Amusing/Entertaining/Interesting things you stumbled upon on the Internet

Tharvis

Trilliana

Mannimar

For you United States folk. I took this and one of my three final cities was 20 miles north of me, and the other two my grandmother lived in until she moved here. I was amused by this, thought to share

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/12/20/sunday-review/dialect-quiz-map.html?r=j0n2088j0800106008j0j0402000100k04008120400000000j&_r=3&

Gamoneterik

I got half way through the quiz before I realised it's only for the USA. Would be cool if they could do one for the world.

EDIT: And I posted this and then saw your preface "For you United States folk". I blame silly season.

Berenene

Gamoneterik said:

I got half way through the quiz before I realised it's only for the USA. Would be cool if they could do one for the world.

EDIT: And I posted this and then saw your preface "For you United States folk". I blame silly season.

I took it anyway and discovered New York, Jersey City or Boston.

Synbios

Eld

Mannimar said:

For you United States folk. I took this and one of my three final cities was 20 miles north of me, and the other two my grandmother lived in until she moved here. I was amused by this, thought to share

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/12/20/sunday-review/dialect-quiz-map.html?r=j0n2088j0800106008j0j0402000100k04008120400000000j&_r=3&

Came out pretty close to where I grew up, as well. There were a few things i could have answered differently (freeway/highway, for example, I use with about equal frequency to mean the same thing) that I just went with what I grew up with, so maybe if I'd answered differently it would have shifted closer to where I've lived since then.

This has me thinking I'd like to see one of those distribution maps for use of the word "hella", at least for California.

Cathy

Said I would be New York, Freemont or Honolulu, I'd be okay living in those places I think!

Trilliana

Fort Wayne, Saint Louis, and Springfield. Three places I've never been, nor do I have family near. It's what I get for being the daughter of a Pennsylvanian and a Californian. XD

Cooper

Omaha and Des Moines. Des Moines/Omaha are three hours apart, and I grew up directly in the middle of them. Ha.

Saeva

I got Springfield, MO.. Albuquerque, NM and Stockton, CA. Can't get much more spread out and random.

Sena

I took the quiz a few times, and the results change drastically depending on the set of questions I get.

One result had Saint Louis and Grand Rapids in the top 3. I grew up a few hours from Saint Louis, my mother grew up less than an hour from Grand Rapids. The other results weren't even close, one giving 3 cities on the west coast (and lots of blue in the places I have lived), while I've never been west of Missouri.

There are also a few answers that could go either way (or I use 4-5 of the listed terms interchangeably so I just went with "other"), or answers where I used to use one term and later started using another.

Trey

Kresslack

Anderson Cooper forsakes role as reporter and intervenes to rescue Haitian boy caught in crossfire

Strata

Synbios

Harmonia

celebrate logosmas with a bit of jazz

Trey

Achimrst

Mannimar

For the holidays

Iocun

Kresslack said:

Anderson Cooper forsakes role as reporter and intervenes to rescue Haitian boy caught in crossfire

Hrm, this is great of him, but it making the news still leaves a rather stale taste in my mouth. Every day, in conflicts such as these, hundreds of people save the lives of hundreds of others, while putting their own lives on the line, without going noticed. But when it's a Famous Male White Man dragging a single child to the side, an American soldier hugging an Iraqi child, a Hollywood actor offering food to Poor African Kids, it makes the news and they're lauded as heroes.

Sure, you may say that publicising such things supports moral courage and serves as a positive example for other people, but what it also supports is the general imagery of Noble White Man helping defenceless Poor Third-World People, an imagery that has been a part of European imperialism for ages, is still vividly present in the questionable advertisements of many nonprofit organisations, and subliminally assures that people from poorer countries are continued to be seen as helpless, dependent creatures, who need our generosity to survive.

Considering the harmfulness of such preconceptions, I have trouble supporting images like this making the news.

Kyrra

He could have just kept reporting and done nothing. It's not so much the colour of his skin but he's not a military trained man who stepped to do something brave. I personally think the world needs more people willing to step up and do something for people they don't know without needing something in return.

Iocun

I never said I disagreed with his actions. I said that I find it great that he did it. I disagree with it making the news.

Saeva

I consider the photographer who won the Pulitzer Prize for this photograph and followed the rules to not reach out (there was fear of transmitting diseases) and so he, Kevin Carter, killed himself three months later. I believe from what I have read that the man was plagued by a lot of depressing situations, but in his suicide note this was something that haunted him. He didn't take action.
Good on the man that took action, regardless of his race. I don't care if you're American, British, Scandinavian, Indian, Russian...whatever race. Taking that action when it's clearly been drilled into your head to "leave it alone, you're here for the stories and pics" just makes you glad to know that humanity actually comes before duty sometimes.

Iocun

Again, this is not about these acts and who did them, but about the irresponsibility of media. They are an incredibly powerful force in shaping the minds of people, yet so often neglect any ethical, long-term considerations in favour of sensationalism and short-sighted sentimentality. Many of them seek to evoke emotional reactions from us by any means, without giving any thought to the harm they may be doing in the process.

Let's consider whom publicising a story/pictures such as this one actually helps. Does it help the reputation of reporters, and specifically of Anderson Cooper? Definitely. Does it help the people of Haiti? No.

Cidusii

Synbios

Cidusii said:

Hoodie, Fedora, Fez, Cap. Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Fez nation attacked. Only the Swag, master of all four headgears, could stop them, but when the world needed her most, she vanished. A hundred years passed and my brotha-from-anotha-motha and I discovered the new Swag, a capbender named Suzie. And although her capbending skills are great, she has a lot to learn before she's ready to save anyone. But I believe Suzie can save the world."

Hegua

Siduri

Hilarious. There was a similar scene in Pasolini's Decameron, where a somewhat rich-looking guy gets invited to a sexy lady's house and ends up undressing for a bath, only to be pushed in the latrines and kicked out. The girl kept the clothes and his gold, probably getting ready to sucker another fool.



P.S. Oh yeah, the girl says she's his half sister, born from his father's adventures with a noble, but sadly her family fell out of grace, and now she lives in a poor household.

Hegua