"The Instant Access To Services & References"
ABOUT
The Web Site & Its Owner
Don't Forget To Save In Your "Favorites"
One of the main objectives of this Web Site was to launch the largest "Reference Desk" on the Internet.
It's main links at first launching it were collected over more than 25,000 hours of surfing about the Internet for over 12 hours daily for just over 6 years since first connecting to the Internet in 2000. Though that has decreased over the years, but I am still at the PC and on the Internet for about 8 hours daily. As I type this in October 2009, I doubt that will decrease any further in future as long as my faculties are not deteriorated.
Once acquainted with the Internet, I quickly discovered the vast public or private library equivalence of the capabilities of the Internet as a condensed desktop reference library. As a freelance translator I slowly learnt to rely on the Internet to cover my need to have a huge library of hard print references available to me. While busy with any translation assignment, I have needed to go through extensive searches for word, phrase, idiom meanings and many other meanings. Regardless of my being declared as the First In Asia in English as a non-English person in accordance to an exam taken in 1977 at the British Council, I quickly found the benefits of the Internet as a reference library. This led to discovering available reference libraries set up by others before me.
Over those initial years I collected thousands of links into my "Favourites" folders. By 2004 I realised that I could hopefully launch the largest Reference Desk on the Internet if I uploaded the lists of those links. In containing links to the previous largest reference desks I believe that was quickly achieved once uploaded. Most, not all, reference desks have links referring to other reference desks. On
www.PrestoPort.com you'll find links to the largest reference desks along with highly specialised though narrower topic coverage reference desks on the Internet to my knowledge, hence hopefully and inherently making it the largest one on the Internet.
Amongst the initial objectives of this Web Site, it was hoped to create some traffic to daily users and draw their attentions to the Web Site owner being a freelance translator should they, the visitors, need translation services at some later stage.
I'm not a Web Site designer (originally I'm an electrical engineer). Though I owned my first PC in 1991, but I never used it to become a Web Site designer. I purchased that first PC to program an accounts system for my then owned wholesale business. That was done on dBase III+. It was enough for my needs then. I was stuck with that as I personally developed what I needed it for then. In the meantime things developed to FoxPro followed by Access and Excel and so on, but I found it ridiculous to continue changing the then sufficient software to update to and upgrade my needs to.
dBase III+ was enough for my needs and I stuck to it until 1998 when I finally sold the wholesale business. In the meantime operating systems also changed from Dos 3 to 4 to 5 to 6 followed by Windows 3, Windows 95 and so on.
With such changes continuing to show up sometimes more than once annually, I slowly lost the eagerness to continue learning new things with how they develop as the IT industry keeps changing year after year if not month after month.
1998 was when I moved to Dubai at the age of 55 then. Too old to start anew and with salaries too low at the time, I decided to take up freelance translation. Though I'd never worked as a translator, but I've been bilingual since the relatively young age of 8. Dubai had a lot of place and space for good translators and I commenced to squeeze myself amongst them. That was followed by first upgrading from DOS-3 to Windows-95 in 1999 and forcefully again adapting myself to using Microsoft Word 97 enough for taking up translation. Further following that I upgraded to Windows Millennium, which has remained satisfying my needs until now, 2009 as I type this in.
How I became bilingual - My father and mother won scholarships to study for their M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees to the States (USA) when I was 8 years old. We remained there until I was 12 years old. Those years are an excellent age to efficiently learn the basics of a non-native tongue language. Once back home in my native Arabic country I attended an American-Arabic staffed private mixed language school. That was topped up with later studying in England for my higher engineering profession, introducing me to the UK version of English, which by then became easy to adapt to along with recognising the occasional differences in spellings and nuances between the two.
Why Windows Millennium? - The Millennium version and technology lasted for a very short time. The viruses developed for the Millennium operating system were not as many as those developed for previous technology and the technology of XP and what followed. Hence by around 2002-3, any anti-virus software even if not upgraded to later versions would protect it.
Why Microsoft Word 97? - It had the best Arabic version, which served my translation purposes. The numerals on the 97 version are available in Arabic while later Word versions exhibited numerals in English only. To me, mixing English numerals with Arabic typing does not look as professional as purely Arabic typing for both letter characters and numeric characters.
As I type this it's June 2009. I first connected to the Internet in 2000. Microsoft and the Internet is now making it so that I can soon no longer remain on the Millennium and Office 97 or Word 97. Though I've got the XP version on my desktop PC and the Vista version on my laptop, but I'm still not using them for my main usage. I use the Windows XP to access Word documents in Office 2000 upwards and convert them to Office 97 format (Word 6/95) so that I can work on them on the Millennium platform. The Vista until now is only used for new documents in Office Vista (or whatever it's called) to Office 97 versions for same purposes. It's also used for voice chatting which can no longer be supported by the Millennium.
I'll soon have to update and upgrade myself to the latest in operating system and Office versions. At 66 years old (in 2009) it's becoming too much to continue upgrading myself to things that keep changing sometimes twice annually, while at the same time having to become conversant with how to upgrade my Web Site abilities. Though I've hoped to be able to purchase such services through the income possibilities (to assist purchasing the services of others) of having a Web Site, I haven't yet succeeded to make that achievable. Anyway I keep trying. To top up the possibilities of incomes from freelance translation I've added the possibility of directories for services over the past 2-3 years. Till now all the services that you see are advertised for free. They concentrate around my area of residency as you can see. I'm residing presently and for the past 11 years in Dubai, UAE in an area called "Marqabat" or "Muraqabat" in Dubai. A few months after starting that, I noticed that most searches for most of the services advertised in "Marqabat" were coming up as first or in the top ten search results on Yahoo.com. It now comes up in top ten results within 6 weeks after adding any new subscriber and searchingfor their name in my area of residency and coverage (you and your clients can have the same results for your area of coverage). The latter fact encouraged me to expand to broader geographic coverage for those services. But alone it proved impossible to cover even just Dubai ("Restaurants" alone in Dubai alone are over 6000 restaurants) along with updating and dealing with the Web Site amongst other preoccupations. I then decided that it was time to acquire agents. Having coverage of other than just Dubai would increase the possibilities of coming up first in searches related to the Web Site. That would make the Web Site internationally commercial. I started putting up notices of requiring agents in August 2007. What's required is relatively simple and only needs a beginner's level at Word. But till now, nearly two years later, no one has responded. One reason may be due to the majority of visitors not being conversant with English. Another might be due to the amateurish design of the Web Site, which I can't attend to till yet. But I've explained why I can't yet attend to updating the make-up on the Web Site and I've promised to pay for achieving that once some incomes start coming in, which I do not think impossible once geographic coverage is expanded. Others might think the offer for agents being a scam, when it's clear that there is no scam possible. But many are apt to outsmart themselves by being over-sceptic about everything. I've repeatedly mentioned that the agent gets paid by his client (the agent receives the full amount for subscription from his client), deducts his percentage commission and transfers the remainder to me. They don't have to worry about trusting me. It's me that would possibly worry about them transferring my share to me once they, the agent/s, receive the subscription fees. Furthermore to gain the confidence of the subscribing advertisers, they, the client, do not have to pay anything until they see their page/s actually having been uploaded online for local and international viewing.
Though the idea of needing a Web Site first hit me by 2001, but I couldn't do anything about it all the way up till the first quarter of 2006. I was and still am unable to finance the exorbitant costs of designing a Web Site or to learn htm and html, which might change once I learnt them. By 2005-2006 I finally found a way about that by editing what I need in Microsoft Word Document format.
The Word Document is then automatically, presto, converted to an htm document for uploading to the Internet by the "Save As HTM Document" facility. That's why you find this site without all the fancy htm and html etc stuff.
Why I've mentioned all that above is to reply to the criticisms about this Web Site.
It's "ugly" or whatever some want to call it because I'm no Web designer.
It's "ugly" or whatever some want to call it because in my previous needs for a PC I haven't had to acquire any experience in PhotoShop and similar software.
It's "ugly" or whatever some want to call it because I'm not an artist.
It's "ugly" or whatever because I don't have one bit of talent to make it otherwise.
It's "ugly" or whatever some want to call it because I can use it to find what I generally need in references no better than when it's pretty.
It's "ugly" or whatever some want to call it because I find it functional regardless of its utter ugliness that many wish to point out or can't resist pointing out.
It's in the ugly colours that you find it because many found other colours ugly too.
It's in the ugly colours that you find it because in all colour combinations the links lead to the same sites regardless of various combinations of ugliness or even beauty.
Hoping the above satisfies those wishing to comment about ugliness, not-user-friendly and whatever in those lines.
Regardless of its ugliness, it has served me getting occasional freelance translation work. Many who regard functionality more important than beauty have saved this Web Site as an important reference desks for dictionaries and as a reference library. Since its first coming online an average of 60-86.8% of its visitors have saved it in their "Favorites" to come back to when needed (added new - today on 18th December 2009, I found that 108.6% have saved it as "Favorites". My only explanation for that is that some visitors have found more than one page on the Web Site worthy of being saved. Hence the figure does not represent the percentage of individuals as visitors). Though I haven't bragged about it as possibly being the largest reference desk on the Internet, but I think it is. If one checks for what one might think being the top ten largest reference desks on the Internet, one will find the majority of them listed here, which inherently makes this Web Site the largest Reference Desk on the Internet. By "Reference" I'm referring to the "Reference Section" of dictionaries, atlases etc that one encounters when one enters a Public Library. Whatever one needs in those shelves of a public library is found here. … Hence, I believe, why the majority saving it in their "Favorites" as they encounter it, are doing so. Others are probably saving it because they've found the services section useful for finding services in their area, mainly the "Restaurants" in my area of residency (as the Web Site statistics of page visitors show). Others may be saving it to access as many horoscope sites as possible or other reasons. The remainder after draining and straining all the possible positive reasons may be saving it as a reference to the top ugliest Web Sites on the net. Good for them.
I believe that the majority of those saving this Web Site as "Favorites" are translators. To those that are, what's the matter with you guys? Most of you complain that translation is not a business that can make one rich. Well here's a chance to put your profession to use and become rich. In addition to the basic possibility of being an agent for this Web Site, there's the possibility of attaining extra incomes from translating the pages that you submit for your acquired advertising clients' online presence. There are possibilities of expanding your work and incomes here or maybe you prefer complaining and moaning to doing extra work? Or can't you understand the English here? Or can't you trust someone that has to trust you? Can't you understand and analyse that it is I that have to trust you and not vice versa? You collect, deduct your share and transfer the remainder to me. You do not wait for me to transfer to you.
Translators or not, you can remain dreaming about quick ways to get rich, until you realise that there are only two ways for that. Either a crooked way or by some average honest work or above average honest work. Well, here's a way to achieve that by easy and honest work. If you are reading this, you are an Internet user and most probably able to use a word processor, even if you aren't a translator. So what's the excuse for not becoming an agent? Don't answer me. Answer yourself if you aren't over-satisfied or satisfied with your present incomes and/or occupation, whether you are a translator or not. Becoming an agent for this Web Site has nothing to do with being or not being a translator, competent or not competent. I simply need you to be able and conversant in simple, basic English, even pidgin English to be able to communicate with you when and if needed.
Maybe some translators are worried about losing their customers if those customers get acquainted with another translator. If so, don't worry for once I get some incomes from non-translation work, I'm leaving translation. You'll do that too once you acquire over 100 subscribing clients (securing you with at least $25,000 annually). I'll definitely do that once I have over 50 subscribing clients on this Web Site in its "Services" departments.
Enough of that. This is "About" and not about translators and why none have seen the possibilities for them here in becoming agents.
Why I don't care to learn what's needed to make the Web Site not ugly.
I'm 66 years old as I type this. Talking toa few younger than me (in their thirties) that I knew being professionally in the IT business previously I found out that some have left that area and gone into its administrative area or alternative areas. They've told me that that was because things were developing too fast to keep up with them and by the time or whenever one learnt some new thing something newer came up. Hence they've found themselves getting older and unable to keep up with all and every new development.
So, why should I, at 66, have to keep up with whatever when those in their mid-thirties gave up? Also, why should I, who started learning in 1991 at the age of 48, have to keep up with whatever when those in their mid-thirties gave up? Anyway if you have better-looking pages to upload, I'll upload them for your coverage. I don't need to know how you designed them to upload them.
I hope that that amount of my "About" above stops all those comments that I get about design and colours. I'm changing the colours soon anyway. I noticed an increase in visitors and those that saved the Web Site as "Favorites" when the grey outer margins were changed to white. If that's some problem, I'm removing the grey to satisfy that color complex if that's what it is, this page first and others as I update any.
If you as a normal visitor want to use the Web Site to access the references that I've compiled you may freely do so all the way up till 2014. I've paid for registration and hosting till then. Unless something happens with the hosting company that prevents continuity, it'll hopefully remain free and accessible till then even if I pass off. I say "hopefully" because I have no intention of ever making the access to the reference sections a paid for service. That is there to draw traffic to the site. From that traffic I may hopefully acquire some translation business to cover my present costs of living in my old age until the other possibilities show incomes. Hence why most pages carry an advert to my translation services at the bottom of each page. I may soon reduce those translation adverts into links and eventually remove even the links if "translation" proves being no longer economical or unable to be coped with any longer. I will also remove my personal translation adverts if I commence with a directory for subscribing translators. In the latter case I’ll simply register reference to myself in the directory list for translators as a normal translator along with a link to my services (with the other pages as sub-links on the linked page). It would be to avoid being considered as competition with the other subscribing translators and agencies agreeing to register on the site.
Very soon once the "Economic Crisis" or "Credit Crunch" or "Depression" or call-it-as-you like, sets its teeth in, jobs are going to be very difficult to get. Restaurants may be one of the last professions that close down, even if reduced to soup bars. Work-from-home may become one of the few last resorts for work. That's why I've been in the business of "freelance" and the work-from-home business since 1998 and even earlier. I've never needed anyone looking down at me asking me why I'm late to work or telling me that I can't have time off etc involved with being employed. Maybe many like working for peanuts and bones, while their bosses get fat on the sacks of nuts and loads of meat from their efforts. Here's your chance to end all that with further non-mentioned-yet benefits later arrived at or directed to if you become an agent. Amongst those benefits if you want to enjoy them is the ability to put all your work on a laptop and travel around at your choice, while also working to provide incomes for yourself as you travel around. Other bigger benefits are possible if you have a little imagination to think about them.
Otherwise, if you are just a visitor enjoy whatever got you to this Web Site. You'll probably find something that interests you in the "Entertainment" section if none other.
I'll add to this "About" or change it as time allows and demands.
In the past 3 days since the page linked to
"Earn Over $100,000 Annually" on the home page (repeated here at the right of this cell), ten visitors to that page visited it. But none cared to contact me. I've minimised that page a number of times to make it simple enough and as simple as possible to read by anyone understanding basic English. Maybe, it's still their English that stops them from understanding the benefits and what's required and involved. If so, I'm sorry that I can't at the moment further analyse what makes it non-understandable to its readers and simplify it.For now that's enough about "About" in what seems to make some wonder where is the "About" link on the Web Site, as if the availability and non-availability of an "About" link made a difference.
More On About "About"
Though none have yet negatively commented about the contents of the resource section of this Web Site, the Web Site owner does not claim this Web Site to be a comprehensive source of resources as many may have noticed.
Other than English-to-English dictionaries and glossaries it, till now, does not cater for another individual language set of glossaries and dictionaries. Nor are its pages available in languages other than English. The Web Site owner cannot cover such a task with the same efficiency, as the English-English section/s. For example to compile collections of links to Spanish to Spanish dictionaries and glossaries requires native Spanish translators and/or linguists. To encourage such contributions, those that are Spanish translators and/or linguists are welcome to submit such pages. The pages that you submit will be linked in an according section for individual language resources. This may need submitting the some pages of this Web Site in your languages to make it comprehensible for visitors and readers in your language. If you already have a Web Site or online profile regarding the professional services that you provide a linked comment will be made on such pages such as "Compiled by ????? ????" or "Thanks to ????? ???? for submitting this page/collection to the Web Site" or something in those lines. Alternatively if you do not yet have any online presence, you may submit a page or a number of linked pages with your particulars, which will be uploaded and linked on this Web Site initiating an online presence for you.
Presently, in a few spots such collections have been linked. Such a task however has been found to be beyond the Web Site owner's capabilities, while additionally dealing with the current activities required by and for the Web Site along with personal activities.
Upon contact by any, further discussions on how to effectively arrange such pages and conditions may be gone into. For now it is left for any to contact the Web Site owner to go into such discussions to quickly commence with initiating such a task or tasks.