T-Mail: FAQ/Knowledge Base

A. T-Mail is pronounced "T Mail". Because the web does not allow spaces in a domain name, we use the domain name T-Mail - it has been our brand since 1997! You can refer to our service as "T Mail" or "T DASH Mail" if you find it easier to let others know exactly how to reach our site and you at your new e-mail address.

Q. How much does T-Mail cost?

A. Basic translation functions on T-Mail are free. Services such as T-SMS (multi-lingual chat), T-Phone (VOIP service), POP3/IMAP access (remote e-mail), Human translation carry additional costs.

Q. Reverse translating a T-Mail translation looks nothing like my original text. Why?

A. Translating gist translations back and forth is not a good way to test a machine translation.

A machine translation gives the end user an IDEA of what the original author meant. Take an idea, bad grammar and all, and send it back through a translator and you get garbage back. A gist of a gist is essentially worthless. Fine nuances are lost. Perhaps as machine translation technologies improves, this back-and-forth test will work reliably.

In the interim, the best test you can run is to send a passage through the translator. Send the translation to someone who is bilingual in these two languages and ask them to translate the text back to its original language. Compare their translation to the original text and see if the two mean the same thing. If they do, then the machine was successful.

If the translation is not a close enough match for your needs, you will need to pay a human translator a fair wage to manually perform your translations.

Q. Why is the translation not a "complete sentence"?

A. Translations are often not "complete sentences" as one would expect if a human translated the document. T Mail employs machine translation engines. The best you can expect is a "gist level" translation. Enough information is translated to provide the end user with the "gist" of your text. If you need precise translations, please consider paying a professional a fair wage for their talents.

Q. Why can't T Mail translate my web page?

A. There are two reasons why a web page may not be translated.

1. The page contains potential security breaches:

Cookies are required to see the page.
Java or Javascript must be executed to access the page.
Programs are run when the page is loaded (such as ActiveX or Flash).
The website is encrypted (eg https://).

2. The request for translation was denied by T Mail:

The web server housing the web page used up its monthly free page translations.
You the user have used up your free monthly translations.
You the user have been banned from T Mail for repetitive abuses.
The site has been banned from T Mail for repetitive abuses.
The site is blocked by T Mail's ADBLOCKER program.

There is a version of T-Sail which passes cookies and accesses encrypted sites. However, this version is not available to the public for security reasons. For example, you could enter any site such as your bank, your HotMail account or your brokerage account in any language through T Mail. After doing so, T Mail would know your username and password for these accounts.

We have no desire to compromise anyone's personal information. We want to promote the use of the internet, not give people reasons to stop using it.

Q. Do I need a T-Mail account?

A. No, you do not need an account to access T-Mail. You do need an account with T-Mail to use the Cc: service. This will be available starting January 2010!

Q. Can I translate attachments?

A. T-Mail translates TEXT attachments without a problem. If the attachments are in Word format, excel, pdf, etc, T-Mail will not translate them. HTML documents are translated but Java/javascript fails. Use text attachments and life will be fine...

Q. Can T-Mail translate encrypted messages?

A. Encryption engines have not been added to T-Mail. To implement encryption for all users, T-Mail would need to store your public and private keys on our servers.

Users of the Cc: service can attach their public keys to verify authenticity of non-encrypted documents. The original copy of your e-mail is sent directly to the final recipient without going through T-Mail. The second copy is translated through T-Mail but the keys remain intact.

The implementation of encryption through a service as diverse as T-Mail is beyond the scope of this message board and not desirable for most T-Mail users.

Q. What is Wireless T-Palm, T-Zip, T-Now, T-Magic?

A. These are T-Mail services in development. Check back and learn more. Suggestions for service improvements are welcome!

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