The merde is about to hit the ventilateur.

Back in February, the founder of said startup contacted the translation co-op I work with as a translator and project manager. He needed an executive summary translated from French into English in a hurry.

It was immediately clear that this startup was having the translation done for a competition that I had also entered one of my projects in. Because the startup was not in the same space as mine, and because my application was already in, I had no ethical problem taking the translation job myself. If that hadn’t been the case, I would have had someone else do it. Because I’m an ethical person.

The founder signed and returned the purchase order, and I got started. Not only that, I decided to do it on a weekend, out of solidarity for a fellow startupper, cuz that’s the way I am. I put my heart into it. I’d walked miles in their shoes.

I sent the translated document, and the founder went to the trouble of telling me to congratulate the translator for the excellent work (I had worn only my project manager hat in communicating with him — he didn’t know I’d also translated his doc.).

A couple of days later, I learned that his startup had been selected and mine hadn’t. (All the startups that were selected were much further along than the project I entered.) I was happy for those guys and glad to have been able to help.

So a couple months go by. And a couple more. And we haven’t been paid yet. End of June, when the bill is 115 days late, I send the founder a casual e-mail saying something to the effect of “We may be mistaken but it doesn’t appear that we’ve been paid, would you mind checking on your end?” No reponse.

A month later, end of July, I send another one, more firm, saying that I was not only the PM but also the translator, reminding him he’d been very happy with my work, and that it was time to pay for it. I cc’d the co-founder on this one. No response.

Now, what I know from having translated their executive summary is that they are making money. They’re 40-somethings with executive backgrounds and powerful connections in the multi-billion-dollar industry in which they’ve launched their startup. If they were a couple of kids in a garage eating ramen, I’d be willing to let it go. Because that’s the way I am.

And there you have it.

I will send another e-mail at the end of August. I’ll remind them that French law requires that they pay their debts within 45 days or they’ll be subject to a fine and sanctions under Article L. 442-6-III of the Commerce Code…

If they don’t pay then, I’ll blacklist them on all the major websites for freelance translators. But do I go further? Do I write on the wall of their Facebook fan page that I’m still waiting to be paid for that translation I did six months ago? Do I do the same on the founders’ personal blogs? Do I stalk them on Twitter? Do I tell the startup competition judges they’re dishonest losers? After all, investors don’t like to invest in companies that are unethical and can’t manage their finances…

It’s all so tempting. We’ll see…

In Internet history, 1994-2004 was the era of the pioneers. 2004-2007 was the era of the merchants. Now we’re entering the era of the bullies. Everywhere in the world, sites are going dark, arrests are increasing, more people are going to prison. The Web just celebrated its 20th birthday. Nobody used to take it seriously, but those days are gone. Read the rest…

Almost as much fun as translating her lyrical Plus belle, ma vie en ligne for Kiva (not available online, but I will send you a PDF if you wish).

I google some weird stuff because I’m a translator. I’ll spare you the explanation. The other day, I googled the words narrow area reality and Google, in its infinite wisdom, didn’t bother to ask me Did you mean realty, it just gave me a bunch of crap having to do with real estate. The first instance of the three terms I had typed didn’t appear till three results down the page.

Google consistently pollutes my search results and abuses my mental bandwidth because it thinks it’s smarter than I am, and I resent it in a major way.

The Did you mean… option is essential. Just making the decision for you without providing that option sucks. And I can’t figure out why sometimes Google asks the question and sometimes it doesn’t. Do you know?

Not long ago, Google even refused to return results for a word it didn’t like, an obscure French word I was trying to find a picture of for a translation I was working on. Google just corrected my spelling to some English word that came somewhat close because obviously I was too stupid to know what I was typing.

I had to go into my preferences and change the search to the French web. Because Google constantly and randomly resets my preferences. I use Google Images a lot when I translate, sometimes as a dictionary supplement, sometimes as a replacement. And I also need equal access to French and English web content. Duh.

I’ve never paid much attention when I see an article go by in my RSS feed about Google’s latest algorithm “improvement.” But I think I’m going to have to start. And I’m thinking of switching search engines too. Any suggestions?

Charming founders Olivier Billon and Mathieu Lebreton gave the presentation and had the investors at their feet. Olivier, with his degree from Sciences Po, and Mathieu, who, at only 23,  authors the top fashion blog Matérialiste, probably wouldn’t appreciate being called adorable, but they were. When you are selling a high-fashion startup, it doesn’t hurt to be a living doll.

And you know I’m going to offer to translate their site into English ! Because, yes, they’re planning to do just that. Watch out Vogue…