Have you ever wondered what your MP does on his or her day off? Drinks beer? Talks about politics? Watches football? If you live in West Bromwich East, you can visit Tom Watson’s readable blog and get a feeling for the Labour member asking for your cross again on May 5. But few MPs have embraced the art of the weblog.

The blogging community thinks that it’s because MPs have nothing to say or are frightened to lift their heads above the political parapet. There might be another reason — that no one reads them when they give it a go.

The Bloggerheads site introduced “proxy blogging”, inviting people to set up a blog for their MP. If the MPs want, they can take the site over. One of Alan Milburn’s constituents, the serial blogger Mike McTimoney, set up such a site and met Mr Milburn to bring him on board (before the MP’s return to the Cabinet last year as election supremo). An assistant in Mr Milburn’s Darlington office posted a few items last year before deciding that it was hardly worth the trouble.

The unofficial Alan Milburn blog has almost petered out; there were only four posts this year, including one pointing out the more interesting DontVoteMilburn site. (“Do you remember the night Michael Portillo lost his seat? Didn’t it feel great? Do you want to feel that good again? Well you can!”)

www.tom-watson.co.uk

www.bloggerheads.com

www.dontvotemilburn.co.uk

Hazzard of the job

Trawling the web for news of the Pope’s illness, I discovered someone I think is the laziest blogger ever. Andy created the Popewatch website on Thursday morning, posting a CNN report on the pontiff being rushed back to the Gemelli hospital. That evening he posted an AP report on the Pope’s tracheotomy. Ten minutes later came his third post: “I can’t keep track of this guy 24/7, so I need a couple more people to help me keep this site updated.”

Andy should emulate Jason Kottke, a veteran US blogger who announced this week that he was going full-time and appealed for “micropatrons” to keep him going — suggested contribution, $30 (£15). If you really want to make money blogging, CMT, a US cable TV station, is offering a one-year, $100,000 contract for a “Vice-President, CMT Dukes of Hazzard Institute”. The job isn’t too onerous: watch The Dukes of Hazzard every weeknight, know the words to the theme song of the 1980s classic, turn up in a General Lee car at fan conventions and, of course, write a blog.

www.popewatch.blogspot.com

www.cmt.com

Pizza the action

If you’re into online gaming, the chances are that you’re a spotty geek who is into pizza too — at least, that’s what Sony is banking on.

The Japanese entertainment giant has built an ability to order pizza into its latest online, multiplayer fantasy game, Everquest II. Players type in the command “pizza” to be put through to the Pizza Hut website, where they can place orders. It’s the first time that gamers can buy real-world items and Sony expects further tie-ups to follow.

But Chris Kramer, a Sony spokesman, advised on

getting the timing right: “You wouldn’t want to order pizza in the thick of combat, but anywhere that’s safe is a good place.”

www.everquest.com

www.pizzahut.com

• If you have seen a site that you think we would like, e-mail wotw@timesonline.co.uk For all these stories and more: www.timesonline.co.uk/weekontheweb

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