Web Week

Life, the universe... The BBC has beefed up h2g2, an unconventional guide to life, the universe and everything, as modeled on the Douglas Adams novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

The Guide is written by visitors to the website and has thousands of entries.

What's that about? Just about anything you want really, is explored in varying degrees of interest at about.com, a website stockpiling information on everything from learning to play the guitar to keeping your car maintained. Real-life mentors give you tips and ideas and are available for email inquiries.

Look it all up: There's a Wikipedia entry on most things which is a good place to start your research projects and get some general info on your topic. Browse the categories, from nature to entertainment for a treasure trove of interesting and often useful information.

Equity versus debt: For those amateur sharemarket speculators or mum and dad shareholders who just want to get to grips with their company's annual report, Investopedia.com gives you a good grounding in the basics of business. It has a distinct US feel, but the theory of profit and loss is the same everywhere.

Devoted to wannabe geeks: It's easy to be baffled by techno-jargon so it's good to have a site that explains technology in simple terms. From accelerated graphics ports to HTML to Zip drives, read up on what it takes to make your computer work.