If you sit a chimpanzee in front of a computer and allow him to peck randomly and wildly at the keyboard with a set of Cliffs Notes and Roget's Thesaurus nearby, how many years will pass before you see anything that resembles T.S. Eliot's The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock? Quite a few, we imagine. But given the same scenario, how much time must pass before you see anything that resembles the latest installment of Picks of the Week? Well, set your stopwatches, let's find out.
For the chimpanzee part of the equation, try the Primate Gallery, a comprehensive and central source for collecting, digitizing and distributing primate images on the web. Administered by Tim Knight, the site includes a gallery archive, animations, primate sounds and a "Primate of the Week" feature. You can also contribute images to the growing project and surf through a collection of related web links. We could say something about monkey-business and "I'll be a monkey's uncle", but that would be too much.
Instead, we decided to use, utilize, employ, manipulate, press into service, operate, call into play, put into requisition, apply, fall back upon and generally make a cat's paw of Roget's Thesaurus. Peruse their online collection of A to Z words and phrases, or search for results. The site includes a list of the six broad categories into which Mr. Roget classified the entire vocabulary of the English language (abstract relations, space, matter, intellect, volition and affection) as well as pointers to other online language reference resources.
For a facial thesaurus of sorts, you may want to fire up your frames-capable browser for a trip to Faces, by Cory Gilbert. The site lets you combine faces of well-known people to... well, to create faces of other well-known people. Piece together the heads, eyes and mouths of the likes of Bill and Hillary Clinton, Winona Ryder, George Clooney, Denzel Washington, Jim Carrey and Antonio Banderas, amongst others, and see the results. For instance, a combination of Clooney's mouth, Clinton's eyes and Jim Carrey's head creates a striking resemblance to Lyle Lovett. If your browser doesn't support frames, you can at least see the results of several interesting formulas.
Is it a band? Is it a movie? Is it a web site that chronicles one man's quest to visit the final resting places of every dead American president, photograph said resting place, publish the image on the web and include original obituaries, biographies and informative links? Dead Presidents. You decide.
And in other completely-entirely-and-totally unrelated news, the Centre for the Easily Amused has built an extensive collection of links in their search for "the Ultimate Guide to Wasting Time." Begun "before it was trendy", the site offers a number of great categories, including "random silliness", "sites that do stuff", "short attention span", "movies and television" and "other people's hotlists". Here you'll find an easy springboard into the wacky side of the web, with links to sites like Mark's Apology Note Generator, 50 years of Band-Aid and Girls Who Eat Ribs.
And finally, from the useful department, a handful of sites. The Reporter's Guide to Internet Mailing Lists exists, as its title suggests, as an introduction to the resourceful world of mailing lists and listservs. You don't need to be a reporter or writer to benefit from the "access to breaking news, original story ideas and vast archives of collective knowledge" that the roughly 25,000 lists out there have to offer. The article provides tips on getting started and finding help, as well as pointers to existing mailing lists.
Do you know the names of your Senators and/or Representatives in Washington? Interested in dropping them an email? Try The Zipper. Part of the larger Vox Pop political site, enter your zip code and The Zipper throws back the names and addresses (including email when applicable) of your folks in Washington. Apparently The Z has an accuracy of about 85% percent. Hey, it's either that or hit the road with the greatest of all Rock 'n Roll bands never to be, Spinal Tap.
The Government of Ireland (Rialtas na h'Eireann) recently made its way online, with an impressive presence that covers a wide range of information. You can search the entire site, or browse through its large number of useful categories. Read about the economics, literature, music, folklore, sport of Ireland, or learn more about the way the country sees itself in relation to the rest of the world. We particularly enjoyed The National Archives (included in the index of organizations), which includes a searchable database of transportation records of people sent from Ireland to Australia between 1788 and 1868.
The South African Government of National Unity was voted into being (in terms of an interim constitution) in April 1994, in the country's first democratic elections. Read about the GNU - its departments and activities, including the Truth and Reconciliation Commission - which will exist in its present form until the next elections, scheduled for April 1999. Recently the South African Constitutional Assembly completed what is essentially the final draft of the country's new constitution. You can read the document online in its entirety.
Champlain Canadian Information Explorer contains information "about all known Canadian Government sites (Federal, Provincial and Municipal) and Canadian legal information sites on the Internet." Available in French and English, the service exists as a means to seamlessly search for related Canadian information online.
And finally, the Government of Brazil's presence includes links to sites relating to the country's ecology, education, medicine and health, industry and business, culture, and more. We liked the Bars/Restaurants list, because it led us to The Flavor of Brazil, which includes recipes for Chocolate Coconut Crunch Pie, Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake and Brazilian Passion Cake. Take your pick(s).
