Fine Cell Work sells needlework by prisoners.

This is Gustavstraße, the oldest part of Fürth, where the buildings are all different heights. Fortunately this project, to hang up one thousand plastic ‘ravens’ to frighten the pigeons away, is apparently only going to be around for three weeks, I was relieved to hear.

Fürther Nachrichten story Raben gegen Tauben (German)

There have been peregrine falcons in Fürth, but I don’t know if they’re there this year. Another possibility is dummy egg nesting, but that would have to be done by the city.

LATER NOTE: I picked up two of these for a friend. They are very well made, with a sort of post diagonally through them, so they can be suspended from a hook at various heights or stand on their feet. I later discovered the same ravens, including the flying ones, are available cheaper from amazon.de, albeit not painted yellow. I suppose it is a work of art if you make over three euros on each one (less postage) just for putting your signature on it. I know artists’ signatures are worth a lot.

Blade at Spada considers some legalese heavily criticized by the Campaign for Plain English and sheepishly confesses he understands it. So do I.

The Campaign for Plain English believes that it is possible to convey legal ideas in quotidian terminology, and cites the text below, one of m’learned friends’ finest, as an example of everything that is wrong about legal jargon. As a former lawyer Blade confesses, with some sheepishness, that it makes perfect sense to him, but he is going to reconsider the situation forthwith.

Meanwhile, the Tensor has found an error in his Ph.D. Diploma from the University of Washington, from which ‘the Year of Our Lord’ had been removed without the rest being adapted:

Given at Seattle, in the State of Washington, this twelfth day of June, two thousand and nine and of the University the one hundred and forty-ninth.

(Yes, I was able to guess what had been removed – but translators are used to that).

These glasses – not yet on the market – are intended to interpret what you hear and project it onto your retina so you can have a real-time conversation, at least if your languages are supported.

I can’t read Japanese, but this may be the source.

Here’s an article:

The NEC equipment comprises a script projector and microphone attached to the glasses, and a small computer that can be attached to the waist of a user. When two people with different mother tongues speak in their own languages, the projector displays expressions from both languages. NEC’s application of a technology to project images by casting light directly onto the retina is a world first. The retina transforms the optical information into a nerve signal, which is sent to the center of the brain via optic nerves.

I understand the last sentence as normal for vision.

Here’s the blog entry I got it from. It was tweeted by NOVALanguages of New York, who tweet masses of curious language links, so you may want to follow them.

I won’t be interested in this device. Being over sixty, I’ve already got too many aids, attachments and prostheses for other functions.

LATER NOTE: Google reveals more reports. The glasses are called Tele-Scouter. The halfbakery even reported it in 2003.

BDÜ on YouTube – seems new. Professor Felix Mayer speaks to Fabio Proia (the Jutta Witzel/Chris Durban video I linked to recently comes from here). Mainly in German, with some Italian. Interview relates to legal translation, for example EU requirement that legal terms very specifically related to one legal system (AltoAdige/South Tyrol, Belgium, Austria, Germany) should be avoided.