Valerie Cowan Surfs the Net

PARENTS worried children will spend all day playing online games and surfing for rude sites if they get internet access should be reassured by the results of a new survey.

The report, by NOP Family, revealed that almost one in three children aged seven to 16 had used the internet at least once, a quarter of them at home.

Two in three of those had used it for educational purposes, with more than 40 per cent visiting education sites online and nearly half using it to find information for school projects and homework.

Barbie Clarke, director of NOP Family, said: "These findings reveal a high level of familiarity with the internet among British children. However, they also clearly suggest that children see the internet more as an information source or a way of communicating with others, rather than just as a game."

Anoraks for auction

ANORAKS of the net-surfing kind can bid for anoraks of the clothing kind online in a fundraising auction.

First Direct bank is launching the anorak auction on its website to raise money for Shelter, the national homeless charity.

Around 30 celebrities have donated anoraks so far, from Ewan McGregor's smart blue Paul Smith jacket worn at the Empire Awards to Robbie Williams' navy anorak "which has obviously been worn many times".

Other anoraks have been donated by golfer Nick Faldo, jockey Willie Carson and psychics Uri Geller and Mystic Meg. Bids are being accepted online through First Direct's website.

Website: http://www.firstdirect.co.uk

Site sure to go down a storm

THE internet makes the world a very small place - and this site brings all of the major events which affect it together.

Every week the Planet Diary records geological, meteorological, biological and environmental news from around the globe.

Whether it is floods in Argentina or an outbreak of dengue fever in Indonesia, there are details in the Planet Diary.

There is also background information on many subjects and links to other useful sites. A calendar page details worldwide environmental awareness days and other events, such as the start of the hurricane season.

Website:

http://www.planetdiary.com

Insider view of Summit

FRESH from the excitement of hosting the Eurovision Song Contest, Birmingham will welcome some of the world's most powerful people this weekend.

The G8 Summit, which runs from Friday to Sunday, will be attended by the heads of state or government from the world's leading industrialised nations.

The summit has its own website which offers background information in the run-up to the event and which will be updated throughout the talks. It also contains a visitor's guide to Birmingham - so if Mr Clinton and co get fed up discussing crime and employment, they can always call in to the National Sea Life Centre or Cadbury World.

Website:

http://birmingham.g8summit

.gov.uk

You're not alone!

ON a global theme, anyone who has ever felt lonely can take comfort from a website which shows they are definitely not alone.

The US Bureau of the Census makes a calculated guess at the number of people on the planet every day.

Currently you are sharing the world with around 5,900,000,000 others. Website:

http://www.census.gov/cgi

-bin/ipc/popclockw

Indoors if it's raining

FED up playing golf in the rain?

Then why not follow the example of one golf fan who set up a miniature golf course in his basement as a Christmas present for his partner.

Mika's Down Under Miniature Golf Course had nine holes, each of which could be played in two different ways - and it has its own website: http:www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/wall/course/

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