(pics: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/234455/housebites.jpg http://dl.dropbox.com/u/234455/housebites2.jpg http://dl.dropbox.com/u/234455/housebites3.jpg ) THE INTERNET COLUMN By Giles Turnbull [Standfirst] You're hungry, you're too tired to cook, and you're bored of the usual takeaway. Why not get one of your neighbours to cook you something nice instead? A new website is here to make it all happen. Giles Turnbull reports. BITE INTO THE INTERNET A London-based internet startup is trying to reinvent the humble takeaway meal, by connecting hungry diners with chefs who live close by. The result is Housebites (www.housebites.com), and ingenious and simple online directory of tasty treats. It works like this. Ordinary people sign up as chefs - they don't have to be professionally qualified, but their food will undergo a taste test and their kitchen a hygiene check before they're accepted. The chefs publish a menu of dishes they can cook, on demand, for people using the Housebites site. Housebites knows where the chefs are, and asks you for your postcode. In seconds, it can show you the which chefs are close to you, and what they've got cooking tonight. You then pick your dishes, pay online, and the food gets delivered to you within an agreed time slot - just like ordering a pizza, and for about the same price. Unlike your local pizza takeaway, you can return to the Housebites website after eating and leave a comment about the food. Browsing the chefs pages (housebites.com/food/chefs) shows that people are usually very impressed. The site is still young. At the time of writing, there were 22 chefs signed up, all of them in London. Food on offer includes the usual Italian, Chinese and Indian, along with more exotic Spanish, Caribbean and Persian options. With luck, this new style takeaway will spread far and wide. If you think your cooking is up to scratch, you might end up cooking for your neighbours too. SECOND WORLD WAR AS IT HAPPENED Someone's taken on the ambitious project of re-enacting the Second World War, in real time, on Twitter. Sign up to follow the WW2 account (twitter.com/RealTimeWWII) and you'll get to follow along with events as they happened. At the moment it's still in the early stages of the war in 1939, but the plan is to follow right through to the bitter end. It's a huge undertaking, but if you're a history student it's probably essential reading. RADIOBOOK Like Facebook? Like listening to the radio? The BBC's radio stations are now available as a streaming app inside Facebook, so you can listen to as much Radio 2 as your Wall can handle. As with most Facebook apps, you have to grant it permission to access your account details before it will work, but once that's done it's as easy as click and play. To get started, go to apps.facebook.com/ukradioplayer/ TOO MUCH PROTECTION Civil liberties activists in the US are campaigning hard to get the Protect-IP bill, currently going through Congress stopped before it is made law. The bill, backed by big media companies, would give the US government unprecedented powers to block websites said to supporting piracy. Even links to such sites posted elsewhere could get the sites they're posted on into trouble - which might cause problems for social networks. There's a video explaining the issues at vimeo.com/31100268. BROWSING AROUND... GREEN CHRISTMAS PRESENTS :: Lots on offer at Green Apple www.the-green-apple.co.uk :: Gift ideas from the Centre for Alternative Technology store.cat.org.uk :: Recycled wrapping paper rps.gn.apc.org :: Ideas from The Ecologist mag goo.gl/faArY :: Kirstie's got ideas for home-made stuff www.channel4.com/4homes/on-tv/kirstie-s-homemade-home :: More cheap, green, home-made ideas h2g2.com/dna/h2g2/A478127 THING OF THE WEEK :: Cute owl gets a head rub youtu.be/3G1PFLuTrgM Giles Turnbull has a website at gilest.org End