/ 25 September 2002

Proud Anorexics and the Microsoft Haters

It seems to be only this country which treats its deaf citizens as if they’re morons. Watch local ‘designed for the deaf’ TV, and notice that the content seems laughably juvenile and pretty offensive to any deaf person with an IQ – because being deaf doesn’t mean ‘stupid’. What about art or regular movies with subtitles, or some of the good BBC programming for the deaf? That said, take a look at the interesting History Through Deaf Eyes.

Here’s a cool stat: 50 – 90% of today’s spoken languages aren’t expected to last another hundred years. With that in mind, there’s a linguistic project on the go to record and preserve most of these languages for the future – a kind of hi-tech Rosetta Stone. Just to irritate the locals, one of the languages looked at which isn’t expected to survive is Afrikaans. Go browse through The Rosetta Project.

If you weren’t lucky enough to have parents who took you to the theatre when you were a kid, then maybe it’s time to discover the fun, mind-expanding world of Pantomime to get you into the idea of widening your kid’s horizons. Go to It’s Behind You! And if you know of a school that could do with something cheaper, better and more productive than computers – then browse through the resources at The School Show Page, as well as Children’s Theater Resources.

We’ve all heard the Neil Armstrong recording of the Apollo Moon Landing, but how many of you have heard the soundtrack featuring the technicians at Mission Control, jabbering to each other in those final high-stress moments? If you’re into audio history, then this is something worth collecting: BBC Apollo Recording.

Then for general moon stuff, The Apollo Archive.

And staying briefly with historical audio things, you may have heard about the classic recording where a highly peeved Orson Welles got real grumpy during a studio recording of an advert for frozen peas – now you can listen to the Orson Welles Recording in all its hilarious glory.

Then for a transcript of the entire session, try The Welles Transcript.

The Internet is a haven for all sorts of fads, fashions, belief systems and viewpoints – and for a glimpse into the minds of anorexics, which may come as a surprise, take a look at the following ‘pro-anorexic’ sites. (By the way, this is hardly going to spread the disease, seeing as it comes from adherence to the messages from the mass media itself. This is just a rare glimpse into the mindset that emerges in people bombarded with the messages from the advertising, health and fashion industries: Anorexic Dreams, Lost Soul and Fat Like Me.

Then for some sane overviews about this phenomenon, read Misery Loves Company and About Pro-Anorexic and Pro-Bulimia Sites

Microsoft gets real sneaky. If you use Microsoft FrontPage to create a website that says rude things about Microsoft, then legally you could be in trouble. I quote from the fine print in the latest release of Front Page 2002: “You may not use the Software in connection with any site that disparages Microsoft, MSN, MSNBC, Expedia, or their products or services…” Bummer, there go half the Internet’s websites. For the story, try Slashdot.

Then related and local, take a look at one South African’s lone fight against the Evil Empire at The National Society of Microsoft Haters.

Back in the old days (1998), People Magazine had an online ‘Most Beautiful People’ voting competition, and of course anarchy reared its gleeful head. The humiliation of People Magazine was complete when ‘Hank the Angry Drunken Dwarf’ beat Leonardo Di Caprio and others to become the winner. Point being, Hank died a few weeks back. For the story, go to Hank the Dwarf!

For a decidedly creepy look at how governments expected their citizens to survive in the event of a nuclear war, take a look hard look through The UK Civil Defence Archive.

Finally, while the search for Osama Bin Laden continues online, take a look at some of the previous ‘suspects’ at The Daily Probe.

Until the next time, if Microsoft death squads or dieticians don’t get me.

Ian Fraser is a playwright, author, comedian, conspiracy nut, old-time radio collector and self-confessed data-junkie. Winner of numerous Vita and Amstel Awards, he’s been an Internet addict and games-fanatic since around 1995, when the Internet began to make much more sense than theatre.