Cheapest petrol in your area

@confused.com


    "Pop in your postcode and find the cheapest fuel near you!"

Free Audio Books

booksshouldbefree.com

"Thousands of free audio books that you can download in mp3, iPod and iTunes formats for your portable audio player. Audio previews, convenient categories and excellent search functionality make BooksShouldBeFree.com your best source for free audio books. Download a free audio book for yourself today!"

Tags: resources

How to use a semicolon

@ theoatmeal.com

The most feared punctuation on earth

Tags: resources

Rulers

@ vendian.org

Rulers that you can print.


Tags: resources

Digital Home DIY

@ cnet.com

Step-by-step guides that make home tech projects easy.
Everything you need to know to turn your home into a truly digital dwelling.

Covers Digital imaging, Gaming, HDTV, Home control, Home movies, Home theatre, Music & Networking.

Tags: resources technical

Send Custom MP3 Ecards

postcard.fm

"You can spend a good chunk of time searching the web for an ecard that isn't annoying, cheesy, ad-ridden, or some combination of all three. Or you can grab a picture, choose a song, and send a super-clean, customized ecard through Postcard.fm. Simply upload an image file and MP3 to the free, no-registration-required site, add a message, and mail it out. The recipient gets a link to your e-postcard page, with no ads in sight (at least for now). This means you can be as cute, clever, snarky, or affectionate as you want, rather than letting some oddly-shaped critters express your wishes".

Tags: useful photos resources internet

Stop unwanted phone calls & junk mail

How to stop unwanted telephone calls
Under Government regulation it is illegal for companies to call any individual who has indicated they don’t want the calls. It takes about 28 days after registering for all to be stopped.

To Register:
Web: www.tpsonline.org.uk.
Phone: 0845 070 0707 (national rate number).

If you are being plagued by competition calls however, sometimes these are just the product of random number generators. The best thing to do is to write the number down and then submit a complaint to www.icstis.org.uk/ to get it blocked.

How to stop unwanted junk mail
The regulations are similar with junk mail, and just as easy to stop.

To Register:
Web: www.mpsonline.org.uk
Phone: 0845 703 4599

How to stop unwanted faxes
The regulations are similar with junk faxes too and just as easy to stop

To Register:
Web: www.fpsonline.org.uk
Phone: 0845 070 0702

Tags: resources shopping

Useful Links

Amazon books (amazon.co.uk)

"It was once called the world's biggest bookstore. Today, books are just one type of item the giant online retailer sells in 32 different product categories... Amazon, like some of its competitors, is lowering shipping costs.". (PC Mag)

Answers (answers.com)

"Answers.com - the ultimate answer engine, with quick accurate dictionary, thesaurus, encyclopedia, bios, tech terms, news, sports, weather, and much more - provides quick, integrated reference answers instead of just search engine links". (answers.com)

Anti virus (housecall)
online virus checker.

BBC

Calendar (timeanddate.com) - A simple calendar, you can choose the month and/or year, amongst other customisations.

CD DB (gracenote.com)
Online database of music CDs - that can automatically list individual tracks on the CD.

Charity

Complaints (consumercomplaints.org)
The links page of the Trading Standards Service gives links to the Advertising Standards Authority, BBC Online Watchdog, Department of Trade and Industry, Fairdeal Local Trading Standards, Food Standards Agency, HM Customs and Excise, National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux, Office Of Fair Trading & other organisations.

Council (direct.gov)
All UK councils are listed in this government site.

Dictionary (dictionary.com)

"Need to know the meaning of a word? Try Dictionary.com, a multisource dictionary search service. And don't worry if you don't know how to spell the word. Simply guess, and you'll get a list of suggestions if you're wrong". (PC Mag)

Directory enquiries

E bay (ebay.co.uk)

"eBay is the go-to place for all things for millions of people. You can purchase new or used products, rate the person with whom you do business, and even set up your own online shop. It's more than a shopping site, it's an online community, and as such there are many rules in place, including security for perspective buyers and sellers". (PC Mag)

Encyclopedia (wikipedia)

"Wikipedia has grown to 750,000 articles, including entries based on late-breaking stories. Thanks to good oversight, this wiki-based encyclopedia is reasonably free of opinion masquerading as fact—though it's always good to check articles against other sources. A great resource, even if some entries are out of date or incomplete.". (PC Mag)

Films (imdb.co.uk)

"This site has everything you ever wanted to know about nearly every movie or DVD ever released. Each listing includes cast and crew members, plot summaries, box office info, even user reviews and trivia. There's even a TV component (iMDbTV) that follows current and upcoming TV shows". (PC Mag)

Football scores (soccerbase.com)

"A comprehensive football statistics site, primarily covering English and Scottish leagues.
Soccerbase contains the results of every English and Scottish league or cup match ever played. You can discover that Forfar 5 East Fife 4 really was a true scoreline, and thousands of other facts. The underlying database is the same that powers Racing Post stats, and is updated every 15 minutes. A real blessing is the speed with which the site can be navigated - there are few ads, and links to relevant players, teams, games and so on make research extremely easy. For the serious gambler there is useful betting data covering fixed-odds, spread betting and pools, but the site can provide entertainment for any statistically-minded fan". (Web User)

Google Earth

"Part tool, part toy. Google came up with this top-notch concept that marries its useful map program with actual satellite imagery. Type in a known address, and if the satellite photo exists, you can zoom in to within a few hundred feet of your search. Though some addresses aren't as accurate as they could be, and large sections of the planet have yet to be married to satellite photos, this free download is a lot of fun". (PC Mag)

Government

Health - (WebMD)

"Not just for hypochondriacs, WebMD is a great resource for checking symptoms, finding a physician, seeking out others with your condition, and researching medications and herbal remedies. The site also has a weight-loss clinic and a fertility center. All in all, it's a great resource to help you ask your doctor the right questions and to explore alternative treatments". (PC Mag)

League table

Local info
Location

Lottery numbers (national-lottery.co.uk)

"Search through a six-month archive to check numbers. There is also information on the Lotto, Thunderball and other games". (Web User)

Maps

Money

MP (theyworkforyou.com)

"This website gives access to data on your MP & your MP’s performance and appearances at Parliament, by simply tapping in your postcode. It also holds a collection of material from Hansard, the official record of everything said in the House of Common. The site doesn’t provide any radical information, with many of the sections linking towards other sites, but acts a useful starting block for those of keen to get involved with local politics". (Web User)

Odds

Photos (flickr.com)

"A photo-sharing site with a social-networking bent, Flickr offers a host of ways to see and be seen. You can tag your photos by keyword, let other users add notes and comments, upload photos from your camera phone, post to blogs and multiuser pools, and, by searching the tags, find new photos and people to share them with". (PC Mag)

Police
Recipes (epicurious.com)

"A refined guide for gourmet diners. Learn what to eat, where to eat and how to cook like the pros.
Definitely at the refined end of the market, Epicurious is a site for those who eat for enjoyment and don't care about the cost. The recipes veer towards the complex and for many you'll need a pretty good food shop. But for the serious gourmet, these are minor concerns and with many recipes sourced from top restaurants, there's sure to be something here worth the effort. Epicurious has over 10,000 recipes, all rated by readers. There are also special food features and even technique videos showing you how to open oysters and clean clams for example. ". (Web User)

Route planner (theaa.com)

Post codes

Search (google.co.uk)
The biggest search engine. This link goes to the UK version, which offers a choice of whether to search UK websites only.

Shopping
SoYouWanna
The time
Train times
Translator
What's on TV (radiotimes.com)

"The online home for TV listings magazine Radio Times, with listings information for over 350 TV and radio channels 14 days in advance.
For every programme in the guide, you can find a brief description and, for some, related websites and trivia facts. Register with the site to save a programme to a personalised schedule or turn your PDA into a listings guide and remote control for your TV with a free two-week trial. There’s also a request text message programme reminder for the truly square-eyed. Film buffs will enjoy the Film Reviews section, which has features over 24,000 expert reviews and film-related information for both TV and cinema". (Web User)

Wallpaper (caedes.net)

"You can make your PC a bit more pleasant with "desktop wallpaper" from Caedes.net. You can download any of the hundreds of artwork—photographs, fractal pieces, and illustrations—featured on the site and use them as your screen background. If you're artistically inclined, you can even upload some of your personal artwork to the site. Never stare at a boring screen again". (PC Mag)

Tags: internet list resources useful

The Webby Awards

http://www.webbyawards.com/main/webby_awards/winner_list.html

"The Webby Awards is a year-round effort measuring the best of the Web both in quality and in quantity."

This site lists what they reckon are the best sites in a number of categories. Well worth a look.

Tags: technical internet resources

Nerd stuff

This is where I store all the links that might be useful to the running of websites. Some of them may be useful to you. At the moment I can't save favourites on my PC, so I store a lot of the nerdy links here. This also means I keep a copy of them when I format my hard drive.

Email
I have set up an emailing list, which sends attachments with the emails.
"Email is a very inefficient way of transferring large files; especially as encoding the files into a text email inflates the size somewhat." (from here).

• Hotmail ( www.hotmail.com ) "the file size limit for Hotmail users is 500Kb - the whole message must be less than 1Mb" (from Using Hotmail).
• Gmail ( gmail.google.com ) has a limit of 10MB, which is big enough for most files. Does anyone want an invite?
• Walla ( www.walla.com ) I don't think has a limit. This will be looked into. It allows easily set up mailing lists too.
• SpyMac ( www.spymac.com ) "the total encoded size of the email message you are sending cannot exceed 25 MB".
• Rediff ( www.rediff.com ) has a 10MB limit.
• Runbox ( www.runbox.com ) allows attachments, don't know if there's a limit.
• YouSendIt ( yousendit.com ) has a 1 GB limit.

Do you know the size limits of the attachments for your email address?
If you do, can you email me.


IP check
www.pcmesh.com/ip-check.shtml will tell you what your IP is.

Tags: resources internet technical