The most diverting websites and videos collected and collated each day for you by Times Online.
Our columnist Richard Morrison wrote this week of our need to get back to nature, rediscover our understanding of the Earth’s natural processes rather than distance ourselves with shops and machines. Open Farm Sunday, this weekend, is an annual event at farms across the country where you can discover what it means to be a farmer, feeding the animals, seeing the machinery and tasting the produce.
Lorraine Parkin — who suffers from Huntington’s disease, a hereditary condition of the central nervous system that causes balance problems — was thrown into a cell because police thought she was drunk. “I have never felt so humiliated,” she said. HD is a widely misunderstood condition: symptoms include involuntary muscular movements, memory lapses and mood changes. For more information click here.
How much is a painting worth? In the case of Wants for Sale, exactly as much as whatever it represents. “Each painting shows one thing we want, and sells for the price of the real item,” say the website’s creators. So you can buy A Slice of Pepperoni for $3 (£1.50) or a Dinner at Nobu painting for $152 (£77). Careful, though — if you’re in the United Kingdom, >you could pay $3 for the picture and $35 for the postage
You know that sinking feeling when you break your phone and lose all your numbers? Or when the battery runs out and you don’t have any of them written down? On ZYB you can store all your numbers — and your texts — securely online and access them from anywhere. You can also make “friends” on the network via your phone and online. Kind of like a phone Facebook, which sounds either amazing or completely terrifying.
For most people, the main problem with being “green” is the effort involved — we consider it a chore. Green Thing is an online community that asks you to do just one green thing a month. May’s request is that you “stick with what you’ve got” — ie, don’t buy any new possessions. If that thought scares you, click on the “don’t want to?” option and discover ways to revitalise the things you already have.
Want to know how to be a man? The Art of Manliness blog has a reading list that will help you to read your way to a Y chromosome. Old school favourites such as Moby-Dick are a good bet, as is ancient political philosophy, including Plato’s The Republic and The Prince by Machiavelli. What isn’t manly? Well, women, naturally. Books by female authors occupy just three slots on the list of 100 titles.
There are some who think that Bebo is old hat, yet it remains the most popular social networking site in Europe. Not in the US, though, where MySpace still has most users and Facebook still lags behind. This map of social networking sites’ market share worldwide will surprise many people — particularly those who consider anything other than their site of choice distinctly uncool.
Bullying is a massive social problem that affects almost everyone at some point in their life. To flag it up for the very serious issue it is Beatbullying, the UK’s leading bullying prevention charity, is asking every person in the UK to stand up as a national sign of defiance and solidarity against bullying. The Big Stand 2008 will take place this coming Thursday at 10am. For more details click here.
Imagine if there were no news. Literally, nothing to report for an entire day. Would BBC news programmes still broadcast? Adam Buxton (of The Adam and Joe Show) thinks so — and put together a video clip to show just what it would look like. The silence is painful to watch. Look for the accompanying comments to figure out how he’s done it. Watch more comic clips at his website.
Is it important that the next president of the United States shouldn’t be old? The creator of the Things Younger Than McCain website certainly thinks so. “The world is a pretty complicated place right now and I’m thinking that it’s not such a great time to elect our oldest president ever,” he says. “How can someone govern the country when he’s older than the chocolate chip cookie, Alaska and even Scientology?”
George Lucas strikes back ... again. No, it’s not another Star Wars prequel but an animated film called The Clone Wars. The film is not out until August but the trailer is already getting a lot of attention Stateside. You can do so much more with a double lightsaber when you’re a cartoon, although the Millennium Falcon looks a bit like Lego. Watch a cheesier Anakin Skywalker than even Hayden Christensen could have envisaged below.
At first it looks like some sort of monster trimmer. In fact, hairdresser Danny Bargil is attempting to break his own world record by cutting a woman’s hair with ten pairs of scissors at the same time. It follows the record he set earlier this year using nine pairs of scissors. Why? “With every pair of scissors that I place on my finger, it gives me more power and more inspiration,” he says. Watch and pity the girl whose hair he’s actually cutting here.
Social networking gets so much bad press; but it can also offer support. The Big White Wall is the first mental- health network where people can express themselves anonymously online without fear of being judged. Users express their secrets and concerns on a brick on The Wall by uploading images, drawing or writing. The range of topics posted is vast, from self-harm and depression to family issues and relationship problems.
Got a wacky idea, but need a few bob to execute it? Well, there’s now a charity out there to help you. The £50 Danger Fund aims to change the world, with a giggle. Funded by donations, so far it has only received £50 — from someone who then claimed it back for a personal project. “Exactly the sort of needlessly dangerous behaviour that we like!” says the site’s undaunted creator, Peter Hames.
Celebrities sometimes forget all the stuff they’ve bought. Even if it’s for charity. BuyOnceGiveTwice is a website that sells items from charity auctions that were bought but never collected. The Big Brother diary room chair for example, a bottle of Whisky signed by Gordon Brown and his first cabinet, and shoes designed by Tamzin Outhwaite. For some reason, there is a large number of unclaimed Ronnie Wood prints available.
Intelligent People is a dating website that wants to set up “highly intelligent” people (15 per cent of the population, apparently) with one another. The site proudly proclaims that it works “regardless of location, education and social status”, but to become a member you must pass a series of geometric tests. The tests are pretty tough — it’s a sure-fire way of ruling out chancers.
We’re going to tell you about as many big silly noisy movies as we can in these twilight years of the blockbuster.
By night, Tom Whitwell makes extra geeky clips for YouTube. By day, he's the communities editor of Times Online
Michael Moran spends much of his time watching Batman fan films but is nevertheless web correspondent of Times Online
Simon Crerar digs watching Chinese karaoke singalongs and dogs chasing their tails, and is Arts & Entertainment editor of Times Online
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