| AskOxford.com If you have a question about English, shouldn't a site "for everything you need to know about the English language" be your first stop? AskOxford.com aims offers helpful tips for better writing, information on the origin of words and the creation of dictionaries, and diversions like word games, crossword puzzles, and a jargon buster. And don't miss the the contenders for inclusion in the Oxford English Dictionary -- this month's possibilities include "dot.bomb," "bilderberger," and, our favorite, the Spinal Tap-inspired "goes up to 11." |
| QuickHoney Artists Nana Rausch and Peter Stemmler make beautiful but creepily disassociated illustrations that recall old Atari games, aircraft-evacuation manuals, and Patrick Nagel (but in a good way). These pictures are simultaneously familiar and unnerving. Vector is a collection of drawings of men, women, things, and situations, Pixel hosts several wonderfully elliptical Shockwave animations, and Money is a straight-up commercial portfolio that is no less entertaining. Note: there is some adult material here. |
| Bring Back the Classic Cut We've all seen the Subway sandwich commercials where we meet Jared and learn about his miraculous weight loss through the magic of deli-sandwich consumption. But did you know there's a growing controversy surrounding this popular merchant of bread, meat, cheese, and various fixin's? Apparently, the so-called Sandwich Artists of Subway have abandoned the "v-shaped canyon" in favor of the new "hot dog" style of bread cutting. Not everyone is happy about this switch -- in a comparison of sandwiches, this site's creator likens the new cut to a gutted muskrat. So, if you're down for the cause and would like to join the fight against the "despicable mutilation of sandwiches," sign the online petition to bring back the old cut. |
| Whack-a-Flack This Shockwave game lets you attack public relations flacks with their own press releases (neatly folded into sharp paper airplanes). There are nine different human targets, from the old-school Hardy Knox, who used to drive 400 miles through snow to get a press release into a small-town paper, to youngster Tina Bawper, fresh from her internship and ready to run the whole company. You can even whack King Kong on the head as he peeks through the high-rise office's windows. But don't hit the grey-haired suit who yells "Security!" That's Bill Yunz, the big cheese, who'll fire your ass back to the Dark Ages. |
| Debt to Society Mother Jones takes a look at the state of our prison system today. The United States currently has over two million inmates behind bars and the highest incarceration rate in the world. Since 1980, tax-money spending on prisons has increased by 189%, while spending on education has increased 32%. Check the Incarceration Index to learn how much your state spends on prisons, how much its incarceration rate has increased, and how many prisoners are drug offenders. |
| Who Wants To Be a Fobionaire? A joyful celebration of "fresh-off-the-boatness," this game-show parody is bound to fry some people's rice -- but really folks, this self-deprecating Asian-American humor site is all in good fun. Answering the 15 questions was no walk in the park, requiring four participants six tries and numerous life lines (but thankfully no smirking Regis) to make it to the industrial-size glutinous grand prize. Happy playing -- oh, and eat more rice. It's good for you. |
| Punk 77! This exhaustive fan site pays homage to the great bands that came out of England in the late '70s. Punk rock was about liberation and rebellion and creativity, but as Punk 77! reminds us, it was also about drinking too much and falling down a lot. You'll find photos and band histories galore, as well as plenty of records to buy. Where would Green Day be without the Buzzcocks? R.E.M. without Wire? Hole without the Slits? Nowhere, guv'nor! |
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