Arts & Life

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U of T research contributes to instant verbal translation

When Microsoft’s chief research officer took to the stage in Tianjin, China, last month, his language skills made an auditorium of hundreds of native Mandarin speakers applaud wildly. But he only spoke English at the conference. As he explained new developments in instantaneous translation and interpretation, Rick Rashid’s English spoken words were simultaneously translated robotically to Mandarin. The stunned crowd applauded the new computer system that can recognize human speech patterns, thanks to a U of T research team.






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Partnership promotes a giving agenda

Tasty ginger bread cookies were given out in exchange for donations of coats at Amica at Bayview, a retirement residence in the Bayview Avenue and Sheppard Avenue area. The project called “Cookies for Coats” ended…




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Welshman recalls leaving railroad to serve in air war

In 1943, Kenneth Leak and his fellow crewmen were flying from Malta to Marseille, France, when one of the Dakota aircraft’s two engines stopped. “The pilot said, ‘Well, fellas, this is the point of no return. We had two engines and now we have one. We’re too far to turn back,’” Leak said. The transport aircraft had 30 men aboard, but landed safely in France.


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Veteran recalls horrors of a south-Asian war 40 years ago

Remembrance meant something very different to new Canadian Mazibur Rahman. On March 25, 1971, Rahman recalled the Pakistan army launched an attack on the Bengalis in Dhaka. “(They) killed hundreds of natives, raped the women and set fire to the villages. We passed many sleepless nights, starved for days together,” Mazibur said. “The army would raid village after village in search of Mukti Bahini (freedom fighters).”