Google is also the name for the latest, and some say best, Internet search engine, which works on mathematical principles. Conventional search engines such as Alta Vista and Excite rely on text-based searches using keywords. Google is the product of research by two doctoral students at Stanford University, Sergei Brin and Larry Page. Brin was researching into data- mining and Page was working on the structure of the Internet and the importance of links. It means 10 to the power of 100, a number so vast it is hard for the human brain to comprehend. As such, it is a handy metaphor for the vast size of the Internet.

A "google", or "googol", is not baby talk, but a mathematical term. Because it's a David Lynch film, The Straight Story, so uninflected with irony, is almost eerie," David Gritten, The Daily Telegraph.Where You Can See ItThe Straight Story (U, 112 mins ) is on general release.. there's something irresistible about its heartwarming belief in American decency," Anthony Quinn, The Independent."The movie's position in Lynch's corpus of work raises questions but, on its own terms, it has a marvellous simplicity and candour, blessed with a wonderful performance from Richard Farnsworth: a thoroughly satisfying and affecting piece of work," Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian."Few films feature people observing so many simple courtesies or committing small acts of kindness. Oscar-winner Sissy Spacek plays his grown-up daughter.What They Say About It"Not since Easy Rider has the burnished autumnal landscape of mid-America been brought so rapturously alive... What Is It? David Lynch eschews wild at heart in favour of mild at heart for his latest film: an irresistibly quirky road movie, based on a true story, about an old man who embarks on a 300-mile journey by tractor-mower to visit his sick brother. Who's In It?Richard Farnsworth gives a strong, and often moving, performance as Alvin Straight, the 73-year-old inching his way along the roadside.

Then a former maid added her point of view: "You weren't even a part of the furniture." Fascinating, but no, it doesn't come as a surprise.. There were some striking moments of snobbery, though: Lady Maureen Fellowes said, "You weren't ringing them [the servants] all the time unless you wanted to be tiresome; you only rang them when you needed them." That "unless" was deeply strange.Later, Lady Maureen talked about the way people - her sort of people, that is - would say anything in front of the staff, "as if the wretched servants were part of the furniture". To listen to the commentary, you'd think that rural Britain in the 1930s was a little cauldron of class struggle.The anecdotes collected here, though, add up to a more complex story through telling small details - a lady's maid envious of the rich folk's soft underwear, a beater at a shoot recalling spent shot dropping on his head like hail. What sets us apart is the subtlety of shading, the pervasiveness of tiny social distinctions.

That's why it has been such a long time since we've had a revolution.That fact also seemed to escape Green and Pleasant Land (Sun C4), the weekend's other programme about predictable abuse of power. But the point about class in this country is that it doesn't involve big dichotomies. But I couldn't drum up much sense of shock or outrage: of course armies suffer from bureaucratic muddle, and of course they aren't particularly compassionate or fair institutions, especially in wartime.And what was so British about this story? The inefficiency? The relatively light penalties eventually inflicted? The commentary, emphasising that it was officers who made the mistakes, seemed to imply that what was British was an element of class antagonism. All punishments were suspended, but a number of the mutineers later absconded.As I say, the story was quite interesting (though definitely overstretched at 50 minutes); and you got the sense that the British army could have behaved a little more sensitively. But, due to administrative error, they were sent off to Italy as reinforcements - a decision they weren't informed about until they were halfway across the Mediterranean. The strike was an expression of resentment at the way in which they had been deceived; many were, in any case, unfit for active service. Their court martial was badly mismanaged (the defence counsel didn't even bother asking his clients for an account of what had happened), and the verdicts harsh, with several sentenced to death.