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Windows 11 22H2

Why wait?

I figured if I’m going to have to take the plunge someday, why not do it when I have downtime. And today, I have downtime. So much, in fact, that I decided to opt in for the update that’s been rearing its head in the lower right of my task bar for the past two months. Windows 11 22H2.

And after all that trepidation, I find it runs smoothly with mostly the same look and feel of Windows 10.

So why the wait?

Well, I’ve actually been making a lot of updates to my PC this year. It started with an NVM M.2 drive. It’s super fast, but not as fast as I expected. You see, it’s simply a replacement for a SATA4 SSD, which was fast enough. I figured this might be faster, but it’s hard to tell the difference.

Anyway, with the new M.2, I’ve decided to move all the programs that were installed on a separate HDD (platter type, not silicon) to the M.2. Everything seems to launch faster, which is nice, but really, that’s about it. There just isn’t enough opportunity to appreciate the speed gains.

Getting back to the OS, Windows 11 seems pretty stable, which is reassuring, but it also seems to have slowed down the launch speed of my apps. Before biting the bullet, I spent about two weeks with the new M.2 and made sure everything worked properly. During this time, most of my heavier programs (Trados, memoQ, Phrase, large PPT files, etc.) loaded in one or two seconds. Now, on Windows 11, everything seems to take at least five seconds, if not longer.

The one noticeable difference with W11 is the Start button. It no longer brings up the large array of apps I have installed. You have to click again to get those to show up, and they only show up in a scrollable list. I rather liked the tiled display but I’d rather not rely on a third-party app to accomplish that. It’s not that essential.

The other noticeable difference is that the taskbar icons are centered by default. The latest update 22H2 gives you the option of docking it to the left (not vertically, just left justified), which is how it was in W12.

A nice feature, for me at least, is the ease with which you can snap your open windows on the display. You drag it to the top center of the display and a drop down with different tiling patterns appears. Choose the one you want and you are prompted to specify the other apps you want to occupy in the pattern. Since I have three monitors, I usually rearrange my open windows based on the type of job I’m working on. A reference heavy job with multiple files to look at go on the right monitor, while my CAT and dictionary app occupy the center monitor. My general work related stuff like email and such occupy the left monitor, along with my main desktop.

Other than that, the corners of the dialogs are rounded, and everything looks softer than before, which is easy on the eyes and just the right amount of change to remind you that you’re on a new OS.

I’ll post more as I find out the inner workings of W11.

Categories
Translation

Purpose-specific PC

To better serve my needs as a translator, I opted to construct my own computer from the ground up, equipping it with a Core i5 processor with on-chip graphics, and loaded it with 32 GB of RAM, an SSD for the operating system (C drive), and two separate 1TB drives (D and E drives) for program and data files, respectively.

While translation may not be visually demanding, it does necessitate a modern OS in order to effectively use translation tools like dictionaries, translation memory queries, and the simultaneous opening of multiple files (not to mention the source and target files for translation). The on-chip graphics from the Core i5 CPU mean you won’t need a separate graphics card. Simply put, it’s cost effective.

With 32 GB of RAM, I can keep large dictionaries and translation memory databases in RAM to speed up searches and boost overall performance. Some of this RAM gets used for the on-chip graphics, which is why I have so much. Booting up and opening programs is a breeze thanks to the SSD used for the operating system (C drive), which also helps to minimize downtime and maximize productivity.

Last but not least, the two 3TB drives for programs and data files clearly separates the operating system from my translation files and ensures that I can easily back up and access my data even if something goes wrong with the OS.

In conclusion, I believe it was a wise decision to tailor my personal computer to my specific needs as a translator. With this setup, I am able to work quickly, efficiently, and reliably, allowing me to provide timely, high-quality translations.

Categories
Translation

Qualified Invoice Issuer

Japan is introducing its invoice system (インボイス制度) to make sure business operators pay their share of consumption tax (消費税 or CT for short). It’s being promoted as a system where businesses can write off the amount of CT owed against qualifying invoices. In reality, it’s a scheme to collect CT from business operators. On the outset, that doesn’t sound as outrageous as many people opposing the system claim.

The uproar comes from the fact that businesses who earn less than 10 million yen a year have been exempted from paying CT. But now, the National Tax Agency (NTA) might as well have abolished the exempted business scheme (免税事業者) because essentially, this system corners in low-earning businesses.

Here’s how this cleverly devious scheme works for my industry (translation):

  1. Translator issues an invoice showing the translator’s qualified invoice issuer number, also known as a T number, and a value of 100,000 yen for providing translation services. Translator also tacks on the obligatory CT at 10% for an grand total of 110,000 yen.
  2. Client pays 110,000 yen to the translator, and come March the following year, pays whatever CT they owe the government minus 10,000 yen.

If the translator doesn’t register with the NTA *and* doesn’t earn 10 million yen a year, they are exempt from paying CT the following fiscal year.

Here’s what happens if the translator doesn’t have a T number:

  1. Translator issues an invoice showing only the value of services rendered (100,000 yen) and the obligatory CT (10,000 yen). The grand total still comes out to 110,000 yen.
  2. Client still pays 110,000 yen to the translator, but doesn’t get to write off the 10,000 yen CT because the translator isn’t registered. Consequently, the client pays 10,000 yen worth of CT to the NTA the following March.
  3. Thus, the client pays 10,000 yen twice, once to the translator and then to the NTA. Understandably, clients are going to balk at this and seek out translators who have a T number so they don’t have to pay twice. Or, they may ask said translator to stop charging the obligatory CT since they aren’t paying it to the government coffers.

The latter request may be guised as a request for a discount. Technically, this goes against codes designed to protect small businesses, but we may see this manifest through other ruses. The easiest thing for a client to do is simply stop sending work to non-T-numbered translators, and deal only with T-numbered translators.

So what’s a qualifying invoice? An invoice issued by a business operator who has been qualified by the National Tax Agency.

Qualified implies that you’ve registered your tax filing details (name, address, and type of business) with the NTA. In exchange for registering, you get not only your very own 13-digit number, but also the obligation to pay CT every year in March.

For more info, see this flier:

https://www.nta.go.jp/english/taxes/consumption_tax/pdf/2021/simplified_15.pdf

Categories
Interpreting Translation

Nengajyo policy

Every year, I send out nengajyo post cards to friends and clients all over Japan. But as of 2023, that’s next year, I’ll be joining a mass of other friends and clients by going paperless.

Please connect with me on one of these platforms so we can stay in touch online.

Categories
Interpreting Magic

Magic lecture interpreting gigs

There are the world renown magicians for whom I’ve interpreted for:

2012.11Paul R. Wilson
2013.4Andost
David Ben
2014.4Juan Tamariz
2015.4Eugene Burger
Jared Kopf
Horret Wu
2016.4Mike Pisciotta
Daryl
2016.10Joshua Jay
2017.4Paul R. Wilson
Tom Stone
2018.4Guy Hollingworth
Luis Olmedo
2018.6Mr. Maric
2019.6Shane Cobalt
2019.10Javi Benitz
2021.7Jeki Yoo
2021.9Moritz Mueller
2021.10Michael Ammar
2021.11Armando Lucero
2021.11Garrett Thomas
2022.1Pit Hartling
2022.2Michael Weber
2022.3Mott-san
2022.4Richard Osterlind
2022.5Tobias Dostal
2022.6Charlie Frye
2022.10Luis Olmedo
2023.3Pipo Villanueva
2023.5Pipo Villanueva