Internet: Price of glory

Within weeks, millions had visited his site, giggling and guffawing at the sincere-sounding pleas for female companionship laid out in broken English that made the site endearing to some, a riotous laugh to others. His "I kiss you!!!!!" declaration became his calling card, his ticket to fame. He attracted media attention from all over the world, an invitation to The Late Show with David Letterman and even pulled down a ranking on Forbes Top 100 celebrities list.

The love notes poured in, the emails from fans kept him at his computer until his eyes went wonky, the spoof sites sprang up like weeds and an internet start-up brought him to the US for a promotional tour. Not only has the 41-year-old met plenty of women, he has managed to use his fame to release a single (called, of course, I Kiss You!!!!!), written a book, appeared in an television advertisement for a British internet company and beefed up his webpage, now I Kiss You.