Thought provoking
The Adam Smith Institute claims to be the first UK thinktank to launch its own weblog, although the Work Foundation's iSociety weblog would probably argue with that assertion. This multiple-authored online journal with a passion for free markets is likely to provoke debate among Guardian readers: early posts include a dressing down for No Logo author Naomi Klein and left-wing satire.
www.adamsmithblog.org
www.lucidcafe.com/library/96jun/smith.html
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Smith
Weather chart
What will the weather be like in 2050? You can help to predict climate change by harnessing the power of your PC at school, home or work. Climateprediction.net, the world's largest climate prediction experiment, is following in the footsteps of the SETI@home project by asking people to run a unique version of the Meteorological Office's climate model.
www.climateprediction.net
www.metoffice.com
http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu
Political intrigue
Could K Street be the next Sopranos or Six Feet Under for HBO? This reality TV series, which delves into the murky world of political consultants, premieres on US television this week. If the success of other HBO shows in the UK is anything to go by, K Street could be on its way across the pond before long. The HBO site offers audio interviews with directors George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh and a chance to sign up for the K Street newsletter.
www.hbo.com/kstreet
Beefier blogger
Blogger has announced some new features that should make life easier for users of its free weblog hosting facility. Spellchecking, saving drafts and a daily archiving option are among the improvements. Beefing up Blogger's features also means that the paid-for Blogger Pro is no longer to be offered as a separate product.
http://new.blogger.com
Pool of money
The Victoria Baths in Manchester is celebrating this week after gaining £3.4m in restoration money for winning the BBC's Restoration programme. The baths' website includes a virtual tour of the now-derelict building, art projects, and archive photographs from the pools' heyday. More memories of the Longsight area of Manchester, where the baths are situated, are available at Manchesterhistory.net.
www.victoriabaths.org.uk
manchesterhistory.net/longsight.html
www.bbc.co.uk/history/programmes/restoration
Hit recording
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is asking for signatures for its online petition condemning the Recording Industry Association of America's moves to sue music downloaders. The petition, which will be delivered to the US Congress, easily passed its goal of 10,000 names and is on its way to having more than 30,000 backers.
www.eff.org/share/petition
www.riaa.com
Site to sew
The VidaVerde seed company's 2004 catalogue is now available online, featuring rare, unusual and mainly organic fruit and vegetable seed varieties such as white beetroot, Amaranth and tomatillos. The site is offering online ordering and payment via PayPal or Nochex for the first time.
www.vidaverde.co.uk www.hdra.org.uk/hsl
Hung question
Is he really in that glass box? You can watch David Blaine's latest stunt live on the Channel 4 website, provided you are prepared to stump up £4.95 a month to subscribe to its 4Broadband service. However, you don't have to pay to join the debate on the website's forum on whether Blaine really is starving himself for 44 days while hanging from Tower Bridge.
www.channel4.com/davidblaineqs/q3.html
www.davidblaine.com
New & noted
P2P telephony
Rugby World Cup
International Talk Like a Pirate day
Six of the best: Dictionaries and reference books
Computer terms
www.webopedia.com
Crosswords
www.oneacross.com
Translating
http://allwords.com
English slang
www.peevish.co.uk/slang
Scrabble
www.hasbro.com/scrabble/home.cfm
Rhyming words
www.rhymer.com
