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| October 12, 2004 |
Double-Tongued Word Wrester
English is like a nation with an open-door policy for languages, one of the few tongues that gladly accepts foreign words and slang into its ranks, creating a mélange, potpourri, and mishmash, if you will, of cross-cultural zingers. Much like an immigration officer, the wordsmith behind this unique slang dictionary tracks borrowed, niche, hybrid, and jargon words as they land on our linguistic shores. From Canadians, we learn to be wary of bed-blockers. While we Aussies are accepting of mollydookers, and India's babalogs are obesogenic. Yanks are not necessarily Japan's puroburemu. Browse words by country of use, and co-opt a few choice phrases for your own conversation. (featured June 2004 in US Yahoo! Picks) |
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| October 11, 2004 |
Where Did the Time Go?
Where did all that time fly by? Enough pondering -- get the answer at this site. Complete the interactive form, which takes less than five minutes, for an estimate of the number of weeks, months, and years you've wasted. The figure is based on lifestyle factors, such as your health, physical activity, and dedication to chocolate. The site then calculates how much time you squandered in a variety of activities -- from looking into the mirror and working out, to counting calories and waiting for taxis. The truly time-obsessed can get a detailed profile via email. Give this site a try. You won't be wasting your time -- at least not much of it. |
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| October 8, 2004 |
Compare Policies
With the federal election looming, there's just no escaping the sound bites, the push polls, the special interest groups, the controversies -- how do average voters sift through all this murky election coverage? Compare Policies was created for just such a thing. It provides voters easy access to the policies of all candidates in their electorate for the House of Representatives, and in their state for the Senate. The creators of the site intend to represent all candidates with an equal footing, whether they belong to a major party, a minor party, or are running as an independent. The site is a simple database of the candidates and their policies. The parties and candidates themselves have provided the information used within the site. The policy pages consist of a policy summary and, where available, downloadable documents, which are free. Voters can search for candidates by electorate (House of Representatives), state (Senate,) policy area, or by candidate name. So, if you're after, "just the facts, mam'm" and none of the rubbish, this is the place for you! |
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| October 7, 2004 |
The Chaser Decides
The Chaser has a motto: "Striving for mediocrity in a world of excellence" and the team never fail to meet their objective. The Chaser Decides take a satirical look at the election from the national tally room in Canberra. The team features political commentators led by Craig Reucassel and Chris Taylor, election analysts Julian Morrow and Andrew Hansen, reporter Chas Licciardello, and reporters Dominic Knight and Charles Firth. The Chaser Decides has been airing on ABC during the three weeks leading up to the federal election on October 9, 2004 and has a post-election round up of the results one week after. Highlights of the aired shows can be found on the site along with a handy special standardised complaints letter for those who don't enjoy the Chaser's unique brand of comedy. There is also a weekly updated news section, profiles of the team and a place for you to submit a photo caption. |
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| October 6, 2004 |
Bollywood Dreams
Not surprisingly, India's answer to Tinseltown is the stuff that dreams are made of for its starstruck citizens, with Bollywood producing roughly twice as many films annually as its US counterpart. When a young Jonathan Torgovnik, the photog behind this site, first journeyed to the subcontinent, he was struck by Bollywood's imagery and colour. Now he's gone back to capture more on this entertainment juggernaut. He found masses of moviegoers inside and out, peeked behind the cameras and met the actors who help make the films so colourful. Then he hit the streets saturated with colossal cutouts of larger-than-life stars. And if the visual stimulation isn't enough, watch Jonathan's video interview for his take on Bollywood's influence on Indian culture. |
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