Websites: ThinkQuest; Science Year; All my life for sale; Sneaker freaks; Film Wise; Webcorp

ThinkQuest www.thinkquest.org

The annual student Web design contest recently announced this year's winners at a ceremony at Cern in Geneva. Overall Best of Contest went to Sighting the First Sense, a US/Singaporean high school co-production with always relevant interactive displays: click and drag to see the Doppler effect in action. Of the others, copyright hounds seem to have spared the German Harry Potter site, Hogwarts.online, where a little owl attaches itself to your cursor as you explore. Meanwhile, the UnWritten offers an online kit for creating photo-stories from family snaps.

Science Year www.scienceyear.com

State-sponsored science at this gung-ho early version of the site for Science Year, a government initiative launching in September. The idea is to persuade young people to take an interest in a science career. Fast-forward to the future, with a Billie Piper extolling the virtues of laughter: get the Science Pack to find out more.

All my life for sale www.allmylifeforsale.com

This hard-up postgraduate in Iowa City is selling the entire contents of his life, in an online housesale which has morphed into a conceptual artwork. Take a Quicktime tour of John Freyer's flat before making eBay bids for selected items, lovingly described in the context of the vendor's own life. An old basketball shirt is still up for grabs, along with a half-eaten cheeseburger, dinner dates with former girlfriends and the chance to take Freyer's place at his own birthday party. Down the line, purchasers may be subjected to visits from the former owner.

Sneaker freaks www.sneakerfreaks.co.uk

Bad sneakers, Eighties-style, at this UK shrine to vintage trainers. Not as odiferous as you might think ­ there are no secondhand items, just what it calls "unworn deadstock". Try an Adidas Race Walk from 1984, a Nike Compass Rose (1988) or the newly trendy white stippled Vision in canvas from 1986.

Film Wise www.filmwise.com

A film quiz site that emphasises the visual ­ name that movie corpse, guess at scenes as re-created by a doodling five-year-old. The fun continues at the online store ­ FilmWise designer kilts and shower rings are on sale, both sadly out of stock ­ and at the reviews page, with plaudits from both George Bush and Charles Manson.

Webcorp www.webcorp.org.uk

This academic variant on the search engine turns the Web into a language-teaching database. Results from AltaVista, Yahoo! and elsewhere are visited in-depth to extract examples (or "concordance lines") of specifiable length, showing how a particular term or phrase is used in context. Devised by a Liverpool University research unit, the idea is to replace dedicated teaching packages and provide up-to-date examples of usage.

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