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Web Monitor

15:38 UK time, Monday, 12 October 2009

A celebration of the riches of the web.

In today's Web Monitor: a crying shame, five obscure Norwegians and why you might take a risk assesment before going to the cinema. Share your favourite bits of the web by sending your links via the letterbox at the right of this page.

Steve Coogan as Alan Partidge• Most famous for his alter ego, foot-in-mouth sportscaster Alan Partidge, actor Steven Coogan reveals in Desert Island Discs just how vain an actor needs to be:

"I do remember once, I don't know if this was a vain actor thing, but something was happening in my life a long time ago and I was actually crying and I remember looking across at the mirror and thinking 'Oh that's interesting, that's what grief looks like'."

Kirsty Young responded:
"As you say, it is a vain actor thing."

• Films are now so long that we need to consider whether they are worth risking over two hours of our time. That's according to . He's on a mission to bring back the 90 minute movie, arguing short is sweet:

"Lately too many directors are indulging themselves at the expense of your time. What they don't realize is that you might enjoy a short movie that you would hate if it were long. Say you come across Crank: High Voltage. It might be terrible, but it's only 96 minutes - which is more or less three Family Guys. So even if it is terrible, it won't really be terrible. But if it were two hours? Not worth the risk. Might as well watch Old School again. It's only 90 minutes."

• After President Obama's surprise Nobel Peace Prize win, why we pay attention to the views of five obscure Norwegians:

"In his will, Alfred Nobel, the Swedish dynamite tycoon who thought up this whole thing, specifically wanted Norwegians to choose the winner, apparently because Norwegians, being outside the European mainstream, would be less likely to be politically corrupt. The trouble is that Norwegians, being outside the European mainstream, are also more likely to be eccentric."

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