I think it’s standard practice for professional associations not to recommend prices, as this is in restraint of trade. I recall the American Translators Association were investigated many years ago by the FTC and have been very cautious since then.

At all events, a newspaper article has been syndicated to various papers all over Germany in which the BDÜ is wrongly stated to have recommended a price per line to charge. I wasn’t going to blog it, but it refuses to die. Here’s one of the articles.

There has also been an article in the fortnightly German computer magazine c’t, about how expensive German versions of software are, because of the costs of localization. That appeared in the 12th January issue and is not online. c’t is an excellent, serious magazine. It has a few past articles translated into English, but I’ve never looked at them. This article referred to a figure of 1 euro per line ‘as quoted by the BDÜ’. I can’t find anyone who knows where the c’t writer got this from.

The former article has been refuted, the latter I’m not sure. Robin Stocks had an entry in Carob (scroll down to 17th January, ‘Odd price data from BDÜ’ – with links). And Richard Schneider’s Nachrichtenportal has even more, on January 14th (in German).

One of the statements credited to Norbert Koschyk of the BDÜ is that almost one in every nine translators is a freelance – of course, it’s about the other way round. He is also wrongly said to have said that an average of 1 euro is earned per line of 55 characters (including spaces!) He did not say this, and he did tell the journalist he spoke to that the BDÜ is not allowed to state prices. Perhaps the figure of 1 euro ‘quoted’ in the c’t article is taken from here.

Lifechanges…Delayed… recently had an entry about udal law (Orkneyjar, January 15th).

Digging around, I was surprised to learn that, because of its history and how Orkney and Shetland came to be part of Scotland, Orkney has a claim to be governed under udal law instead of common law. The Shetland & Orkney Udal Law Group (SOUL) has a lot of information about the old Norse law system and the history of law in Shetland and Orkney (in the context of restoring udal law).

I guess its a sign of one danger of devolution: just as Scotland is gaining more power from London, but now Orkney and Shetland are seeking a greater degree of separation from Edinburgh. The case SOUL outlines looks convincing, but how it would work practically and what it would mean (particularly in regards to fishing and mineral rights) is far from clear.

I’ve read about Norse udal law on the Orkneys before now, and the reason I haven’t blogged this yet is that I know so little. SOUL wants to restore udal law, but what the benefits of this are requires some understanding of Scottish land law, which is different from English law (I remember a rant by a Scottish lawyer saying equity is unnecessary). I don’t know what would actually be gained by doing away with the feudal system, since holding land under the vestiges of a feudal system in England and Wales seems scarcely different in practice from owning it in Germany.

Anyway, I quote David Walker’s Oxford Companion to Law (1980 – Walker is a Scottish lawyer):

Udal (or odal) law. The system of law which came to Orkney and Shetland with the Norsemen in the ninth century, and now co-exists there with feudalism of later Scottish origin. The odal is the hereditary estate held in absolute property and not of any superior, nor for any homage or service, but for a payment called skat, and a personal obligation to appear at the host or Thing. It comprises the homestead, the common lands, and land let to a stranger. Since the fifteenth century, Scottish ideas and feudal tenure have crept in and much land has been feudalized by charter from the Crown or through the Earl or Bishop of Orkney.

It appears you can study Allodial or odal law in English at Bergen University.

Meanwhile, in a comment to my last post on Burns Night, Ann informs of Orkney clapshot, a version of tatties and neeps toasted with cheese on top.

It’s almost too late to wish everyone a happy Burns Night. Burns Night/Day is a Scottish feast day more important than Christmas (Christmas Day was not even a public holiday there till a few decades ago).

The official Robert Burns site gives information on holding a Burns supper.

Armin Grewe has a picture of a haggis on his site – actually a plate with haggis, bashed neeps (mashed turnips/swedes) and potatoes. (Armin’s list of bloggers abroad here). And some more information (source):

bq. Among Burn’s many poems is one called “To a Haggis,” in which he describes the dish as that “Great chieftain O’ the puddin’-race.” Naturally, haggis must be served at the party. Haggis tastes slightly like hash. It is made from the heart, liver and lungs of a sheep. These organs are finely chopped and mixed with toasted oatmeal, onions, and seasonings. Then everything is boiled in a bag made from the sheep’s stomach.

While researching a comment on the last entry, I found a site (in German) with a list of types of non-verbal communication in road traffic: Nonverbale Kommunikation im Straßenverkehr. They include five different ways of flashing your lights (Lichthupe, literally ‘light horn’), warning flasher (Warnblinker), foglamps (Nebelscheinwerfer), and indicator (Blinker).

However, they omit one signal I saw quite a lot of when I started driving again in Germany a couple of years ago – the middle finger (sometimes down to the elbow, with window open). There’s also tapping the forehead.

Another driving site gives information on driving during Fasching / Karneval. You mustn’t drive with a mask on.

bq. Besteht bei einem Unfall ein kausaler Zusammenhang mit dem Tragen der Maske, besteht wegen grober Fahrlässigkeit sogar der Verlust des Koskoschutzes.

bq. If there is an accident with a causal connection to the wearing of the mask, you may even lose your (comprehensive) insurance cover (I presume Kosko is a typo for Kasko, and not Kokos / coconut as I read it first).

Jurawiki has a full copy of the new text of the German Straßenverkehrsordnung (Road Traffic Act) as revised by Wolf Schneider, who is well-known for his books on improving the style of written German – a mammoth task to judge by the stuff I am given to translate into English. Schneider was commissioned to do this by the Auto Club Europa (ACE). But it was the German Federal Ministry of Transport (Bundesverkehrsministerium) that asked ACE to look into the matter.

This is just a suggestion and not law. Some of the vocabulary that is changed: Wechsellichtzeichen (‘changing light signs’) becomes Ampel (traffic lights); Schallzeichen (‘noise sign’) becomes Hupe (horn); Führer von Krafträdern (‘person in charge of motorized wheeled vehicles’) becomes Motorradfahrer (motorcyclist).

(via Ralf Zosel at LAWgical)

Louise Woodward was in the news a lot in Britain and the USA a couple of years ago, when she was convicted first of second-degree murder, later reduced to involuntary manslaughter (something like ‘fahrlässige Tötung’) when the child she was looking after died. She’s started a two-year training contract with a firm of solicitors in Oldham (see article in the Oldham Advertiser). BBC News reported this on 20th January, but it has just been picked up in the USA (via Law Sites, who got it from law.com, where it has probably scrolled). Some of the international headlines are on the lines of ‘Baby killer turns lawyer’.