Valerie Cowan surfs the net

A WEBSITE designed by a lecturer at Blackburn College has won an award from the online version of a Belgian newspaper.

Le Soir chose Chris Jenkins' site as its "Site of the Day".

Chris's site is written entirely in French - so I'm not going to attempt to review it.

It was created to help his students locate resources for their French A-Level coursework on the French resistance.

He said: "I started it a couple of years ago in my own time. There are two versions - one on the college's intranet and the other I have made available to the world via my own website.

"As the coursework they need to produce is in French, I thought I would keep it all in the same language, but I am surprised a Belgian newspaper has picked up on it."

Chris and his colleagues have produced a lot of information for the college's intranet, to which only students have access.

http://partisans.ifrance.com

Keeping up with the Renauds

THE French have lagged behind the rest of Europe in terms of internet use for some time now.

This could well have something to do with the text-based information service Minitel, which was providing an excellent level of interactivity long before anyone had heard of the internet. Minitel terminals were easy to use, cheap, and could be plugged into the phone system just like a fax machine. Homes and businesses everywhere had them.

You can understand the resistance to the net, which requires an expensive, bulky computer, costs more money, and is a lot harder to use.

But things are changing across the Channel, and the French organisation in charge of internet domain names is leading the way.

Afnic, as it is called, recently announced plans for two new French domain names, .com.fr and .nom.fr. The first one is clearly for use by businesses, but the second is more interesting.

The only people who can register a .nom.fr domain are French nationals who can prove their identity.

The domain has been set up for exclusive use by families and individuals, who would set up sub-domains within it, such as renaud.nom.fr. Then all members of the Renaud family can have e-mail addresses at that domain.

Ultimately, says the foresighted Afnic team, the Renaud family could have e-mail addresses for their home heating system and microwave oven, and instruct them to switch on or off just by sending an e-mail.

Of course there are many Renauds in France, just as there are many Joneses in the UK. Popular names like this will have to be modified with additional letters or numbers.

Hubby's web chats get the chop

IF you think you might be spending a bit too long on the web, learn a lesson from a case in America. According to police in Grafton, Ohio, Kelli Michetti was so upset by her husband's incessant online chatting that she attacked the computer terminal with a meat cleaver.

Mrs Michetti, 29, first tried to cut the power on the computer then attacked it as her husband fended her off, officers said.

She told police her husband had been online until 4am and had spent the last few days talking to women.

She pleaded no contest to charges of domestic violence and resisting arrest and was fined $200 - £127.

Gordon's novel site

BLACKBURN-born author Gordon Houghton, featured in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph last week, has set up his own website.

The site is called The Burrow and includes excerpts from his two published novels, The Dinner Party and The Apprentice. You can download them in Word or plain text formats.

There are also pages with useful links to organisations dealing with self-injury - the subject of The Dinner Party - and infertility, which is a problem Gordon and his partner face.

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/

the_word_factory/index.html

Wedding congratulations - by special delivery

POSH 'n' Becks should have received virtual congratulations from around the world at their wedding on Sunday. City 2000 was offering the chance for web users to sign a virtual telegram for the couple with the promise that it would be delivered to them on their big day. The company delivered a similar telegram, signed by thousands of well-wishers, to HRH Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones on the morning of their wedding.

http://www.city2000.com

Seen something interesting on the web? Let me know. Send an e-mail to vcowan@lancashire.newsquest.co.uk

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.