Microsoft Internet Park Bench

Surfing outdoors is taking on a new meaning with the launch of the world's first internet-enabled park bench. The cyber-seat, installed in public gardens in Suffolk, UK, allows up to four people to log on to the web at the same time.

The bench, created by Gusto for Microsoft's MSN service, is free to use. Users simply plug their laptop into the modem sockets concealed in the inside arms of the bench, power up, and go online. The bench, in the abbey gardens of Bury St Edmunds, has been created in partnership with the local council. The town's mayor, Councillor Brian Bagnall, was the first to use the bench, when he plugged in and sent an e-mail.

The Microsoft internet bench appears in the Guinness Book of Records 2004, & 2005.