AtomFilms: The slow downloads and low bandwidth may put you off initially, but this site, which offers independently-made short films with such tantalizing titles as Planet Larry, Say What?!, Pickup Master, Food Trough, Molto Dinner-O and Quiki-Wed Chapel, will delight serious cineastes. The films have running times of between three and 30 minutes and feature storylines that range from the amusingly quirky to the shockingly bizarre. The most interesting picks include 'god@heaven', about a little boy who sends an e-mail to God and 'Shopping For Love', about a man who finds elusive love with an angelic blonde working at a local charity. The site, which has its own Top 10 lists, is quite popular so you might have to wait around quite a bit for downloads. But anyone looking for short movies made in the refreshingly unrefined cinema verite-style of The Blair Witch Project will find much to relish here.

Congenital Heart Disease Resource Page: This site "to give parents of children with congenital heart disease a place to find information about specific diseases and other support resources" was put together by Sheri Berger who's careful to disclaim that "I am not a doctor nor do I have any medical training". But parents who have children with the problem will find a lot of useful information here. There are links to Support Groups, Articles, Professional Sites and many other Web resources on heart disease. Most of the information at the site, set up in June, 1995, is based on the experiences of parents and health professionals. And it's all neatly laid out with no fancy graphics to slow down page-loading. But be aware that the site is NOT "a substitute for professional medical care or attention by a qualified practitioner, nor should it be inferred as such. ALWAYS check with your doctor (or your child's doctor) if you have any questions or concerns about a specific condition."

eDedications.com: We've always been a nation of compulsive song dedicators, so a site like this, which allows visitors to "eDedicate a Song for free", is going to be a big hit here. You can choose from a library of "850,000 hit songs" and send the audio file like you would an email. The two-step process is practically idiot-proof. All you have to do is fill up the appropriate boxes, click on your selection and send. Of course, the site creators need to make some money, too, so they give you shopping links for buying everything from CDs to flowers. You can also attach an e-mail gift certificate at the end of your dedication, but you gotta pay for it, though!

eStar: Claiming to be "the premiere celebrity site", this entertainment Webzine will have most star-struck movie fans quivering with anticipation on each visit. While at first glance it seems to offer most of the same features on the dozen or so other professionally-managed online entertainment magazines, eStar does have something more, especially in the way of interviews and profiles. The last time we checked, there was an interesting story on Michael J. Fox's campaign to find a cure for Parkinson's disease and a nice interview with director Oliver Stone on his NFL football movie Any Given Sunday. There were also some gossipy pieces like the one about Sylvester Stallone selling his Miami mansion and a report on "the bizarre scuffle between Jim Carrey and 'Tony Clifton' at the Man on the Moon press conference". Other entertainment arenas are covered as well in such sections as Video News and Audio Profile. And there's a daily Birthdays section for the stars.

Innerviews: If you're into progressive music, or "music without borders" as site creator Anil Prasad puts it, you'll love this place. Anil, a California-based journalist who started this e-zine in 1995, offers some truly stimulating interviews with and articles on such inventive and genre-blending musicians as Joe Zawinul, Scott Henderson, Leo Kottke, Bill Laswell, John McLaughlin and Tori Amos here. The pieces are often well-written and insightful, giving almost a complete representation of an artist's work and craft without a trace of longwindedness. Besides the main Innerviews section, there's an Archive link on the main page that takes you to some great articles on influential rock, jazz, folk and progressive musicians. The short album assessments on the Reviews page are also incisive and intelligent. The site has a neat, eye-pleasing design and loads pretty fast. Among the latest pieces is a previously unpublished interview with the late acoustic-guitar impressionist Michael Hedges. And the 1991 article on the late Irish blues guitarist Rory Gallagher in the Archive section is a gem.

USELESSKNOWLEDGE.com: Here's a site that trivia buffs and those who're addicted to Pictionary will dig to death. Offering a "database of over 10,000 Trivia Facts" that can be accessed through a keyword search, Uselessknowledge.com can help you become a party animal by letting you memorise some of the greatest insignificant but fun-promoting facts ever documented, like the chemical name for Vitamin C and the answers to life-defining posers -- 'Life-defining'? Get a life Mac! -- like 'Why are blue jeans sewn with orange thread?', 'What makes a corn pop?', 'Why do snakes stick out their tongues?' and 'Why do clocks run clockwise?' It's really loads of fun with regular features like Daily Trivia Question, Daily Trivia Byte, Word Of The Day, Fact Of The Day, Quote Of The Day making the site worth bookmarking. You can also test your stock of trivia by taking the Useless Knowledge Quiz. And cartoon fans will love Jerry King's Trivia Toons.

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