LATER NOTE (see comments below): the following advertisement contains a mistake which has now been corrected. Apparently people are to be measured no matter what their nationality, origin or age is. Indeed, more information in Wikipedia on Konfektionsgröße and on the SizeGermany website did not support the wording of the advertisement. In addition, it is absolutely necessary for immigrants etc. to be included: this was done in the Netherlands and France in related projects.
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SizeGermany is a project by the Hohensteiner Institut and Human Solutions GmbH to measure thousands of Germans and presumably improve clothes sizes. So I see from an ad by adidas factory outlet in the local rag. Pictures here.

You can apply to join in, but it says in the paper:

Länderspezifische Vermessung durch das Hohensteiner Institut und die Human Solutions GmbH. Teilnahme deshalb leider nur für deutschstämmige Probanden von 6 bis 65 Jahren.

I would have thought they would have taken German passports, but how do they test deutschstämmig?

SECOND LATER NOTE: (Still quoting the (German) comment by a representive of the Hohensteiner Institut) Children must be at least six, but there is no upper age limit – however, you must be able to stand up and sit down during the measuring process.

On top of that, when you are being measured you will be asked what part of Germany your parents come from, because certain assumptions need to be tested: it is believed that people in North Germany are taller than those in the south, and that people in towns are taller than those in the country, which would be important information for clothing retailers.

(Incidentally, the results of the test will only be available to the companies that commissioned it).

In der BBC-Sendung The Apprentice (etwa: In der Lehre) bewerben sich sechzehn Lehrlinge um eine Arbeitsstelle bei Sir Alan Sugar. Jede Woche wird einer von ihnen aus der Sendung hinausgeworfen im Stil einer Kündigung (The Scotsman):

The Apprentice, shown on the BBC, sees 16 contestants compete for a £100,000-a-year post with the self-made millionaire, Sir Alan, one of Britain’s best-known businessmen. Each week, one contestant is thrown out of the contest by the Amstrad founder, who leans across his boardroom table, points a finger and declares: “You’re fired!”

Jetzt vermutet eine schottische Kanzlei, dass seit der Erstausstrahlung viele Arbeitgeber Sir Alan nachgeahmt haben, was mit dem Arbeitsrecht nicht im Einklang steht.

Mr Muir said: “Since The Apprentice came on TV, we’ve seen a massive rise in dismissals in which employers or bosses apparently emulate or copy Sir Alan Sugar’s methods. There is no doubt about it. It has resulted in a series of unfair dismissal applications to employment tribunals.”
Employment law requires certain procedures to be adhered to in dismissing an employee. An investigation in the first instance should be followed by a disciplinary hearing. If that hearing finds in favour of dismissal the employee should be given an opportunity to appeal.

(Via The Barrister Blog‘s excellent weekly review)

Now that the Landesbank Baden-Württemberg is merging with the Sachsen Landesbank, the FTD has some language assistance. Article with glossary:

bq. # Ei for|bibbch, sächs.: erstaunter Ausruf; (schwäb.: Heidenai, Heiligs Blechle)
# Fehds, der, sächs.: Spaß; nicht zu verwechseln mit der amerikanischen Notenbank Fed
# Glu|fa|michl, der, schwäb.: Pfennigfuchser; (sächs.: Fännischfuggsr)
# gmähds Wies|le, ein, schwäb.: günstige Gelegenheit; Bsp.: “Die Sachsen LB war ein gmähds Wiesle”; (sächs.: Schnäbschn)

More Saxon at Sachsen Welt (dictionary).

(Via Sven Kaulfuß in Cyberbloc)

RP Online had a story on August 24 headed Mafia-Akte lag sechs Wochen beim Übersetzer.

This turned out to mean that the German Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt) had the file in Italian on June 29, a translation was ordered and it arrived on August 7.

It seems obvious that the journalists on RP Online have never translated anything for the German authorities.

At least they are shyly admitting that this was a Mafia killing. Previously it was always claimed there was no Mafia in Germany (funny that I had heard otherwise from Italian translators in Bavaria…)

ATICOM was on the case of RP Online promptly with a clarification by the President.

bq. Aus unserer täglichen Berufserfahrung können wir Ihnen nachweislich mitteilen, dass zwischen der Auftragsvergabe durch eine bearbeitenden Geschäftsstellen bis zum tatsächlichen Postversand an den Übersetzer in der Regel bis zu 2 Wochen vergehen können, weil die internen Postabläufe innerhalb einer Behörde manchmal lange Wege haben.

(Only two weeks?)

On August 1, I posted two pictures of this unfortunate ticket machine in its original green colour.

Now those pictures have historical value. Restorers have been called in to make it match the other street furniture. I would like to know who it is who thinks this is a good thing.

Datenbank zu UN-Kaufrecht in sieben Sprachen
CISG in seven languages

Two professors have developed a database in German, English, French, Spranish, Italian, Dutch and Chinese. Once you have selected the article, you can compare up to seven languages at the same time.

This was the last link of the week at JIPS (German) before their summer break started, and it has appeared on a couple of mailing lists.

JIPS also recommended the European Law Network.

bq. These pages offer you a direct access to most resources available online about European law in the broader sense i.e, union and national law. From here, you can access. : 40 legal sites at the european level, 27 national Consititutions, over 30 national assemblies, 60 Supreme Courts, a dozen journals, and more than 40 blawgs that talk about national or European law. For each link we indicate what languages are available using the Commission’s terminology (EN ; English, FR ; Français, DE ; Deutsch, PL ; Polski…). The first two letters systematically indicate the member state where the link leads to. We are aware that they are not complete and will regularly update them.

Their blogroll even includes Transblawg, and also a number of other interesting-sounding blogs in various languages I am going to take a look at. There are many other interesting links, including links to eight online journals.