The Beggar's Hand - The Plight of Poverty: A great site that serves to create awareness about "the relentless shackles of poverty" which "have bound (the unfortunate) to live the nightmares of starvation and homelessness", through a series of solution-seeking features. Besides giving you hard facts and figures about the poorest countries in the Statistics section and RealVideo and RealAudio "clips on economics and poverty" in the Multimedia page, it offers everyone concerned about eradicating poverty a chance to have their say on the subject in a Forum section. There's a lot of thought-provoking stuff here, and if you remain unmoved after assimilating all the data, you're probably not human.

The Claude Monet Home Page: This "unofficial" site devoted to the French Impressionist painter offers a pretty good introduction to the artist and a first-rate assessment of his work. Put together by a bunch of Columbia University 'Art Humanities' students, it's a great resource page for those looking for information on the artist and his times. Besides such features as "introductory material", "formal and thematic analyses", "Monet's biography and an overview of Impressionism", there're some great links to classic art sites. Of course this site wouldn't mean much without images and the "sampling of the Polars series" and "some of the famous Water Lilies at Sunsite UNC's WebMuseum" are excellent examples of Monet's brilliance.

Exposure: Amateur photo-snappers who're unclear on the concept of light and shade, and composition and patience, will find much to learn in this guide to photography for beginners. The Crash Course link ("A somewhat brutal explanation of exposure and photography") offers the bare basics on the subject. Then, when your confidence level has risen a notch, you can check out Lo Tek Tips ("A few EASY tricks to jazz up your pictures") and Exposure ("Explanation of Exposure Theory"). Site creator Gavin Cheng knows his stuff well enough to present it in a simple and clear manner. And just in case you decide to turn pro, he offers you some links that may help make you the next Ansel Adams or Eric Peris.

GolfReview: If I were an avid golfer -- and I wish the world would end before it ever comes to that -- this is the kind of site I'd hang out at to pick up tips on improving my game, find out what new or used gear is available on the e-market, check out reviews of golf equipment by golfers from around the world, give my own impressions of the products I use, look for major manufacturers' sites or just vent my frustration for being such a horrible putter. Trumpeting itself to be a "Web Site for Golfers by Golfers", GolfReview is a great resource for those who want to be part of the global community of golfers. Sections like Product Reviews (where anyone can post personal assessments of products from a list of categories), MarketPlace (free classifieds), Dream Set (personal listing of fantasy golf sets), One On One (a forum for those feisty enough to condemn or defend different kinds of gear) and Tip Of The Month offer amateur golfers a chance to take part in lively exchanges with golf buffs everywhere. It's a fast-loading page so you can practically visit every hour to check out the latest postings.

IllusionWorks: If you're the type that gets a buzz from brain-teasers, you'll love the "comprehensive collection of optical and sensory illusions" on this site. The "innumerable interactive demonstrations, up-to-date and reliable scientific explanations, school projects, illusion artwork, interactive puzzles, 3D graphics, suggested reading lists, bibliographies, perception links..." will appeal to both adults who like tricky scientific puzzles and young people seeking something more cerebrally challenging than computer games. There're two levels to choose from -- Introductory and Advanced -- and the mind-games are neatly categorized under Interactive Demonstrations, Illusions In Art, Illusion Puzzles and Your Mind's Eye. You need Java and Shockwave plug-ins to really appreciate the mentally-stimulating magic of such things as The Impossible Triangle, The Impossible Staircase, The Impossible Trident, Depth Ambiguity and Barber Pole Illusion.

Renewable Energy: We're all contributing to environmental decay in some way or other, so the least we could do to alleviate our guilt is find out how we're slowly destroying our surroundings. This 'greenie' site, which promotes "Biomass, Wind, Solar, and Geothermal Renewal Energy Projects", has plenty of information on how we can help reduce air pollution and deal with things like global warming. An overview on why we need to develop wind, biomass, solar, and geothermal renewable energy sources presents some persuasive arguments, And sections like Electronic Lobbyist For Renewable Energy, Policy Papers On Renewable Energy and Primer On Air Pollution arm you with all the authoritative knowledge you need if you feel strongly enough to spread the word about renewable energy sources.

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