Monthly Archives: August 2007

Job for vegetables

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It’s amazing what you can find in the newspaper when you read it carefully. In Munich’s newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung there was a job ad in which Burger King was looking for a potatoe on August 11/12, 2007. I am not kidding. You can view the ad down below in the German part of this entry.

Here is a rough translation of the ad so that you can decide for yourself whether it’s a joke (yes, we are in the middle of summer with lots of people on vacation and nothing to write about in the papers) or whom the company is looking for. The comments in [ ] are mine and not part of the original ad.

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You want to climb the career ladder with us? Then get off the field.
Burger King is one of the major Quick Service companies [I just love this euphemism] worldwide. We set new standards in our over 11,200 restaurants for quality and taste daily . Come and join our team and grow with the challenges.

We are looking for a potatoe (m / f) to start as soon as possible.

Your profile:
You are a young potatoe (m / f) of excellent heritage. You belong to the top tier of your age-group, you want to make your career in a globally acting company, and you want to profit from our trainee program “Top of the Crop Scholarship” [that's also the name in the German ad, so no need for a translation]. You are inquisitive and strong in presentations. You do not think in categories such as soft cooking [I don't know the correct term and couldn't find it either] and waxy. You also enjoy working together with dynamic as well as friendly colleagues. You count yourself as one of the high potentials in our country.

What you can expect from us:
You aim for a high position with all chances for a top position. You will already be promoted to KING Pommes after a short and practical trainee time (approx. 5 minutes) and will carry the title test winner (according to “Stiftung Warentest” [Germany's biggest consumer product testing agency]).

MS Office as well as English language skills are not necessary. A driver’s license is advantageous, but not necessary. The usage of the company car for private affairs is negotiable.

If you want to join our team as soon as possible and have the necessary prerequisites then apply for this job including a picture (please no leisure time clothes, not older than at the time of harvest) [it is very common in Germany to have a photo in the job application pack which is much thicker than for an Anglo-American application]:
Burger King
VR (Veg. Resources)
…

~~~

So. Who are they looking for? Any ideas?

Miscellaneous / Verschiedenes

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I ran across a somewhat old list of things I wanted to include in my curious and wondering rambling. Before I forget about them again, I better jot them down.

Back in 2003 I wrote about Swiss brand names that are different from the ones I am used to in Germany. Those of you who received the mails back then or have read upon them in my old blog might remember that the German “Langnese” ice cream is known as “Pierrot Lusso” in Switzerland and that the shoe store “Deichmann” is known to our neighbors as “Dosenbach”. When I was in Basel last October (yeah, it’s already a long time ago), I saw that the travel agency “tui” is known as “imholz” in Switzerland. However, it’s interesting when you search for “imholz” online, you land on a “tui” website where “imholz” is not mentioned except for in the title bar.

This is actually only really funny in German: Recently, when I was at the University of Technology of Munich (TUM) for a meeting, I saw a flyer advertising furniture etc. for sale. One was a lamp for a night stand. However, the guy wanting to get rid of his old stuff had forgotten one letter so that it read dessert lamp.

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Ich habe eine alte Liste mit Notizen gefunden und erinnerte mich, dass ich diese Sachen ja irgendwann mal für euch niederschreiben wollte. Bevor ich sie wieder vergesse, mache ich das lieber gleich.

2003 hatte ich über Schweizer Markennamen geschrieben, die sich von den deutschen, die mir geläufig sind, unterscheiden. Diejenigen unter euch, die damals meine Mails erhalten oder sich durch die Texte in meinem alten Blog gelesen haben, erinnern sich vielleicht noch, dass “Langnese”-Eis “Pierrot Lusso” heißt und man statt zum Schuhladen “Deichmann” zum “Dosenbach” in der Schweiz geht. Als ich letzten Oktober in Basel war (ja, es ist schon lange her), sah ich, dass der Reiseveranstalter “tui” als “imholz” bekannt ist. Interessant war jedoch, dass man bei einer Online-Suche nach “imholz” immer bei Schweizer Seiten von “tui” landet, ohne dass ein Vermerk auf “imholz” gemacht wird. Auf dieser “tui”-Seite steht “imholz” aber wenigstens in der Titelleiste.

Als ich kürzlich zu einer Sitzung an der TU München (TUM) war, sah ich einen Flyer, auf dem Möbel etc. zum Verkauf angeboten wurden. Ein Wohnungseinrichtungsgegenstand war auch eine Nachttischlampe. Nur hatte der Schreiber ein “t” vergessen, sodass aus der Lampe für den Nachttisch, eine Lampe für den Nachtisch, das Dessert, wurde. :-)

Singles moving quickly favored / Singles mit schnellem Auslöser bevorzugt

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The City of New York has proposed a new regulation dealing with photography and filming in the city. Although geared towards professionals, the border between professional and amateur photography are fuzzy, and thus, many tourists would have to forfeit their photography or filming to obey the proposed regulation because most will not have US$ 1 million insurance policy. The NY Civil Liberties Union protests this new regulation and hopes to achieve a revised version or a drop of this proposal.

According to the proposal, if two or more people congregate in one place and film or take photos for 30 or more minutes (including set up and breakdown) or if 5 or more people use a tripod for such activities for more than 10 minutes (including set up and breakdown) would require a license (which is free) and proof of the possession of the US$ 1 million insurance policy.

My advice to you: Visit New York on your own and take photos quickly (also to avoide congestion at favorite photo spots). If you travel in pairs or groups, disperse before taking out your equipment. It’s not safety in numbers.

I just wonder who would look after the inforcement of this law and how it would be done.

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Die Stadt New York hat einen Gesetzesvorschlag vorgelegt, der das Fotografieren und Filmen in der Stadt regulieren soll. Obwohl das Gesetz primär Profis im Blick hat, ist die Grenze zwischen Profi und Amateur fließend. Viele Touristen dürften nicht mehr fotografieren oder filmen, wenn sie nicht ein Versicherung über 1 Million US-Dollar nachweisen könnten. Die New Yorker Civil Liberties Union (Zivilrechtsunion) protestiert gegen dieses Gesetz und hofft auf eine Lockerung bzw., dass es gar nicht verabschiedet wird.

Der Gesetzesentwurf sieht vor, dass 2 oder mehr Leute, die an einem Ort für 30 oder mehr Minuten filmen oder fotografieren (inklusive Auf- und Abbau) oder 5 oder mehr Leute, die ein Stativ zum Filmen oder Fotografieren für mehr als 10 Minuten (inklusive Auf- und Abbau) verwenden, eine (kostenlose) Lizenz benötigen sowie die 1-Million-Dollar-Versicherung nachweisen müssen.

Daher mein Rat: Besucht New York nur allein und macht Bilder schnell (so wird auch Stau an den Touristenattraktionen vermieden). Wenn ihr schon zu zweit oder mehreren Leuten reisen müsst, dann geht auseinander, bevor ihr eure Ausrüstung aufbaut.

Ich frage mich nur, wer dieses Gesetz wie durchsetzen will.

Back to the roots forward

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It’s high time that I post something on my blog. Interesting and startling things pop up almost every day and it’s difficult to keep abreast with everything. In order not to get behind too much, I better post today. ;-)

Today I have read a couple of news items, e.g. via the BBC, on Google’s plans to venture into the mobile world. Although the company neither denies nor confirms the development of a phone like Apple, it’s still about to touch new ground. Why is it that big companies spread their wings into areas that have not been their domain? It’s like they want to become omnipresent. Specialization is out, generalism and “sell it all” is hot.

Google is a great example of that. They Stanford guys Sergey Brin and Larry Page who founded Google started with a search engine whose homepage was extremely uncluttered. Now the company owns a large number of non-search engine services such as email, blog, video storage, photo storage, CAD software etc. Philipp Lenssen has drawn a Map of Googleland which gives an interesting visualization of Google (excluding the very recent acquisitions of the company). Lenssen’s blog is a superb place to look for all Google-related stories. The uncluttered homepage of Google can be customized to one’s gusto. Mine looks like this at the moment (August 3, 2007, at 10:14 p.m.). The top is customized with one of the available themes. Although I am not a fan of pink, I cannot get around that color because my Google page knows my time and assumes that it’s time for a sunset. However, it’s already pitch dark outside.

iGoogle

And the latest coup seems to be the venture into the mobile phone market. Of course, one can already browse web sites via a phone or handheld, but that does not seem to be enough. Apparently, Google has shown its Gphone to manufacturers already (via Washington Post, Mobile Entertainment), but still does not comment on the story.

Google’s phone whether produced by an outside company or in-house might be a serious rival for Apple’s iPhone and a lot cheaper because reports state that Google plans to fianance it via customized ads. Will the company then listen in to one’s conversation to place the appropriate ads?

Internet service and computer companies joining the phone market might seem to be a step backwards, but actually, it’s a step into the future extending the availability of the internet and one’s personal files. Soon we might carry our entire hard drive around in a mobile device – mind you: not for working on these tiny screens constantly but to have them available and to be able to access them anytime the need might arise.

It’s good that I have not yet bought a mobile phone. I’m waiting for the big coup ;-) In the meantime, you can reach me via the following channels:

  1. email
  2. instant messenger: Skype, AIM, Yaoo, ICQ (although rarely used these days), Jabber (used it only once so far)
  3. landline and answering machine at home (mind the time zone)
  4. phone and voice mail at work (please only in emergencies)
  5. snailmail (if you jotted down my current address)
  6. relatives and friends (if they know more than you do)
  7. comments in this blog (still greatly underused)

I can’t think of a number 8. Thus, the list finishes with lucky seven channels. That should suffice for the time being.