The Da Vinci Code on the web

1. Look carefully at the text on the cover of The Da Vinci Code and you'll find letters and words that tell you about Dan Brown's next book. Well, that's what the fans say. You may need a magnifying glass for this, but once you decipher them, those symbols clearly say that The Lost Symbol will be in bookshops on 15 September.

2. Did you know that ambi means "both" and gram means "word"? The combination gives us "ambigram", which is a word written in such a way that it is legible both right side up and upside down. Ambigrams play a key role in many of Dan Brown's mysteries. In fact, he used the name Robert Langdon for the hero in The Da Vinci Code as a tribute to the graphic artist John Langdon, who is famous for his ambigrams. Here we have an animated ambigram called "Word & Image" by Langdon and Dan Mall.

3. One survey found that of those who had read The Da Vinci Code, a third of them believed "there are descendants of Jesus alive today and a secret society exists dedicated to keeping Jesus' bloodline a secret." For Catholics who know their facts, though, the basic point is: Dan Brown's Priory of Sion is rubbish. Why do we need to talk about this for even one second more? Christopher Blosser of the Ratzinger Fan Club has put together an excellent page of resources on the debate.

4. The Da Vinci Code: A Visit to the Louvre, Mixing Fiction and Fact is the name of the tour. "The trail that we have created for you provides an amusing tour of the museum in the footsteps of the 'symbologist' Robert Langdon and the cryptologist Sophie Neveu, the main characters of The Da Vinci Code. Without taking sides either for or against The Da Vinci Code, we will evaluate some of the key themes and rectify some of the exaggerations." Allez!

5. Along with suggesting a Holy Grail conspiracy, The Da Vinci Code claims Jesus Christ married Mary Magdalene and had children. Added to all that, the book gives a rather poor impression of the Catholic organization, Opus Dei. It has used the internet to hit back, saying that when it comes to Christian history and theology, Dan Brown's book is "not a reliable source of information on these matters."