www.bmwfilms.com/site_layout/splash.asp Now that companies have realized the Internet, the great conduit that it is, fails as a business model unto itself, the buzz is all about lifestyle sites. BMW's is an emerging warehouse of short films. Well-polished short films. The first, "Ambush," is a near-six-minute car chase. In the end, no one catches up to the Beemer, which sure looks sexy with all those bullet holes.

www.abercrombie.com/ And then there's the ruckus over Abercrombie & Fitch. The old prudes are at it again, calling the youth-oriented clothier purveyors of soft porn, accusing it of exploiting children and drawing attention to some of the most scintillating, skimpily clad models in reach of our browsers. You gotta hand it to the church-going conservatives -- they sure can sniff out sex appeal. Unfortunately, they have their eyes closed to another crisp lifestyle site. Short films (not quite BMW- caliber), MP3 downloads and links to other hip boulevards on the Net.

www.blackbetsy.com/society.htm Shoeless Joe Jackson is about to get a tsunami of Internet buzz. His one bat, the famed Black Betsy, used throughout his 13-year major league career, is likely to prove the most expensive piece of sports memorabilia of all time when it's auctioned off July 27 on eBay. The bidding will be closed, and only those with several million dollars to spare need apply to join in. The URL is for The Shoeless Joe Jackson Society, a group dedicated to reversing one of the biggest sporting shams of the 20th Century. The auction -- and by way of extension, the Internet -- just might turn the tide.