The best cartoons of 2011

Looking for something to do during the hols? Why not visit Behind the Lines: The Year’s Best Cartoons 2011 at the Museum of Australian Democracy, Old Parliament House? Exhibition opens 14 December and celebrates Australia’s wonderful tradition of political cartooning. Published in newspapers, journals and online, cartoons are part of the public record of a nation’s political life. Each cartoon is a snapshot of the major events and personalities of the last year. With wit and wisdom they provide an opportunity to reflect on the state of Australian politics and expose the robust nature of Australian democracy.

Treasures Gallery Now Open

The National Library’s new Treasures Gallery is now open on the newly refurbished ground floor of the Library.

This free exhibition, featuring many of the Library’s greatest treasures – some of which have never been on public display before – is open daily from 10am.

From the Library’s prized treasures –  James Cook’s Endeavour Journal to Patrick White’s glasses, Keith Murdoch’s famous wartime letter to Donald Friend’s diaries – it’s all there.

Be among the first to visit!

Reflecting 50 years of Australian life – 4 Corners

4 Corners - ABC Television

’50 years Four Corners : your stories, our history’ is on ABC1 tonight at 8.30pm.

The documentary is a reflection of Australian society through the eyes of ABC’s 4 Corners journalists over the last five decades. The program will examine the five themes that link the episodes: crime and corruption, social change, indigenous affairs, war and conflict, immigration and politics.

A selection of reports and episodes from each decade will also be broadcast on ABC News 24 on Sunday night (10.10pm) over the following 5 weeks.

Simultaneously the ABC will launch a dedicated 50 years of 4 Corners Archive that will showcase the key stories, people and events.

The ABC intends the website to serve as  a valuable multimedia resource available to all Australians. For more see the ABC newspage here. The usual 4 Corners Archive is available from here.

SCOOPLER – a real time search engine

Scoopler is a real-time search engine that aggregates and organizes content being shared on the internet as it happens, including eyewitness reports of breaking news, photos and videos from big events, and links to the hottest “memes” of the day. It indexes live from services such as Twitter, Flickr, Digg, and Delicious. Competitors to the product are One-Riot and Collecta.

NWR, BYKT!

Ever wondered what that acronym on your friend’s or teenager’s SMS meant?

There are a couple of websites which provide useful information to help decipher textspeak.

Netlingo offers a comprehensive list of acronyms and abbreviations used text messaging, as well as a collection of emoticons and smileys (text versions) you have probably never seen before!

The Internet Slang Dictionary and Translator is another useful site for understanding textspeak.

Wondering what the post title means? Not Work Related, But You Knew That!

TTFN