This page was written by Christopher Spry and is a copy of the recommendations in 'PC Magazine', June 1999
An exemplary art gallery site, notable for making all its collections-the General Collection, the Oppe Collection and New Acquisitions-available online at various resolutions. There are also information pages, links to the Tate sites in St Ives and Liverpool, and a mail order page where you can buy things like postcards of Carl Andre's firebrick layout, Equivalent VIII. It's great to see the variety of artworks the Tate can accommodate.
For those who think anything before 1990 is too passé, alt.culture provides a lexicon of the current decade. It's relentlessly modern-Patrick Cox is in, Coco Chanel is by definition out-but does give a picture of the 1990s' fads, neologisms and obsessions. Any compiler of a future dictionary should look here for new words and descriptions, from acid jazz to zapatistas.
It's a shame the entire contents of the British Library aren't online, although the authorities claim to be working on this unfeasibly large task. Instead, here are a few samples and explanations of the library's collections and services, along with access to the document catalogue and current serial databases-with simple photocopy ordering-and to the Gabriel network of pan-European library databases.
This is an image database of 20,000 works from the Guildhall Library and Art Gallery in London, fully indexed and searchable, and indispensable for anyone interested in the history of London, or just in an eclectic collection of antique images. There's a commercial point to this site, with prints of every image on sale at various sizes for reasonable prices, but simply browsing the collection's a pleasure.
Of course, you get plenty of Charles Rennie Mackintosh here, from the screen typeface to a virtual reality tour of his house. But there's a lot more to the site than this, including exhibits from last year's student show and special online shows from the photographic, product design and fine art departments. It's a beautifully designed site too, with the kind of aesthetic approach that Mackintosh would have approved of.
This site is based on the synchronoptic approach that gives a broader perspective on world history by simultaneously presenting a variety of synchronous events in different parts of the world. It's easier to use than it is to describe, and the information provided here actually forms a historical encyclopedia that's organised in various timeline-like ways, focusing on events and significant people, and with hypertext jumps to relevant maps and background text. It's fascinating, visually rich, and gives you some new perspectives on how we moved from then to now.
It would be nice to get a free-text archive of the entire London Review of Books, but printed magazines have a living to make. Still, at least one major article from each fortnightly issue is published online, along with all the readers' letters, and there's stimulating reading to be had, from Christopher Hitchens' comparison of Kennedy and Clinton, to Peter Campbell on Ingres' approach to painting female flesh. The presentation of the site is nothing special, but the content makes it well worth persisting. It might even tempt you to subscribe to the print version, at special worldwide rates to users of the Web site, of course.
http://mistral.culture.fr/louvre/louvrea.htm
This elegant site has most of what you want from an online museum: digitised highlights of its collections, ranging from Etruscan statuary to the Mona Lisa; a virtual tour of locations in and around the museum using QuickTime VR; detailed background information for visitors on temporary exhibitions, visiting hours and gallery floorplans; and links to further educational resources-even if they are in French only. Best of all, it gives an impression of the entire museum-from its IM Pei pyramid in the courtyard to the Louvre's Napoleon III theatre-without the usual hordes of backpackers obscuring the view.
Considering the effort involved in walking around it, London's National Gallery has surprisingly few paintings: only about 2,300 are on view at any given time. Even so, you won't find all of them on this site. There's a representative selection, particularly highlighting new and recent exhibitions, such as those devoted to Van der Weyden and Ingres, and the usual visitor information. It's a clear and efficient site, but for a wider selection of pictures and background you'd be better off at the WebMuseum.
Reading University's Shakespeare site concentrates on performances at the Globe Theatre, in both its original form and in the reconstruction that was completed on London's Bankside in 1997. There are historical notes, QuickTime VR views of the rebuilt theatre during construction, plentiful lectures, notes, illustrations, references and links to other Shakespeare resources, and a lot more is promised. A good central point for students of the Swan of Avon.
The Smithsonian's Web site matches the variety of its collections, which total more than 140 million artefacts kept 'for the increase and diffusion of knowledge'. Much of that knowledge is American, understandably, but there are some fascinating exhibits on show here. If you can't get to the Institution's 16 museums and one zoo in Washington, then visit here instead; all of them are represented.
http://sunsite.doc.ic.ac.uk/wm/
The SunSite at Imperial College, London is just one of the mirror hosts for Nicolas Pioch's WebMuseum, a collection of artworks from dozens of sources around the world. There's nothing flashy about the presentation, but it gives solid information about an astonishing variety of artists, and a large number of high-resolution reproductions of their works. If you want Odilon Redon or Caspar David Friedrich pictures for your screen wallpaper, then this is the place to go.
The Builder.Com site is an excellent all-round resource for Web developers. It provides news, feature articles and, of course, tips and tricks. There's a comprehensive library of information, and plenty of walk-throughs and how-to articles.
The CGI Resource Index is home to nearly 1,800 pre-made CGI scripts written in Perl, C/C++, Tcl, AppleScript, JavaScript and so on. There's also documentation, book reports, magazine articles and links to help either the novice CGI programmer or the seasoned veteran. If you've been seeking ways to integrate some nifty applications into your Web pages, you could do worse than starting here.
A satisfyingly appropriate application for a high-profile URL, Internet.Com offers both Internet-related and Internet technology-related news articles, alongside some comprehensive libraries of developer-oriented material and information.
www.internettrafficreport.com/
The Internet Traffic Report analyses the data traffic and response times of various key routers around the world and generates an index number from it. The information is displayed graphically and is a useful source for monitoring the continuing fall of available bandwidth.
Founded in late 1994, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is a body dedicated to allowing the Web to reach its full potential by developing common standards and protocols. Its site features descriptions of W3C standards and some interesting sidelines, such as a run-down on the history of the Internet.
Worst of the Web brings you just that-some of the worst Web sites ever to grace the Internet. Not only does this index site serve as an extremely useful resource by showing Web developers exactly what sorts of things they should avoid, but it also makes for some entertaining browsing. Some of the sites mentioned in this index have to be seen to be believed.
The vacancies on JobSite are varied and extremely current (when we looked at it, over 4,000 new jobs were posted) from a variety of good agencies. A tick-box feature on the main search results page enables you to concurrently view all the vacancies selected in one window. A wide variety of other features are available, ranging from the wide distribution of your CV to searching for international jobs.
The Monster Board is a well-organised site with everything immediately to hand, all to aid you in your search for gainful employment. The search engine itself is well defined with a good variety of categories, some of which are non-IT based. The updates are regular because numerous agencies post jobs. The careers centre has a good section of features, from an online CV builder to advice on interview-preparation techniques.
Best has an excellent advanced search engine accessible from all screens. However, permanent positions occasionally flow over into contract results. There's also a good set of career advice URLs. One section of the site is specifically for HR departments for recruiting and posting.
This is a very attractive site. It has a comprehensive search engine that allows you to enter refinements like what location around the UK you want to work in, what skill sets you have, and your desired job title.
Hunterskil Howard is renowned for its role in the recruitment market. Its Web site reflects this, with a very professional design and key areas addressed within recruitment. A lot of major corporates, such as Compaq, British Airways and NatWest, use this company for their recruitment. The vacancy results of the search cover a wide area of the UK for both contracting and permanent positions. Specialised markets are also catered for, from mainframes to executive management levels.
On first impression, Jobworld is a very cluttered site with lots of information to initially absorb. Permanent and contracting jobs are clearly separated, with a good search engine to back up both, and a lot of current vacancies advertised. The results are displayed in frames, with the job details separate from the initial search to aid in refining your search.
Searching for a permanent/contracting position is easy here, as several fields are available with Boolean variables to aid you. Links to a variety of other online agencies are also provided. However, salaries aren't displayed in the results. Don't let the 1970s-style design put you off.
Searching for jobs is clearly the main function of this site. Searches can also include a salary range. Job vacancies are numerous, as are the locations.
Many companies use Taps as the major source for job posting and recruitment, clearly seen in the job search results. There's also good separation between permanent, contract and responding to press ads. Well-defined links are provided from the main page to the site's numerous functions-for example, the jobs can be emailed to you on a daily basis.
This site contains over 338 detailed definitions and essays on occult, paranormal, supernatural and pseudoscientific ideas and practices, with references to the best skeptical literature. A great resource for a different point of view.
http://babelfish.altavista.digital.com/cgi-bin/translate?
This a straightforward, no-frills translator provided by the search engine developers AltaVista and Systran translator software. To translate, simply type in some plain text and the site does the rest. Although limited to English conversations (to and from English), single words and sentences are translated quickly and correctly. Other languages supported include French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.
www-f.rrz.uni-koeln.de/themen/Graphik/ImageProcessing/fileext.html
As its name implies, this single-page Web site has a complete listing of file extensions and their origins. You can't search the list, it looks as bland as it possibly could and there's no additional information-but bookmark it now if you're someone who works with multiple file-formats.
Dictionary.com is essentially a portal to language sites. You can search for online dictionaries of English-including the granddaddy of them all, the Oxford English Dictionary Online-for computer terms and other technical talk, and also for sites about English grammar, usage and style guides.
This is a free encyclopedia. The site conveniently places a large amount of information at your fingertips, including more than 17,000 articles from The Concise Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Third Edition. The entries are short, but searches are quick. There are also links to related sites and books, along with links to articles and pictures from the Electric Library (an online research service).
'I heard you're on the Nat King Cole? Never mind, let's go for a Ruby Murray and then get Brahms and Lizst.' If none of that makes sense, you need to look at this cockney rhyming slang site. Although the list originally started out with cockney rhyming slang only, it now contains some plain rhyming slang and other slang words that are in common usage. It's entertaining, but frighteningly realistic.
http://wombat.doc.ic.ac.uk/foldoc/index.html
FOLDOC is a dictionary dedicated to computer jargon. To use it you simply enter a word or phrase in the box at the top of any page and click the search button or hit Enter. The site also provides some miscellaneous links. It's got nothing going for it in the looks department, but it serves its purpose well enough.
http://www.poeticbyway.com/glossary.html
This really is a unique guide for the study of poetry. It's a rudimentarily designed site, but the simplistic approach makes viewing terms quick and efficient. Each entry includes phonetic pronunciation and cross-references, while Sidelights give information beyond the definitions.
Having branched out from radio to books and now to the Internet, Information Please combines the contents of an encyclopedia, a dictionary and several up-to-the-minute almanacs that are loaded with statistics, facts and historical records. Whatever you're interested in, whether it's sports, entertainment or history, and whether the information is available in an almanac, dictionary or encyclopedia, the search engine here will find results.
http://gallery.uunet.be/internetpress/diction.htm
This is the ultimate language portal site. There are links to the most popular online dictionaries (including computer, medical and rhyming dictionaries), and a huge range of translation links. Downloading can be a little slow from heavy frame use, but otherwise its text-only approach is simple and effective.
Merriam-Webster, an American publisher of language-related reference works, is celebrating its 150th anniversary by bringing its publications to the Web. This WWWebster Dictionary is based on Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition. It includes the main A-to-Z listing of the Collegiate Dictionary, as well as the Abbreviations, Foreign Words and Phrases, Biographical Names and Geographical Names sections of the book. Be aware, however, that selected sections-notably Signs and Symbols-are omitted from the WWWebster Dictionary, because they include special characters and symbols that can't readily be reproduced in HTML.
www.shu.ac.uk/web-admin/phrases/
If you're interested in words, phrases and sayings, what they mean and where they came from, then Phrase Finder is the site to visit. You can search the whole database of 5,000 phrases, which works like a phrases thesaurus-give it a single word and it'll return a list of phrases and sayings that are related to the word in some way. If you want to know where a phrase comes from, then the A to Z section has a list of phrases complete with their meanings and derivations. Phrase Finder also recommends some topical books, and provides a link to Amazon.com, the world's biggest online bookstore.
This is the place to find any quotation on any subject. Simply type a word into the search engine and the site does the rest. Alternatively, you can view quotations by topic-such as literary quotations and humorous quotations-or let the site find some random quotations for you. The reference library section is also an excellent multimedia compendium for downloading historical documents and great speeches, such as the full texts of the Magna Carta and Winston Churchill's 'We shall fight them on the beaches...' speech.
If you want to know what's going on in 10 Downing Street, this attractively designed Web site offers political news on the UK, official government releases and a tour of the building itself (including previous Prime Ministers). You can join open discussions and receive news via email.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is responsible for overseas relations and foreign affairs. To get trade and travel news, information on foreign policy and diplomatic missions abroad, you won't find a more up-to-date site.
If you've ever felt the need to find out what our armed forces are up to, this well-designed site will give you some idea of the army's involvement in the world theatre. Useful career advice can also be obtained if you have aspirations in this direction.
For students and film enthusiasts alike, the British Film Institute's site supplies information on all aspects of the industry. Some areas are still incomplete and many of the BFI's reports have to be paid for, but you'll still be able to find a great deal of film-related material here.
For information regarding Dulux paints, you should look no further than this site. In addition, it offers a great deal of material on decorating techniques based on its years of experience. If you're painting the lounge this weekend, check here first.
At face value, this site is a list of all the treatments available from Patrick Hudson's Plastic Surgery. A by-product of this is that there are detailed definitions of each treatment, from liposuction to gynecomastia. There are photographs, but don't expect graphic depictions of operations.
By registering for a user ID with FedEx's secure server site, you can gain access to virtually all of its online services. For arranging delivery or tracking your consignment, or even ordering FedEx packing materials, this site offers a great deal in an intuitive and simple-to-use manner.
This is a frame-based site that contains facts and features about the government and its activities in the UK and overseas. Using the search engine can lead you to reams of data from virtually all the UK government's servers, not just the Government Information Service.
Although the design of this site looks distinctly unprofessional, the material can be very useful if you need to keep track of HM Treasury and the activity of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Speeches, profiles and plans are here.
With properties for sale across the UK, this site is a very useful place to look if you want to buy a house. You can also advertise your own property here for either £35.25 (50-word description, six-month posting) or £58.75 (photo, detailed description, six-month posting).
www.house-of-tartan.scotland.net/
Even though this is a mail-order site for House of Tartan's own product range, the amount of information regarding clan tartans, sept connections and history is impressive. Searching for your clan tartan is also free-most other sites charge for this.
Definitely one for those who have a fast Internet connection (ISDN or better), Hq3.net is effectively an online magazine with streaming audio tracks, cartoons, news and games. If you can navigate your way around the excessive Shockwave animations, then this site has a great deal to offer in terms of entertainment.
Even its home page states, 'What the hell is Lomo?' Well, it's actually a fan site of the compact Russian Lomo camera. You'll find details of the Lomo's capabilities along with examples of photographs taken with it. This is an intriguing site that gives an insight into the camera and its users.
As you might expect from a cosmetics company, the L'OrŽal site is an attractive, if a little busy, representation of its interests and products. You can find news, features and a large number of Java applets here.
The Millennium Dome has possibly caused more controversy than any other building in the country. Find out what the fuss is all about, and see what plans are afoot to celebrate the new millennium across the nation. There's also a 3D simulation of the Dome's exterior.
If you regularly watch the seemingly endless train of home improvement shows on TV, this site should be in your bookmarks. Although US-based, it still contains a great deal of information on DIY and home improvement tips and techniques. It's finally time to put those shelves up.
Regan and Carter are remembered in style with this fan-site. A host of audio and video clips are available for download-including the classic 'Shut it!' from Regan-as well as information on individual episodes. Tongue-in-cheek entertainment that makes you want to wear flares.
For information on all areas of the UK (based on postal code), including house prices, employment rates, best schools and crime statistics, UpMyStreet is a valuable resource. You can use the site to draw comparisons between locations, or check out how suitable an area is if you're relocating.
Claiming to accommodate over 140,000 vehicles for sale, you'll find few better places to buy and sell used vehicles. That's not the whole story, though, because you can find out more about cherished number plates, safer motoring, or follow links to other motoring sites. It's hard to think how this easily navigable site could be better.
A clean, uncluttered layout is a credit to this invaluable source of information about learning to drive in general and the British School of Motoring in particular. There are sections devoted to passing the theory test, with example questions and a Shockwave version of a mock test. You can also familiarise yourself with the cars BSM use for lessons, find out about special deals and there's even a chance to win 10 free lessons.
One of the UK's largest breakdown recovery services, the AA offers an online membership application form, along with details of what member benefits to expect if you join. There's also an online quote generator for holiday, loans and vehicles.
BikeNet avoids a corporate tone for a down-to-earth, user-orientated site that really meets the needs of motorbikers. Judging from the discussion forums, there's good support for the biker community, who can also stay informed on the latest bike tests, new products and events. More graphics would liven up the site, and there's room for expansion, but other than that there's little wrong with BikeNet.
It's reassuring to find familiar names like Exchange and Mart among the young blades of e-commerce. There are three major categories on this site-motor; home and leisure; and business-as well as a host of subsections. You can buy or sell products at the online auction, but less impressive are the Shopping Mall links-there were only seven stores when we visited, although hopefully these will grow as the site goes on.
Hertz offers an online reservation service for you to book a car almost anywhere in the world. Additionally, it has diversified into fields like heavy equipment rental and management information services. Annoyingly, the navigation buttons change after only one click, so if you're used to double-clicking you'll be misdirected.
The real star of The Italian Job is 40 this year, and the Official Mini Site capitalises on this. But on top of details of the celebrations at Silverstone in August, you can research the history of the Mini since its invention by Sir Alec Issigonis. Among the diversions is a section for designing your own mini online, and games.
A motoring icon, the world's best-known scooter is well served online. Of course, there's information on the current range of scooters in a virtual showroom, but you can also discover more about the Vespa, now over 50 years old. And the elegant site design does credit to this Italian classic.
The minimal layout of the RAC site belies the usefulness and abundance of the information available. This includes up-to-the-minute traffic news and a route planner that provides information about current traffic conditions along a proposed route.
Love or hate Jeremy Clarkson, his enthusiasm for the internal combustion engine is indisputable. Fortunately, this energy is evident all over the Top Gear site, from its Top 100 Cars Of All Time, to the first drive reviews. And you can get the latest on the TV and print versions of Top Gear.
Focussed on alternative music of all flavours-from dance to indie-is the truly excellent Dotmusic. On the news front, it strikes the perfect balance between record industry trends and pop gossip, but never fails to be engaging. It's also one of the few sites we've seen to carry stories on music e-commerce, aside from simply offering a service. You also get previews of forthcoming albums, as well as artist and chart news.
Shoutcast takes the best of MP3 and streaming media, and hosts a variety of Internet music stations. The content is mainly modern, but with some classic rock and pop. All you need is WinAmp to listen to the music. There are even instructions on setting up your own server.
As much a London institution as a radio station, the Capital FM Web site adds a lot to the radio content. On top of On Air information, DJ home pages and song requests, there's traffic and weather news, and even classified ads to help you find a car, job or place to live. And, of course, you can listen to whatever's broadcasting at the time.
Even the most esoteric suggestion couldn't fool the All-Music Guide's search engine. You'll find musicians' biographies and discographies, along with related artists and their place in musical development. There's a slight American tone, but that doesn't mean UK artists are excluded. There isn't any downloadable or streaming music, but that doesn't detract from this interesting and informative site.
This is an amateur classical music site, and all the better for it. Aimed at the beginner, it aims to guide you to the best recordings, lays out the essential components of a classical CD collection, and offers a simple education in the subject without trying to sell anything. There are thousands of files with data on composers and their works, plus reviews and articles, about 2,500 links to other classical sites, and links to music discussion groups and mailing lists.
Just as the radio station aims to make classical music as widely accessible as possible, Classic FM's site is a clear, well-designed way to find out more about its broadcasting counterpart and the station's magazine. You can even listen in via Windows Media Player or RealPlayer.
The Drum 'N' Bass Arena is one of the most regularly updated and complete sites for drum 'n' bass music on the Internet. It has reviews, interviews, news and top 10s, as well as pirate radio listings and international information. There's also an area to air your views, and buy and sell records. Javascript mouse trails are a nice touch, but the photo gallery is awful.
GoodNoise offers a direct route to MP3 software utilities and free downloadable MP3 tracks. Although there are a few well-known artists here, the selection is still thin, and GoodNoise had agreements with only three labels when we visited, although it doubtless benefits from a 'strategic partnership' with Diamond's RioPort site.
For a magazine established in 1923, Gramophone has adopted the Internet with surprising alacrity. Its traditionally austere attitude to jazz and classical music transfers well, and the publisher has been more generous than most in making available more than 24,000 music reviews published since March 1983, along with audio equipment reviews. There are also selected articles from each magazine, archives of awards and CDs of the month. An essential site for checking out classical recordings before buying, or just broadening a classical education.
From inauspicious beginnings in a South London warehouse to becoming one of the world's best-known dance music brands, the Ministry of Sound offers some arresting content on its site. There's RealPlayer G2 content to listen to, complemented by Webcam video material. There's information on the Ministry's record label and fashion spin-offs, and a chance to get on the guest list if you want to step from virtuality to reality.
A site that plays to its strengths, and on a music site that's going to be the music itself. Annoyingly, though, you'll need to download Shockwave to get Detroit's finest. The music that plays automatically on the front page can take you unawares, although you only need to click a button to stop it.
The only problem with MP3.com is the lack of popular and well-known tracks. You won't find much material from commercial artists because their record companies are unwilling to distribute its music for free. However, you do get all that's new in the MP3 software and hardware arena.
A TV channel that's given its name to a supposedly uncontemplative and thrill-seeking generation, the MTV site lacks any high-brow pretensions. There's no mention of a world outside the US, but we did like the Lauryn Hill background.
With a more pop-orientated remit than Dotmusic, Music365 is a constantly updated, well-designed site that should definitely be in your bookmarks-but only if you hide your ABBA albums behind your Manic Street Preacher albums.
This is a news-led site, so if you're interested in Suede's secret shows or what the Cardigans are up to, then this is the place to come. Also, just a mouse-click away are reviews, gig guides, charts and the intriguing angst section, which actually turns out to be a student-like bulletin board.
Everyday from 6pm you can hear live dance music from one of the first sites to use RealPlayer to broadcast music over the Internet. Visually, the site is somewhat uninspiring, but it's hard to argue with the quantity and variety of music, for which you'll need RealPlayer G2. And as the photo gallery and chatroom attest, the site has a huge following, with some 10,000 listeners connected at peak times.
Riding on the back of Diamond's Rio portable MP3 player, RioPort.com is a source of legal MP3 files, as well as providing links to MP3 rippers, encoders and players. Unsurprisingly, there's also information on the Rio PMP300 player. Its true strength is the links page, which will save you much time when searching for MP3 sites.
Taking a more staid approach to music is the Rolling StoneNetwork. However, there's plenty here to keep you interested, with band information, a picture gallery, and RealPlayer audio and video content. You can, of course, also buy online many of the CDs featured on the site.
Give its European sibling a miss and go straight to the US-parent site. There are better graphics and it's an easier site to navigate, letting you access news and tour information on Sony Music's impressive artist roster. There's also a whole section devoted to Sony's DVD releases, which you can also buy online.
The Ultimate Band List is far more than just a band listing, although it does that job very well. When we visited, there were almost 20,000 bands in the Most Popular category, and registration is a simple process. There's also an online record shop with plenty of links to other sites, and an MP3 download area.
John Menzies' NewsRack site is probably the best place to start if you're looking for links to newspapers and magazines around the world. The site's home page has a map of the world with links to various geographical areas, clicking on any of which brings up an enlarged map with further links to countries. Once you've selected the country you're interested in, you're presented with lists of links to newspapers and magazines. There's also a Java applet you can run on your desktop, called the Java Desktop Newspaper Navigator, to help ease the search process. It has fixed links to various major newspapers, such as The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, Le Monde, Die Welt and USA Today.
This Web site could be slotted into almost any section of this feature. It's the online presence of perhaps the world's most venerated broadcasting organisation. It covers each of the BBC's main services-news, weather, the World Service, education and so on-as well as carrying TV and radio listings, and a list of job vacancies.
CNET carries news, special reports, software to download and even online shopping for processors, memory and peripherals. It also covers topics like Linux, MP3 and Quake in depth, each with news, downloads and articles.
Although CNN is a distinctly US-centric news service, its site has much to offer a non-US audience. International political and financial coverage is good, and there are news archives including video and audio clips of major events. Sections cover science and technology, entertainment, travel, health and style, and you can create profiles for customised news feeds.
The Economist site specialises in news and analysis, and one of the best features is the archive of issues published since 1995. IT subjects, such as the millennium bug, are covered from a business and political perspective.
Empire magazine's online presence has all the latest movie news and reviews. There's a link to the Scoot Empire cinema guide that lists almost every film on release in the UK, plus a shop where you can search for and buy videos, soundtracks and so on.
This is the online residence of both The Guardian and The Observer. It gives you the perfect opportunity to catch up on the day's or week's news. The sports coverage is good and each day's themed G2 section is also represented. The Guardian's jobs pages are also to be found here.
This site contains news about the Internet and the Web. It's split into sections-business, e-commerce, intranet, stock prices, products and so on-with the current headlines from each on the front page.
This site's home page carries headlines and links to news stories in various categories, such as business and finance, current affairs and sport, from various Web sites, including the Sporting Life and ZDNet. You can search the last 30-days' headlines and set up a news feed to your desktop.
If you're a regular reader of Private Eye, you'll find a lot of the printed version's content on the Web site. You can also place small ads and there are back issues available dating back to 1962. One of its best features is the links page. This includes URLs for many humorous and ironic sites, among them Eddie Izzard's and Victor Lewis-Smith's home pages.
Available only online, The Register is home to all the news that's almost fit to print. For a sideways-and often insightful-look at IT news, it's hard to beat. The latest headlines are on the home page, and news stories are in six categories including software, hardware, semiconductors and the Web.
The Evening Standard Online covers all the topics you'd expect to see in London's main evening paper: coverage of sport, film and theatre, food and drink, fashion and even classified advertisements and weather forecasts.
Between them, these sites should be able to supply all your financial news. Both sites are fully searchable to save you time, and both include archives of financial and business news from around the world.
This site features much of the subjects covered in the TV programme and more besides. There's an archive of the subjects that Tomorrow's World has covered, plus QuickTime movies of old title sequences for nostalgia fans.
Not all science is dull, and not all science is good. For the inaccurate, amusing and apocryphal, come to the Annals of Improbable Research. This site documents the weirder side of scientific research, whether the improbability is intentional or not.
This site is a collection of links that may be of use to anyone involved in psychology and related subjects. The links are classified into subject areas, and you can search for specific terms.
www-sci.lib.uci.edu/SEP/SEP.html
This site has a list of science-related links for the student or the curious. It concentrates more on the physical sciences and is centred around the US curriculum, but this doesn't stop it being useful in the UK.
The OSS is the home of the US space missions, such as Mars Pathfinder and the Hubble space telescope. You can find out about the technology behind the projects and view the images that space probes send back to Earth.
Although heavily US-biased, the information on this site is well presented, and there's good use of Shockwave. There's also an archive of previous subjects that have been covered in the magazine to complement the up-to-date content.
The New Scientist Web site, albeit far from the best designed, contains a lot of information from the magazine, and other interesting information as well. NS+ has a number of feature areas covering subjects like cloning, quantum physics and earthquakes.
Here you can help with the search for extraterrestrial intelligence and catch up with the latest astronomical news. If you're interested in our solar system and what lies beyond it, this is a good place to keep up with developments.
This online version of the US magazine covers new developments in science and technology. The style is easy to read, so even the casual science buff can find something interesting here.
www-hpcc.astro.washington.edu/scied/science.html
If you're studying a science subject, or just want to learn more, then SciEd lists a wide range of resources to help. There are links for many different branches of science, not necessarily restricted to US sources.
Science Daily is a news site delivering the latest results of research. It takes news releases from universities and other research institutes who have made a breakthrough in their field.
Taking a magazine approach to its site, the UK version of the now infamous Amazon.com looks good and blazes a trail that others follow. Now selling CDs as well as books, the concept of the shopping basket and the ability to place orders using a secure server helped catapult this loss-maker into the headlines. As well as buying cultural artefacts, you can sign up to receive email on your favourite authors and even sell-on books from Amazon's own site with the incentive of saving up to 15 per cent off the price. A model site.
An excellent jumping-off point for all things to do with e-commerce, the ShopGuide categories cover everything from travel sites and sporting goods to food and clothes (with a heavy preponderance of lingerie vendors, for some reason). Sites need to have a UK presence to qualify, so you are less likely to trawl through irrelevant URLs.
Provided your tastes aren't too esoteric, you should be able to find what you want at the UK-orientated audiostreet. When we visited, all top-10 CDs were £9.99 each, and few titles stray above £13.99. You can listen to RealAudio samples of many albums, and there's a new-releases page.
Buying a car is fraught at the best of times, but Auto Trader makes it a simpler experience. You can narrow your searches by price, location, model, make and colour. It has help with issues like buying and claiming on insurance, and a link to the RAC's live traffic-news site. To make a detailed search, you have to register.
Billed as the UK's biggest video store, this graphically rich site allows you to browse through a range of categories, such as action/adventure, childrens and documentaries, or search for a specific video title.
British Magazines Direct is simple to use and is handy for finding out about all the different UK magazines, rather than fighting your way around newsagents. The site endeavours to fulfil online orders as quickly as possible: if the magazine is in stock, it should be despatched within 24 hours.
In spite of the irritating 'click here to enter' on the front page, this DVD movie site looks neatly filmic. The attraction of this style soon begins to wear thin, though, as Web sites in letterbox format don't work: information is beter formatted vertically for greatest readability. That aside, this is a competent site from which you could buy quite happily.
Is this the year of DVD? If so, this site selling DVD movies could find itself inundated with queries. Although the movie reviews can be amateurish, it offers a range of products and news of new releases, as well as more general movie news. The complete browsing experience isn't quite there yet, but if the current site is much to go by, the developers should get there soon.
With a UK version just about to be launched as we went to press, eBay has been the darling of the online investor community for the auctioning service it offers. The current claimed number of items on sale is nearly two million. Having registered, you can participate in selling or bidding, and there are safeguards to ensure that the seller will send you the goods. There's a comprehensive help, FAQ and bulletin board system. Well-structured and easy to navigate, this site makes the auction process easy-and potentially highly addictive.
Although not as welcoming or tidy as the Auto Trader site, Exchange and Mart covers more ground. As well as the more established sections of the paper version, there's an online auction section. It'll also let you record preferences so that, when an item fitting a description comes on the market, the system sends you an email.
Billed as the UK's largest online florist, Flowers Direct promises next-day delivery of flowers to anywhere in the UK. It has a few preset categories, such as birthdays and seasonal offerings like Easter, from which you can choose a bundled message and bouquet, or you can make up your own. It'll even send you a reminder email before a special event.
One of the more traditional sites reviewed here, the Fortnum and Mason site offers a floor-by-floor guide to one of Piccadilly's most famous shops. And yes, you can order its famous hampers online.
Heffers has been in Cambridge since 1876 when the present chairman's great-grandfather, William Heffer, opened his first shop. It offers books for all age groups, providing a modern service based on traditional values. This site lets you search by category or author, buy books online and view the recommended book of the month. It's not the best-designed site around, but should still be visited if you're a keen reader.
Although it looks bare beside market-leading Amazon.com, clicking on one of the categories in HMV's site brings up a short sub-list, and in some categories you get a picture of the CD or video cover. It includes UK-specific artefacts, but as a fully featured shopping experience, it's not there yet.
You've forgotten your wedding anniversary or your son's birthday-or maybe it's Thursday and you fancy a quick weekend away. This site is one of the first places to come looking for bargain flights, nights out (including tickets for leading shows), football matches and weekend breaks. With a fast response time and rich information, its main weakness is a tendency to concentrate on mainstream events, while its hotel listings are patchy. It's fine as far as it goes, but could do with expanding its range of products.
Loot's site mirrors the paper version, with free placement of adverts, but a charge of £1.30 to view new ads (you can look at ads over three days old for free). It's easy to compose an ad, and the address fields default to UK format-a pleasant change. You can even make a bid against ads designated 'auction'. You can search and clip ads, allowing you to build a list of those you're particularly interested in. However, Loot doesn't offer a go-between service, which could be useful in some circumstances. This site is easy to navigate and quick to respond.
Part of PC Magazine's parent company, Ziff-Davis, Netbuyer is an offshoot of PC Magazine's sister publication PC Direct. The idea is to help you buy PCs or PC-related products that have recently been reviewed in the magazine. Consistency of approach and speedy response times promise to make shopping for kit faster in the future.
Catalogues have worked well for Simply Computers and its Web site reflects this. If you want to buy almost anything PC-related, then this is a good place to start, with prices attached to everything. There's a useful PC configurator too, and prices update automatically as you change your options. Quick to respond, this site also includes a software download section, which almost works. Prices are in sterling but the final screen before you buy lets you know that 'for Minnesota residents, applicable sales tax will be applied', reminding you that you've left the UK at this point. Overall, a useful site, though.
Best known for its low prices, the supermarket's Web site is as brash and breezy as you'd expect it to be. Replete with bright colours and big headlines, it unabashedly bellows its latest low-price offers. More usefully, if you live within a given catchment area, Tesco will deliver your weekly shopping-except that, on entering a London postcode, it informs you that you must live either in Leeds or London to qualify; judging by the other dead links, this system clearly isn't finished yet. However, Tesco has compiled a useful set of links for those new to the Web, including Auto Trader, Waterstone's and Lastminute.com, as well as its own Tesconet ISP site.
If you're booking a show or a gig, these days you're more likely than not to go through Ticketmaster. The Web site offers a way to buy tickets for all sorts of events, but is short on added value, such as pictures of the artists concerned. It includes a Most Popular Events list, but perhaps a Least Popular Events list would be handy for avoiding the crowds.
If you don't get a chance to experience the magic of the real thing, then the Natural History Museum's Web site is definitely worth a look. It includes educational packs, research information, picture libraries and-of course-plenty of stuff about dinosaurs.
The BBC packs a considerable punch with its slick educational site, which is suitable for all ages. Most sections are allied to TV and radio programmes, and highlights include a lot of computer and Internet beginners' guides, a language centre and interactive GCSE revision aids.
We spent most of our time at this site in a bubble of nostalgia as we trawled through the lists of past presenters and, of course, the pets. You'll be able to keep the kids occupied for hours with the 'Here's one I prepared earlier' archive and much more.
Loads of creative activities to occupy your children-with the emphases on snipping, colouring and general crafting-and some stories and games thrown in for good measure.
The new-look Discovery Channel site now provides easier access to its features. There's plenty to keep both yourself and the children entertained, with news, stories from around the world and a few games. There are plenty of photographs and even a few Animal Cams. You'll also find the latest Discovery Channel and Nature Company products available for ordering online.
Loads of lively Shockwave animations and cute cartoons characterise Disney's UK site, which covers the Disney Channel, videos, Disneyland Paris and the latest release, A Bug's Life.
The Cat in the Hat, Sam-I-Am, Horton and the Who's, and the rest of the Seuss characters welcome you to Seussville, Dr Seuss' playground in cyberspace. You can play games, chat with that Cat, win prizes, find out about new Dr Seuss books and CD-ROMs, and much more. Colourful, well-presented and humorous, this is a great site for the whole family.
Head for the Floodlight site and you'll find information on nearly every short course, evening class and educational establishment in London -invaluable considering the maze that is the capital's education system.
How Stuff Works is a great place to come to learn about how things work in the world around you. Have you ever wondered how the engine in your car works, or what gears do, or what makes the inside of your refrigerator cold? How Stuff Works tells all. A new article gets added every week, and you can sign up for the HSW Newsletter to get the latest news.
This is a large, visually appealing site with plenty to keep the inquisitive mind ticking over. However, it's a bit US-orientated, so 'Babe' Ruth is more in its ballpark than Sir Stanley Matthews on the sports pages.
Worth a visit if only to see the rotating polygon on the Museum on Tour page- try clicking and dragging it. There's as much attention to detail here as in the museum's exhibits. Links to the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television and the National Railway Museum too.
Unlike Floodlight, this isn't a London-only resource, although of the 20,000 courses on offer, the majority do seem to be based in the South East. A must if you're looking for further education.
Information on the Open University's vast range of courses and degrees is suitable for existing and potential students. The site also has details on training specifically for those in business and industry, as well as new Internet-based learning packages.
Pearson is a massive name in educational publishing. Its site details information packs and lesson plans for those teaching at all levels. Free PDF example downloads are available.
QA provides IT training, contracting and consulting for commercial and public sector organisations. As well as information on the latest courses, such as seminars on Windows 2000 implementation, there are several articles related to current IT concerns.
This site is text heavy, but if you need to know about pregnancy or looking after your nippers, then you'll find it here. There's even a UKdads section so they don't feel left out.
This site is rich with information for people in the U.K. with gossip, pictures and chat about some of your favourite American TV programmes, such as Friends and ER, as well as links to film, video and music sites. See also www.looneytunes.co.uk, www.friendsontv.co.uk, www.Harrypotter.co.uk, www.ertv.co.uk, www.britney2032.co.uk, www.westwingtv.co.uk, www.kungfu3d.warnerbros.co.uk and www.madmag.warnerbros.co.uk.
If you're new to the Web and want to find out what you can do, how you can do it, what tools to use and how to get those tools, then WebNovice Online is the best place to start.
TuCows offers everything you could want to equip your PC for the Internet age. Finding software is easy with the excellent search engine and well-laid out menus. What's more, there are up-to-date worldwide mirrors so that you get the quickest, most reliable downloads.
32bit.com features downloads and collected technology news from around the Web, plus discussion forums for comparing experiences with different areas under Windows 95, 98 and NT, and related software.
The Association of Shareware Professionals is a group set up to further the cause of shareware software distribution. This site provides an 'all you need to know' overview of shareware authoring and distribution. Great for budding shareware authors.
This is an online magazine for hardcore Windows CE developers. If you're into CE development, then you'll find useful discussions of the approaches to different CE programming challenges.
One of the largest technology-focused sites on the Web, CNET offers varied and comprehensive coverage of a wide variety of topics. These range from technology news through to downloads, Web development articles and a dedicated gadgets area. Some of the information is really only of value to those in the US-shopping and job searching, for example-but there's plenty here of general interest to a computing audience.
This site is dedicated to tools and tips for those involved in Web-site production. Downloads are complemented by a wide range of technical articles about all aspects of site production and back-end management.
This CNET-hosted site boasts a large library of PC software and is well maintained, with up-to-date copies of most popular programs. The site is easy to navigate and has a good, quick search engine. Many titles can also be purchased online.
This is CNET's specialist shareware library, which claims to accommodate over 250,000 searchable files. Both PC and Macintosh titles are on offer, and you can browse by platform.
A sprawling site drawing on information from a wide variety of sources. There's information on almost any development topic you care to name, and the site even includes online books.
FilePile claims to be the world's largest index of downloadable shareware. At over 1.2 million files, it's certainly a vast archive. The site is primarily search-based, although you can manually sift through file listings-if you have a lot of time to spare. Top Downloads listings in each area can be a handy source of good-quality software.
The specialised search area of the HotBot search engine, this gives special focus to finding games and MP3 downloads. The predictably comprehensive search facility allows you to restrict searches to particular platforms. Editor's picks of relevant sites and links to other HotBot-driven search topics complete the site.
If you want to spice up your Web pages with Java applets, then this is the place to look. The Java Centre lacks a search engine, but has an intriguing collection of applets for download. Beyond applets, there's a wealth of information and contacts for those developing in Java.
A software library with a difference, as categories are based on age group. Software is divided into categories that are viewable by age or type, and can also be searched for by specific items of interest.
The first stop for both newcomers and veterans of the fastest growing Open Source OS. Whether you're looking for news, documentation or a host of other Linux resources, Linux Online either has the information to hand or can direct you to a site that has.
A bulletin-based message site of the Linux Usability and Evaluation project. Discussion of how to improve user-friendliness and general usability of the Linux OS for end-users.
Originally known as Ray's USR Pilot Software Archive back in early 1997, PalmCentral provides software exclusively for 3Com Palm users. Many large download sites have Palm areas or categories, but few match this dedicated collection. Software is categorised and searchable as you'd expect, and there's also a good list of Palm links and headlines.
Not the largest library of files on the Web, but Pass the Shareware is a good collection of up-to-date and generally high-quality programs. A good internal search engine is also notable by its absence, but that's not quite the crippling omission it would at first seem, as the simple and clear site layout makes for easy navigation.
In sharp contrast to those chasing the 'most files online' title, Rocket Download prides itself on reviewing all the software that appears on its site. While many sites claim to offer objective reviews, it's usually only a paragraph and some kind of rating. Rocket download uses ratings as well, but they're usually matched by more than a few token sentences. Its ratings are pretty accurate, too.
WebAttack is a specialist site that restricts itself only to Web-related software for Windows 95/98. So it's a pretty narrow bunch, but if you're into Web site production under Windows, this is an excellent place to find the tools for the job. Estimated download times over modem-speed links and total file size are joined by direct links to online purchasing (where available).
http://shareware.gamespot.com/
A dedicated front-end to the ZDNet US software library's games areas. All the latest game demonstrations and shareware titles are categorised and fully searchable.
The ZDNet UK software library features a large and varied catalogue of files. Highlights from each category are compiled on a regular basis, and the entire library is also fully searchable and virus checked.
This is the best site for rugby. Fixtures, excellent match reports, complete results of all the leagues and good features are all here. It's the ultimate site for rugby information.
There are lots of sites that detail individual sports, but this one covers a lot of the main games thoroughly. A perfect mirror image of the newspaper it originates from, news is actively updated together with all finite sporting detail. The site also has betting information and live event coverage.
An active site while the Wimbledon Tournament is on, it also keeps a lot of information on past tournaments and keeps the flow of general tennis news going. Match information and ticket prices are also available.
This site details everything you need to know regarding race meets and teams. The complete BTCC race calendar is here, along with track details and ticket information. Detailed information on the teams, drivers and cars is also provided.
Covering all weights and organisations, this is the boxing enthusiast's Web site. Round-by-round coverage of fights is available, from the latest bouts to those up to three years ago-great for watching the form of fighters. World ranking orders are listed.
This site is a joint project by City Index and PA Sporting Life. You can bet online on any sport from snooker to rugby, plus specials like the Oscars or the millennium bug to start World War III. All transactions are performed securely with RSA data security certification given to the site.
This site lists all activity in the Carling Premiership, together with individual teams. For results, fixtures, league tables and club information, this is a one-stop football resource.
A Guardian site, Cricket Unlimited is news-based. There's current and detailed information relating to test matches, and good coverage of the World Cup. A lot of links push you to 'Wisden on the Web', a site with much more detail. You can access the site for 24 hours before having to register.
A US-based site serving a wide source of information about popular sports in America. NBA, NFL, baseball, NASCAR and a great deal of others are well covered here, and are backed up with lots of news.
Declared from the start as the unofficial Formula1 site, it nevertheless contains a lot of good info relating to the sport: headlines backed up by good stories are in abundance. Features a fantastic array of pictures from races.
This is a solid news-based golfing site. There's lots of detailed coverage of all the major tours, and competitive statistics on players. You can hear audio broadcast of live events, and there's advice on how to improve your game with tips from the professionals.
The Rugby Football Union site is the official headquarters for rugby. It lists all the latest developments, fixtures and results of internationals at Twickenham, rugby laws, the history of the game, and much more.
Football trivia is the focus of this site. It covers the top 59 teams, with news, statistics and interviews with players. Content doesn't get too specific to any one team, but instead offers good all-round information.
The best online holiday store for searching the UK's biggest live database of over 70,000 late-availability holiday sun, city breaks and holiday flight deals from all of the top tour operators. There are bargain-basement flight and hotel prices, and plenty of last minute deals.
This is a superb site that lets you pick destinations around the world, view maps, photos and read about the local entertainment, travel, weather and sightseeing recommendations. There's also goodies like travel writing extracts from Lonely Planet's Journeys series Shortcuts, to tall tales and yarns about life on the road, photography tips, and a Web-hang for travellers to share know-how and no-way.
If you go skiing, you'll love this site. 1Ski.com delivers the latest prices for departures to ski resorts around the world in an uncluttered and well-presented manner. You can also use the bulletin board to chat, order free ski holiday brochures from UK ski operators and view snow reports that are searchable by country and resort.
Although it's not a large site, there's some useful information on selected UK airports, including how to get there by train and road, terminal information, and shopping and eating facilities. The flight planner can be used to view the schedules for flights to and from BAA's UK airports, and there's an online pre-book car parking feature. If you intend to fly internationally from Heathrow, Gatwick or Stansted within the next few weeks, you can select duty- and tax-free goods in advance for collection at the time of your departure.
This site is an online gateway to the British Isles. There's everything you need, from finding accommodation to viewing recommended sightseeing destinations. Britannia acts as a portal site to hundreds of other specific sites to help you get the most out of travelling around the UK.
Since its launch just two and a half years ago, Easyjet has taken Europe by storm by providing a no-fuss, no-frills service that makes flying more like hopping on a bus than getting onto a luxury liner. This simple, well-presented site lets you book online and check other details like flight times, plane specifications and destinations.
You can search and book flights and holidays from this site. They're grouped into three areas: scheduled flights, charter flights and late-availability holidays. The site also provides links to some UK, European and worldwide ferry, railway, airline, airport, cruise and car-hire companies, plus tour operators and travel agents.
Launched in May 1998, Go-a fully owned subsidiary of British Airways-is Europe's newest low-cost airline. The site's easy to navigate, and will be particularly appealing if you frequently travel to Europe. Clicking on a destination gives you a brief introduction, a map and details about shopping, hotels and restaurants.
If you're looking online for accommodation in the UK, Infotel attempts to match your needs with a suitable hotel or guest house. After making a reservation you should receive confirmation by e-mail. Accommodation can be searched by criteria, such as city/town name, suburb, airport or tourist attraction. Its simple and plain design leads to an intuitive site.
Internet Holiday Rentals is a British company based in Hammersmith. Its site has over 1,500 private homes to rent worldwide, including 350 in France and 100 in Florida, all with full details and photographs. Booking is done direct with property owners. There's also a list of properties for sale. It's a straightforward, minimal site, but well worth a look if the idea of renting or buying a property abroad interests you.
Lastminute presents some great short notice offerings for travel and hotels, entertainment and presents. You can also receive some great deals in a free weekly newsletter that's emailed to you if you register.
MSN Expedia lets you book flights, accommodation, rent a car and find a holiday, all online. There's a wealth of other features too, such as advice on travel insurance and general travel advice (from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office), global weather, tourist offices and airport information. The site's a bit busy, but it's full of useful travel information and there are some great bargains to be found.
This is a complete interactive atlas of Great Britain. Click on the UK outline map to start browsing, or enter the name of a city, town, village, street name (London only) or postcode to get a detailed map. You can then zoom in just by clicking on the area you wish to see in more detail, or you can choose to look at a new area. There's a scale indicator at the bottom of the map and you can zoom in and out as you please. There's no coverage of Northern Ireland yet.
For long distance bus and coach services to all parts of the UK, with over 1,200 destinations throughout England, Wales and Scotland, the National Express Web site is a great source. Times and fares can be viewed, and you can book online. There's also information on airport, shuttle and Euroline services.
This site is designed to be your introduction to every aspect of the P&O cruise experience. There's a guided tour of the fleet of liners, their itineraries and what it's like on board. You can email reservations, ask about a particular cruise, or request information about P&O's cruises in general.
Railtrack owns the national rail infrastructure-everything the trains travel on, over, through, across, to and from. As well as providing corporate information and details on the regeneration programme, the site has train timetables and lets you plan a journey.
This site is intended only to give a general idea of the kind of holidays available from Thomson and an indication of their prices, but it's still useful. Holidays aren't sold through the site, but there's a brochure listing, cruise information (including pictures of ships), jobs oversees and information on where to book.
This huge site lets you easily make reservations for over 400 airlines, 40,000 hotels, 50 car-hire companies and 70,000 holidays. From weather to passport and transportation issues, to local attractions, the site lets you quickly put together a guide tailored to your interests with its personal destination guide. There are lots of other features, including maps and a currency converter.
This is a no-frills, bare-bones source for booking different types of travel online. Among other things, it includes searching for both airline-specific and independent flights, car hire, EuroStar train times, hotels and current exchange rates.
Like the Multi Media Mapping site, this provides address searching and street map facilities for the UK. There are currently street maps for Greater London and road atlas maps for the whole of mainland Britain (work is in progress for mapping Northern Ireland). Its search engine is slower than the Multi Media Mapping site, and it doesn't look quite as good, but it's still a highly useful way of planning journeys in the UK.
The definitive weather site for the UK, the Meteorological Office provides in-depth weather and forecast information. While forecasts can be obtained by region or city, further detailed information is available from the MetWEB site as a premium service. Forecasts are available via business sector; for example, those involved in road transport or maritime activities. There's also information for other areas around the globe. If you're interested in UK weather, this should be your first stop.
If you want to know what the US government is doing about the
environment, the site of the Environmental Protection Agency should be your first stop. Find out how much is going to be spent this year on clean water ($1.9 billion), discover commonly used environmental terms, such as riparian habitat, or you can use the aerometric informational retrieval system (AIRS) to find out pollutant levels for US cities and countries within the World Health Organisation. A good site for researching environmental data.
A more traditional corporate site, BP Amoco provides information not only about its business, but also issues such as climate change, conservation, world energy, support for education and human rights. One of the more interesting areas is the statistical review of world energy, which examines energy reserves, production, consumption, refinery capacity, trade movement and prices.
As one of the leading environmental pressure groups in the UK, the Friends of the Earth helps raise awareness of environmental issues right in your own back yard-literally. The Factory Watch function allows you to search for factories by postcode or name and find out their pollution releases for a given year. You're also given options to take action against factories that excessively or dangerously pollute. Local, national and international campaigns are listed. If you want to take environmental action, this is a good place to start.
Whether you feel compelled to save the earth from the environmental dangers humankind has wrought upon itself or are just interested in finding out what's top of the agenda for environmentalists, the Greenpeace site is a perfect place to start. Simply organised, yet filled with information, it sets out the environmental group's thoughts and agenda for climate, toxic chemicals, nuclear energy, oceans, genetic engineering, ocean dumping and forests. Most sections also have a call to action letting you know what you can do to help.
Virtually every day of the year is marked as having suffered from either fire, earthquake or some type of transportation disaster. The automatic advance once you select a page is a bit tedious, and there's no navigation or search capability beyond choosing a date. Still, it's an interesting site to find out about disasters.
Fans of the National Geographic Society will find this a useful, though slightly disappointing resource. While the current issue of the magazine is accessible, not all stories are posted online. Stories that are posted have links to back issues you can buy, but there's no option to view these stories online. A better reference tool for the National Geographic Society is the box CD-ROM set.
Although most of its programmes concentrate on the Americas and Pacific Asia, The Nature Conservancy provides information about possible field trips to various nature locations around the world. Much work is done to encourage and develop a sense of conservation science. Complete books on the subject are available free for download as PDFs, and there's a listing to other conservation resources. It's a good starting point on the subject, but for more local information, you'll have to search elsewhere.
Getting to grips with science and its impact on our everyday lives is no easy feat, but that's what New Scientist looks to do. The site is a faithful reproduction of the magazine, with about a year's worth of issues archived and searchable. Additional features include special reports on subjects like genetically modified foods.
The Royal Geographic Society (with the institute of British Geographers) is the largest geographical society in Europe. This site provides information about the Society, events, research and available publications. A good overview of what's being done locally to raise awareness of global geographical issues, the site still has some way to go when it comes to publishing stories from Geographical Magazine or permitting some type of online search. Still, it's a good starting point if you're interested in establishing local geographical contacts.
You wouldn't think a Web site from an oil company would be useful, much less entertaining, but Shell UK has achieved exactly that. It has a route planner for the UK and Europe (which also tells you where Shell service stations are located), information about various Shell products, as well as car-care tips and information on oil and gas production. There's even an educational game that takes you through the basics of oil exploration and refining starring the Fossil family-Pearl, Limpet and Mussel.
You might not think you need high-resolution satellite imagery from the SPIN-2 (Space Information-2-metre resolution) satellite, but there are many applications for such images, from education to public safety, planning outdoor activities, real estate assessment, archaeology, or just fun. You can order high-resolution digital images from the site or Kodak prints. The one downside is that some images are 10 years old, but the most recent ones are from 1998.
This site is useful in helping you find everything you need to know about the volcanoes of the world. Primarily a lists of links to other sites about volcanoes, this site also features a message board where you can post questions and (sometimes) get meaningful answers. You can also find out about travels to active volcanoes and tours, if you want to get that close.
This weather site is an extension of the popular cable TV channel in the US that provides weather information 24 hours a day. Its strength for US cities is in providing five-day forecasts. Three-day forecasts are available for (some) other locations outside the US-for example, there are 59 cities listed in the UK. Temperatures are reported in Fahrenheit, not Celsius, reinforcing the US bias.
The World Wide Fund for Nature claims to be the world's largest independent conservation organisation. This is a highly interactive site that encourages personal action through the 'Panda Passport', which lets you campaign for environmental reform anywhere in the world by signing petitions and sending emails. Major campaigns are highlighted, and a multimedia section includes content for kids and teachers, as well as a gallery featuring artwork from specially commissioned nature artists.
Like its puffy namesake, Popcorn is the perfect accompaniment to the movies. You can catch up with the latest cinema releases, check out reviews, and find out what TV movies are recommended. Competitions, a search facility and features fill out this excellent site.
The 24seven site isn't without its faults-it's infrequently updated and seems to revolve closely around the lives of its creators. That said, it covers, sport, music and the more nebulous stuff of life originally and amusingly, and the use of ShockWave Flash is visually outstanding.
If the usual Hollywood fare leaves you cold, 6degrees is the place to come. Although it has only recently started, the site is shaping up as a good place to come for independent film reviews, listings, news and features.
Harry Knowles is just an average film addict, but with an amazingly popular Web site. The film reviews published here are endearingly straightforward, and so influential that Hollywood executives believe his reviews can affect box office revenue.
A refreshing alternative to its staid parent site, beeb@the BBC features chat forums, features on current TV and some golden oldies. It also runs competitions. TV highlights and a Web guide flesh it out for telly addicts.
A good site to dip into from time to time, Brunching is the creation of a mysterious entity known as The Brunching Shuttlecocks. Subjects have included an analysis of breakfast cereals and new Olympic events.
Unlike some other TV sites, the Carlton page focuses on providing links to areas covered in its programmes rather than just TV listings. Click on one of the radio buttons and a new browser window specific to that programme will appear. Regional information is also available.
All you could want to know about the TV channel, with plenty of information on programmes from The Big Breakfast to Brookside. The 4Later section offers services like a chatroom and upcoming highlights.
This site gives you the latest on US TV comedy, including downloads, merchandise, and programme information. Absolutely Fabulous, one of the few UK successes over the pond, holds up the British end, though.
The mighty Dilbert overshadows all the other comic characters at United Media's comic site. A new cartoon chronicling the life of Scott Adams' downtrodden worker is posted daily, and there's a four-week archive. Other cartoons here include Peanuts and Rugrats.
Once you're at the Corbis site, go straight to the free download section. Here, you'll find notable images, screensavers and wallpaper for your PC's desktop. You can also buy photographic prints and posters from Corbis's extensive photo library.
It's easy to navigate the music, movie, TV and sci-fi content on the Daily Entertainment Network. Material ranges from Babylon 5 to a movie babe of the day and, as the name suggests, it's updated daily.
A UK-based comedy Web directory, Funny carries a useful section reviewing comedy Web sites, but its own F! Magazine is rather hit-and-miss.
One of Tinseltown's most famous publications, The Hollywood Reporter has a Web site to keep you posted on the latest gossip. There's TV and music news as well, but film is covered in the greatest detail, and includes details on production schedules for movies and TV programmes.
Owned by online retailer Amazon.com, the Internet Movie Database is just that-a searchable collection of cinema news, reviews and trivia.
Macromedia, makers of the well-known Flash utility for Web animation, showcases new content on its ShockRave site.
Unlike many of the Web's ephemeral sites, RETRO concentrates on popular culture from the first three-quarters of this century-from sport to music to interior decoration. Boasting that it searches out off-beat and original material, there's some interesting cultural titbits here, and RealAudio content to complement musical articles.
Always bizarre, sometimes macabre but unfailingly entertaining, Red Meat is the creation of cartoonist Max Cannon. It's difficult to describe, but titles like 'The moist chuckle of chainsaws' should give you an idea.
Riveting design characterises this Shockwave Flash intensive site, a showcase for Internet marketing company THINK New Ideas. Many of the projects have a corporate flavour, but it shows what can be done with Flash.
Because Time Out doesn't publish its This Week London guide, this Evening Standard Web site has the edge. Sport, lifestyle, and other leisure-orientated categories round off the site nicely.
Toaster is a site that does one thing very well-TV listings. You can look at a single channel, or all five terrestrial channels simultaneously. There's also a search utility and handy pull-down menus to aid navigation.
Despite the preponderance of animated GIFs on the opening page, this well-designed site carries comprehensive information on the latest UIP films. The only real fault is it's hard to navigate, thanks to a paucity of radio buttons and the frame-based layout.
A stalwart of the underground, Urban 75 is frequently updated. If you're not even mildly interested in social protest and wouldn't be seen dead at a rave, then don't visit this site-unless you just want to see a really well designed Web site, that is.
From Scooby Doo and Bugs Bunny to Depeche Mode and Madonna, you'll find it at the Warner Brothers site. An unsurprising bias towards US material can leave you feeling slightly cheated, but it's worth a look.
From online ticket purchasing and theatre news to competitions, it's all here, and theatre information is handily split into a London and the rest of the UK category. You can even view the site in a version optimised for Windows CE or the Nokia 9000.
This site is well designed with a good balance of news stories, background information on companies and markets, as well as FT specials on the UK Budget 99, FT 500, World Cup 98 and more. Numerous video and sound clips add effect, and feedback sections let you offer your viewpoint. You have to subscribe to this password-protected site, but you can activate a cookie that automatically recognises you the next time you visit.
More of a banking insiders' magazine, this is the site to get the gossip on what internal disasters are happening at a bank near you, such as who's datacentre has spectacularly crashed. There are lists of IT suppliers, services and consultants, all of which can be searched by country and company name. The marketplace section has detailed directories of banking-related recruitment consultants, legal firms and business schools.
The site is aimed at the sophisticated investor, with little warmth to those new to online investing. The choice of options is immense. There's a variety of accounts, from a $500 college saver account, through to the $10,000 Schwab One account, which claims to be the complete management portfolio account. There are also news services, market information and real-time quotes. This is a professional service for the knowledgeable investor.
Dow Jones is the name behind publications like The Wall Street Journal. It also produces news and information for NBC and CNBC. The online element offers information from more than 6,000 sources. It also has a custom news-tracking tool that automatically filters information based on an individual's needs, and a financial centre that covers over 10 million public and private companies.
Electronic Share Information allows you to buy and sell UK listed shares over the Internet. Manage and value your own portfolio, get share quotes, talk to other investors and trace information on numerous companies. This is a good site for the UK investor.
E*TRADE is an online investing site. There are two levels of trading access. You can be a member, which is free and gets you real-time stock quotes, personalised market views, breaking news and a customisable portfolio manager. Or, for a deposit of $1,000, you get benefits like cheaper trade and stock options, access to over 4,300 mutual funds and subscription to IPOs. A community section lets you talk online to other members.
This is a search engine specifically for financial information. It doesn't index the entire Internet and claims that its financial emphasis makes it ideal for those who need in-depth financial data. There's a useful job-search area and an online financial bookshop.
Quicken, from Intuit, has been one of the best-selling personal finance software packages for some time now. The UK site is co-sponsored by the Financial Times, which provides the majority of the UK news content. There's a very handy currency converter, financial fitness quiz and a mini portfolio sponsored by Charles Schwab. As you'd expect, it has information on all Intuit products and access to Quicken's online help.
Claiming to be the centre for international business and travel, this site is an easy guide for the traveller. There are listings of countries under each section, from Andorra to Yemen. These provide practical information, from what banks you can find there through to what to see as a tourist, with maps, guides and general information. It also has tips like the top 10 books to go travelling with.
There's general background to the stock exchange, its history, function and list of members, plus a glossary of stock market terms. The fact file details highlights of 1997 and 1998, as well as key statistics on the market.
MoneyeXtra is a useful UK site with information on a variety of financial subjects. There are guides for mortgage deals, business news, plans for retirement, advice on how to cut your bills, investing and general business news. All this is brought to you by eXchange, which is regulated by the Personal Investment Authority.
The Money World site likes to run itself as a club, with discounts, advice and newsletters for those who join. Your own portfolio service enables you to manage your investments with a personalised view, updated every 10 minutes. It also claims that the service will be updated to include unit trusts. Members also receive an email newsletter with comments and guidance from the investment industry.
The Motley Fool says it exists to 'inform, educate and amuse'. But above all it aims to show you that you're the best person to manage your money. There's a big-brother US site at www.fool.com/, but this UK-specific site gives you, for example, a guide to beating the FTSE, and information on companies like Marks and Spencer, Rentokil and Capital Radio.
This site has everything you need to know about Nasdaq. You can track shares, see what stock surprises have happened, which stocks met expectations, and even plot it all graphically. There are useful stock monitoring options, such as the desktop ticker that keeps you constantly up to date with all the market changes, or the stock-screening ability, which enables you to filter up to 100 Nasdaq, Amex and NYSE stocks through up to 30 key financial data elements. You can also screen a variety of funds.
Rather than visually overloading you, as many sites do, the NYSE site has an economical but effective design. You can get plenty of background information on the market-from quick fact sheets, to a comprehensive data library, or search for company information by its name or quoted symbol. Stocks can be graphed to see how they've been performing throughout the day, week or month.
Red Herring provides business professionals and investors with insider news, analysis and profiles on industry figures and companies. The news stories are interesting, such as the top ten stocks for 1999 and a background on IPOs. The message board, where you can discuss your stock picks with others, is easy to use and there are specific sections in venture capital and investor news. An approachable site for an interesting read.
To say that this site comprehensively covers all of Reuters products is an understatement, but a good search facility helps you to get round all this information. You can search by Reuters product (such as Dow Jones Newswire), events (such as annual reports) or country sites.
Screentrade claims to be a one-stop shop to finding the right insurance quote. It's run by Misys Interactive Trading with broking facilities provided by Shaws Insurance Brokers. It claims to save you the price of endless phone calls and the time for quotes to be returned to you. It covers motor, home and travel insurance, allowing you to buy online or over the phone.
TheStreet.com is a comprehensive site that covers all elements of investing. It claims to be so up to date that you'll want to visit several times a day to see the latest breaking news. There are sections for trading and banking online, creating your own portfolio and a community area to chat.
This is a no-frills, to-the-point site that gives you the latest news from The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). It has a roundup of all the previous WSJ special reports, and easy access to stock quotes and graphs. There's a comprehensive WSJ careers site, which looks at everything from HR advice, to information on who's hiring and how to start a business. In addition, the business traveller should take a look at the WSJ comprehensive travel centre, because it contains useful information like a currency converter and hotel/flight/car-hire details.
Ziff-Davis Inter@ctive Investor-owned by PC Magazine's parent company-is a comprehensive site that's packed full of news, research reports and market information. You can set up your own portfolio, check the IPO insider report or browse through the latest breaking news. A must site, especially for the technology stock buyer.
This site is well designed with a good balance of news stories, background information on companies and markets, as well as FT specials on the UK Budget 99, FT 500, World Cup 98 and more. Numerous video and sound clips add effect, and feedback sections let you offer your viewpoint. You have to subscribe to this password-protected site, but you can activate a cookie that automatically recognises you the next time you visit.
More of a banking insiders' magazine, this is the site to get the gossip on what internal disasters are happening at a bank near you, such as who's datacentre has spectacularly crashed. There are lists of IT suppliers, services and consultants, all of which can be searched by country and company name. The marketplace section has detailed directories of banking-related recruitment consultants, legal firms and business schools.
The site is aimed at the sophisticated investor, with little warmth to those new to online investing. The choice of options is immense. There's a variety of accounts, from a $500 college saver account, through to the $10,000 Schwab One account, which claims to be the complete management portfolio account. There are also news services, market information and real-time quotes. This is a professional service for the knowledgeable investor.
Dow Jones is the name behind publications like The Wall Street Journal. It also produces news and information for NBC and CNBC. The online element offers information from more than 6,000 sources. It also has a custom news-tracking tool that automatically filters information based on an individual's needs, and a financial centre that covers over 10 million public and private companies.
Electronic Share Information allows you to buy and sell UK listed shares over the Internet. Manage and value your own portfolio, get share quotes, talk to other investors and trace information on numerous companies. This is a good site for the UK investor.
E*TRADE is an online investing site. There are two levels of trading access. You can be a member, which is free and gets you real-time stock quotes, personalised market views, breaking news and a customisable portfolio manager. Or, for a deposit of $1,000, you get benefits like cheaper trade and stock options, access to over 4,300 mutual funds and subscription to IPOs. A community section lets you talk online to other members.
This is a search engine specifically for financial information. It doesn't index the entire Internet and claims that its financial emphasis makes it ideal for those who need in-depth financial data. There's a useful job-search area and an online financial bookshop.
Quicken, from Intuit, has been one of the best-selling personal finance software packages for some time now. The UK site is co-sponsored by the Financial Times, which provides the majority of the UK news content. There's a very handy currency converter, financial fitness quiz and a mini portfolio sponsored by Charles Schwab. As you'd expect, it has information on all Intuit products and access to Quicken's online help.
Claiming to be the centre for international business and travel, this site is an easy guide for the traveller. There are listings of countries under each section, from Andorra to Yemen. These provide practical information, from what banks you can find there through to what to see as a tourist, with maps, guides and general information. It also has tips like the top 10 books to go travelling with.
There's general background to the stock exchange, its history, function and list of members, plus a glossary of stock market terms. The fact file details highlights of 1997 and 1998, as well as key statistics on the market.
MoneyeXtra is a useful UK site with information on a variety of financial subjects. There are guides for mortgage deals, business news, plans for retirement, advice on how to cut your bills, investing and general business news. All this is brought to you by eXchange, which is regulated by the Personal Investment Authority.
The Money World site likes to run itself as a club, with discounts, advice and newsletters for those who join. Your own portfolio service enables you to manage your investments with a personalised view, updated every 10 minutes. It also claims that the service will be updated to include unit trusts. Members also receive an email newsletter with comments and guidance from the investment industry.
The Motley Fool says it exists to 'inform, educate and amuse'. But above all it aims to show you that you're the best person to manage your money. There's a big-brother US site at www.fool.com/, but this UK-specific site gives you, for example, a guide to beating the FTSE, and information on companies like Marks and Spencer, Rentokil and Capital Radio.
This site has everything you need to know about Nasdaq. You can track shares, see what stock surprises have happened, which stocks met expectations, and even plot it all graphically. There are useful stock monitoring options, such as the desktop ticker that keeps you constantly up to date with all the market changes, or the stock-screening ability, which enables you to filter up to 100 Nasdaq, Amex and NYSE stocks through up to 30 key financial data elements. You can also screen a variety of funds.
Rather than visually overloading you, as many sites do, the NYSE site has an economical but effective design. You can get plenty of background information on the market-from quick fact sheets, to a comprehensive data library, or search for company information by its name or quoted symbol. Stocks can be graphed to see how they've been performing throughout the day, week or month.
Red Herring provides business professionals and investors with insider news, analysis and profiles on industry figures and companies. The news stories are interesting, such as the top ten stocks for 1999 and a background on IPOs. The message board, where you can discuss your stock picks with others, is easy to use and there are specific sections in venture capital and investor news. An approachable site for an interesting read.
To say that this site comprehensively covers all of Reuters products is an understatement, but a good search facility helps you to get round all this information. You can search by Reuters product (such as Dow Jones Newswire), events (such as annual reports) or country sites.
Screentrade claims to be a one-stop shop to finding the right insurance quote. It's run by Misys Interactive Trading with broking facilities provided by Shaws Insurance Brokers. It claims to save you the price of endless phone calls and the time for quotes to be returned to you. It covers motor, home and travel insurance, allowing you to buy online or over the phone.
TheStreet.com is a comprehensive site that covers all elements of investing. It claims to be so up to date that you'll want to visit several times a day to see the latest breaking news. There are sections for trading and banking online, creating your own portfolio and a community area to chat.
This is a no-frills, to-the-point site that gives you the latest news from The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). It has a roundup of all the previous WSJ special reports, and easy access to stock quotes and graphs. There's a comprehensive WSJ careers site, which looks at everything from HR advice, to information on who's hiring and how to start a business. In addition, the business traveller should take a look at the WSJ comprehensive travel centre, because it contains useful information like a currency converter and hotel/flight/car-hire details.
Ziff-Davis Inter@ctive Investor-owned by PC Magazine's parent company-is a comprehensive site that's packed full of news, research reports and market information. You can set up your own portfolio, check the IPO insider report or browse through the latest breaking news. A must site, especially for the technology stock buyer.
Founded in 1995, the Adrenaline Vault has become a mainstream gaming Web site and covers the gaming industry closely with news, features, reviews, reports interviews and a comprehensive library of cheats, patches and demos.
Packed with hardware and software reviews and featuring some of the very latest titles, AGN3D provides plenty of material for anyone interested in 3D hardware and gaming.
This was one of the first Quake sites to take off. Originally it was the definitive source for first-person shooter (FPS) information, but a plethora of such sites soon consumed the market. Still, Blue's News is an excellent resource for FPS news.
There's a surfeit of FPS sites, but this is one of the best. Several guest columnists discuss all things related to FPS gaming and the site is primarily a host to several FPS game servers.
For the nostalgic, this site is a must-see. It's dedicated to the fine art of emulating one type of computer on another (in this case the PC). It's not only the older platforms, such as the Sinclair Spectrum or Atari ST, that are covered either; you'll find information on the latest console emulators too.
Targeted at the hard-core gamer, this pretty, young site can make for some interesting reading. It contains hardware and games reviews (mostly online games), technical guides and news. It's a little thin on content at the moment, but its style shows promise.
Games Domain is a strong site, richly packed with relevant content and interesting material. With over 1,800 game patches online, as well as cheats, demos and desktop themes, there's plenty of stuff to download.
GameSpot UK is ZDNet UK's sister site for ZDNet US's gamespot.com, and is targeted at UK gamers. But its content is also attractive enough to draw attention from international gamers. GameSpot reviews are often referred to and linked to by the online gaming community, which is solid affirmation of the site's value.
If you want to investigate multi-player Internet gaming of the FPS variety, this is definitely a good place to start. Here you'll find the GameSpy 3D application that finds games for you to play and lets you dive straight in.
This site covers PC and console titles, and is a good place to start looking for game-specific cheats, hints and walk-through guides. Happy Puppy is well laid out, easy to navigate and offers a Web-based mail service.
This excellent one-stop resource not only lists all the online games available, but also has reviews, previews, hints, information on beta tests and details of projects in development.
Billed as 'the epicentre of everything Quake', this is one of the best Quake II sites and has become the central hub of the Planet Quake network, which consists of similar sites dedicated to other games like PlanetUnreal.
Don't be misled by the name, this is a highly entertaining site that features some great news and articles. There are previews and reviews of everything from gaming hardware to music. Read the Daily Wank section for some interesting comments about headline IT news.
Some great online games (some of which are free) can be found here, making it a good place to spend after-hours time. The most attractive feature of the site is that it's now home to the awe-inspiring multiplayer online role-playing game EverQuest.
The Vault Network hosts some excellent sites dedicated to the major up-and-coming online RPG titles, such as EverQuest, Middle Earth, Asheron's Call and Ultima Online. A powerful demonstration of Cold Fusion working alongside an Access database illustrates real-world applications for these tools and helps promote interactive Web sites by providing a useful service to the online RPG community.
BT's non-Internet dedicated gaming network offers low pings for online gamers. This is where you'll find the software needed to play on Wireplay, plus a few Internet-based classics.
Both male and female fitness is covered by beWELL.com, as well as topics of mutual interest like mental health and diet. Intelligent features on items like the effects of ageing on your cognitive abilities make this site well worth visiting.
If you're interested in understanding more about mental illnesses, or about the medications used to treat them, then Internet Mental Health is an invaluable site. However, it's not designed for casual browsing-the descriptions of drug treatments are intended for health professionals. Nonetheless, it's one of the best sites for detailed information about mental health issues.
This site has information on activities that will reduce your risk of developing heart disease, as well as enabling you to join CyberTeams to help maintain your motivation when getting fit.
This site provides just about any US-related disease statistic you could imagine. In addition to historical information about illness in America, there are useful details on current outbreaks of disease around the world to help the concerned traveller. And everything's presented in a clear, easy-to-navigate format.
The health section of NetGuide, CMP's portal-style Web magazine, is updated daily and provides news stories on health-related topics, as well as more detailed features about subjects like herbal medicine and family health. The regular content updates are its strongest feature.
Health, fitness and medical information is covered comprehensively by this site. You can monitor the progress of four volunteers as they have their fitness progress analysed weekly, or follow their example yourself and take advantage of the exercise advice.
The US Food and Drug Administration site is the place to find out exactly what's being put in your tea, cosmetics or vitamin supplements. Although navigating between pages on the site isn't always straightforward, this is an excellent source for anyone interested in what goes into their food.
Whatever your interest in fitness, whether it's weight loss, mental agility or illness prevention, FitnessLink should be able to provide you with some useful resources, either itself or via the comprehensive collection of links to other relevant sites.
The pharmaceutical research company's UK Web site gives you a general overview of its policies, as well as some introductory information on topics that Glaxo Wellcome is currently investigating.
Healthfinder provides a selection of links to US government information resources and other health-related sites. Although there isn't a lot of original material, the intelligently grouped links make it an excellent place to find out exactly what the Web has to offer on health.
Is your husband an angel? If so, there's a place on HomeArts.com where you can share your good fortune with the world. There's a lot of useful information about home finance, family matters and health education, but you'll have to stomach the saccharine content of the rest of the site to find it.
Sufferers from a variety of illnesses will find online support groups at Mediconsult.com. There's also information on treatment and care for conditions like back pain, and a weekly newsletter to keep you up on the latest developments in medicare.
Proper recovery from sporting injuries is essential to avoid recurring problems. This site primarily guides you towards the correct Medisport product for the your injury, but also has useful information about muscle exercises and how to treat an injury.
If you're sick of making the same New Year's resolution every year, then this site might be able to help you break the habit. Most of the material links to products sold by The Quit Smoking Company, but there's still plenty of valuable advice on how to go about giving up the dreaded weed.
Sore throats have been Strepsils'
business since 1958, and this site is dedicated to their prevention, diagnosis and cure. You can learn how ancient civilisations coped with an ailing larynx, understand more about the structure of your throat, and find out about Strepsils' range of throat products. Although some of the HTML on the site is in need of a tonic itself, there's more here than mere product advertising.
Whether you're a seasoned health and fitness enthusiast, or in need of some motivation in order to start exercising, this site will have something for you. There's plenty of original content, ranging from medical advice to exercise programs and recipes, most of which is presented in a question-and-answer format that makes it easy to understand.
With over 4,279 patterns from 51 different countries, Turnstep.com is a comprehensive reference guide for aerobics instructors and general enthusiasts alike. Although the site's layout isn't particularly attractive, and there's little in the way of graphics to illustrate routines, it's still a good source for finding new movements to spice up an aerobics session.
A collection of topics of general interest to women, particularly those balancing a family and career, have been collected together on this site. However, if you want to find information on more adventurous subjects, such as travelling as a single woman or taking up a dangerous sport, don't expect to find it here. Despite these limitations, Women.com is well constructed and combines good design with coherent writing.
The World Health Organization site contains a selection of research papers and references about the work of this international agency. Although there's plenty of information here, it isn't always easy to find exactly what you're looking for because there's little in the way of summary information on each page-you have to follow additional links even to find out basic information like WHO's Mission Statement.
Ars Technica provides multiple-OS, PC hardware and technichal coverage in a light-hearted but informative way. The site has reviews, technical information and explanations, performance tips, and more.
The Boeing site effectively captures the excitement generated by aeroplanes. The company's interests are wider than you'd think, so alongside the familiar commercial and business planes are sections on space systems and tactical weapons.
As befits one of the world's most exciting spectator sports, the Bushido Online site is visually outstanding. Moreover, it covers a range of martial arts from the well-known Karate and Judo to the less familiar Jeet Kune Do and Capoeira. Along with martial arts facts, news and events, there's a martial arts dictionary on this well-designed and informative site.
Budding film makers should regard Cyber Film School as essential browsing, because it covers everything you want to know about making your own films. There are articles on making fake blood, looking after movie extras, and shooting on a low budget. There are even links and a message board for those with the movie-making bug.
For those fascinated by all things miniature, Detail Master is the world's largest manufacturer of model-car building accessories-everything from engines and wheels to bodywork and interiors. You can order a catalogue online, or buy direct from the online shop. A photo gallery gives some examples for you to aspire to.
Fantasy gaming specialist Games Workshop has plenty to say about its Warhammer game and White Dwarf magazine. The site's simply designed, but there's plenty of news and information for games players.
Lladro's porcelain figures adorn mantelpieces the world over. There's an account of the Spanish company's foundation, and you can find out about events in Europe where new Lladr— creations will be revealed.
Web Site
Few films this century have been as influential as Star Wars-it has spawned sequels, imitations and an entire merchandising industry. As well as its main job of publicising this summer's new Star Wars film, the site does a sterling job of cataloguing its imaginary universe. There are downloadable trailers and products to buy.
Stylishly designed and invaluable for Mulder and Scully material, this site offers sections on the making of the programme, actor and character biographies, and an episode guide of the first six seasons. Information, books and videos are available, but you can't order online.
The free sample seminars at this site provide an excellent introduction to photography, and you can sign up for the full course if they suit you.
The simple design means you get straight to the point-purchasing wine online in a variety of currencies, including the euro. As well as special offers, wines are divided by region and year, for a truly flexible resource.
For some, Robert A Heinlein is the undisputed master of science fiction. This fan's Web page is a valuable source for enthusiasts of his articles and essays, as well as books.
Although this is little more than a
collection of links, it's an extensive and useful site. The Dance Directory is particularly interesting, covering all styles of dance from Scandinavian and Scottish to Flamenco and Folk.
The latest travel news and snow reports, performance clothing and tips for handling difficult terrain. Magazine URLs and a shop guide round off this easy-to-use site.
Run by Tom Pabst, this offers colourful and opinionated reviews of PC peripherals. Perhaps the most useful section is Tom's guides, which cover PC basics, although the author does leave some jargon unexplained.
Go to the 'home page'
© cspry@sghms.ac.uk. Department of Biochemistry & Immunology, St. George's Hospital Medical School, London SW17 0RE, UK. Phone +44 20-8725 5819; fax +44 20-8725 5821. This page was last updated on 06 April 2002 20:59:38.