Radio with an ear tuned to the Middle East

The site: www.radio sawa.com/english_sp.cfm

It’s American radio, albeit with a Middle Eastern twist. On the FM dial in the U.S., rare is the radio station that would play Madonna or Beyonce back to back with sitar-playing pop stars and Bollywood bangra tunes, but it’s all part of programming funded by the U.S. government. Log on if you want to hear what young Middle Easterners are listening to; just don’t expect to find out who the artists are. Back announcements are in Arabic.

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The site: www.nerve.com/regulars/quickies/unsexy/

Any number of glossy magazines are guilty, regularly publishing “It” lists of the most beautiful people, places and things. But Nerve.com, the sensually literate online magazine, takes a contrarian point of view with its “unsexy list.” Making the cut: Denise Richards, teenagers, lower-back tattoos and 47 others.

Why are they so unappealing? You’ll have to log on to the Web site find out.

-- Susan Carpenter