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Back to basics

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.

Dazed and confused

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.

Looks like pizza

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

Facebook (sort of) on your phone

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.

Green and lazy

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.

Be a man

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.

Bebo the best?

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: the big stand

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.

No news is not always good news

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.

McCain's older than scientology

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?”