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It was only a matter of time before people could use the Internet to visit a museum. If you're looking for cultured fun on the cheap, visit Rembrandt in Southern California. This virtual exhibition shows and explains 14 paintings by Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn that are also on view in five Southern California museums, including the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Hammer Museum. Our region happens to boast the third-largest collection of Rembrandt paintings in the nation, surpassed only by New York City and Washington, D.C.

Rembrandt in Southern California is a great guide for those who aren't so familiar with analyzing artwork. Study up on the paintings before seeing the real works of art, or tour the pieces at your own pace. You can even print out an exhibition guide for packing along if you decide to visit the paintings. The site offers a unique guide to exploring these significant works, pointing out the minutiae in Rembrandt's brush strokes and texture work. An audio tour rounds out the whole museum experience, providing a personal docent in the form of directors and curators. Admission to the Rembrandt in Southern California exhibit is free and its doors are open 24 hours, seven days a week.

Anyone using Google's Street View map feature to scan one downtown Pittsburgh street is bound to do a double-take. Two 17th century swordsmen doing battle? An escape from a building using knotted sheets?

Google really did capture those scenes when it sent a car equipped with cameras down Pittsburgh's Sampsonia Way to take photographs for its online maps. But these images and most of the other scenes caught on Sampsonia were staged by artists Ben Kinsley and Robin Hewlett.

The project was Kinsley's master of fine arts thesis project at Carnegie Mellon University.Kinsley and Hewlett found themselves exploring surveillance, virtual reality and Street View through art. "We were interested in ... playing with -- and subtly questioning -- the notion of reality in something that we perceive as a factual representation of our world," said Kinsley.

We all know that Los Angeles is teeming with art galleries, auctions and screenings. But where exactly are these places? L.A. Weekly and L.A. CityBeat have got an extensive set of histings, but, no offense to them, both their online and print art-related listings aren't so easy to navigate

ForYourArt has set up a Web site to expose the rich culture of the L.A. Art scene. The blog updates weekly on all the creative goings-on in the neighborhood, from Orange County to Valencia. This week, do something different. Attend a benefit show or an exhibit opening. ForYourArt offers a very cool and very handy 16-page print-out map and guide to the county's little-known galleries, bookstores and other fun little nooks to explore.

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Got to get a Getty guide
Read up on Gehry before his move to El Segundo

You know how people - maybe you, even - get stuck taking a hundred photos of their cats and dogs? There's nothing wrong with that, but what you need is inspiration. If you haven't already surfed through Flickr's Interestingness page, you're missing out on the most creative of photos on the 'net. Even if you're no camera wiz, Interestingness is still, well, interesting to click through. Think of it as the Wikipedia of photography. There's tags for the South Bay and just about every city within it. Look at our part of the world from different points of view.

Shuttertalk and Photojojo are great resources for propelling you deeper into the craft of photography. Both Web sites are dedicated to serving camera fiends with the best in tips and tricks, do-it-yourself gear and projects and Photoshop guides. The two sites cover everything from road trip and vacation photography to pointers on how to shoot for your eBay auctions.

Once you've got a memory card full of personal art, maybe you'll want to alter your photos a little bit - lay on some text, resize them, add a sepia tone. Nothing too crazy. But say you don't have Photoshop, or iPhoto, or even Microsoft Paint at your fingertips. Picnick is a free online-based photo application that offers most of the basics without clogging up your hard drive space. You can also save and share your photos directly to Flickr, Facebook, Photobucket or MySpace.

Los Angeles-based and world-renowned architect Frank Gehry plans to move his office to El Segundo, so you might want to read up on him in case you happen to meet at the coffee shop.

Worldwide, his impossible-to-ignore work (even more amazing considering that he is well known for sticking to his budgets) has made him a "starchitect."

But he's been criticized for his buildings' functionless forms and possible environmental hazards (the metallic Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles was reflecting and concentrating sunlight and heat onto the surrounding streets, creating glare and causing sunburns).

A resident of Santa Monica, Gehry's architectural fingerprints are visible all over the L.A. area, including the former Santa Monica Place (the site is currently being renovated), the Venice Beach House and the Loyola University Law School. The school will take you on a virtual tour of that gem.

Another of Gehry's most well-known (and cutest -- thanks to that floral pup outside) landmarks is the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. And you don't have to shell out airfare to see that one, either. Take a guided virtual tour of the "emblematic" site.

If you’ve ever had a desire to design your own movie poster, or are just looking for a fun way to kill time, you should check out this site.The Web site allows you to choose from a wide range of scenes, super heroes, villains and fonts. And, once you’re finished with your creation, you can send it to a friend, or save it to pull up another time.

The Getty Museum has developed an audio tour for the Fran and Ray Stark Sculpture Garden, a collection of 28 modern and contemporary sculptures that were donated to the museum from the collection of the film producer. According to the museum's Web site, you can download an audio tour with these features:

Listen to sculptors Joel Shapiro, Jack Zajac, and Peter Shelton talk about their work. Hear a Getty Museum conservator, a designer, and curators as they share their views about the sculpture, sculpture gardens, and the planning and work involved to make it all happen. Art historian Penelope Curtis of the Henry Moore Institute is also featured.

You can listen to the podcast on your cell phone or ipod as you tour the garden. The site also has a map available for download.