|
The online battle for Scotland continues to heat up, with icscotland.com
the latest major Scottish portal site to enter the fray. As with other
sites of this kind it provides a mix of local and international news,
and a variety channel covering everything from fashion
to motoring.
If its structure and content has something of a newspaper feel then
that might be because much of the written content appears to have been
pulled from the Daily Record, The Mirror and Sunday Mail. That said,
the site also includes plenty of streaming media, with, for example,
selected video
clips from last month's Edinburgh
festival, football
commentary on the Tom and Gerry show or live Real Audio DJ
mixes.
Not everybody wants to do all Scotland. The wee town of Glen
Lachart, may only have a population on of 67, in fact it may
not even really exist, but there is still enough happening on its doorstep
to keep the Glen
Lachart Star reporter's in-tray flowing over. What with stories
of a Highland
Games riot, nude
climatologists being locked up and a farmer finding the face
of Jesus in a potato, who needs the national news? The site design
may need some polish, but as a spoof of a local highland rag, the writing
here hits the spot and the photos (friends and family?) spice it all
up.
Moving to the most Northerly isles of Scotland, you can find some great
photographs on Shetland
Wildlife a beautifully maintained information resource for all
species of marine, bird and insect life to be found throughout this
archipelago of over one hundred islands. The depth of this site is particularly
impressive. As well as daily updates of wildlife sightings, there are
authoritative reports on killer whales, frogs, ducks and bumblebees,
articles on the character of the various nature reserves or where to
watch puffins, and even a UK to US bird-name translation. A must-see
for anyone remotely interested in Scotland's flora and fauna.
Back on the Wild Wild Web comes Out-law.com,
a site that is tackling the often convoluted legal issues thrown up
by the high-tech world. Set up by IT law specialists, Masons, the site
provides free legal guides tailored for companies operating in specific
areas of the IT industry (for example, ISPs, games companies, e-commerce,
etc.), as well as UK and international legal news. You have to register
to access the useful bits of the site or to receive the newsletter.
Registration is free, but make sure you check the tiny box just over
half way down the page if you don't want "selected third parties...contacting
you by e-mail, telephone or fax with information, services or products".
Welcome to the world of the fine print...
Finally, the third in the Highlander series of movies, Highlander
End Game, featuring the time-travelling claymore-wielding heroics
of one Connor MacLeod, played by actor Christopher Lambert, gets its
release Stateside this month. As with many American movies, those in
Scotland will have to make do with watching the trailer in webvision
(in this case QuickTime) until the latest Highlander lands on these
shores.
|
