Wh@t to Surf

Movies

Fennec Awards Database (awards.fennec.org) So much for that old chestnut about art being its own reward. In the Fennec universe (named for a kind of fox), it's all about the statuettes. Charlotte, N.C., Web designer Chrystfferssen Maakorey's meticulous, cleverly designed database indexes by title, year, and organization all the films that have won Oscars, Golden Globes, Guild awards, festival honors, and citations from critics' societies within the past six years. Maakorey also lists older films -- but includes no data on them. What the Fennec?! B+

Hollywoodonset.com (www.hollywoodonset.com) Creator Farzin Toussi and his staff use their ''knowledge and connections...to bring you an unsurpassed look into the world of filmmaking.'' That means video interviews with the actors, directors, and technicians of such films as the upcoming Keanu Reeves thriller Driven (currently titled The Watcher). In the Process section, filmmakers like Time Code's Mike Figgis discuss the creative process, while in the iStudio area, users will soon collaborate on a short film. For augmenting solid content with evident celeb access, this site deserves a green light. B+

ReelUniverse.com (www.reeluniverse.com) Given the dreck that some major studios are releasing these days (Battlefield Earth, anyone?), you could do worse than to scope out such festival-tested indie films as, say, the pig comedy Scrapple, or the pool-hall drama Chalk, or the beach documentary Surfer Girl. This L.A.-based enterprise, dreamed up by cinephile Babak Forutanpour, displays synopses, reviews, and streaming-video trailers or clips for each film -- then provides video or DVD buyers with contact info for each of the movies, so all profits go directly to the filmmaker. Now that's a home box office. B+

Wiseguys: The GoodFellas Website (goodfellasweb.com) ''Mob connection'' takes on a whole new meaning: With this online homage to GoodFellas, Missouri college student and Web designer Derek Soviak shows his respect for one of Martin Scorsese's finest. Sporting a very Mob-worthy black-and-gray color scheme, the site features dozens of quick-loading stills (plus the Morrie's Wig Shop commercial!), audio files of dialogue, a Cosa Nostra glossary, a synopsis of the facts behind the film, and a page of amusing trivia (for example, the site claims that Scorsese asked Joe Pesci to write and direct ''the 'funny' scene''). Made for Mafia maniacs. B -- Caren Weiner Campbell

MOVIES BEST OF BREED cigarettes & coffee (www.ptanderson.com) Greg Mariotti's sprawling cybershrine spans the career of director Paul Thomas Anderson (above, right, with Tom Cruise), from his early short films through Boogie Nights to last year's Magnolia. Along the way you'll find quotes, trailers, deleted scenes, score info, DVD stats, and ruminations on Magnolia's ''much-talked-about Masonry images.'' But wait, there's more: a bio, links to magazine articles, photos of Anderson with girlfriend Fiona Apple, and trivia tidbits. (According to Mariotti, Ted Turner and Jane Fonda sent Anderson a note telling him how much they liked Boogie Nights.) A

Family

The American Midway (www.americanmidway.com) If your idea of a roller coaster is driving through the streets of San Francisco, go cower with the wussies at the cotton candy booth. Featuring descriptions of the fastest, highest, most stomach-rattling steel-and-wood-framed rides, this site from Birmingham, Ala.-based meteorologist (and veteran of almost 400 roller coasters) Jim Westland isn't for the hurl-prone. Tossing around terms like G force and airlift like, well, cookies, Westland waxes poetic on everything from the over-200-foot Desperado in Nevada to France's Tonnerre De Zeus (''[do] not miss the opportunity to ride this great woodie''). A

Camps.com (www.camps.com) If you want to banish -- uh, we mean send -- your bored bundle of joy to sleep-away, horseback riding, or cheerleading camp this summer, this is the site for you. The biggest draw is a search engine that lets you select camps by weekly cost, location, specialty, and gender, making it simple to locate that girls-only Bible camp in the Adirondacks that offers archery. But the page -- administered by nonprofit organization Palos Verdes on the NET -- also features invaluable sections on what to pack (bug repellent!) and how to prevent homesickness. You'll be getting requests for contraband candy before you know it. A-

Squirtworld (squirt.xtra.co.nz) This punchy website for the popular New Zealand kiddie show, Squirt, mixes colorful factoids and cheeky Down Under humor to help young surfers -- gasp -- actually learn about science. Guided by cutesy animated hosts, visitors can learn everything from the useful (where do hiccups come from?) to the merely irritating (step-by-step instructions on how to make ''the cool farty noise'' with your armpits, complete with illustrations and scientific explanations). We knew air pressure was good for something.... B+ -- Clarissa Cruz

FAMILY BEST OF BREED School Menu (www.schoolmenu.com) This colorful site offers school cafeteria menus from coast to coast, and does its best to make institutional cuisine at least sound appetizing. The results vary: Miami students feast on ''Broccoli Normandy,'' while their less lucky counterparts in New Orleans are subjected to a ''Commodity Vegetable,'' and Orange, Calif., kiddies are warned that their burgers ''may contain pork.'' No matter, the site also offers tips on how to maintain a balanced diet -- with or without ''nautical-shaped fish nuggets.'' A-

Music

Gigmania.com (www.gigmania.com) If you're going to compete with Pollstar.com in the concert directory market, you'd better be ready to do two things: (1) match that behemoth's scope and polish, and (2) establish a grassroots, band-friendly oeuvre. Gigmania succeeds on both counts. Its 5,500-city, 70,000-artist searchable database is loaded with free downloads, reviews, and links to CD purchase sites and band home pages. What's more, the listings are international, so you can mark your calendar the next time Fengzi plays Secret Garden in Guangzhou, China. A-

The Lodging House: A Newsies Fansite (www.geocities.com/kidblink_1899) The 1992 musical Newsies was the redheaded stepchild of Disney's Alan Menken-driven songwriting dynasty, which also produced The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. Now, thanks to Alyson Lipski of Newark, Del., this acquired taste lives again on your own PC via sound clips, screen ornaments, and even an elaborate discourse on the 1899 newsboy strike that inspired the movie. Added treat: stills of Christian ''American Psycho'' Bale stalking the streets of New York City as...a singing, dancing paperboy. Scary. A-

Live Music Channel (www.livemusicchannel.com) Heaps of concert video footage and interviews (some of them exclusive) are on tap at this New York City-based site. The searchable database yields hundreds of concert clips, most of them readily recognizable radio standards from mostly light alt-rock bands (with a dash of Shania and Bjork for variety). Where else will you see Ben Folds doing his best Counting Crows impression during a rendition of ''Brick''? B+ -- Scott Brown

MUSIC BEST OF BREED SOUNDSBIG.COM (www.soundsbig.com) When you're an Internet radio broadcaster with a no-headache Java-based player, a scrolling ticker, and 100-plus channels, chances are you can give the people what they want -- in this case, a potpourri of singles from Carly Simon (above) to Korn. Gargantuan channel selection is the secret to good Internet radio, and Boston-based SOUNDSBIG.COM is very good Internet radio. Too bad the name, um, soundsdumb. A-

Weird

No. 1 Electronics (members.xoom.com/mr_theremin) Besides selling that woo-hoo-wacky musical instrument known as the theremin, this online electronics extravaganza offers the White Mountain Geopathic Reverser, which turns negative energy into positive within a 40-foot ''treatment circle'' around the dubious device, and Plant Chant, a green box that attaches harmlessly to any plant and then allows you to ''hear your plant sing!!'' If you're after some physical healing, experiment with the scanned images of hands. Are you supposed to press the affected area of your body against the monitor, or what? It's all groovy, man. Especially when you're using the nine-volt-battery-powered Brain Machine, which allows the user to instantly achieve a meditative state of consciousness equivalent to 20 years of training with a Yogi -- and it fits under your hat. A

JapaneseSnacks.com (www.japanesesnacks.com) Not only is this an online source for Pocky, those chocolate-covered vertical wheat snacks from across the ocean, but you can also get Yan Yan, the popular dip-it-yourself Pocky with flavored frosting. For kitsch value, order some Bourbon Every Burger, chocolate cookies shaped like quarter pounders. More traditional snacks, like petite daifuku, the chewy rice cakes filled with sweet bean paste, and Konnyaku Jelly, which has been popular since Japan's Heian period (794-1185), are for sale as well, though the latter was out of stock at last visit. The site, run by AnimeOnline Network creator Elaine Barlow's company, often sells out of popular items that are shipped by boat from Japan; its name, Pokotaku, incidentally, is a combination of Pocky (Barlow's snack food of choice) and the Japanese term for fanatics (otaku). After tasting those marshmallowy Tenkei, waffle-crispy Caplicos, or the Kasugai fruit gummies, you'll be an otaku, too. B

ROBOT FRANK'S LIFE (www.robotfrank.com) If Matt Groening ever produced Futurama for the stage, he'd cast Robot Frank in the lead role. Frank is much more than a guy in a cardboard-and-aluminum-foil costume with white gloves and a slow-loading website. He's an angry android with feelings who recently spent four hours raking the leaves for the nice family who lets him stay in their basement, only to have some ''punk neighbor kid'' jump in the pile, forcing Robot Frank to stomp on him. Meanwhile, Frank's best friend, Robot Ron, is trying to take over the world by training an army of ''mean robots'' that include a chrome-painted cat. Frank is the alter ego of 19-year-old Bryan Madden (also creator of the Leave Gary Coleman Alone website, at members.aol.com/broken225/ garycoleman.html), who updates his bitter robotic diary entries every other day. Think of it as This Bot's Life. B -- Noah Robischon

WEIRD BEST OF BREED Stinkymeat (www.stinkymeat.net) If you've ever asked yourself ''How long can a plate of rotting meat sit in a neighbor's yard without him noticing and calling the police?'' the answer is at hand. Mahlon Smith, 23, who'd prefer to keep his whereabouts secret for obvious reasons, has archived all 19 days of his experiment, during which the hamburger, steak, and hot dogs just attracted more maggots -- and onlookers, as each day's de-progress was documented on this site. Who knew that different bugs like different meats? Warning: Someone has already advised Smith to auction the mess on eBay. A

TV

The Ainsley Harriott Show (www.ainsleytv.com) Though this syndicated (and as of next season, canceled) daytime show is perhaps one of the strangest guilty pleasures on TV -- Ainsley's a hulking, saucy British chef who loves to shake his bum while making scones and cinnamon buns with special guests -- its official website is curiously bland by comparison. Sure, it's mixed in some recipes that feature the inimitable Ainsley touch (Mmm...English trifle. Hmm...raspberry-chocolate soy souffle?), some advice on how to navigate a kitchen, and a culinary FAQ. But c'mon, who really watches this show for the cooking? B-

Blind Date (www.blinddatetv.com) Roger Lodge, of course, is Blind Date's Chuck Woolery-in-training, and if you trust him when he says, ''You never know when you'll find your perfect match,'' you should probably sign up to be a guest on ABC's showcase of awkward collisions among the L.A. singles-bar set: Everything you need to vie for a place on the show is right here. But if you're just looking for some snotty, voyeuristic giggles (oh, don't look so guilty), browse the official site's freely available bios of lonely men who aren't afraid to admit their foot fetishes, and women desperately in search of qualities like ''juicy lips...you know what I mean.'' Uh, riiight. B

The Museum of Questionable Nostalgia (www.dreamsandbones.com/museum/ museum.htm) Straightforward and approachable in its presentation, MOQN shelves a quirky collection of audio and video relics rescued from television's short-term memory. Some clips are priceless glimpses into dusty old Americana (Buster Keaton shilling for Pure Beer), some seem surreally disturbing (Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble sucking on Winston cigarettes), and a few beg for modern-day deconstruction (commercial footage of Ken and Barbie on their first date). Our only wish is that site proprietor Kevin Gendreau had included the clips' correlating dates. As it is, this feels less like a museum and more like Grandma's attic. B+ -- Ann Limpert

TV BEST OF BREED

'Roswell': Crashdown (www.crashdown.com) An onslaught of fanatic support for a show like Roswell is nothing shocking. What's rare is a find like Darien Wilson's fan shrine to the WB program (costarring Jason Behr, above), which eloquently details the happenings on and around the show. The superslick, professional-quality design showcases well-written (and correctly spelled!) cast bios, message boards, a chat room, fan fiction, and an episode guide. The dish is updated daily, the spoilers are gleaned from shooting scripts, the links are well-described: It's almost too perfect to be of this world.... A

Really Useful

Outdoorhealth.com (www.outdoorhealth.com) Yeah, yeah, we know: It's always fun until somebody gets hurt. If that happens on your summer vacation, however, you can click over to this comprehensive first-aid site for some medical guidance. An arm of the health cyberconglomerate adam.com, this encyclopedic site gives informative, reasonably clear directions on how to handle a vast spectrum of sicknesses ranging from poison ivy to difficult childbirth; if your question remains unanswered, you can write in and ask Stanford Medical School professor Dr. Paul Auerbach. Even beyond the perversely alluring photos of bleeding eyes and infected toes, the site is well worth perusing for tips on sport-related injuries, recommended immunizations, and the symptoms that distinguish heartburn from heart attack -- so that if an outdoor emergency does erupt, you won't end up acting like some kind of Hippocratic oaf. A-

The Tutorials Search Engine (www.findtutorials.com) That'll learn ya: Thanks to six months of prodigious effort by Jerusalem high school student Lonny Potecho, this Yahoo!-like array of sites now contains links to more than 1,000 tutorials designed to teach you anything you need to know, from speaking French to HTML coding to poaching an egg. Though there are some holes (nothing on, say, sewing or human anatomy), what's there is choice. Imagine what this kid might do after he graduates. B

MissingMoney.com (www.missingmoney.com) Money may not grow on trees, but it may be burgeoning in some bureaucrat's escrow account -- and you can find it with the help of this simple site, a division of the Georgia-based CheckFree Corp. Search state and corporate records by business name, family name, or Social Security number; MissingMoney.com will search through info from 18 states (eight more will join ''very soon,'' with the database eventually blanketing the nation). Of the billions of dollars' worth of unclaimed property out there -- insurance judgments, bequests, forgotten bank accounts -- a small fraction just might have your name (or number) on it. B+ -- CWC

REALLY USEFUL BEST OF BREED

Concierge.com (www.concierge.com) Whether you're an accidental tourist or a committed globe-trotter, you can broaden your horizons at this online sibling of Conde Nast Traveler. The site combines CNT's database of readers' favorite hotels worldwide (like New York's Four Seasons, right); Fodor's tips for lodging and dining; and a link to Expedia.com's reservation service for flights and rooms -- plus handy flourishes like a currency converter and a suggested reading list. Now get outta here! A-

Hotlink to all of these sites at www.ew.com