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Bill Pannifer
Monday 24 January 2000 01:00 GMT
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Scottish Virtual Pub http://www.scottishpubs.co.uk/

Scottish Virtual Pub http://www.scottishpubs.co.uk/

Pints left at thebar in this North-of-the-border cybertavern have the odd habit of drainingthemselves without human intervention. One touch with the cursor and down itgoes, while the staff and customers look on. A dozen or so breweries havesponsored this glossy-looking pub, which comes complete with background chatterand a rather repetitious disco happening in the corner. At first sight, nothingtoo Scottish here, but a closer look reveals poetic contributions from RobertLouis Stevenson and Robbie Burns, as well as details (though no recipe) for thehistoric and supposedly hallucinogenic Heather Ale. Games called TennentsShoot-Out and McEwans Putt-a-Pint are availale in Shockwave form, along with somesuggested food and drink combos: pale ale goes well with sushi, it seems.

Beer and Pubs UK http://www.blra.co.uk/

Carrot andbanana cake with a lager-powered icing is on the menu at this site from theBrewers and Licencees Retail Association. More serious new pages at this overviewof the UK industry cover Beer and the Environment, and Drinking and Driving,targeted at schools and at pub owners. Elsewhere, a history of beer, andfascinating descriptions (though, not, alas, online versions) of more games, fromdarts and backgammon to more imaginative thrills such as Conga Cuddling, wherehuman skittles are knocked over by a five foot eel swung on a rope, and RhubarbThrashing, with the contestants blindfolded and standing in dustbins.

ComplainDomain http://www.complaindomain.com/

TheAutomatic Complaints Letter Generator may be a Web classic by now, but this newversion is serious, setting out to liberate us from what it calls "Britishreserve" and persuade us to stand up for our rights as consumers. For amembership fee (£20 for 18 months and one letter of complaint) this site enablesoutraged customers to make a nuisance of themselves by proxy, sending thenecessary letters, with what they hope will be the increased "clout" of aComplainDomain letterhead, and following up with precisely targeted phone callsand faxes.

Teens in E-Biz http://library.thinkquest.org/28188/i

This site aimed at aspiring teenage Web whizzkids certainlycovers all its bases - the site map is available in eight different languages,including Portugese and Serbo-Croat. Unafraid to start with the basics, it evenexplains how to pronounce entrepreneur ("on-tra-pra-nur"), though with luck thehip alternative proposed here - "trep" - won't really catch on as intended.Winners in last year's ThinkQuest Web design contest, these particular15-year-old, er, treps come from Texas and Jamaica and advice ranges from theobvious - get a T-shirt with your logo on it - to the lowdown on CGI interfacesfor online purchasing. Much of the more advanced info is in the form of links toother sites, but these do include such attractions as WhizzTeens, and ChickenSoup For The Teenage Soul.

Society for thePreservation of the Other 25 Letters of the Alphabet http://www.persistence.com/e-nough/

E-Teens would be found egregious by this site campaigningagainst the use of the E-prefix itself in such coinages as "E-business", which itcalls a desecration of the English language. A bit late to complain about that onthe Web, one might think, but the overall message is clear - e-nough (already).The site makes a case for other, underused vowels such as "O" Ñ "a perfectexclamation of any and all emotions". Georges Perec and Gilbert Adair addintellectual support but the whole thing is somewhat undermined by being broughtto you by Persistence Software, pround creator of "the" engine for E-commerce".

Blow Up Your Boss http://www.detonate.cjb.net

This "conspiracy to detonate the workplace" allowsthe downtrodden worker to select up to nine profiles, personalise them with thenames of senior management, align them in the sights, and then watch them go upin smoke. Apparently this internet executive toy was created by a 20 year oldsoftware worker after being "bounced" out of his company. Perhaps more catharticthan hitting pop-up moles with mallets, or even dispatching hamsters inmid-dance.

Send interesting, quirky or, at a pinch, cool site recommendations to websites@dircon.co.uk

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