Valerie Cowan Surfs the Net

THIS time next week there will be no escape - World Cup '98 will have started.

In the meantime there is plenty on the web to keep the most ardent fan happy.

The official site, in French and English, has information on all the teams, details of how they got to the tournament and an independent (or French?) view of what their chances are.

There is a calendar of matches, news and screensavers to download.

FIFA's World Cup site is one of the best.

There are full match reports for all games in the tournament's history and profiles of some of the best players.

It's also packed with mindboggling statistics - from the countries with the most red cards to the all-time top goal scorers.

Marvel at how El Salvador ever got as far as the World Cup - they have played six World Cup matches, lost six, scored one goal and conceded 22. The multi-lingual WC98 has a nice history and memories section with an in-depth story of each World Cup and a database of every international game played since 1944.

WEBSITES: http://www.france98.com/http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Sideline/8601/http://www.wc98.com/

Out of this world jobs - but only high fliers need apply

"ASTRONAUT wanted. Salary negotiable. Must have head for heights."

You would be lucky to find an ad like that at the Jobcentre - but you might just find that out of this world job on the Internet. Space Careers bills itself as "the one-stop reference source for finding jobs in the space industry". Although it doesn't actually carry vacancies, it does have contact details for many organisations and businesses working on space-related projects, including NASA and the European Space Agency.

WEBSITE: http://www.spacelinks.com/SpaceCareers/

If at first you don't succeed...

EVER been stuck for words? Then you should consult the online Book of Cliches.

There is a cliche for every occasion - for when someone broke your heart (It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all), for when you have done something really stupid (it seemed like a good idea at the time) or when you are trying hard without success (Rome wasn't built in a day).

WEBSITE:http://utopia.knoware.nl/users/sybev/cliche/

Time to join the revolution

A NEW Government department could be set up to deal with Internet issues. A new report, the Multi-Media Revolution, prepared by the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee, recommends that there should be a Department of Communications with its own Secretary of State.

One of its key responsibilities would be promoting Britain as a leading force across the Internet and other forms of broadcasting.

Earlier this year committee member Derek Wyatt MP called for every home to have a computer plus 10 hours of free net access every week, funded by the National Lottery.

If ever an MP has said something sensible, this is it! The Internet is a key tool for our society to use and should be used by everyone regardless of background.

Let's hope the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Chris Smith MP, agrees and takes the plan forward.

With other nations in the world including Singapore aiming to be totally "wired", Britain can't afford to be lagging behind the online revolution.

Full details of the committee and its report can be found on the Web

at http:/www.parliament.uk/commons/selcom/cmshome.htm/<

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