Today I am breaking from tradition and linking some people, organisations and other cool stuff that deserve some time in the spotlight. To some, the less than 2 page views that will be sent from these links will be valuable. To others, not so much.
However, as the author of a column that gets a decent amount of attention, I feel obligated in certain ways to do this, as a sort-of favor. Plus, I'm writing this thing, aren't I? What can you do? You clicked it!
Without further ado, here's this week's (sorta-weekly) Sunday Top Ten:
~~~~
10. One reason why I do not like rap is that I don't believe that they are truly singers and musical artists. I believe that rap is just a reciting of poetry with beats and swearing. I suppose it's reasonable to say that I also dislike most of the rappers that come up with this stuff (Eminem being the only exception). I was surprised when Lil Wayne came up with this song where he's actually singing. The song gives you that sense of honesty. It's now on my iTunes playlist.
9. Breaking business news is extremely difficult to come by unless the Dow drops 20,000 points in 2 seconds. However, I have found Marketwatch.com to be extremely helpful where MSN and Newsvine lag. What do I use it for? I've been teaching myself the workings of the stock market on this site, on an account with virtual money (more than I possess in real life). It's been fun and I've learned a lot these past few weeks.
8. I guarantee that you've seen a guitar in your lifetime. But what about a 27 string guitar? No? Well, check out this guy, who plays a beautiful song on his home made instrument.
7. I know a person who runs this blog on tumblr, something that I am frankly not familiar with. He's young, ambitious, and loves photography, which is why his photos are amazing. I have no intentions of revealing myself to him though if he wants, I will remove this by e-mail request only (note only for intended person).
6. Ever wonder what made my driver's ed class so entertaining? Well, we watched THIS video, which was AWESOME and you should take a look at it because you know you'll never forgive yourself if you don't.
5. Need a place to translate Spanish to English, or Italian, or French, or some other language? I've tested a lot of different sites (google included) and have found this site to be the most accurate at translating. Bonus? It can give you definitions and synonyms too. As a matter of fact, this is the only teacher-accepted online language dictionary.
4. Education and comedy combined are always great for entertaining even the most boring people on the planet. That's why I respect Vsauce, a youtube channel, so much. He and his second channel have taught me more than school ever will (about useful things as well).
3. Another Youtube user, ViHart brings us education and comedy through math and doodles. Definitely recommend checking this out, I don't think any of you know about these tricks.
2. Do you live in the Boston area? Then take part in the annual charity 5K, the Angel Run, held every December in Medfield, MA in honor of a young girl who died because of an aneurysm (woo spelled that right!). I've heard about it before and the reason it made this list is because this will be the last year that this event will be held (or so everyone that I know thinks). The event is festive, with runners wearing bells on their shoes and decorations along the entire route.
1. In this day and age, Afghanistan is in the news constantly. Now that the war is largely over, the rebuilding of this war-torn country is more important than ever. HELA, Inc. was brought to my attention by a friend of mine and is a small charity that dedicates itself to building schools, particularly for girls, in Afghanistan. It was founded by a college-age student from Kabul and has already completed its first school.
~~~~~~
Disclosure: I have not been paid to mention any of these listed (nor have I been asked to list them, to be honest). I am a user of #9, and not affiliated to any other item listed, nor do I plan to initiate anything with those listed in the next 72 hours.
(2): This article was written on Wednesday, August 24. Writing was done in advance due to the potential for Hurricane Irene to keep me off Newsvine for more than 24 hours.