Mousetrap - 19

No Dear, I won’t stop and ask for directions
MapmyIndia
Despite the occasionally suspect grammar, this site looks like a very useful one indeed. It promises to help you find locations all over India, including villages and small towns, not just cities, going as far down as locality, street and road names, landmarks and useful info like restaurants and ATMs. It also provides driving and route maps, both inter- and intra-city (some of it is available only to paying customers). I zoomed in as far as seeing my lane in Vashi before it asked me to pay up. It also lets you mark your “e-location,” your home or office on a map of the area. Currently, that’s free as a promotion. I’ve got mine. your turn.

Of sound mind
FindSounds
If you want to jazz up a presentation, or, perhaps, scare the daylights out of someone in your office by surreptitiously changing their boot-up sound effects, here’s the site to go to. It helps you find sound effects and musical instrument samples, letting you specify file sizes, formats and sampling rates. All sorts of stuff available: animal sounds, warfare and chaos, nature, season-related stuff... Go make some noise.

Yes, I’m talking to you
InsultMonger
All the words your parents never wanted you to use. Plus an insult generator for the lazy. And jokes. And slang. And, for me, the real killer app: the Swearosaurus, which helps you be potty-mouthed in 165 languages (Punjabi is one of the featured languages, patriots will be happy to know, with other Indian languages on the list as well). Its content is contributed by over 4000 people. Go see if your fave gaalis are on the list. Definitely not for the kiddies.

Cut!
Movie Mistakes
Do you delight in bloopers? Would you love to know, for instance, that in Harry potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, ‘When Harry, Ron and Hermione rush to Hagrid after the end of the year exams, and Harry is saying something that ends with, “Why didn't I see it before?” Hermione is mouthing his lines.”’ That the Cesna in Terminator 3 changes registration numbers in flight? That Drew Barrymore called Lucy Lui by her real name in a fight scene in Charlie’s Angels? Go then, my nitpicking friend, to this site. There are, as of my last visit, 51,885 mistakes and 4,384 films for you to chuckle through. The site is free, by the way, though paid membership gives you a bunch of additional benefits. [Thank you, Nina.]

Blog of the week

Not quite news
Crazy Journo
As the title suggests, the person behind this blog is, apparently, a journalist. And one who perhaps, finds the news reporting not satisfying enough. He does regular take-offs on the news, with deadpan articles that spoof our more, ahem, conventional media. His standards are a tad erratic, but we put that down to youth. It will take a lot more life lived before he can hope to rival a Barry, Buchwald, or our aapro late lamented Busybee, but what I like about this blog is that he tries and does often get a grin out of my cynical face.

Reader suggestions welcome, and will be acknowledged. Go to http://o3.indiatimes.com/mousetrap for past columns, and to comment, or mail inthemousetrap@indiatimes.com

Published in the Times of India, Mumbai edition, 18th September 2005.

Tags: The Times of India, Mousetrap