Avatar chat
Internet relay chat (IRC) became easier when "talking heads" arrived: you could have a face for each member of the conversation, even if it wasn't their real face. Now Lake Clear Interactive, has produced IRC Toons, a Windows program that can be downloaded free from www.irctoons.com It lets you create characters for use on IRC systems. They can also be animated. Similar "avatars" are being used on Worlds Away and at VirtuallyDating.com, now being tested in Vancouver in Canada. This virtual playground for singles, will be aimed mainly at North Americans, but anyone can join in it is also free during testing.
Wizard fun
Harry Potter? Who? OK, he's not in the Laetitia Casta class, in web terms, but those hooked on the adventures of JK Rowling's boy wizard there are a few sites worth looking at. Jenna's Unofficial Harry Potter Fan Club site offers The Encyclopedia Potterica, and there's another unofficial site, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, nearby. Potter publishers have official sites in the US and the UK. The latter includes the opening chapter of Harry Potter And The Chamber of Secrets to get visitors hooked.
Doctor on call
There's a rash of health sites on the web and Surgery Door ) is one of the more ambitious British examples. It has 60 sections with more than 5,000 core pages, details of all local health services, an on-line pharmacy, and a "resident" doctor: practising GP Dr Mark Porter. There's a lot to dislike: it uses frames, it's too fussy, it's horribly slow, and the shortage of alt-tags (labels) means you have to wait for graphics to download. It will be interesting to see if the similar-sounding NetDoctor - launched this week - does a better job.
Another new site, Alive2000, is devoted to "health, fitness and lifestyle". It provides details of more than 800 fitness clubs and centres, and 350 of those are offering free trial workouts to Alive2000 visitors. Unfortunately you have to register to access the website. Finally Allcures claims to be the UK's first full-service online pharmacy. Now you can get a subscription filled or buy medicines from home, or even from your sickbed - and benefit from special offers and a reward points scheme.
Yep
Yep is a new "power tool" for Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 and 5 web browsers. The software provides instant chat with other Yep users at the same site at the same time, has a "follow-me" feature so "Yepsters" can lead one another around, and lets users post reminder notes to themselves on the web. Yep keeps personal surfing statistics (time spent online etc) and also feeds information to Yep.com, WebSideStory's portal. Yep.com rates websites by quality and popularity, with frequently bizarre results. The Yep plug-in can be downloaded from http://get.yep.com
Sales pitch
The German online auction house, Ricardo.de, has just opened a site in the UK at www.goricardo.co.uk as part of its global expansion plans. What makes Ricardo.de different is that it features 10 hours of live-moderated auctions daily. The UK site isn't very active at the moment, but the company says it will be promoted this month, and ultimately "it aims to become the largest single point of trading in the UK". The first items to be auctioned when the site goes live, it says, include Formula One racing cars and outfits, Lennox Lewis's boxing gloves, a Tiger Moth biplane, and a one-man submarine.
Join the crew
Take one! Two new websites are now fighting for the affections of Britain's TV and film production workers. Ultimatefilm.com is taking a businesslike approach with an online diary and website-to-mobile phone link, and makes you register. Produxion.com is livelier and looks more like a portal. Its news stories and other features certainly offer more to the casual visitor.
CD giving
Music lovers can now make a donation to charity while buying CDs online via the Music Aid website at www.musicaid.org The site links to two British and two American CD shops. The website also provides details of the World Music Foundation, a registered charity founded in London in 1997.
Six of the best Virtual cinemas
Yahoo! for shorts
www.broadcast.com
Tea-break fillers
www.atomfilms.com
Mini-movie community
www.ifilm.net
More like television
www.pseudo.com
Digital Film Festival
www.dfilm.com
First-fun shorts
www.thebitscreen.com
