Comparisons of different English accents

Sound Comparisons is a website where you can listen to English words pronounced in a variety of different accents, including those from various British, Irish, North American regions, as well as some other countries around the world where English is spoken, and also comparisons with the same word in various Germanic languages.

Very interesting, and the page is easy to use (to hear any given sound file, just mouse over the phonetic transcription; no need to click through to another page).

Unamazing language curmudgeon

I find myself unexplicably annoyed by the current use of amazing to mean "wonderful" or sometimes even just "big." Amazing: causing surprise, wonder, astonishment. When we describe someone's comportment in a situation, or simply their personality as "amazing," are we implying that wonderfulness is astonishing or surprising?