andypaxo.net

I’ve been in Canada now for almost a week, and I’m sure you’re wondering what I’m really doing with Wycliffe here. Or maybe not. Never mind, I’m going to tell you anyway.

I have said on several occasions whilst still in the UK that I will be helping develop a tool to write in several languages and scripts on a computer. There are people working on that in the Calgary office, but it’s not what I’m doing right now.

Wycliffe is currently looking at “Low power computers”, in particular the One Laptop Per Child association and similar projects. Whilst this project is aimed primarily at education, the idea of a computer that can be run on either a solar panel, a handful ‘AA’ batteries or even a hand crank is perfectly suited to translators working in remote locations around the world where mains electricity is not always an option. Indeed, low power devices are already in use in the field for some applications, but the systems in use at the moment do not have the capacity to run full scale Bible translation software.

So, my job right now is to study what can be done within the restraints of the OLPC computer and similar devices. I will be using a full scale desktop PC to simulate a low power computer and exploring the possibilities of moving our existing software (which is effectively tied to chunky desktops and battery munching laptops) onto devices more suited to use in the kinds of remote locations where much of the translation work is done.