United will cut free meals on many overseas flights

Have an ear for the difference between a Scottish brogue and a Welsh lilt? Can you pick out a Hungarian just by listening to the person speak English? Now you have the chance to prove your aural skills with the Accent Game. This multiple-choice test features videos of 16 real people reciting lines from Rudyard Kipling's "If." It was developed by Language Trainers Group, a Brighton, England-based education company. Earn three points for each country-of-origin you name correctly; plus, snag two bonus points by guessing the hometown of every native English-speaker. Guess 16 to win. So far, the poorest scorers have been American and German, while most difficult accents to peg have been Lithuanian and Hungarian. The game was designed to be a fun diversion rather than an aid to learning. But at the very least, you'll become more familiar with a few Kipling stanzas. If you think you have an interesting accent, you can submit your own video of a reading of William Wordsworth's "Daffodils" or Dylan Thomas's "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" for the site's next version. EARLIER Video: In 3 minutes, this young woman says hello in 21 accents

Bern, Switzerland, is creating a new downtown park for its resident bears. The capital city is expanding its landmark Bear Pit into a one-and-a-half-acre BearPark, which is set to open in October 2009. The new bear terrain will extend from the current enclosures (which have been in the same location since 1857) down to the banks of the Aare River. It will include bear-friendly landscaping, such as two forested areas, three caves, and a large pool in which Pedro and Tana, Bern's two resident Pyrenean brown bears, can swim and play. Visitors will be able to watch the bears, for free, 24 hours a day through clear fences from all four sides of the park. The expanded terrain will allow Pedro and Tana some privacy—but the city promises to provide "technological equipment" to help visitors locate the animals if they become hard to spot. Until the debut of BearPark, Pedro and Tana can be seen in their more modest open-air enclosure every day from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the summer, during which time they accept gifts of bear food that are available for purchase from bear guards. Bern's relationship to bears can be traced back to the city's birth: The city founder, Berchtold V von Zãhringen, is said to have killed a bear on the peninsula where the city now stands. The capital's name comes from Bãr, which is German for bear, and the animal graces the Bern's coat of arms. Video: See a kid feeding one of the bears of Bern:

"Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip, that started from this tropic port, aboard this tiny ship." Recognize those words? Of course you do! It's the start of the theme song from "Gilligan's Island," the 1960s TV show. "Five passengers set sail that day for a three hour tour. A Three. Hour. Tour." The tiny ship SS Minnow wasn't lost. Or at least one of the four models used during filming wasn't. A Canadian named Ken Schley says he has bought the original boat shot for the opening credits of the show, setting out from port in California. Says the Times Colonist: Gilligan's Island used a handful of replica SS Minnows. Some TV trivia bloggers are debating whether he means the opening credits of the first or second season. Whatever. The important thing is that this boat looks exactly like all of the boats used as the Minnow on the show, and that Ginger and MaryAnn once sailed upon it. Scheley plans to set up public tours of the vessel. The first groups will hop on board this month, he says. Prices haven't been set, but most of the profits will be donated to charity. The boat is currently docked in Nanoose Bay, B.C., in western Canada. Stay tuned we'll let you know once a phone number has been set up so you can book a trip on the S.S. Minnow. As a side note, Gilligan's Island was not off the coast of California but actually in the Bahamas, near Nassau. [Translation: The island that appears behind the title card in the opening credits was no where near the fictional location in California. The episodes themselves were filmed on a sandy backlot, we're sure.] What happened to the island, called Sandy Cay in real life? Well, it was just sold for about $2.6 million. And that leads us to our question: Who was hotter, MaryAnn or Ginger? (Just Kidding!) [Thanks, Anthony, for the tip!]