Nice One
You can now listen to most BBC music programmes whenever you want. Late last month, BBCi finally launched a "radio on demand" service for its national radio stations. Much of BBC speech radio has been "on demand" for some time, but wrangles with record companies prevented the BBC from archiving its music shows in the same way. Now, thanks to a new licensing deal, you can listen to shows such as John Peel, Mary Anne Hobbes and next month's Proms concerts on the web up to a week after transmission. You have to use the Beeb's (Real-based) media player and listen to two-hour shows in their entirety, though there is a "skip 15 minutes" button for PC users. You cannot skip tracks or repeat songs. The service has also prompted an overhaul of the Radio One site. It now offers regular online chats with Radio One DJs, exclusive music sessions and a new section for unsigned bands. www.bbc.co.uk/radio1 www.bbc.co.uk/proms
Tate in space
The Tate has unveiled a new online exhibition themed around ideas of space. The site is still in its early stages, but already there is space (sorry) for online debates, a competition to design an orbital gallery, and news of a "Tate satellite". The Tate says more projects will be added. www.tate.org.uk/space
With Vermeer
Jean Paul Sartre once said that to stand before Johannes Vermeer's View of Delft was to be transported through time into the Netherlands of the late 16th century. Now there is a website that allows you to explore the courtyards and canals that lie just beyond Vermeer's masterpiece. Dutch art historian Kees Kaldenbach and a team from the Polytechnic of Delft have built a virtual three-dimensional model of the golden age city using only drawings by Vermeer and four of his contemporaries. You can explore their work via five short downloadable movies. Each takes a static drawing as its starting point. The camera dives into the pictures, swooping past boats and under bridges into the heart of Vermeer's Delft. Everything is rendered in original pen and ink: nothing has been added to the originals. www.io.tudelft.nl/id-studiolab/ vermeer www.xs4all.nl/~kalden/verm/ walk/3D_walkENG.htm
Medium town
Launched during last month's Architecture Week, Medium Town is a year-long project to create a photographic directory of UK towns. The site aims to categorise the "uncelebrated architecture" we rarely notice. It has chosen nine categories - including leisure centres, parks and even the humble bus stop - to show what our town centres really look like. Only a few towns are online, but you can register yours and upload pictures. What's there shows how homogenous many of our town centres are. The site has the potential to work as a critique of contemporary urban design and offer a snapshot of town life in the early 21st century. www.mediumtown.com
Green blogs
Greenpeace has redesigned its website and added a number of features, including its first weblog. This joins a growing number of Green weblogs that have sprouted in the past few months. UK Environment is a neat digest of green issues, with a special fondness for nature. Elsewhere, Reiner Gärtner, an Oregon-based journalist, edits a good blog with a global perspective, while Blue Green gives news and opinions with an American accent. http://weblog.greenpeace.org www.ukenvironment.org www.greenswitch.org http://bluegreen.weblogs.com
Not all folks!
New Warner Brother cartoons featuring old favourites like Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck are online at the new Looney Tunes UK website. www.looneytunes.co.uk Share it Woodstock Systems is touting itself as a possible solution to the problems of file sharing music files. It uses a version of instant messaging that allows you to stream MP3s stored on your hard drive to friends. However, you cannot keep the files. It is hard to see the point, since instant messaging programs can already be used to share files. With AOL Instant Messenger, for example, you can get files from other users or send them via the Direct Connection feature of the standard message window. Either way, the recipient can save and replay the file. www.woodstocksystems.com www.aim.com
