Crime watch
In 1996, British artist Jenny Polak moved to New York to set up a studio in Lower Manhattan. Straight away she began noticing the Immigration and Naturalisation Service detention centre across the road from her new studio. Polak wanted to look inside to take some pictures but, as in the UK, such centres prohibit photography. But when a drawing of the inside of a detention centre arrived anonymously by fax, Polak had the idea of creating a website that would reveal the centre's hidden insides.
The result is Hard Place, an online collection of the interiors of 10 immigrant detention centres in the US. Polak used architectural software to process dozens of drawings from inmates or their legal teams. They make for some uncomfortable viewing, revealing countless windowless corridors and labyrinthine architecture. The site also offers legal documentation and some fairly harrowing audio clips.
The site echoes another ongoing, officially sanctioned project, 360degrees.org, which uses photography to record conditions in US prisons. But Hard Place is more than a documentary. As in the UK, the number of detainees in US detention centres is rising, thanks to increasingly harsh anti-immigration legislation. It all makes Hard Place one of the most politicised pieces of net.art available.
Water aid
Thames Water has linked up with Water Aid and promises to donate a further £50,000 if 2 million people click on its site before the end of the month (£150,00 has been raised already). The money will go towards providing safe drinking water in Africa and Asia for 10,000 people. There are only a few weeks left and 400,000 more clicks are still required to meet the target. It only takes a few seconds.
Cash in
Billions of pounds worth of unclaimed assets accumulate in the UK banks and pension funds every year. Now, a new company estimates that one in 12 of us has some kind of unclaimed inheritance. For a fee, it will search for it on your behalf. The service costs £10, but if the company finds nothing after six months, it will refund half your money.
Pogo not yoga
Punk Rock Aerobics is the latest fitness craze to turn up in New York. Apparently, participants bored with yoga are turning up and spending an afternoon energetically pogoing to a soundtrack of punk classics. You can only book classes in New York, though it would be devilishly easy to recreate in your front room. You can also get a taste of the "work out that rocks out" at the website. An acid house fitness club could be just around the corner
Lasers
While laser beams have long been part of the battlefield, airborne lasers fired from Boeing 747s have strictly been the stuff of science fiction _ which is why the site at www.airbornelaser.com looks such a set up. Sites advertising military hardware don't usually come in shades of sickly purple; nor do they donate whole sections to "fun stuff". But this appears to be no spoof. A quick check on Jane's Defence confirms that the site's creator, Team ABL, is a genuine outfit, so the kind of lasers associated with films such as Star Wars could be a reality.
Virtual training
This week, the government-backed Resource Discovery Network has launched more free online training in internet skills to students and lecturers in further education, and added 11 new "teach yourself" web tutorials.
The worm is...
Digitalcraft.org is a German site in English that catalogues many forms of digital culture. It already boasts decent sections on computer games - including a catalogue of computer emulators - and commercial website designs. Now the site has adopted the computer virus as cultural artefact and is holding an exhibition celebrating its dubious charms at the Museum of Applied Arts in Frankfurt. Named after the I Love You computer virus that wreaked havoc in 2000, the site catalogues the 30-year history of the computer virus. Thankfully all the viruses are held offline, but a number of essays on virus culture and computer language are there for your perusal.
Top trumps
Who is, or was the worst dictator of all time? Who murdered more of their own people than all others? Such twisted and ironical questions can be answered at the online Dictator Cards trump game. Jackal humour at its very best - just make sure you have Stalin on your side.
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