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Twenty years ago, most households would have at least one set of encyclopedias or perhaps a small reference volume such as the Pears. A decade or so later, CDROMs such as Encarta replaced all that paper -- but today it's the Net that is the font of all knowledge.

I have to admit that I no longer bother to keep a dictionary on my desk, since I now find it much quicker and more convenient to use online services such as dictionary.com and thesaurus.com.

The fact is that, in under a decade, the Net has grown to be the single largest and (sometimes) most authoritative source of knowledge on the planet.

Search engines such as Google also make it far easier to find information online than it ever was in the days of paper, or even CDROM references.

Even the answers to those questions that you've always pondered but never quite had the courage to ask can be found on the Net.

Now have your say Got something to say about today's column, or want to see what others think?  Visit The Forums While you're here, why not visit the Aardvark Hall of Shame and perhaps make your own nomination.

For example, Do fish fart? Why is snot green? Why do I stick my tongue out whenever I do a tricky job? Does beheading hurt?

Well if you want the answers to these questions, New Scientist magazine has a great website called The Last Word that addresses such complex and puzzling issues.

Have a trawl around, you'll probably be fascinated by the treasure-trove of information that's to be found there.

Oh, and if you're still wondering whether beheading really hurts or how long the owner of a severed head remains conscious, well here's the answer.

And, if you've got your own favourite reference site, why not share it with the rest of Aardvark's readers by telling them in The Aardvark Forums.

On the wires
Another slow-news Monday I'm afraid with perhaps the only noteworthy events being Microsoft's release of another set of patches for IE which are a must-have if you haven't already wised-up and switched to a superior browser.

I've also received quite a few reports that Telecom's DSL service had a few problems over the weekend. Some folks have reported dramatically lower speeds and others complained of frequent micro-outages causing downloads and other operations to be prematurely aborted.

Remember, if you've got a hot news tip you want Aardvark to investigate, you can always contact me using this form.

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