PM system problems

go_manly,

It seems that the side of the brain that controls ability in mathmatics is diametrically opposed to language and vice versa.  I'm absolutely terrible at math (s) but pretty good with language.  If you'd like to put some extra time into Chinese, you can send me a PM and I'd be glad to help when I have some time.

RJ, you can too if you still need help.  I'm really sorry about before, you caught me during a life crisis.  Things are settling down now, so for the time beging I'm available to help if your still looking for e-mail language exchange.

About converting garbled Chinese text: there's a tool for that in DimSum Chinese tools. I've never used it, but I presume it works. There's Encoding Converter (file), Encoding Converter (web) and Encoding Detector.

Go Manly, there is a UI called Saved By The Gong: Math (they mean maths. Clearly their "s" key only works once a sentence). It's a bit too hard for me though.

RJ, you can always go with the Irish pronunciation - Mazz. I would like some easier maths lessons too, maybe at intermediate. Maybe, what I really want, is Chinese Maths Pod. I am sure someone has requested this before...

go_manly,

Well done mate.Very neat trick.I'm curious to know when you hit the alt-x ..do you know what encoding it converted it from and to?

It's just that I found this article about converting garbled documents in word:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/HA101212491033.aspx#3

but trying the various encoding options when you re-open the doc in word still didn't work.It's seemed a guessing game to me but I tried all the Chinese ones and unicode [which gave some Chinese characters mixed in with some that looked more Japanese].

go_manly

I only meant it would be difficult to explain the hexidecimal system using Chinese. You captured it pretty well I think for a short answer btw. I too would like to see more math (sorry, no s in the US) related lessons. Math is so hard to say with an s on the end. Hurts my tongue and my ears :-)

rjberki

I find I can understand a lot of what is said, but there is not much I can actually say in Chinese. I just don't get enough speaking practise, and I get a mental block when I want to speak or write.

As I'm a maths teacher, I suppose I should learn a bit more of that vocabulary. Are there any lessons which discuss maths? Then I might be able to impress some of the Mandarin speakers in my class.

By the way, 3 of my students have agreed to transcribe a number of Intermediate podcasts during our summer holiday. It will be interesting to see what they come up with.

go_manly,

I bet you cant say that in Chinese :-)

Go_manly,

哇塞！Totally cool!  I just converted the message! 非常感谢你！

xiaohu

hexadecimal is base sixteen.

In our decimal (base 10) system, we use 10 digits - 0 to 9.

In hexadecimal, 16 'digits' are used 0 to 9, and A to F. So A = 10, B = 11, ..., F = 15.

In the 4 digit number 2A3F (for example), the F stands for 15, the 3 means 3 times 16 (instead of 3 times 10 in decimal), the A means 10 times 16 squared, and the 2 means 2 times 16 cubed.

go_manly,

What's a hexidecimal number?

BTW: I was wondering about the 4 minutes left to edit comment thing myself.

xiaohu

Paste your message into Word, and replace all the %u's with a space. Then place your cursor immediately after each group of 4 hexadecimal numbers, and hit [alt]-x. I couldn't find a way to bulk-convert, so I had to repeat the process for each character.

GM

its not only you - I have noticed it for a few days now.

Something strange is happening here. Immediately after I posted my previous comment, I was told the comment was posted 4 minutes ago, with 19 minutes left to edit my comment (We usually only get 15 minutes). I continually refreshed the screen to see what was happening. The time elapsed counted down 4, 3, 2, 1. It stayed at 1 for a few minutes before increasing again. I noticed rjberkis time on his comment go through the same process.

Its as though, the time is set at negative 4 when the post is made, but the negative is not shown, and neither is zero.

I have noticed this happening on my last few posts. Have a look next time you post, so I can tell if its only me.

go_manly,

How did you convert my message to characters?

xiaohu

What you see are the Unicodes for the characters. When converted to characters, your message becomes:

你好,

很高兴认识你。我收到你的讯息但是全都是乱码。总之我，过了两个月我要去重庆住，所以为了准备在中国生活我要好好练习我的中文。如果你有时间的话我们俩可以一起学习，互相帮助。

我的电邮址是:

小虎

Is it possible you have a wrong setting at your end?

I don't know enough to make any other suggestions.

xiaohu

it looks the same as the message you posted from you mobile here a few days ago:

http://chinesepod.com/community/conversations/post/6248#comment-140624

this had nothing to do with pm.

I think it is on your end. Chinese character coding not set right?

I sent a private message in Chinese to a user and CC'd myself and this is what was e-mailed back to me.

%u4F60%u597D,
%u5F88%u9AD8%u5174%u8BA4%u8BC6%u4F60%u3002%u6211%u6536%u5230%u4F60%u7684%u8BAF%u606F%u4F46%u662F%u5168%u90FD%u662F%u4E71%u7801%u3002%u603B%u4E4B%u6211%uFF0C%u8FC7%u4E86%u4E24%u4E2A%u6708%u6211%u8981%u53BB%u91CD%u5E86%u4F4F%uFF0C%u6240%u4EE5%u4E3A%u4E86%u51C6%u5907%u5728%u4E2D%u56FD%u751F%u6D3B%u6211%u8981%u597D%u597D%u7EC3%u4E60%u6211%u7684%u4E2D%u6587%u3002%u5982%u679C%u4F60%u6709%u65F6%u95F4%u7684%u8BDD%u6211%u4EEC%u4FE9%u53EF%u4EE5%u4E00%u8D77%u5B66%u4E60%uFF0C%u4E92%u76F8%u5E2E%u52A9%u3002
%u6211%u7684%u7535%u90AE%u5740%u662F:  
%u5C0F%u864E

It's most definately a problem processing Chinese characters.

Go_Manly,

It seemed to me that it was a problem with Chinese characters, since the English displayed fine.  真奇怪!

go_manly,

I was about to write the same thing but then remembered that I think that usually had more stuff in it like font definitions so I gave it a shot and here's what it would have looked like for Have a good day! :

Have a good day!

..but maybe it was pasted from a similar programme.Dunno.

xiaohu

Your sample message looks similar to what you get when pasting content from Word, without using the "Paste from Word" button.

Here's an example of a recent private message,

%u4F60%u597D%uFF01
%u770B%u4E86%u4F60%u7684bio%u89C9%u5F97%u5F88%u6709%u8DA3%uFF0C%u5475%u5475%uFF0C%u6211%u6BD4%u8F83%u559C%u6B22%u770B%u7F8E%u56FD%u7535%u89C6%u5267%u6240%u4EE5%u60F3%u628A%u82F1%u8BED%u5B66%u597D%uFF0C%u5982%u679C%u53EF%u80FD%u5E0C%u671B%u6211%u4EEC%u80FD%u76F8%u4E92%u5E2E%u52A9^_^
Have a good day!
                                       %u5C0F%u9648

Anyone else getting garbled messages like this?

xiaohu,

I've not had any problems since the PM system was last fixed.My last PM was 2 days ago if that helps.