Metafilter
Metafilter is a long-running "collaborative weblog" where any one of its thousands of members can post an entry, before a lively debate kicks off underneath it. Its large, net-savvy membership has helped ensure it is one of the most intelligent debates on the net. For some time, membership had been closed because its founder could not afford additional servers or bandwidth to serve more users. The good news is that memberships are open again, at a price. Pay at least $10 via PayPal or Amazon's Honor system and you can get posting rights. The membership, once apparently stuck at just over 14,000, has already increased to 15,000+, so get your application in quick before it is closed again. www.metafilter.com
www.paypal.com
Poor laws
Feel a little sorry for corporate lawyers? Suspect they're just a bit maligned, doing a tricky job in difficult times? Wipe that feeling clean away by reading the story of Dave, aka Davezilla, a weblogger now incurring the corporate wrath of Toho Co. The chaps at Toho - no, we hadn't heard of them either - own the rights to Godzilla and the cartoon/film character's "likeness". Dave has, in their eyes, committed two crimes: he has appended their "zilla" to his name, and he has a little, gaunt-looking dragon as his blog logo. Cue lawyers' letters and uproar in Blogistan as a popular citizen prepares his defence. Which includes the fact that dictionary.com includes two definitions for "zilla". www.davezilla.com
Slashdot
Size him up
The silly season is a good time for Condomi, the (no points for guessing) condom manufacturer, to release its risqué "sizemograph", which claims to estimate the size of a man's penis from various more visible dimensions: the size of his hands, nose and feet. On that basis, one newspaper has already declared that David Beckham must be "small". "It has been scientifically tested and proved to be accurate," a spokeswoman claimed last week. Best visit the site and make up your own mind: your correspondent would like to say little more, other than to point out the words of disclaimer at the foot of the results window. "Most scientists assert there is no relationship between penis size and that of someone's feet, hands or nose". So there. www.sizehimup.co.uk
Norway ads up
You might be surprised to learn this, but the net can be extremely good news for (relatively) obscure Norwegian dance music acts. Just ask Royksopp, the now-less-obscure Norwegian dance music act, who had their music featured in the recent O2 TV ads for multimedia messaging. Once, to find out what track was used in an ad, you had to rely on some bloke in the pub telling you, or a DJ mentioning it on the radio. Now, you can head online to Commercial Breaks and Beats, and they'll likely already have it listed - along with a link to buy the music. This partly explains why Royksopp appeared in the charts last week, and why we'll probably be hearing a lot more from them in the months to come. www.commercialbreaksandbeats.co.uk
www.royksopp.com
Gimme gizmo
If you can't wait for our weekly fix of gadget news, help is at hand. Nick Denton and Peter Rojas (who, among many other things, both write for Online) have launched an "experimental" weblog devoted to the gadget world called Gizmodo. It is experimental because this is a commercial weblog, yet few people are blogging for fame and fortune, and neither partner is sure how much, if any, revenue will roll in. At least the nature of the medium - the weblog - means they are staking very little. www.Gizmodo.com
www.nickdenton.org/archives/2002_08_01_archive.htm#85344422
Soccer sense
Anyone who has played football on public pitches will know the scene: a bunch of small children hunting, in a pack, for a muddy football, while parents shout words of criticism, abuse and even - occasionally - encouragement from the touchlines. Now the English Football Association is trying to encourage dads and - oh yes - mums to behave a little better. The FA wants them to offer their offspring more constructive advice than "get 'im haaard", by encouraging them to qualify for an online "certificate" in responsible soccer mom and pop skills. It's a tough job they've given themselves. http://soccerparents.thefa.com
New & noted
· Cold Dark Matter, an online exhibition: www.tate.org.uk/colddarkmatter
· Crisis in Colombia:
http://web.amnesty.org/web/content.nsf/pages/gbr_colombia
· Phone covers galore:
www.expresstelecom.co.uk
Six of the best Bank holiday weekend
National Trust
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/
Notting Hill Carnival
www.btinternet.com
Reading & Leeds Festivals
www.bbc.co.uk/radio1
Alton Towers
www.alton-towers.co.uk
Find Eden
www.edenproject.com
Chaos?
www.theaa.com
