Val Cowan Surfs the Net

HUMAN rights organisation Amnesty International has launched a new web site called Rhetoric Vs Reality, which aims to expose another site Amnesty says is presenting "misleading information" about Tunisia.

The Amnesty site, http://www.amnesty.

org/tunisia, uses frames to show the Tunisian "propaganda" site at

http://www.amnesty-

tunisia.org, which Amnesty says is not presenting an accurate view of human rights in the country.

Amnesty said: "The official Tunisian web site has nothing to do with Amnesty International. It was created by supporters of the Tunisian government in an attempt intentionally to mislead the public.

"It is yet another example of the extent to which the Tunisian authorities are prepared to go in order to hide the reality of their human rights record. The Tunisian authorities appear to not want their own citizens to read about alternative view points."

By making good use of frames, Amnesty has created a tour of the site it is unhappy with, together with comments about each page in turn held in the frame.

Sweeney on site

THEY were the coolest cops in the country in the 1970s.

John Thaw and Dennis Waterman were The Sweeney - who spent most of their time chasing criminals at high speed round the streets of London. The series has been repeated recently on Channel Five and it has an entertaining official website at http://www.thesweeney.com/swfmain.htm.

The best bits are the rhyming slang dictionary, so you can work out exactly what they were on about, the style guide which shows you how to turn your gaff into something as modern and luxurious as Regan's flat and details of the now-famous faces who appeared in the show.

I wonder what the Guv'nor would have made of it?

Love made E-asy

WE'VE all heard stories about people falling in love via e-mail.

At the weekend Ramsbottom accountant Andy Lawson wed American Nicolette Carmeci after they met on the internet.

Now E-mail romances have even made it to the big screen - in the form of the movie You've Got Mail.

The film's official website is worth a look.

You can read about the making of the film, hear writer and co-director Nora Ephron talk about working with its stars, Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, and download desktop patterns, icons and e-mail postcards to send. One slightly unusual feature is a virtual tour of the Upper West Side of New York, where the movie was filmed.

See http://www.youvegotmail.com.

Clean up your act

THE National Bag It and Bin It campaign aims to stop nasty sewage-related debris washing up on Britain's coastline and riverbanks.

The campaign urges people not to flush disposable items, such as sanitary products, down the loo - but to bag them and bin them instead.

Its website (http://www.wsa.co.uk) has the latest news on campaign activities and links to other environmentally friendly sites.

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

COLLECTABLES of all kinds can be bought over the internet at AuctionHunter, Newsquest's new online auction service. Find it at http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk.

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