Nazi trial
It was meant to be the conclusion of a three-month trial, but late last Friday, the judge in the Yahoo/Nazi memorabilia case in the French courts ruled that what everybody needed was more time.
The dispute is about the selling of Nazi flags and other memorabilia on Yahoo - the English language portal hosted in the US but available across the world. The French authorities are seeking to force Yahoo! to stop French citizens from gaining access to Nazi artefacts on the US site.
More information, intended to encourage the exchange of ideas about the legal issues arising out of the case, can be found at www.gyoza.com/lapres/html/yahen.html.
Six appeal
Multi-media artists Hexstatic have just launched a website at www.hexstatic.co.uk to help promote their new album, Rewind.
Hexstatic are principally musicians, but ones that have done more to embrace multimedia than any other. Their performances are more like watching a digital film than a live act, and their new album comes with a CD-rom that allows users to remix the tracks from the album.
The new website is very interactive and features much of their new work: a kind of slowed down techno that samples heavily from early electronic toys and arcade games of the 80s. The site also features a virtual Stylophone, a full discography, video clips, and a playable version of Asteroids.
Carnival!
Next weekend, west London will go mad as the Notting Hill Carnival takes to the streets. Before you go you might like to visit one of the many sites that are already up and running. Although www.nottinghillcarnival.net.uk, didn't seem to be quite ready at the time of writing, the site at www.portowebbo.co.uk is better, and the carnival's official photographer, Tim Holt, has his very own site at www.matrixsr.demon.co.uk.
Mutantwatch
Mutantwatch, promoting the new X-Men movie that opens in the UK tomorrow, is the third such site to appear. Someone wants to replicate the kind of hype that made the Blair Witch Project such a success: www.mutantwatch.com works as a mock-up of Senator Kelly's campaign site, Kelly being a character in the film who tries to build a political career out of persecuting mutants. Using QuickTime movies and other materials, the site becomes an online ad campaign that seeks to warn America of the dangers of mutants, and only rarely betrays any sign that it is connected to a film.
The other sites, mentioned here on July 27, are www.virgin.net/x-men and www4.x-men-the-movie.com.
Euro fighter
Captain Euro is a character created by the EU to help children learn about the institution. However, not everyone sees Euro as a hero. One group of US artists reckons the Captain is propaganda, and has set off to England to challenge the creators. A record of their confrontation can be found at www.geocities.com/the_yes_men.
Hot course
The Ucas clearing system is a safety net for students who failed to get the grades they needed to get into the university they chose. It can also be a very bewildering one. Thankfully there are now websites that can help them out. Recently launched is www.hotcourses.com and don't forget the Guardian's service at http://clearing2000.guardianunlimited.co.uk.
In cockney
Ever wanted to change your favourite website into another language? Go to http://rinkworks.com/dialect , type or paste in the address of your favourite website and - stone the crows - it is translated into cockney.
Click help
Computers for charities is another charity website. You visit the site and click on the donate button, and one of the site's sponsors donates a penny towards computer equipment for charities.
New and noted
A new site promoting fair trade and campaigning against child labour is at www.shopasiabazaar.com; iPublish.com is a new e-book publisher from Time Warner, and www.FindStolenArt.com lets you... find stolen art.
Six of the best US election race
Al Gore official site
George W Bush official site
Reform Party official site
www.reformparty.org
US interactive town hall
Parody site
www.gwbush.com
Gore's gaffes on video
www.mediaresearch.org/news/goregaffesvideo.html
