Pop Web Icons, Project Awry and First Names
These three unrelated websites belong in what have become my “This and That” columns that show up here about once a month. I need to credit one of the sources I use to find interesting sites to write about, and that source is a popular blog known as J-Walk . Keep in mind that not all of the sites this Arizona-based writer talks about are family-friendly. And keep in mind that some of the “Top Ten Popular Websites” mentioned below need to be screened before you let your children view those picks. If you have trouble accessing these sites, you can go to the CyberScribbles Too blog and access them directly.
Ten from the Wave
If you are an avid web surfer, then you know the joke behind “all your base are belong to us.” The original science fiction website written in broken English must have set a record for setting off slack time in offices worldwide. The Wave magazine has posted a list of what it considers the Top 10 all-time most talked about and laughed at (and later, widely parodied) websites, where All Your Base ranks third on their list. If you have had your mouse buried in the sand, you need to get with it and log on to All Your Base and some of the others for some hearty laughs. The Top 10 according to the Wave are: 1) Star Wars Kid; 2) Bubb Rubb; 3)All Your Base; 4)Bonsai Kitten; 5) People Falling Down; 6) Lightning Bolt; 7) Hampsterdance; 8) Tourist Guy-911; 9) Mahir Cagri—I Kiss You; 10) Jay Maynard—Tron. Get surfing and start laughing.
Project Awry . Imagine two gymnasium-sized supercomputers housed at the University of Pittsburgh and at Moscow State University. A bevy of scientists are sitting around, brainstorming. Their mission is to suggest, process and cross-reference Everything that Could Go Wrong. The computers whir 24 hours a day, making 6 trillion calculations a second. The result is to be a catalog of every possible unfortunate scenario of error and misfortune. This 10-year in the making project is supposed to provide “valuable research or used as a preventative tool.” I have no idea if federal grant money (my money, your money) is involved in this project. I also wonder how much these scientists are paid. I have a few people in mind who could win a top award for WORRYING ABOUT EVERYTHING that should be invited to join this project. Anyway, some of the catalog items thus far include such misfortunes as “snagging shirt cuff on doorknob,” “neglecting to maintain nuclear reactor cooling system leading to meltdown,” “phone system down,” “final exam directions misinterpreted,” and thousands and thousands of others. Woe to us.
Behind The Name . This is a fun site where you can look up your first name and find out its origin and meaning. But wait! There’s much more here to keep you interested. You can discover the current most popular names in the United States and in a few other countries. You can find out your name days. You can generate a new name (great for writers looking for a pseudonym or for crooks) and you can generate that name in one of several categories, such as a “fairy name,” a “rap name,” a “French name,” and many more options. If you and your spouse are expecting, you can peruse a huge database of name options, including twins’ names. I like the name generator best. Behind the Name provides the etymology and history behind first names and it may be the best “name” site on the Web.
