The Internet is a strange place at times. As well as being an excellent tool for many practical parts of our lives, it's also the home of the bizarre. With technology becoming ever more accessible, one growing trend in viral humour is 'doctored' or Photoshopped pictures. At How Strange you'll find the work of a reasonably talented individual with a warped sense of humour that kind of appealed to me. Plus, he's actually taken a fair amount of time and care with his work. The website itself loads fine, despite being pretty much all picture content. I wasn't that impressed with the overall design - but then it is a personal homepage. The menus at the top worked fine, though. The pages links in the left hand panel perplexed me at first, but it quickly became clear that they were linked through to pages in the gallery. A tip to the designer - never assume your surfer will know what you mean. But that's not to say I didn't really like the site. Appearances are only one page deep - and it did make me chuckle.

Another website full of doctored pictures now, but these pictures are some of the most beautifully eerie images I've come across on the web. Microangela is a gallery of photographs taken using an Electron Microscope, and then touched up with style by the creator of the website. For more information on how the pictures are created check out the section at the bottom under Methods. As you scroll down you'll see the pictures are categorised into genres. Clicking a thumbnail reveals a larger picture, and I thought a really nice touch was the additional information alongside it. All the pictures are watermarked for copyright purposes, but according to the information under Image Use, permission and unmarked high-resolution images can be made available on request for educational or non-profit projects. How thoughtful. Once again, I felt the presentation of the website could use a little more thought - but the fact that I have Microangela's image of an ant now sitting on my desktop should be testament to how much I admire the work.

Are you one of those people who likes to get things done? It's all very well being practical, but sometimes you need to do a little research first. The big question is, in this age of information technology, where's the best place to look? A manual? The manufacturer's website? Community forums? Well, now you don't have to worry, as eHow is a website that aims to provide a comprehensive source of information on how to do things. All sorts of things, like finding out how to change the oil in the car, make Cajun hot sauce, negotiate a raise, or even throw a knuckleball. These pages offer thousands of specific project instructions listed in 14 categories and 120 subcategories. Just type your query into the Google search box, or click the categories to explore the different subjects. The Google toolbar is set to search eHow by default, so the content you'll be directed to has been written, reviewed and edited by staff of the site. You'll find they are really down-to-earth, step-by-step guides. There are links to related subjects on the right and at the bottom, together with a list of things you'll need to complete the job. There's even a skills rating to help you decide whether you should call a professional instead. As with any growing database like this, the content is enhanced by the option for surfers to add their own suggestions. There's also a community forum so you can call for help if you really do get stuck. A nice graphics touch is the book-style click tabs on the right - perhaps a little dated now, but it feels right given the nature of the content.