Can you remember if Australia's clock is ahead or behind Ireland's? Or do you want to know if it's too early to call California? Need to arrange a video-conference, telephoneor net-based meeting with several people spread around the globe? This website can help you to find a convenient time, so no one has to be up during the middle of the night. Check out times around the world at www.timeanddate.com

FOR translations of foreign words, from Greek to Chinese, go to the easy-to-use Babelfish at http://babelfish.altavista.com

Consult an index of telephone directories on the Web - links to 350 yellow pages, business directories, email and fax listings around the world - at: www.teldir.com/eng Just want the international dialling code? Go to www.kropla.com/dialcode.htm

Need to convert Fahrenheit to Celsius? Litres to gallons? To convert all kinds of measurements, go to www.french-property.com/ref/convert.htm

Want to check out what your pound is worth in Mexico? Or your Euro in the US? Or been on a business trip abroad and need to calculate your expenses? With today's rates on hundreds of currencies, go to the easy to use currency converter at www.xe.net/ucc/

To discover how far Dublin is from Moscow, or New York, as the crow flies, check out How Far Is It? on the Indonesia and Bali website at: www.indo.com/ distance/index.html

For an impressive set of links to reference works such as the Oxford English Dictionary, ArtLex (a dictionary of visual art), an acronym finder and Brewers Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, go to www.niss.ac.uk/lis/dictress.html

Want to know if it's raining in New Zealand? Snowing in Korea? Check out the weather around the world at www.cnn.com Next week: holistic Ireland

smarriott@irish-times.ie