Google has launched it’s Arabic <-> English translation machine, which fascinates me. A computer takes two examples of the same text and analyzes them, to the point that it knows how to translate the languages. Al Jazeera’s arabic homepage translated. An excerpt:
Thousands of people demonstrated in New York to demand the immediate withdrawal of American forces from Iraq. They declared their willingness to continue this campaign until the legislative elections in the US November next.
Some of it is a bit incomprehensible, but overall it’s quite impressive.