On the face of it, everything looks straightforward; another banal reproduction of a famous master, a photographic online reprint -- entirely uninteresting to even the most uncritical art lover. Except it's not what it seems. Click on the image  and the clarity of Van Gogh's "Starry Night" begins to fall away. Delve down even further, and like Alice falling down the Rabbit Hole, you'll discover a whole world whose existence you hadn't the faintest inkling of: The world of the photomosaic.

The principle is a simple one. Photomosaics take the basic model of a Greco-Roman mosaic, but take the idea one step further. Whereas ancient mosaics used tiny colored pieces of tile to make up a grandiose final image, the photomosaic uses a series of miniaturized color photos to produce a familiar picture when viewed under normal circumstances. It is only when you look closely, with a magnifying glass, microscope or computer-aided zoom, that one realises the awe-inspiring complexity of the work.

Magazine covers frequently employ the technique nowadays to illustrate a particular point, often with ill-hidden irony. Thus, should one have the inclination, a photo of Dubbya might be produced by combining, for example, a series of tiny images of exploding bombs and rolling tanks. Photomosaics are also popular with corporations  wishing to instill a particular message in consumers. The photomosaic offers the best of both worlds. A total image, underlain with tiny photographs illustrating the same idea. Simplicity and totality all in the same boat. You'll never look at a Van Gogh the same way again....

Do the World Some Good

Even if your country hasn't signed on to the Kyoto Protocol, you can try to erase your carbon footprint.)As all the hoopla surrounding the G8 summit kicks into high gear, you might get the feeling that the little acts of an individual make no difference to the world at large. Well, you'd be wrong: it's never been easier to find new ways to do good. A brilliant attempt to use capitalism to fight global warming, TerraPass  lets you buy carbon credits for you car -- the money will be invested in anti-global warming initiatives to offset your car's carbon emissions. Buying a carbon credit from CarbonPlanet  results in the removal of one ton of carbon from the planet's atmosphere yearly -- the money goes towards a reforestation project in New South Wales, Australia. Or, if you'd like to make a more personal kind of change (and need a wee bit of public pressure to make it happen), visit PledgeBank . It allows you to create a pledge that also requires others to follow suit -- i.e., "I will stop using disposable coffee cups if 100 other people worldwide will, too" -- and then watch others sign up to support you. Who says one person can't make a difference?