Smart Device Translates American Sign Language To English 智能传感器把美国手语翻译成英文
American Sign Language (ASL), has been one of the primary means of communication for the deaf in the United States and many parts of Canada since the 1800s.It is estimated that between 500,000 to 2 million people use the language on a regular basis.19世纪来，美国手语已成为美国和加拿大大部分地区失聪之人交流的主要方式。 据估算，大约有50万-200万的人经常使用这种语言。
But popular as it is, there are millions of people with normal hearing that do not understand the language.And while most deaf Americans learn to speak with the help of speech therapy, many find it easier to communicate through sign language.Now a team of researchers at the Texas A&M University has created wearable technology that will make it easy for ASL and non-ASL users to converse.美国手语虽然流行，但仍有上百万正常人无法理解手语。虽然美国大多数失聪的人借助语言障碍矫正能发声，但他们还是觉得肢体语言交流更方便些。现在德克萨斯州的A&M大学研究出一种可以实现美国手语和非手语互译的可穿戴设备 The smart device is the brainchild of a team led by Biomedical Engineering Aociate Profeor Roozbeh Jafari.It uses two separate sensors to translate intricate ASL gestures into plain English.The first that is fitted with an accelerometer and gyroscope keeps track of the significant movementsJP Morgan Chase and Bank of America are working on similar technology.花旗银行并非唯一一个测试无卡取款机的金融机构。摩根大通（JP Morgan Chase）和美国银行（Bank of America）也在研发类似的技术。
The moves comes in response to US credit scoring firm FICO announcing that in May this year the number of attacks on debit cards used at ATMs had reached its highest level in 20 years.今年5月，美国信用评分公司FICO宣布在自动取款机上使用的借贷卡遭到攻击的数量创20年新高，各个银行的举措旨在改善此现状。
Dmitry Melnichenko’s wife had doubts about his plan to quit his stable, nine-to-five job to work from home as a freelance web developer; there was the uncertain income stream, the lack of interaction with colleagues and their young daughter to think about.Dmitry Melnichenko打算辞去朝九晚五的稳定工作，在家当一名自由网络开发员的时候，他的妻子有过疑虑：收入来源不稳定，缺乏与同事的互动，而且他们还有个小女儿，这些都是需要考虑的问题。 But not only has Mr Melnichenko earned more since going solo than his wife expected, now Mrs Melnichenko, a financial controller with a large Ukrainian agricultural company, is also quitting her job and training as a coder — joining more than 120,000 Ukrainian freelancers pitching for work on online platforms like Upwork.然而，不仅是梅利尼琴科自从单干后收入超出了妻子的预期，如今就连梅利尼琴科的太太也辞去了在乌克兰一家大型农业公司担任财务总监的工作，开始学习编程，加入了乌克兰12万多人的自由职业者大军，在Upwork等在线平台上争取工作。
“Previously I was working with one of the biggest outsourcing companies on supply chain management.But now I can work from home and I have my own clients, so I have much more freedom,” says Mr Melnichenko.Mr Melnichenko说：“以前我在一家大型外包公司从事供应链管理工作。但现在我可以在家办公，我有了自己的客户，因此我的自由度大大提高了。”
Ukraine’s army of freelancers, the fourth-largest in Upwork’s global network, earned $61m in 2014.For the mainly western companies that dole out jobs on the website, Ukrainian web and mobile developers are cheap, responsive and easily aeed based on verified reviews by previous clients.乌克兰自由职业者大军的人数在Upwork全球网络中排名第四，2014年他们共收入6100万美元。在该网站上发布工作的主要是西方公司，根据过往用户的点评，在这些公司看来，乌克兰的网络和移动开发人员价格便宜，响应及时，而且联系方便。
Digital platforms like Upwork, which act as marketplaces matching freelancers with work, are bringing new opportunities to many people who were once on the fringes of the global workforce.But they are also becoming a hot political potato on both sides of the Atlantic.Upwork这样的将自由职业者和工作机会匹配起来的市场平台，为许多曾处于全球劳动力市场边缘地带的人带来新的工作机会。但这些平台也成为大西洋两岸一个政治上的烫手山芋。
to the backlash against ride-hailing service Uber, the type of work they are creating has come under intense scrutiny — in particular, the impact they are having on more traditional jobs that have come with secure pay and benefits.很大程度上由于打车服务优步遭到强烈反对，此类平台所创造的工作类型已被置于放大镜下审视，特别是就这些平台对那些有着稳定收入和福利的较传统工作造成了何种影响。
Freelancers have long accounted for a significant share of the work in some profeions.But platforms like Uber and Upwork — a US-based company formed from the merger of Elance and Odesk — represent a new way to break jobs into piecemeal tasks and reach many more workers, potentially affecting a far wider range of work.自由职业者在某些行业早就占了相当大的比例。但优步和Upwork等平台代表了一种新方式，它们将工作拆分成零碎的任务，能够联系到更多劳动者，这一方式很可能会影响广泛得多的工作类型。Upwork是一家美国公司，由Elance和Odesk合并而成。
Along with marketplaces for drivers and profeionals, companies jumping on this bandwagon include those providing so-called “on-demand” services, from Instacart (grocery shopping) to Handy (home cleaning) and Task Rabbit (for an almost limitle range of small errands).加入这股潮流的除了面向司机和专业人士的市场平台，还有提供所谓“按需”服务的公司，包括提供食品杂货服务的Instacart、提供家庭保洁的Handy，以及提供几乎各种跑腿服务的Task Rabbit。 In Europe, “these platforms aren’t yet at the scale of the US, they are only just emerging — but we estimate the same trends” will follow, says Jacques Bughin, a partner at McKinsey in Bruels.McKinsey驻布鲁塞尔合伙人雅克布金(Jacques Bughin)表示：“这些平台（在欧洲）才刚刚出现，还达不到它们在美国的规模，但我们估计这里也会出现相同的势头。”
For the Melnichenkos and others, the rapid expansion of a digital marketplace for casual labour has offered greater flexibility and opportunities they wouldn’t otherwise have had.Mr Melnichenko says the arrival of online freelance platforms has meant he doesn’t have to move to Kiev from his home town of Zaporizhia.对于梅利尼琴科等人来说，要不是互联网兼职市场的快速扩张，他们不会得到如此多的灵活性和机会。梅利尼琴科说网上兼职平台的出现意味着他不用从家乡小镇扎波罗热搬到基辅去。 In the first three months of 2015 alone, 16,000 Ukrainian freelancers registered with Upwork; many thousands of them fresh school or university graduates, attracted by the promise of high earnings and flexible conditions.Mobile and web developers are the most highly sought workers but graphic designers and translators are also pitching for jobs.仅2015年第一季度，乌克兰就有1.6万名自由职业者在Upwork上注册，其中有数千人刚从高中或大学毕业，吸引他们的是高额收入的前景以及灵活的工作方式。最抢手的是移动和网络开发人员，但也有不少图形设计和翻译在上面寻找工作机会。
“All of a sudden, someone with a particular profile — a talent, or work availability — can be matched with a need,” says James Manyika, a partner at McKinsey.That pulls more people into the workforce who were marginalised before, either because they couldn’t find a job or were working fewer hours than they wanted.“This is often lost in the debate,” he says.James Manyika说：“突然之间，某一特定人群——拥有专业技能或空余时间的人，可以与工作需求相匹配了。”这让更多人进入劳动力市场，这些人以前要么是找不到工作，要么是工作时长达不到自己的目标。他说：“在这场辩论中，人们往往忘记了这一点。”
The emergence of new digital platforms will add 2.5 per cent to European employment numbers by 2025, with some countries like Spain potentially seeing twice that growth, according to McKinsey — though the higher numbers are partly the result of making work previously done in the informal “grey economy” visible by pulling it on to online marketplaces.McKinsey表示，至2015年，新数字平台的出现将让欧洲就业人数增加2.5%，西班牙等国家的就业人数增幅可能还会两倍于这个数字。不过就业人数提高的部分原因，在于数字平台将此前在非正规“灰色经济”中完全的一些工作放到了在线市场平台上，让这些原本不为人知的工作暴露在了阳光下。 The overall effect is “greater participation” — a factor that could lift the GDP of the UK and Germany by nearly 1 percentage point over the next decades, consultants say.咨询业人士表示，总体效果是“提高了工作参与率”，未来十年这一因素可以将英国和德国两国的国内生产总值(GDP)提高近1个百分点。
In the US, digital platforms already provide a material source of income for many, according to Mary Meeker, a partner at venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.The average profeional finding work on Thumbtack earns $8,000 a year, with Airbnb users making $7,700 and eBay sellers pull in $3,000, she says — meaningful given most see these as supplemental forms of income.Companies like Uber also argue that many of their workers rely on several different platforms to make a living, making it unfair to judge them on the basis of their earnings from a single marketplace.风投公司凯鹏华盈(Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers)合伙人玛丽猠克(Mary Meeker)表示，数字平台在美国已经成为许多人的重要收入来源。她说在Thumbtack上找活儿的专业人士平均能每年能赚到8000美元，Airbnb用户和eBay卖家的这个数字分别是7700美元和3000美元，考虑到这对于他们中大多数人只是外快，这已经不是个小数目了。优步等公司也认为，它们的许多员工都是同时在几个平台上接单，基于他们在单一平台上的收入来评判是不公平的。
But by opening up work to people who were unable to compete easily in a global market for talent, digital marketplaces have already produced some clear winners.Dennis Vorobyov, a web developer whose company, GBKSOFT, also bids for jobs on Upwork, says his mother, a doctor with over 25 years experience, earns le in one month than many of his web developer friends can earn from US clients in one day.数字市场将工作提供给一些原本无法轻易在全球人才市场上参与竞争的人，由此已经促成了一些明显的赢家。Dennis Vorobyov是一名网络开发人员，他的公司GBKSOFT也在Upwork上寻找工作。丹尼斯说他母亲是一名医生，有25年工作经验，但她一个月的收入还不如他的网络开发员朋友从美国客户那儿一天赚的钱多。
“People are now dreaming of becoming programmers, we have more and more schools offering courses in programming,” he says.“This is a big change in psychology; young Ukrainians these days are brave; they aren’t scared to register online and start freelancing.It’s a different attitude to life and money.” 丹尼斯说：“人们现在都梦想成为程序员，我们有越来越多的学校提供编程课程。这是心理上的一个重大变化，如今的乌克兰年轻人是勇敢的，他们不惧怕在网上注册成为一名自由职业者。这是一种不同的生活观和金钱观。”
He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。
SEVENTY years ago, the United Nations was formed as the expreion of a simple choice: cooperation instead of war.Humanity would stand as one against conflict, poverty and disease.All the world’s voices would be heard.70年前，联合国的建立表明，人类做出了一个简单的选择：合作而非战争。全人类应该团结起来，应对冲突、贫穷和疾病。世界上所有人的声音都应被听到。 At least, that was the plan.至少，那时是这样计划的。
We’ve come a long way.We’ve halted and reversed the spread of killer diseases, extended life expectancy and raised incomes.We’ve even walked ourselves back from the edge of some global conflicts and catastrophes.But progre has not been evenly distributed.Too many people have been left outside of a mostly urban, mostly Northern succe story.我们一路走来取得了极大的进展。我们遏制和扭转了致命疾病的传播，延长了预期寿命，提高了收入水平。我们甚至将自己从一些全球性冲突和灾难的边缘拉了回来。但是人类的进步并不均衡。成功的故事主要在城市、在北半球，而太多的人被遗忘在这些成功故事之外。
Seeing that, world leaders put forth a new set of global goals in New York last week.If we want to build a world where not just some but all get to live in security and prosperity, there’s a lot still to do, as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development signed off on by United Nations member states shows.目睹这些现象，世界各国领导人上周在纽约提出了一系列新的全球目标。如果我们希望构建一个不仅让一部分人，而是让全体人都可以生活在安全与繁荣中的世界，我们仍有很多工作要做。联合国成员国签署的《2030年可持续发展议程》就体现了这一点
It lists 17 goals and 169 targets, and one of these, 9(c), is a target that we believe is crucial to accelerate realization of all the others: a commitment to provide Internet connectivity for all by 2020.议程中列出17项总体目标和169项具体目标。我们相信其中一项目标，即编号9(c)的目标，对促成其他所有目标的实现是至关重要的：承诺到2020年，让全世界所有人接入互联网。
Today over half the people on this planet don’t have acce.That is not good for anyone — not for the disempowered and disconnected, and not for the other half, whose commerce and security depend on having stable societies.今天，我们这个星球上超过半数的人无法接入网络。这对任何人来说都不是好事——对那些处于劣势、未能连入网络的人并非好事，对另外一半也一样，因为后者的利益和安全都依托于社会的稳定 An unprecedented array of technologists and activists — from Mo Ibrahim to Bill and Melinda Gates, action/2015, Ushahidi and Sahara Reporters have come together to support a global Connectivity Declaration, pledging their support for the new global goals and connecting the world to opportunity.This needs to become a global movement.从穆·易卜拉欣(Mo Ibrahim)到比尔和梅琳达·盖茨(Bill and Melinda Gates)，从“行动/2015”(action/2015)到“见证者”(Ushahidi)，再到“撒哈拉记者”(Sahara Reporters)，一系列科技界人士和活动人士史无前例地联合起来，支持一项全球“互连宣言”。他们承诺会支持新的全球目标，让全世界与机遇相连。这需要成为一项全球性的运动。
In this century, global development and global connectivity are closely linked.If you want to help people feed, heal, educate and employ themselves around the world, we need to connect the world as well.The Internet should not belong to only three billion people, as it does today.It should be seen as a neceity for development, and a tool that makes larger things poible.
这个世纪，全球发展与全球网络互联是密切相关的。想要协助世界各地的人得到饱足、医疗、教育并自力更生，我们也需要让全世界接入网络。互联网不应该像今天这样，只属于30亿人口。它应该被视为发展的必需品，一个用来成就更远大目标的工具。
In Ethiopia and Tanzania, for example, farmers connect to get better prices, track inventory and make mobile insurance payments in case of bad weather.In Nigeria, citizens use BudgIT, a mobile app, to ae whether governments keep their spending promises.The opportunity is especially great for women.Men have significantly more acce to the web, but when women get connected, they use technology as a pathway to better education, health, economic status and security.In Guatemala, cellphones inform mothers how to have healthy pregnancies.In Kenya, women receive financial services via their cellphones thanks to the brilliant M-Pesa microfinance scheme.以埃塞俄比亚和坦桑尼亚为例，当地的农民可利用网络争取较高的售价、追踪库存、通过移动设备支付保险费用，以防天有不测风云。尼日利亚公民可以利用BudgIT这个手机app，来监督政府是否遵守承诺运用开支。对女性来说这尤其是个大好机会。虽然男性连线上网的机会要多得多，不过如果女性也能使用网络，她们就能借助科技手段，寻求更好的教育、健康、经济地位与人身安全。危地马拉的准妈妈能使用手机学习如何在孕期保持健康。而在肯尼亚，借助M-Pesa这个出色的微型贷款计划，妇女们能够通过手机获得金融服务。
In the last few weeks, we’ve watched desperate refugees seek shelter on the frontiers of Europe.Smartphones have made it poible for those left behind to communicate with loved ones acro checkpoints and razor wire.The Internet connected our world in shared grief as a Syrian child’s death on a beach in Turkey came to symbolize every refugee.Social media carried the meage and changed not just popular opinion but public policy.过去几周，我们看到许多难民铤而走险，在欧洲边境寻求庇护。智能手机使得那些留在当地的难民，得以与跨过了检查站和铁丝网的亲人保持连系。网络使全世界人，共同为一个死在土耳其海滩上的叙利亚男童哀悼，使他成为了每位难民的共同象征。社交网络不只传递了信息，同时也促成了公众意见与公共政策的改变。
It’s one thing to say we should connect the world.The real trick is how.然而用网络连结全世界说来容易，做起来难。
There’s no simple solution or silicon bullet.并不存在简便的解决方案，或者一蹴而就的技术工具
In many places, increasing connectivity will have to start with extending acce to energy.Nine out of 10 rural Africans don’t have electricity.Governments can make the difference.This is why we support initiatives like President Obama’s Power Africa plan and the bipartisan Electrify Africa Act in Congre, as well as the African Development Bank’s investments in renewable energy.在许多地方，想普及网络连接，得先从普及能源供应开始着手。非洲农村地区的民众十分之九没有电力可用，政府当局可以在这个方面带来改变。这就是我们为什么要支持奥巴马总统提出的“电力非洲计划”(Power Africa)、两党在国会共同提出的《非洲电气化法案》(Electrify Africa Act)，以及非洲开发银行(African Development Bank)对可再生能源的投资。
Where governments lay the foundation, the private sector can build.Promising efforts are underway to bridge the digital divide.But we know the global community can, and must, do more — and urgently.The Intel Foundation’s work in STEM education, Microsoft’s use of technology to advance the Millennium Development Goals and Google’s Project Loon to connect remote locations illustrate how technology leaders are prioritizing this effort, as is Internet.org, Facebook’s contribution to meeting the challenge.政府打下基础之后，私营部门就能继续建设。我们为缩小数字鸿沟所付出的努力前景可期。不过我们也很清楚，世界各国可以也应该作出更多贡献，而这是刻不容缓的。英特尔基金会(Intel Foundation)为理工和数学教育所做的工作，微软利用科技推进千年发展目标(Millennium Development Goals)的努力，以及谷歌为偏远地区提供网络接入的热气球计划(Project Loon)，都显示出科技巨头将此视为当务之急。Facebook旗下的Internet.org也为应对挑战做出了贡献
More technology companies and entrepreneurs must take more responsibility.Silicon Valley should look beyond itself and act more on iues like education, health care and the refugee crisis.We challenge the tech industry to do far more for those most marginalized, those trapped in poverty, and those beyond or on the edge of the network.需要有更多科技公司与企业家承担起更多责任。硅谷不只应该关注自身，还应该采取更多行动，应对教育、医疗及难民危机等议题。我们想对科技产业提出挑战，替那些最边缘化、为贫穷所困，还有那些网络所不能及的人群，付出更大努力。
All the global goals must be scored — but the goal of connectivity for everyone everywhere will surely hurry this game-that’s-not-a-game to its succeful conclusion.Hurry being the operative word here.所有的全球目标都必须达成，然而让世界各地的所有人都接入互联网的目标，肯定能加速这场并非儿戏的赛跑。“加速”理当成为我们的行动方针
If you\'ve ever felt threatened walking home late at night, chances are you\'ve phoned a loved one to make sure they know you\'re safe.如果你深夜步行回家时感到害怕，你极有可能向你爱的人打电话，向他们报平安。
But making calls not only makes your phone a target for thieves, it can also distract you from your surroundings, putting you at greater risk.但是打电话不仅会暴露手机成为小偷的目标，还会分散你对周围环境的注意力，将自己置于更危险的境地。
Now there\'s an app that lets your family or friends track your journey and will call for help automatically if it senses you\'re in trouble.现在有一款应用能让家人或朋友了解你的旅途足迹，当感应到你遇到危险时，自动求救。
Called Companion, the main feature that distinguishes it from other tracking and GPS apps, such as Apple\'s Find My Friends, is its \'Are you OK?\' button.这款应用名为“同伴”。该应用的主要特色“你还好吗？”按钮使它与其他行迹和GPS应用不同。 Before setting off on a journey, users input their starting point, their destination and a designated \'companion\'.出发前，用户输入出发点和终点，然后授权一位“同伴”。 This can be anyone in the user\'s contacts book, and they don\'t need to have the app installed.这个“同伴”可以是用户通讯录里的任何一个人，而他们不必安装此应用。
The \'companion\' can then track the phone\'s GPS to see where their loved one is at any time, while the app will periodically show a button on the user\'s home screen asking \'Are you OK?\' 然后这位“同伴”就可以跟踪手机的GPS随时了解他们爱的人所在的位置，而同时应用会定时在用户的主屏幕上显示一个按钮，询问“你还好吗？”。
If they don\'t pre the button within 15 seconds, the companion is sent an alert.如果用户15秒内没有按下按钮，指定的“同伴”就会收到提醒。
The user is also given the option to call the police from within the app.而在用户的应用中也会出现报警的选项。
Elsewhere, the app can detect if a person has been running, or headphones have been removed from the audio jack suggesting the phone has been dropped, for example.此外，这款应用还可以检测一个人是否在奔跑，或者耳机是否从插孔里脱落，这可能表明手机已经掉了。
If this happens, the \'Are you OK?\' button appears and the 15-second countdown starts automatically.如果这种情况发生，“你还好吗？”按钮就会出现，然后自动开始15秒的倒计时。
Companion is free for iOS and Android devices and users need to enter their mobile number to sign up to the service.苹果与安卓设备可以免费使用“同伴”，用户需要输入手机号码注册来获得此服务。
Although the app was designed in the US, it works with international numbers when they are prefixed with their country\'s code.尽管这款应用是在美国设计的，但是只要在前面输入国家代码，全世界的手机号码都可以使用。 \'Companion lets you reach out to family, friends or your campus police and have them keep an eye on you as you travel late at night,\' explained the app\'s makers.应用设计者说，“当你深夜时分在外时，‘同伴’可以保持你与家人、朋友或校园警察的联系，他们可以实时注意你的动态。”
\'If you start running, don\'t make it to your destination on time, have your headphones yanked out or your phone falls to the ground, we will check in on you to make sure everything is okay.如果你开始奔跑、没有准时到达目的地、耳机拔了出来或者手机掉到地上，我们都会尝试联系你，确认你一切安好。”
\'You can also report areas that make you uneasy.Simply tap the \'I Feel Nervous\' button and we\'ll pa this information on [the authorities].\' 你也可以举报令你感到不安全的地方。很简单，按‘我感到紧张’按钮，我们会把相关信息传达给有关部门。”
Companion is similar to SafeTrek, an app that uses the preure sensor of smartphone touchscreens to create an alarm that will call for help if the user lifts their finger off.同伴”和SafeTrek功能相似。SafeTrek是一款利用智能手机触屏压力感应器的应用，当用户松开手指时，应用会发出呼救的警报。
