Val Cowan's Web World

1999 has been a good year for the web.

It was the year the internet finally became part of everyday life.

Web addresses appeared everywhere, from newspapers and advertising hoardings to our television screens at the end of soap operas.

Everyone is either online themselves or knows someone who is. Address books are now printed with a space for e-mail addresses.

E-commerce has taken a firm hold and shops enjoyed their first cyber-Christmas, with the online tills ringing loud and clear.

Online share dealing boomed in the last year, through companies such as Charles Schwab (www.schwab-europe.com).

Tony Blair learned to use the internet, and his government took steps to improve its own sites.

Older people became the fastest-growing section of net users, with organisations such as Age Concern (www.ace.org.uk) helping to ensure those over 50 had the same access to the web as schoolchildren.

1999 was also the year of NetAid, a nice idea to raise money to fight poverty, but a disappointing experience for anyone who tried to watch the show on a computer monitor. The quality just couldn't compare to watching it on television. Dancing hamsters were everywhere (www.hamsterdance.com) and even spawned a Christmas hit single for the Cuban Boys.

My own personal favourite sites of the year?

For sheer silliness, you can't beat the Surrey Stick Figure Theatre of Death (http://www.c-cat.demon.co.uk/theatre).

Fielding's Dangerfinder (http://www.fieldingtravel.com/df/index.htm) is a must for anyone planning a holiday off the beaten track, while Lonely Planet Online (http://www.lonelyplanet.com) is still the best for all travel-related information.

TV Cream (http://www.tv.cream.org) proved useful for settling arguments about classic television programmes.

And Web Pages That Suck (http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com) taught me more about what makes a good website than any courses on web design ever could.

Brothers take a gamble

THERE is no doubt that online gaming can be great fun. For those who have never tried it, it is possible to play multiplayer versions of games such as Quake over the internet, with opponents from all over the world.

But is online gaming a sport? Many people are beginning to think so - and moves are afoot to have it recognised as such. Two games-mad brothers from Brighton have secured £300,000 worth of funding to set up a governing body to ensure everyone plays by the same rules and sticks to the same standards.

Nick Loman, 20, and his 16-year-old brother Rupert were given the cash by an anonymous American millionaire. They have been organising international games events since 1997, but now they will be able to do it professionally.

They have set up the Online Gamers' Association, and intend to create a true world ranking system for the world's top players. Rupert said: "More and more people are treating this as a sport, and there's no reason why it shouldn't be regarded as one. It's not physical, but then neither really are fishing or snooker.

"Already, there are about four guys from this country who have given up quite well paid jobs to compete as games players internationally, so it's becoming a sport as we speak.

"Any proper sport needs a ranking system, leagues and also a governing body. At the moment, things are being run by people from their bedrooms, but the OGA aims to be that governing body."

Mosques show their faith

LANCASHIRE Council of Mosques has turned to the internet to broaden understanding of the Islamic faith. The council has launched a website giving details of the 60-plus mosques across the county.

It has information on how mosques developed in Lancashire, from the very first ones in terraced houses in the 1950s, to today's purpose-built centres which form striking additions to the Lancashire townscapes.

And there is also a useful A-Z guide to Islam.

http://www.lancashiremosques.org.uk

Green project

A MILLENNIUM Green being created at Waterside, Colne, will give locals a green "breathing space" where they can relax and where children can play. You can find out more about the project, backed by the Countryside Agency and the Millennium Commission, through its website: http://www.millgreen.freeuk.com

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