The Big Word Project
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
The Big Word Project is a fun little project setup by two guys from Northern Ireland whose main goal is to study how different words mean different things to different people. Well, that's their stated goal, anyway. I'm sure that one of their unstated goals is to make money.
To participate in the project, you go to their website, TheBigWordProject.com, and search for words. You can then "purchase" a word at the price of $1.00 per letter. By purchasing a word, you can have it link to any website of your choosing, thus redefining the word. For instance, Greg Storey at Airbag Industries purchased "singular" - a great word for him in my opinion - which now links to his site.
After a good 30 second of thought, I purchased "schadenfreude" - my very favorite word in the entire world - which means "to take enjoyment from the misfortune of others." Basically, being an asshole. I like that. It pleases me. You can find a link to my word on the sidebar of this site, just below the search box.
Was it a waste of $13? No way. I really dig neat little projects like theirs. It's a nice departure from normal word play, and let's face it - free marketing for my terrible, horrible, no-good blog. One thing is certain, though: You can expect to read more schadenfreude stories on here now!
Technorati Tags: schadenfreude, The Big Word Project.
Quick Picks
- From the Washington Post: A simplified chart of the McCain tax cuts vs. Obama tax cuts.
- Matt Damon on Sarah Palin: "You do the actuary tables, there's a one out of three chance, if not more, that McCain doesn't survive his first term, and it'll be President Palin. It's like a really bad Disney movie, "The Hockey Mom.' Oh, I'm just a hockey mom from Alaska, and she's president. "She's facing down Vladimir Putin and using the folksy stuff she learned at the hockey rink. It's absurd." Amen!
- Google's new browser, Chrome, passes the ACID2 test with flying colors. w00t.
- Karl Rove calls Joe Biden a "big blowhard doofus". Yeah, coming from the closest thing to a real-life Emperor Palpatine that really stings. LOL.
- McCain's running mate has a pregnant and unwed 17 year old daughter. Family values indeed!
- Command line to GUI to command line. And so we've coming full circle: Mozilla introduces Ubiquity, a mash up command line for the web.
- What's the best part about Fox News at the DNC? THIS is the best part! The crowd chanting "Fuck Fox News" at the end of it made my bad day turn around!
- China's Olympic gymnasts may not be old enough to compete. "Shocking" that China is cheating again. It happened in the Sydney Olympics, too. CHEATERS!
- Coolest video you'll see today: Space Shuttle launch recorded from an airplane.