A selection of the top 12 sites for 2002, chosen by search engine Yahoo reveals how diverse the web has become.

The sites were selected by a panel of expert surfers at Yahoo UK and Ireland, who based their choice on how useful, cool and quirky they were.

The list includes a site designed for dyslexic children, a collection of unusual photographs of UK towns and a site dedicated to watching the recovery of a sick cat.

Frank the cat became a celebrity in March as millions tuned into his webcam to watch his progress as he recovered from a road accident.

Rather good

You can't argue with a bunch of kittens doing a cover version of Independent Woman by Destiny's Child Frazer Lee, Yahoo

IUsedtoBelieve.com has collected the weird and wonderful ideas that people had as children about a wide range of subjects from death to body functions.

Aardman Animations, the site developed by the creators of Wallace and Gromit, was singled out for praise, as was RatherGood.com, a collection of bizarre and amusing animations.

"RatherGood.com is a personal favourite," said lead surfer Frazer Lee.

"When I first saw it I had had a hard journey to work and it made me laugh."

"You can't argue with a bunch of kittens doing a cover version of Independent Woman by Destiny's Child," he said

Play on

Several comedy sites feature on the list.

Warning that it will not be to everyone's tastes, Yahoo chose PoppedClogs.com, a site which provides off-the-wall e-bituaries for dead celebrities.

Frank the cat is now fully recovered

Advertsongs, a directory of the music used on adverts, could prove very useful for those determined to track down a catchy tune that has been bugging them.

Play.com, a site allowing surfers to buy music, movies and games, was the only shopping site selected by the judges.

"It stood out because of the speed of the site, the volume of products and the level of service," said Mr Lee.

While Yahoo's selection has looked for the more unusual favourites on the web, internet measurement firm Nielsen NetRating's choices for most visited sites in 2002 were more conventional.

Shopping site Amazon, auction site eBay, price comparison site Dooyoo all make it into the top 10, as does file swapping site Kazaa.

It will come as no surprise that search engine Google was the most popular site, according to Nielsen NetRatings.