A traditional road atlas beats expensive hi-tech satellite navigation when it comes to motorists finding their way from A to B, new research reveals today.

The 'good old-fashioned' £8 AA map-book not only beat a sophisticated £220 sat-nav system - costing nearly 28 times more and getting the driver lost down "obscure" country detours - it also knocked the socks off a computer-based route-finder costing £45.

The low-tech road atlas also trounced the Government's own free online 'Transport Direct' website, which was by far the worst, giving motorists incorrect directions, sending them miles out of their way and taking users twice as long to get to their destination.

The findings follow a series of high-profile cases in which motorists - following their in-car sat-nav systems - have found themselves diverted along obscure and unsuitable roads, stuck in fords, rivers, or impassibly narrow lanes.

“Tell me, O Muse, of those who travelled far and wide”

Aptly, it is an echo of Homer’s timeless Odyssey that introduces Loreena McKennitt’s seventh studio recording, the latest volume of a project she describes as “musical travel writing”. This time, the journey takes her in search of the Celts’ easternmost paths, from the plains of Mongolia to the kingdom of King Midas and the Byzantine Empire. Along the way, she muses on the concepts of home, of travel in all its incarnations, of the cultural intermingling that underpins human history and our universal legacies of conflict and hope.

I've surfed this site for years now and contribute my $25 yearly to view the wonderful art that finds its way to the considerable archives of Digital Blasphemy. This site, located at http://www.digitalblasphemy.com, is the site of the month for March 2007.

Ray-traced images, moonscapes, surreal scenes of nature and unforgettable vistas await you on this wonderful web site! I cannot do justice to the wonderful art and imaginations that you will find on this site. The image displayed with this article provides a mere taste of the wonders that await!

Hundreds of images are available in the archives and for those who are not ready for membership there are free images for the taking.

Digital Blasphemy is run by a gentleman by the name of Ryan Bliss. In his own words he describes Digital Blasphemy in the following:

"What is Digital Blasphemy?:

Just me. My name is Ryan Bliss and I've been making pictures with a PC since I got my first one in late 1994. Aldus Photostyler and Kai Power Tools came bundled free with my lightning fast Compaq 486/66. That computer didn't have a modem, so I had no way of changing the lame wallpaper that came with Windows 3.1 other than doing it myself.