Valerie Cowan Surfs the Net

IF you have ever wondered where the science ends and the fiction begins in Star Trek, David Allen Batchelor might have the answer.

The American physicist has a web page outlining just how realistic some of the concepts in the scripts of Star Trek and the Next Generation programmes are.

Just how feasible is it that we would be able to tune into alien beings by using a universal language translator?

Find out at: http://ssdoo.gsfc.nasa.gov/education.just_for_fun/startrek.html

Celebration of justice

JUSTICE campaigners celebrated last week when Derek Bentley, hanged in 1953 after a policeman was shot dead, was pardoned.

Bentley, 19, was executed even although he had not fired the fatal shot.

The person who did, Christopher Craig, had been only 16 at the time and was too young for the death penalty.

Among those who felt a wrong had been put right was Simon Reap, a computer programmer from Warwickshire who has been following the case for a long time. Simon has dedicated some of his personal website to the case.

As well as carrying news of the pardon, it has background information, including Bentley's original police statement, newspaper articles and details of the songs about the miscarriage of justice.

WEBSITE:http://web1.pipemedia.net/sar/bentley/db_mainframe.html

All the best of the Fest!

EDINBURGH'S annual festival season is under way once more.

Details of the various events are available at http://www.go-edinburgh.co.uk.

You could set off for Scotland now, but you'd probably have problems finding a bed for the night as the city is over-run by culture vultures.

So why not enjoy some of the best of the fest from the comfort of your own computer desk?

The organisers are using the Internet to take the festival to a global level. Net users will be able to receive live broadcasts of the Edinburgh streets, bars and performances, as well as exclusive material from pop acts such as U2, The Rolling Stones, Radiohead and Blur.

Two large screens will be placed in the city's Princes Street Gardens, relaying a selection of video art and live performances which will then be fed directly to the Net throughout the 22-day festival at www.festivalrevue.com. Other webcams have been placed strategically around the city and will show live footage on the BBC website and a special comedy channel.

Virgin music will also be showcasing its bands on the Festival Revue stage, which again Internet users will be able to see.

To get the full experience you will need to download Real Video software which is free from www.real.com

A permanent webcam also features on the BBC website, showing the city of Edinburgh throughout the festival at www.bbc.co.uk/edfest.

And there are daily chats with celebrities at:

http://www.comedyzone.beeb.com/edinburgh98/

TOO busy to cook a meal for your loved one? Then send them one over the

Internet...or at least a picture of one.

Gourmet postcards, featuring a range of mouthwatering dishes, can be sent via e-mail from http://www.

mailameal.com/

The smarter investors

THE Internet is meaning new ways of working for the private investor.

Internet share dealing service Charles Schwab now has 5,000 customers in the UK using the Internet to buy and sell shares. The service, when combined with Schwab's automated telephone dealing service, means that one in five trades are now electronically transacted by customers themselves.

The company says it represents a new generation of technology, compared to Internet share trading systems which are essentially no more than electronic notice boards to which investors send buy and sell instructions by means of secure e-mail.

President of Charles Schwab Europe, Mark Collier, said: "The response is indicative of the increasing sophistication of the UK private investor and their willingness to use technology to make share dealing easier and more efficient.

"In the US Schwab has over 1.8 million on-line accounts with customer assets of $128 billion. The signs are that the UK market will follow suit and embrace the Internet as both a mainstream share dealing mechanism and as a resource for company research and information."

Details at http://www.schwab-world

wide.com/europe

FOUND something interesting on the Internet? Then send me an e-mail at 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.