"What is the world coming to when a well-established museum, now over a hundred years old, cannot share its unique collections, wealth of educational resources and vibrant programme of events with the public?" complains museum director Janet Vitmayer. Another sad case of disinterest leading to a lack of visits from the PlayStation generation? Not quite. Apparently the museum in question is having some trouble attracting the right kind of visitors, and has also found that its perfectly innocent web and email communications are being systematically blocked. It's a sad case, but the curators will have to face up to the facts. In a world where smut, marital pharmaceuticals and all manner of questionable materials are just a couple of clicks away, it just can't carry on calling itself the Horniman.

28 Oct 2004