the best of 2

Can you imagine life without the Internet? No more surfing, or online shopping, no

flash animations, no interactive tours, no learning, no playing, no email, no chat… our core method of communication would still be the telephone! But hidden away on the pages of the web, there is a special telephone. A telephone that transports you to far away worlds… The Phone is one of a growing number of really charming Flash experiences that simply have to be played, and then passed around to all your friends. The instructions are on screen and very simple to follow. Just pick up the handset, dial the 3 digit number you're given at the end of the help message, and then explore the screen with your mouse. Certain actions on your part will reveal the next number to dial. The whole thing only takes about 10 minutes, and I strongly advise that you have the sound on loud, as the audio effects are really atmospheric.

The Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy

OK, time for something a little bit more mentally challenging. If you fancy yourself as a bit of an armchair philosopher then you need to bookmark The Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy. Within these plain but well structured pages is a massive database of philosophical facts, from pre-Socrates right up to present day disciplines such as Metaphysics and Moral & Political philosophy. Like I said, the pages are plain, but in the quest for knowledge I guess most serious philosophers don't need pretty pictures to look at. Search for a key word, or click on a letter to see a list of names of the philosophers you can read information about. You can also click the timeline link to see a table of contents mapped out historically. Now - go forth and gain wisdom.

Next up, a suggestion sent in by Brendan Earley, who fancies himself as a bit of a

budding filmmaker. If you are just beginning to realise the possibilities for your digital camcorder, and would like to know more about how to get started with the basics in editing and creating your own DVDs, then this no-fuss website is packed with useful guides and tutorials that are absolutely free - and because it's supported by donations from happy surfers, there's not one annoying pop-up ad either. Let's hope that lasts. The guides are listed clearly in the left-hand navigation panel and are well written with the layman in mind, so no scary terminology and excessive use of acronyms… well, OK, there is an indulgence of acronyms to be found here, but that's computers for you I'm afraid. The guides are also nicely illustrated with screen shots so you can check you're looking at the right menus, and if you click the PDF button at the bottom of the page you can print the lesson out to keep. And all for free. Amazing.

I've said it before, and I'll probably say it again - the Internet is a wonderful place to expand your knowledge in countless different areas. The interactivity of modern websites makes learning so much more fun than it ever was for me in school, and consequently I'm learning about a much more diverse range of subjects than ever before. Making the Modern World was suggested by viewer Dan, and is perhaps one of the finest examples of this kind of learning zone I've seen all month. Backed by the Science Museum in London, it brings to life powerful stories about science and invention from the eighteenth century to today, explaining the development and global spread of modern industrial society and the way it effects all our lives. As well as being stuffed to the frames with all sorts of interesting historical information, it looks really slick, with a natural navigation style that runs almost as smoothly on dial-up as it does broadband, despite being quite picture heavy. Start by scanning your mouse along the image timeline, then click to reveal a heading and short description, and another click box for you to access the scene. Return to the timeline if you want by moving your cursor back over it. As well as appearing in the timeline, the scenes are also categorised under subject headings across the top. Wherever you see the Launch Media Rich Scene icon you can load up a scene containing pictures, movies, sounds and text based information about the subject. These are well worth a look, but if you're on a narrow band connection you might be better off going for the Text version instead.

Something a little more frivolous now. I remember doing personality quizzes in glossy magazines when I was a teenager, and they can be a lot of fun, but are obviously not designed to be taken seriously. If you like that kind of thing too, you might be interested in this page, which offers to tell you what Classic Movie you would be, or what Famous Leader. It's actually part of a website called Similar Minds, which runs many more serious personality tests, but these two are described as just a bit of fun. The tests are really easy to take. Click the arrow to choose the number of questions you want to answer - the more you choose, the more accurate the results will be - and then just enter your responses before clicking Submit Results for your analysis. I am apparently 'Sunset Boulevard' - a story about fame, success and avoiding being seen as ordinary - and 'JFK'! Very interesting.

People often ask where I get the websites from for inclusion in Webscape. Well, apart from the ones that you lot send in, here's one little secret I stumbled upon a few months ago and have been using ever since Stumbleupon is a brilliant downloadable toolbar that beds into your browser and gives you the chance to surf through thousands of excellent pages that have been stumbled upon by other web-users. First you need to click and download the toolbar software, then tell it what subjects interest you. Then you just start stumbling. Applying a thumbs up or thumbs down rating to the pages you visit will help the software bring up more relevant websites, and every now and then you're given the chance to add more specific categories to your interest, depending on what you've enjoyed so far. According to the download information, there are no embedded spies or trackers, and a quick scan before and after installation would seem to confirm this. After an hour or so surfing I did another scan, and had only picked up 2 tracker cookies, which is about normal to be honest - and clicking Menu, Help and then Uninstall removed the toolbar cleanly from my system, though I did reinstall it again straight away!