10 more interesting things -- list started 17 December

I actually finished putting things into this page on Christmas Eve but as anyone who has ever had a haematoma in the groin area will understand (only too well) sitting down to think and write is just one activity too many! Reading posts written by other people, deciding "that's interesting" and marking it for listing requires some (not much) thought but can be done without having to do anything about commenting or editing -- that can come later when I review the list. The marking for listing activity can also be done in one of the only three comfortable positions that I have -- semi-reclining. The other comfortable positions are upright or prone, neither of which is compatible with using the keyboard although I have toyed with the idea of working on the laptop on the kitchen work surface.

Note to self: "Stop rambling and get on with it!"

Play a Game to Feed Some People
from Shifted Librarian by jenny
Please go play FreeRice right now. It’s a great example of using gaming for some serious good. Click on the answer that best defines the word. If you get it right, you get a harder word. If wrong, you get an easier word. For each word you get right 20 grains of rice is donated to the United Nations World Food Program. "There are 50 levels in all, but it is rare for people to get above level 48".

I've set myself a "1,000 grains a day" target rather than a level but was pleased on one occasion to have got to 48 -- and then got the next word wrong so went down to
47.

Shakespeare's art works like the cry of "action" on a film set, by sudden peaks of excitement and drama breaking through into consciousness... more from Arts & Letters Daily

A stunning essay on the way in which Shakespeare uses words out of grammatical context (e.g. "to companion me") and makes them work -- and the effect on the brain of the hearer/reader.

How "The Office" would play at Harvard
from Dani Rodrik's weblog
Graduate students at Harvard's Department of Government ("Political Science" to the rest of the academic world) have put together a video skit which adapts the British series The Office.

Dani normally writes on serious economic subjects (sign up if you're interested -- I find his writing always accessible unlike many other academic authors) but does lighten up from time-to-time as in this example.

Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, says Philip Pullman, "is essentially trivial. Narnia is essentially serious". He argues with Narnia. "Tolkien is not worth arguing with"... more
Thanks to Arts & Letters Daily

I think it depends on the way in which you are reading each of these "stories" but surely both are written from the "good overcomes evil" viewpoint which is hard to argue with -- unless of course you are Philip Pullman who manages to argue that the Catholic church (and possibly religion in general) is "bad" and a staunch dis-belief in God is "good". I, as an adult reader, prefer reading Lord of the Rings but freely admit that I have most recently finished reading through the Chronicles of Narnia.

Experience a Victorian workhouse online
Be not amused. The National Archives and the National Trust today launched a website that offers a glimpse into the life of a workhouse in Victorian Britain.
Thanks to PC Advisor

Real wisdom on trade
from Dani Rodrik's weblog
I give my last class on trade on Monday, and this is what I have asked my students to read. It is a piece by the Michigan trade law scholar Robert Howse, and it is one of the most intelligent pieces I have read on the world trade regime and directions for its reform.

Serious but very interesting.

Disney's idea of a "princess": spends her life in captivity or a coma, wakes up only when a prince kisses her. Of course, she has a line of tiaras and gowns... more
Thanks to Arts & Letters Daily

And those tiaras and gowns are likely to cost parents, grandparents and other present-givers more than a few pounds or dollars. That's because the princess phenomenon seems to have gripped our young girls. The articles argues that this
phenomenon is sexualising the under-5s and that "we" should be matching on the
Disney Foundation with pitchforks at the ready. My own experience as a grand-parent of two girls is that it's just a phase that is grown out of fairly rapidly -- certainly my just-11-years-old thinks that princesses are "stupid". "They just around waiting to be rescued and don't do anything to help themselves!"

Video: Stranded Dolphins Rescued
from National Geographic
A dozen dolphins stranded on a Tasmanian beach were saved by volunteers who waded through cold ocean water to make the rescue.

Unfortunately two of them died before the rescue attempt was completed but if
you need an antidote to the sickliness of Disney princesses then this is it.

UK Television adverts database
from Phil Bradley's weblog
This is a fun little site, listing an amazing 5,666 adverts to date. This does include the Cadbury's Gorilla advert (which if you have never seen it, spend 90 seconds or so of your life watching it -- you will not regret it!) Simple interface -- a search box and an A-Z listing. If you're into advertisements you might also want to look at the BBC news item on the Best Adverts of 2007.

Treaty and Charter texts
from EIAorg by Eric Davies
The text of the Treaty of Lisbon amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community and of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union have been published in the Official Journal. The Treaty runs to 269 pages, including the various protocols and declarations, while the Charter text comprises 35 pages, including a 19 pages of ‘Explanations’.

No, I haven't read them but it's useful to know where to find them should you need to!