Check out this list of English words that the editors of the Collins English Dictionary wants to purge to make room for new words and the accompanying article. As it notes, some words that are common in mainstream usage are nonetheless useful in particular communities. As a gamer, I’ve collected my fair share of Periapts of Wisdoms across many different Dungeons & Dragons-based computer games, so I should know!
Then again, while it’s understandable that a dead tree version dictionary wants to drop words because you can only fit in so many in a single volume and still have it at a manageable size, in the Internet age that we live in, these words will never truly be gone. Furthermore by singling out these particular words, the editors have simply given them a short-lived notoriety that will effectively grant them a new lease on life.
Spotted this on the Quartertothree forums. Gamer Grub, performance snack food for gamers! Available in four flavours (“Action Pizza”, “Strategy Chocolate”, “Racing Wasabi” and “Sports PB&J”) and laced with special health supplements designed to make gamers better at playing games! All that, and be edible without forcing the player to stop playing too! Ok, all of that is bunch of crock but at least the manufacturer’s website lists all the talking points with a healthy dose of tongue-in-cheek humour.
This is nothing more than a novelty gag item, but give the creator props for daring to try something so wacky!
PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had a four-eyed meeting with his deputy Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak for more than four hours to discuss the country’s present political situation, including the Umno transition plan.
KOTA BARU: Terengganu PAS commissioner Datuk Mustafa Ali has mended the rift between him and party spiritual adviser Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat during a four-eyed meeting at the Mentri Besar’s official residence.
Obviously it means a serious, one-to-one, discussion, but I’ve never seen the phrase used in this way before. A quick Google search indicates that it’s only been used by Malaysians in this way and only fairly recently at that. So, what gives and where did this come from?
Yeah, reposting a funny picture found in another blog is uncool, but I couldn’t resist, considering that Wikipedia is one of my favorite sites. Original credits to the Language Log. Apparently this is a photo taken of a menu of real restaurant in Beijing. Read the end of the post for a link to a “Wikipedia” brand of bread in China. I guess there’s nothing that the Chinese won’t copy.
Not too long ago, I had a conversation with my wife about how infuriating I find young girls posing for photos by opening their eyes wide, pouting their lips, tilting their heads at an angle and flashing the V-sign with their fingers. I find them so repulsive and ridiculous that I assiduously avoid sites like Myspace and Facebook which seem to be infected by them.
Well, guess what, now they’ll get to be even more infuriating thanks to the ever-inventive Japanese. Someone had the bright idea of making extra-wide contact lenses, so that girls can now have the huge, insect-like eyes of anime characters. Can someone please tell these girls already that no, all this does not make them look cute and attractive?
There are plenty of free web games around these days, but I dare say that none can match the cheek and humour of Forumwarz. Many of its mechanics merely replicate the familiar monster grinding for experience points and loot of traditional role-playing games, but everything else is hilariously different: instead of a generic fantasy world, you’re placed in a Bizarro version of the Internet with parody versions of familiar web services, Sentrillion for example, replaces Google, sTalk replaces instant messaging services like Skype and the game wiki is called appropriately enough the Spoilerpedia; instead of slaying monsters for xp, you’re given the job of pwning various Internet forums; and instead of slashing with swords or blasting with spells, the attacks in your repertoire have names like “ASCII Art Attack”, “Drool on Keyboard” and “Insult”.
At least these are the attacks that I learned as a troll. Other classes available are the Cam Whore and the Emo Kid. Anyone familiar with the dynamics of Internet forums should be familiar with these archetypes. To liven up your frequent attacks on forums, you also occasionally given the opportunity to perform some side missions including a gloriously retro text adventure minigame. The writing throughout the entire experience is fantastic and pokes fun at the full range of Internet culture though you might get tired of the admittedly simple combat pretty fast. If you make it a daily habit to visit one or more online forums, you owe it to yourself to at least check this awesome game out.
Yahoo News has a report saying that the Chinese has banned video and audio content containing ghosts, monsters and other such entities detailed in a list by a government department. The stated aim is to “control and cleanse the negative effect these items have on society” but as the report notes, it looks as if this is part of a wider crackdown to make sure that the government is in full control of all media during the Olympic games.
Sometimes it seems that I have an obsession with reporting on the latest ridiculous decisions made by the Chinese government. Part of it stems from how out of touch such decisions seem to ordinary lives in our world today and I realize that this is due in part to the Chinese government’s near absolute control over its citizens lives and the lack of a need to account for their decisions to anyone. I find it a marvel that Chinese bureaucrats can even issue directives like this and the earlier example of banning reincarnation without official government approval with a straight face.
