Do you sometimes find that your female friends are too short, or too fat, or more interested in psychology than the important things in life, such as sport on television? Does it annoy you when their hair is fair and not your favourite black, or when they have brown eyes instead of blue ones? Doesn't it drive you mad when they won't wear the clothes you pick for them?

Well now you can say goodbye to that "I Can't Control Them" misery, with the new Design Your Own Friend Of Barbie website. Using just your computer mouse, you can build your very own doll, from scratch. You can determine her every characteristic - name, birthday, hair, eyes, skin shade and of course her smile-type. You can dress her; the "Radiant in Red" outfit is particularly fetching.

But best of all, you can choose her personality. She could spend a lot of time "caring for animals", or "writing novels", or "at the gym". She could be interested in "maths" or "boys". And she might love to "collect things" or "sing".

Sadly, Mattel, the manufacturer, has not yet discovered how to breathe actual life into these creations, and for the moment is making them only in miniature, female form. Also, you have to have the final "friend" shipped to an address within the US.

The Design Your Own Friend of Barbie website is at www.barbie.com and each new friend costs (around) including post and packaging.