapped to a cross or something.
Primary is the first IDE bus, and Secondary is the second one. You'd have Primary Primary, Primary Secondary, Secondary Primary, and Secondary Secondary. You don't think that would be confusing? I thought this was news for nerds.
After reading this article... (Score:5, Insightful)
Usually, I'm an american that makes every effort to be understanding of cultures different than my own, and to try to understand why it is that the US is frowned upon by other cultures. We have a foreign exchange intern here from Europe right now, and we've had long conversations about why and how americans take their relative wealth for granted (even our citizens on welfare tend to be wealthier than many in smaller european countries!)
But this...this isn't a lack of sensitivity on Microsoft's part. It's a lack of toleration on the part of other cultures. Knowing full-well that this software was written by programmers of another culture, there should be a degree of toleration and patience that goes along with the process. Make the developer aware of the issue and give them a chance to fix it.
Honestly, if someone in another culture (India perhaps?) that wasn't sufficiently versed in US geography made a map that, oh...I don't know, put St. Louis in Illinois rather than Missouri, or show the Arch crossing the Mississippi River or something equally stupid, I suppose some might be offended (I can think of other, more controversial examples...), but more than likely we'd give them the chance to fix it first.
Americans may be stuck up, take a WHOLE lot of freedoms for granted, have lots of money, and think too highly of themselves at times to bother learning about other cultures, but I'll give you one thing:
Even some of the most annoying pricks I know seem to be more tolerant than some other cultures are to the average Joe. How pathetic is that?
Re:After reading this article... (Score:4, Insightful)
Hell, plenty of Americans dont even know that the State of Washington has nothing to do with Washington in the District of Columbia.
Hell, do they even know that D.C. isn't a state, it's a special district with it's own government?
Do they know that Peurto Rico belongs to the US, but is it's own nation? I suppose referring to Peurto Rico as a state would offend some Peurto Ricans.
The difference between this example and China or India, is it's not a criminal offense to mistakenly refer to Peurto Rico as a "state", neither in the USA or in Peurto Rico. It is a criminal offense to refer to Taiwan as a country in China.
Re:After reading this article... (Score:4, Insightful)
It's hard to compare the Kashmir problem to anything in the United States because we aren't involved in any border disputes with our neighbors. The closest thing that I can come up with would be to say that Texas still belongs to Mexico. Even that is a stretch, because the Mexico-Texas border isn't disputed. Kashmir is a very real political disagreement that doesn't even have a border -- it has a cease-fire line! People have died over Kashmir, and I'm not talking about someone's ancestor five generations ago, I'm talking about earlier this year. I think it's undeniably insensitive for anyone to ignore that. Doesn't anyone at Microsoft read the news?
Honest Mistakes (Score:3, Interesting)
- Referring to Taiwan as a country
- Not showing disputed parts of India in India
- Japanese employees mistakenly use Koran chants in a video game
Most of the people who were offended are governments who "demand" respect. And those kind of governments are the least likely to deserve it.
Nice Title... (Score:3, Funny)
In order to assist our beloved editors with coming up with more accurate titles, I have included a list of other titles that they can use for articles at thier discretion:
Light Speed Turns Out to be Really Fast
Windows Security Hole Discovered, Disavowed
Fall Elections May Descend into Chaos
Script Kiddies Demand More H@x, Fewer Firewalls, Higher Salaries
Microsoft PR Campaigns Foolish, Ineffective
Hot Grtis Proven to Make ANYONE More Attractive
Politics rather than Geography (Score:3, Insightful)
If you read the article you realize that most of the mistakes made had nothing to do with geography.
"Microsoft employees were questioned by police in China, where it is an offence to refer to Taiwan as country or as the Republic of China"How is this a geography issue? Taiwan recognizes itself as an independent country.
"A game called Age of Empires 2 offended the Saudi Arabian authorities because it showed victorious Muslim armies turning churches into mosques"Again, how is this a geography issue?
I think this article is just bait for the daily MS bashing on /.
-chrisIt's to be expected... (Score:5, Insightful)
This sounds much more like a "lets point out all the funny fuckups from M$" article, and much less a diatribe on the difficulties of writing international software. Yes, they've made a few mistakes, and the occasional horrid judgement call (I mean, really, insulting all of Islam? Well, at least now we know better...). But some things, like the evil spanish word, referring to breakaway states as countries in their own right, or other such silliness, are just an "oops", where you wouldn't expect them to rightfully know better.
On that note though, what's up with the rabid nations emasculating anyone who dares suggest that Kashmir or Taiwan are separate countries? I generally find foreign media less crazy than US, but try reading an article from a chinese newspaper on taiwan sometime... it's almost frighteningly evangelical in it's belief.
And, finally... come on, AoE2? I thought the muslims replacing the churches was a cute touch, not insulting... I mean, it's a game, you have to change the game elements to fit the theme of whoever is winning... and you wouldn't expect westerners to know the details of how the muslims handled conquered peoples and their religion during the crusades...
Oh that's great! (Score:5, Funny)
*cough*hagia sophia*cough*
And what about slashdot? (Score:5, Funny)
I will not stop until the color changes!
Re:And what about slashdot? (Score:4, Funny)
You Sir, ain't no Canadian.
It is colour, eh!
Negative Article (Score:5, Informative)
Notice that the fix for these problems wasn't to fix the map in windows, but to remove it entirely. That shows that it wasn't an "error in geography" on MS's part but that you can't get 2 governments to agree on geography and Microsoft was stuck in the middle.
I'd look at it another way... (Score:3, Interesting)
I mean please. From the article:
A game called Age of Empires 2 offended the Saudi Arabian authorities because it showed victorious Muslim armies turning churches into mosques. The game was withdrawn from sale in the kingdom
The Korean government, objected because Microsoft software showed the national flag in reverse. The software had to be changed.
The Spanish version of Windows used the word Hembra - meaning "woman" in Spain - for choosing gender. But in some Central American republics, notably Nicaragua, the word is an insult meaning "bitch". The programme was changed.
Microsoft employees were questioned by police in China, where it is an offence to refer to Taiwan as country or as the Republic of China. Now Taiwan is not referred to as country and all software worldwide avoids the issue by referring to places as "regions or districts".
Uruguay is a republic and proud if it but in Microsoft's Outlook in Uruguay, the company offended the government by describing Tuesday April 30 as the queen's birthday.
Let's look at these.
1) For Muslims turning churches into Mosques, yeah, that's HORRIBLY unrealistic propaganda. I have two words for you: Hagia Sophia.
2) the Korean flag in reverse: so what?
3) hembra: hardly an 'insensitivity' issue; it sounds like a genuine difference in dialect.
4) China/Taiwan: boo hoo. If the Chinese want to dwell in their eternal house of reality-denial, that's fine. What's next, we should stop recognizing Philippines because Spain wants them back? (I don't see the US forcing MS to delete Cuba from the map...)
5) The Queen of Uruguay: that's just funny. If someone accidentally or on purpose started referring to the US as a monarchy, they'd probably be hired as a spokesperson for the DNC.
Maybe it's just a particularly American viewpoint, but this whole stuff about sacred cows (pun intended) is just silly historio/political dreck. If MS wants to bend over backwards to accomodate the Latvio-Armenian midget lesbian lobby for more sales, that's their call. But nobody should claim that failure to do so is anything but a business decision. The folks who get up in arms about the slightest little thing need to grow thicker skins and get the fsck over it.
And yes, to forestall the
Axe to grind? (Score:5, Insightful)
1, Not knowing where Jammu-Kashmir is, exactly, and not knowing that Indian law prohibits considering it part of anything but India. (Never mind that the law has its own counterpart in Pakistan; you can't avoid breaking the law on this one.)
2, In a similar vein, having to offend Kurds so as not to offend the Turks with regard to the depiction of Kurdistan.
3, Offending the Saudis by showing churches turned into mosques by invading Muslim armies...never mind that the exact opposite happens when a Christian army takes over a mosque in the game.
4, Didn't know that "woman" in one dialect of Spanish means "bitch" in another.
None of these things seem to me to be so hard to imagine. Do Nicaraguans know that the word "cracker" can be used as a racist term here? Do Indians know that the Argentines go completely apeshit when you refer to the Faulkand Islands as such, rather than by their preferred name for them? And his assertion that Microsoft leaves their employees facing arrest in other countries seems baseless; he didn't mention a single instance. The worst he came up with was "questioned," and that was for calling Taiwan by it's real name. It's not Microsoft's fault that China has a wild hair up their ass over that one, either.
Straight from the horses' mouth (Score:5, Informative)
The time zone map met a similar fate. The Indian government threatened to ban all Microsoft software from the country because we assigned a disputed region to Pakistan in the time zone map. (Any map that depicts an unfavorable border must bear a government stamp warning the end-user that the borders are incorrect. You can't stamp software.) We had to make a special version of Windows 95 for them.
Geopolitics is a very sensitive subject.
Churches to Mosques? (Score:5, Informative)
"A game called Age of Empires 2 offended the Saudi Arabian authorities because it showed victorious Muslim armies turning churches into mosques. The game was withdrawn from sale in the kingdom."
Just as a minor, semi-offtopic comment: Um, wasn't that precisely what happened to the Hagia Sofia? You can still see the faint traces of the crosses that were removed when the whole thing was turned into a Mosque. So even if turning churches into mosques wasn't normal practice, it did happen. To quote from a website about the Hagia Sophia [patriarchate.org]:
"On Tuesday, May 29, 1453, Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror entered the vanquished city late in the afternoon and rode to Hagia Sophia. He was amazed at its beauty and decided to convert the Cathedral into his imperial mosque."
(Disclaimer: No, I'm not trying to be inflammatory about religion, I'm just making a historical point.)
fall forever, Pacific Ocean where? (Score:5, Insightful)
A game called Age of Empires 2 offended the Saudi Arabian authorities because it showed victorious Muslim armies turning churches into mosques. The game was withdrawn from sale in the kingdom
I've been to some mosques that were converted from churches after wars. I even have pictures [comcast.net]. This happened. I could understand how some Christians could get a little miffed. Could someone explain how it is offensive to Muslims?
Also, the geography "mistakes" in the article appear to be more policitical in nature than some developer not knowing where the Pacific Ocean is. Would I expect some developer in China to know about the controverial border between Michigan and Ohio that led to the Toldeo (Ohio) War? [michigan.gov]
Missing the point (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:not exclusive (Score:5, Funny)
I hope not. Especially since Seattle is essentially on the Pacific Ocean.!
Re:And don't forget the classics... (Score:4, Informative)
the NoVa story isn't true, see Snopes for details http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/nova.asp [snopes.com]
While we're on the subject.. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:obligatory simpson quote. (Score:5, Interesting)
in true slashdot bashing style. Haha!
i kinda wonder if linux offends accidentally or not tho.
Actually, the well-known Debian developer Herbert Xu resigned [debian.org] recently due to being offended [debian.org] by project members discussing (in the context of the new Debian installer) whether or not to refer to Taiwan as "Taiwan, Province of China" as it is officially designated in ISO 3166. [iso.org]
So this sort of problem is certainly not restricted to commercial or proprietary software.