Catflaps and Sport

A website suggested to me by a listener to the late show here on Abbey FM is a site called Catflap Magazine - "It's not about cats, its about football!" and it is actually the world's first football eZine, which is totally free and delivered to your inbox each Friday. The magazine ( and sister website) takes a humorous and irreverent look at the world of football and can be found at http://www.catflapmag.com.

Catflap Mag has already been garnering some great recommendations - most notably in The Telegraph (a hot pick), The Sunday Times and The Guardian. Why is it named Catflap - well it means stuffing the ball in the corner of the net where the goalie can't get to it - as in "Rooney's put it right through the Catflap."

Regular features include the Catflap Chinwag - this week we talk to star of The Royle Family, Ricky Tomlinson, about his love of the sport, and next week we interview star of Gavin and Stacey Mathew Horne, who talks about his love of Spurs and Kylie. Other features include:

* Ground Control to Major Tom, - a unique big budget blockbuster competition involving a cat falling from space onto a variety of British football Stadia.

* 2 Become 1 - a morphing item wherein we use our technology to fuse two seemingly disparate things - such as Alex Ferguson and a Highland terrier.

* Catflap Doghouse - People in trouble in the news each week.

On a sports tip, the company that create Catflap (Made Up Media) also produce a rugby site, and a golf site http://www.ScrumOfTheEarth.com and http://www.InGolfWeTrust.com

Green Christmas

Christmas is the one time of year when you can eat, drink and spend without having to feel guilty but according to environmentalists, Christmas 2007 will result in three million tonnes of waste but help is on hand at www.wasteonline.org.uk . The website is full of useful tips on how to cut down on the amount your household wastes as well as how to save you money without being a scrooge!

Difficult Times at Christmas

The lead up to Christmas can be a difficult time if you are single as you imagine happy couples exchanging gifts and kissing under the mistletoe and this can start your mind wondering as you think of some of the people you havnt seen for a long time and if you want to track down anyone then check out www.myoldflames.com as it might be a good place to look as the website has nearly two million users so one of them just might be someone you have lost touch with.

Cheesy Chat-Ups

If you want to make sure you have somebody to kiss this Christmas then there’s one website you could visit. Take a look at www.chatuplines.net which apparently has the best chat up lines for both men and women, so no matter who you are, you will always have the right thing to say. But as men and women seem to think having a good sense of humour is the most attractive thing, the website also has a list of jokes.

Precious Moments

As the days get shorter, its even more important that you make the most of your time. One website says their quick tips can save you hours in wasted time. www.waitless.org shows you how to shave seconds off tasks like tying your shoe laces and taking your shirt off. The websites also worked out that their tips can save you a month over the course of your lifetime so its gotta be worth a look, if only for a laugh.

Video Lan

If you are looking for an all singing all dancing media player which will play just about any file format and you want it to be open source, then look no further than VLC: a free download available from www.videolan.org .

Long known to the web wise, VLC is the ultimate multimedia application. So, what is so special about this player?

Well it can chew up and spit out just about any sort of media file: MPEG, DivX, OGG, DVD - in fact it would be quicker to list the file formats it does not support.

The technology is open source and is constantly being updated by developers in 20 different countries.

There are also different versions of VLC for pretty much every operating system around. All your multimedia problems solved with a quick download and it is free

Freebie Fun

If you’re permanently skint or just can’t resist a freebie then head on over to www.smartfreestuff.con as this site provides free access to hundreds of freebies, special offers, competitions and discount vouchers currently available on the internet. Offers are constantly monitored and updated to ensure that they bring you the best offers to UK residents and it could save you a few quid along the way.

Video Guidance

If you’re looking for helpful video guides on how to do just about anything then take a look at www.expertvillage.com as the site has a strange selection of miscellaneous video tips on how to do everything from standing on a skateboard to juggling with knives, all submitted by users of the site

Keeping Fit

Tonights website review is about keeping fit so if you’re into health and fitness or have any intention to be, then check out www.netfit.co.uk . The site is devoted to all aspects of exercise and provides extensive routines and regimes. You can guage how fit you are, get information about some 200 different excercises, read about eating, diet and nutrition, and find links to other, mainly sporty websites

Freaky Dreams

If you have ever walked down the high street naked or woken up in a cold sweat then you’re not the only one! In fact most dreams reflect on the state of mind people are in. So musch so that www.freakydreams.com lets you describe your dream and will then interpret your dream and explain the possible reasons for your dream.

Movie Mistakes

www.moviemistakes.com is a huge collection of errors found in hundreds of films by eagle-eyed viewers. For instance, Did you know that a gas canister is visible on the back of a chariot in “Gladiator” and there are 356 mistakes in “Pirates of the Caribbean”?

Watching films will never be the same again.

If you would like a website reviewed on the late show at Abbey FM then just email all the details to bill@abbeyfm.co.uk

Song Facts

If you want to know more about your favorite song then head over to www.songfacts.com to find ot why it might have been written and what its trying to say. With hundreds of entries listed, you can find out who the “egg man” was in the Beatles “I am the Walrus” and how “Definitely Maybe” helped form “Oasis”

If you would like a website to be reviewed on Abbey FMs late show then please get in touch by email to bill@abbeyfm.co.uk

Yamipod

This is a download for you iPod users. Check out www.yamipod.com . I know a lot of people that get very frustrated when using iTunes with their iPods, there are a lot of programs on the web that are written to make life easy for users - and this is one of them.

Yamipod is a terrific little program that for my money is exactly what the internet is all about.

It is a small freeware program written by someone who had an idea and then when it worked, distributed it. You download it onto your PC, Mac or Linux machine and run it - it automatically senses your iPod and gives you a listing of the tracks on your machine.

The screens are well laid out and easy to understand and you just drag and drop your music files into the Windows Explorer-like front end.

The program does not have to be installed when you run it, it is loaded directly into memory and works right away. I know someone who runs it from their iPod, enabling them to swap files on any machine. Simple, effective - and free.

Free Codecs

www.free-codecs.com is dedicated to the little bits of software that translate your audio and video files into something your computer can use.

Called codecs, they allow something like Windows Media Player or whatever software you use to listen or watch with, to read new files. Basically, if you have a file that you want to play and you cannot - you come here.

For example the XP codec pack has just about all a Windows XP user would need to play audio and video from the web. There is a Vista pack too - although I thought that came with everything including the kitchen sink.

And if you want to learn more there is a guides section that explains some of the finer points of codecs. Including "What codecs should I use?" article that tells you how to go about finding the right piece of software to play your audio or video file.

Just about all of them are free and - according to the site - have been scanned for spyware and viruses

Mocked Up

It might be a long time til April Fools Day but there’s no reason why you shouldn’t start practicing your pranks. Head over to www.getclippings.com where you can mock up news articles to fool your colleagues and friends. You can then email them newspaper stories about your heroic deeds, or how a person matching their description is being sought by the police!

Horrible History

Tonights website review of the day is about Horrible History. If you have a good website you would like reveiwed on the show please email me the details to bill @ abbeyfm.co.uk

If you’re fascinated by court cases, trials, crime and punishment then www.oldbaileyonline.org is the website for you. Here you can check out historical cases in great detail and search more than 100,000 criminal trials that took place between 1674 and 1834, as well as transcripts which can be searched by subject, date, punishment and verdict. It gives an extraordinary insight into the lives of ordinary people, and is both educational and absorbing.

Classic Shows

If you’re passionate about classic TV shows, then check out www.tv4u.com . On this site you can watch stacks of classic programmes, and it’s the place to see stars like Groucho Marx and the Three Stooges along with other classic movies, music and commercials.

Star Search

Have you ever wondered how you could get in touch with your favorite stars and celebrities? Perhaps you’re desperate to write to George Clooney or maybe keen to maeet Angelina Jolie. Well, if this is the case, then www.seeing-stars.com/Search.shtml is the site for you. Simply enter the name of the star you’re keen to stalk and it will give you an address to write to!

We Dig TV

Over the years there have been some classic TV game shows so welcome to We Dig TV, at www.wedigtv.com . Its a collection of completely interactive versions of popular game shows.

They are all official versions of the original shows and most include footage specially shot for the site.

For example Deal or No Deal includes over 1000 different pieces of flash video to take into account all the permutations of boxes and the amounts you can have remaining at any point.

You are even grilled by the hosts of the UK versions of the show. A really nice touch is that you yourself appear as an avatar, inserted into the picture, even swinging on your chair while you are waiting to answer.

Now some things to watch out for - first, do not be put off by the terrible twosome who welcome you to the site. They are the most dreadful part of the experience - click straight past them to the network guide.

It is here that you choose your game and you can switch from one game to another at any time.

Secondly, just as the games are close to TV quality, so are the adverts. The games actually go to commercial breaks halfway through. Okay, fair enough, the website has to make money somehow, and the breaks are in keeping with the style of the site.

Thirdly, when you start a game, you can choose to play it for fun, free, or you can choose to pay. The only advantage paying gives is that you do not see the ads, and you stand a very small chance of winning some of the money that other players have paid.

The creators of the website say they do not take any of the money players pay. It is all redistributed amongst the top 10 players of the month.

Girls World

www.girlynation.com is a free online stylist for girls, and with everything from hair and nail tips to face shape and make-up analysis, this site is a must visit for any woman looking for beauty inspiration or even a full makeover. It promises to give you the scoop on hot new make-up tricks, what clothes suit different figures, celebrity style, dating advice, coverage of fashion shows and a whole lot more.

Riddled Out

Mondays website review of the day

www.riddles-online.com claims to be the best online riddles website. Whether you are looking for easy or difficult puzzles, this site has simply hundreds to choose from. All the riddles are classified to make it easy to find exactly the type you are looking for, be it logic riddles, animal riddles, maths riddles or whatever. And they all have solutions as well so you wont leave feeling frustrated.

Scary Stories

If you like scaring yourself at bedtime, go to www.ghost-stories.net. Which claims to have the best collection of ghost stories on the Internet. Choose from hundreds of true chilling tales as well as fictional scary stories and spooky poetry. But a word of warning. You may have trouble sleeping after visiting this website.

Constant Comedy

Constant Comedy

British site www.constantcomedy.com does exactly what it says in the URL - streaming comedy videos by both professionals and amateurs in a kind of never ending talent contest.

No need to sign up to view, but if you do, you get to vote off videos you do not like and if enough people agree with you the performer gets the axe and the next funny man or woman takes centre screen.

You can choose the videos you think you will like by category on the left-hand side or just browse through them in the video section.

Again - signing up means you can upload your own funny video for people to watch and vote on.

If you like your laughs stand-up style this is the site for you - and while there are some absolutely tragic performances - it is not hard to find some truly funny people

Moving Messages.

Its faster and more fun than typing an email. Video messaging is an efficient way of communicating over the web and there are lots of sites that allow you to do this very easily. Check out these sites and you will very soon be sending video messages as long as you have a webcam.

www.oovoo.com

www.flixn.com

www.springdoo.com

Fixing a PC boot problem

www.bootdisk.com is a great resource for people that want to get ever so slightly technical with their PC.

It has features and guides on tuning up your PC and links to other sites with even more information.

But this place is a must if you need to boot up your PC from a floppy disk, say if you have had a disk crash or wanted to format a hard disk or simply not boot via Windows.

You download any of the files from the site and you run the file and it writes a floppy disk that you can boot your PC from.

And if you are into developing that skill there are sections on creating boot CDs and even showing you how to boot up using a USB stick.

The site is aimed at techies so take a friend if you are scared by naked bits and bytes

Live Maps

http://.maps.live.com

Now, Google Street View is definitely a glimpse into the future of what we can expect from mapping apps a few years down the line - but as you might expect, Google's nemesis Microsoft have a few tricks of their own up their sleeve.

Microsoft's live maps uses aerial images shot from an angle and from nearer the earth's surface to supplement its core satellite maps. So, whereas a satellite map gives you a rather flat view, the other aerial images add real dimension to the image, and shows off incredible detail in images.

And if you are prepared to download a dedicated application rather than simply browsing, you get treated to the piece de resistance - the 3D view. Once installed, you will find buildings in some locations faithfully modelled in three dimensions to provide a truly breathtaking experience.

In this sense I think it trumps Google Earth's attempt at the same 3D modelling features. Having said that, as a truly useful application for finding locations like restaurants, hotels and the like, Google Earth wins hands-down

Unknown Files

One of the problems with finding out what to do with a file is finding out what software made the file. The trick to finding out is the three letters at the end of the file name called the file extension - like .exe or .doc. But what if it is .msg or .zip?
Well, you need www.fileinfo.net , it is a massive list of file extensions along with the name of software that can read it.
So if you are confronted with, say a .uue file extension, you go to the .uue entry and find out not only what kind of file it is but what software you need to make it work.
The site also lists files by their role - so for example if you have trouble telling your .ini file from your .idx file - this is the place to go.

Google Maps

http://maps.google.com

Over the past couple of years, Google Earth has made headlines by giving us a stunning birds-eye view of our planet from satellite images. But getting down to human-eye level has not really been catered for.

One issue is its notworth trying this site if you have a slow connection because the photos will take an age to update. Nevertheless, if you have got a blistering connection, you have simply got to check this out, even if you have got no practical use for it.

Cute PDF

www.cutepdf.com is a site that the writer lets you turn your usual documents into more secure and reliable PDF documents really easily.

Once you have installed the programme, the option to save or print any web page or document as a PDF just appears in your printer list.

That is it really. There are no adverts foisted on you, no weird watermarks splurged across the pages.

And it is free because they hope that you like it so much you will eventually pay for their advanced version. But - of course - you do not have to

Midomi

Midomi lets you search for music with your voice. Plug in a microphone, sing a bit, and this site will search in its database and hopefully, name that tune. Visit www.midomi.com

I tested out the system with a Carpenters song and amazingly, Midomi got it right first time.

Instead of matching my rendition of "Close to you" with Karen Carpenter's version, it was matched with recordings by other Midomi users, who all seemed to go flat in the same places as me! I had no idea that bad singers were that predictable.

You can also build an online profile, hook up with fans of the same kinds of music, and rate or comment on each other's songs.

Like all social networks, Midomi works on the strength of its users. So the more people sing into it, the more we will all get out of it and - believe me - this site is has only just begun

3D Mailbox

Most of us spend a lot of time in front of our e-mails and this application is giving us the opportunity to make them a bit more fun. A bit gimmicky but nevertheless an interesting idea.

Downloading the 3D Mailbox application at www.3dmailbox.com reveals a whole new way to look at your e-mails.

There is a free version of the software to download and once it has been setup you will find you have been transported to a virtual Miami Beach, a place where your e-mails are represented as bikini clad avatars.

When you receive an e-mail the avatars appear at the entrance to the hotel's pool. Your spam manager acts a gatekeeper, only allowing through genuine messages to lounge by the pool.

Spam is dispatched to the beach, where they are represented as overweight tourists. Hitting delete results in the spam taking a deadly swim in shark infested waters.

Meanwhile your unread e-mails perform lengths in the pool. Read e-mails tan themselves on the sun loungers.

The outbox shows your avatars enjoying a drink, and if there are any e-mails which your spam manager is unsure about you will find them skating around in the hotel's ice ring.

The developers are currently working on other locations around the world, which will be available to subscribers soon.

Essentially this app is like a real beach holiday: after a few days it can get boring soaking up the rays. This is also processor heavy software so beware if you do not have a high-end PC.

Mapping

There are lots of mapping applications on the web but www.platial.com offers something a little different. It is a social networking site where people blog about their interests and favourite places, but in this case they place it on a map.

This site bills itself as the people's atlas. You do not have to register if you want to check out other people's maps and see what they have said about a place.

There are good tips for travelling with kids or if you want to find a night club that is popular with locals rather than tourists.

However, you have to register if you would like to add your map and places of interest. Registration is quick and easy and you do not have to type out a lot of information about yourself.

To create a map, click Mapmaker, choose a location and what kind of map you are about to create and off you go.

Once you have created the tag you can add pictures from a Flickr account or directly from your PC, add links and information.

The site will tell you if somebody else also tagged the same location and if you want, you can join them

Meebo

www.meebo.com is about instant messages. With AIM, Yahoo, Googletalk and MSN, there is no doubt about it, there are too many different systems.

But visit meebo.com and you can connect to them all over the web. So you can use them all at the same time without having to download all those different applications. Putting it to the test, I must admit I felt uncomfortable giving away so many passwords and usernames all in one go.
But, having said that, this is a great way to get in touch with all of your friends through one single portal, no matter what system you use. And let us not forget, it is free and it works. There are not many things you can say that about, but here is another one

Slideshows

The trouble with digital cameras is that you end up taking hundreds and hundreds of photographs - just because you can - but what do you do with them all? Here is an idea: www.slide.com lets you create your own slide shows. You can use photos on your computer or from the net eg Friendster, MySpace, Flickr; you can get them from anywhere.

Once you have uploaded an image, you can add captions and music, and then display your photos as different styles of slideshow. There are some really silly styles to choose from, like "cube". You cannot see the pictures very easily, although increasing the overall size does help.

Once you have made a slide show, you can keep it private and save it as a screensaver for your computer or share it in a variety of ways. You could allow users to comment, or cut and paste some code that will publish it on your own blog or website, facebook page or anywhere you can think of.

Despite the name, Slide.com is not just about slide shows. You can also create a Skinflix, which sounds a bit dubious but basically means you can customise videos too. Anything on YouTube can be given the Slide.com treatment and then once again you get the code to display it on your own website or social networking site.

Expect to see a lot more pimped-up videos and slide shows right across the net from now on. Whether that is a good thing, you decide

Surname Profiler

Did you know there are more than 25,000 surnames across Britain? And www.surnameprofiler.org lets you type in a name and see where people with a certain surname live.

The website maps the distribution of surnames from the 1998 electoral register and compares it with the 1881 census so you can see how surnames have moved around the country in the last century.

Chinese Chopsticks

www.chopstix.co.uk is a great guide to the world of Chinese cooking. It looks at all things Chinese, from the ingredients you’ll need to Chinese dining etiquette. The recipes are well presented and easy to follow.

A search engine can also find Chinese recipes on the web and has over 4000 indexed.

Fountain of Knowledge

Some people just know how to do things. Others are a bit, well, useless.

www.orature.com is a site created by the former for the latter. Its about people teaching people how to do stuff. So next time you want to know anything then this is the place to go

On-line Conversion

Check out www.onlineconversion.com and let this site do the calculations for you, whether its pounds to dollars, grams to ounces, metres to feet or joules to calories you can let this site do the maths for you when it comes to conversion. It might not be the most exciting site but it sure is functional.

The Weather

So the weather hasn’t been great this summer but at least you can be prepared for the rain with this website. Check out www.weather.co.uk and you will also be informed of how local roads and motorways have been affected

Word On The Street

Keeping up with the kids when it comes to the word on the street can be harder than learning a foreign language, but if you want to appear cool and keep a grip on what the youngsters are talking about then you need to read www.urbandictionary.com . As well as being able to search the phrase database, you can look at the new words for the day and extend your urban vocabulary.

I.T. Review

If you want some unbiased advice on anything computer related then check out www.itreviews.co.uk . The subject matter ranges from general reviews to information on how to find the best PC. The site also gives advice on technical queries as well as having a games room, a place from which you can download programs.

Japanese Cuisine

Japanese Cuisine continues to be ever so cool which is why www.japanweb.co.uk is worth a look – especially if you fancy turning your hand to it yourself. The site covers the basics of Japanese cooking along with recipes and a UK restaurant guide. It also has a glossery and tips on Japanese etiquette

Childrens Legal Centre

www.childrenslegalcentre.com provides free legal advice and an information service covering all aspects of the law affecting children and young people. It can help provide advocates in disputes with the local education authority and campaigns for childrens rights in the UK and abroad. So if you’ve got chilld related problems at the moment then see if this site can help you

Insomnia Cure

So, you thought sheep were only good for putting you to leep and making wooly jumpers? Well, not anymore. Visit www.sheepgame.com and you could have endless hours of fun trying to herd cartoon sheep into a pen. Or it’ll just be a new cure for insomnia instead of the tradional method of counting them.

Phobia Fear

Think your fear of spiders is irrational? Scared of flying or being up high? Well now you can find an online encyclopedia of phobias at www.phobialist.com . From the downright bizarre such as geniophobia (the fear of chins) to the more common like Agoraphobia. Literally hundreds of phobias are listed and it seems its possible to fear almost anything.

Pointless Ponderings

www.crazythoughts.com ponders all the insane questions that plague modern life. Have you ever wondered why round pizzas are delivered in square boxes, or why the word “abbreviation” is so long? If not, this site certainly has and some more. It will certainly get the old gray matter working.

Excuse Me!

Wednesday nights web review is about an excuse to take time off work. So if you fancy a day off work in bed? Or need a pefect reason for not doing anything. Check out www.excuselist.com which will come up with the perfect excuse to get you out of something you really don’t want to do.

Strange Dreams

Plagued by scary nightmares? Or puzzled by what an unusual dream may mean? Then visit www.freakydreams.com and see if it can interpret what happens when you sleep. Enter a detailed description of your dream and the site will try and work out what it all means.

Crush Calculator

If you’ve got a bit of a crush on a colleage or the girl or guy next door then check out www.romancelevel.com to see if you’re right for each other! This online calculator works out your compatability based on your names and age. OK, its not exactly scientifically proven, but its fun

Got a Crush?

Fancy someone but don’t know whether they feel the same way? Then click on to www.ecrush.com a site that might be able to find out for you. Simply enter your name, their name and your crush’s email address.

This site will then email the object of your affections asking you their crushes, which will then be emailed back to you. And its all done anonymously so they’ll never know it was you

Make your choice

If you’re one of those people Who likes pondering random questions, then give this site a go. www.whichisworse.com asks you to vote on which choice is worse in various situations. So what is worse? Being stuck voting on pointless websites all day, or actually doing some work? Only you can decide

Food for thought

Its best not to visit this site while eating. www.wierd-food.com lists unusual dishes from around the world, all of which are delicacies to locals, but sound disgusting to most other people! So if you fancy eating rat in Thailand or calfs head in France, visit this site to get the lowdown on the wacky foods eaten the world over. Yuck!

Digit Dexterity

If you’re pretty proud of your typing skills, put them to the test at www.jonmiles.co.uk/fingerjip.php . Here you must carry out increasingly tricky tests during this six minute game, requiring real dexterity.

The Day You Were Born.

If you want to find out what was hot and what wasn’t on the day you were born check out www.kakophone.com Just type in your birth date and you can find out what song was number one in the charts, what film won an Oscar, who was on the cover of Time Magazine and which celebrities you share your birthday with.

And if you are not from this planet, you can find out what was happening in the sky or on Mars on the same day.

Sign of Sillyness

www.funnysign.com is a hilarious collection of the stuidest signs from around the world although it has to be said that a lot of them are from America. Examples range from hairdresser names like Curl up and dye to a service station sign saying “Eat here and get Gas”

How Big Is Yours?

Hold on... Dont get pervy. Its got your attention but its not what you are thinking.

These days everyone is talking g about carbon footprints, but how do you know the size of yours? At www.footprint.wwf.org.uk you can find out. It only takes a few minutes to measure it and all you have to do is answer a few questions about your diet, travel habits and pets - all of which contribute to CO2 emissions

Selfcast

Try www.selfcast.com. Its like youtube, but live. If you are holding an event such as a wedding for example, this site will let you broadcast it on the internet in real time, provided you have a camcorder and internet connection ready.

Page by Page

Page By Page Books at www.pagebypagebooks.com is the equivalent of an online library of classic literature.

The site makes use of books on which the copyright has expired so they can be shared and read online for free.

The site lacks a search engine so to check out which books are available click "View all Authors" or check "See book list by Title" option.

From here just browse through the available books and authors alphabetically.

Most public domain book sites force you to download the whole book at once on one page or in extremely large chunks, this can make reading them or finding a lost place kind of tedious.

In contrast, this site loads a single page of text at a time making it much easier to read. If you do not fancy reading an entire book in one sitting simply bookmark it using your search engine and then open from the bookmarked page when you fancy dipping into the story again.

The site design itself is simple and uncluttered and it is fairly easy to track down interesting titles. At the moment there are only a couple of hundred books on the site but the number of available titles is increasing all the time

Where Are You

Try www.gchart.com and click a section of the map and this site will display a pop-up with the cuirrent time and date in that location along with local blog posts and also pictures from that area. It’s a clever use of modern web technology to do something interesting – You can go on a world tour from the comfort of your chair.

Walking the streets

This is a blog that will make you feel sorry for traffic wardens which shows the day to day life of a traffic warden who quite often finds people aiming cars at him or raising a fist to dispute the ticket. Reading this will give you an indication of what its like to deal with the public when they don’t want to be dealt with. Its very enlightening and should make you think twice about berating a warden. Oh, and given the subject matter, you can expect a few choice vulgarities as the warden recalls the abuse hurled in his direction. The blog can be found at www.parkingattendant.blogspot.com

How To do just about anything.

www.How.com is a fairly big "How to" site offering "How to" guides on a wide variety of subject matter. While the sites claim of showing you how to do just about everything is perhaps a bit of an exaggeration, it does have 35,000 "How to" guides for a staggering amount of different things.

The site is organised by subjects: cars, personal care and style, that kind of thing. There is also a search option if you are looking for something specific fast.

Once a category and specific guide has been selected the "How to" itself is revealed. Each guide carries a difficulty rating and is separated into easy to follow steps. After following the "How to", the guide ends with tips and warnings.

While the tips can be useful, some of the warning advice can be a tad hysterical.

Television on Demand

Check out www.tv-links.co.uk There is a lot to choose from and is free and plays via streaming on real player or whatever. You can choose from various categories including kids TV, films, documentarys and music videos to name a few. The site is crammed packed with lots of TV and its not just clips, its all full episodes available for you to watch on line on demand for free.

Who's the best

Check out www.shockwave.com/gamelanding/arcadia.jsp and lets settle that old chestnut over whether men or women can multitask the best by gathering everyone round this brain itcher that demands you play four games simultaneously. This is the best hoot we have had in ages with all four games coming from the classic Atari 2600 console

Cute and Cuddly

Now the world can be a pretty harsh place and sometimes it is nice to take a break and spend some time on a site which makes you feel all warm and fuzzy.

Put your thoughts to one side and banish the blues, Cute Overload is a site that is guaranteed to make you go "Ahhhhh".

This is a corner of the web which is unrelentingly cute.

Basically this site consists of hundreds of photos and videos of adorable and cuddly critters.

The site is separated into categories including baby birds, kittens and puppies. All of the categories have one thing in common - fluffy little animals with huge eyes staring into digital cameras eliciting "oohs" and "ahhhs" from anybody that glances at them.

Users can add their own photos or videos in the Got Cute section of the homepage.

And that is basically it, a sweet site which offers a quick pick-me-up. A word of warning though, spend too long surfing and you will discover there really is such a thing as cute overload.

Check it out at www.cuteoverload.com

Animation World Network

The Animation World Network is a huge source of information about cartoons, animated movies and the animation industry itself. This is a site which is useful for professionals and students alike.

The homepage includes the latest news about the animation business, from which movies are breaking box office records to the winners and losers at animation festivals all over the world.

For the amateur animator the resource section includes a database of animation schools and courses across the globe.

A visit to the Student Corner reveals articles and tips from industry greats, including traditional drawing tutorials and advice on how to master 3D graphics packages like Maya.

For those that are serious about pursuing a career in animation the resource section also includes the animation industry database. Here you will find global listings for everything from where to get hold of materials and equipment to production companies that specialise in animation. Find out more at www.awn.com

WikiHow

wikiHow is a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. With your edits, we can create a free resource that helps millions of people by offering solutions to the problems of everyday life.

wikiHow currently contains 21,869 articles written, edited, and maintained primarily by volunteers. Please join us by writing on a topic not yet covered or editing a page that someone else has started.

Check it all out at www.wikihow.com

Petrol Prices

Tonights web site review is a great cost cutting site, especially for all you disgruntled motorists who begrudge paying extortionate prices for your fuel.

To make the site in any way useful, you will have to fill out the free registration form, which gives you the option of weekly email alerts of the cheapest fuel. But of course you can do this directly from the site. Simply plug in your postcode and voila, within seconds a guide appears to the cheapest petrol in your area.

You will be amazed at the differences in price even within a 10-mile radius of home, and over a year the savings can seriously add up.

There is a lot of useful motoring info too, and the site is keen to big up its environmentally-friendly credentials, with some useful green tips on everything from car shares to emerging petrol-replacing technologies. www.petrolprices.com is the address you need

Embarrasing health problems.

Discussing Embarrasing health problems is n ot always an easy task and some people I talk to on the radio change their names or disguise their voices so with that in mind I found this website which may be of help.

Ever had a health question you have always been too embarrassed to ask? There has always been an assortment of places to ask on the web but this site offers a social networking twist.

TauMed is an online health community where you can ask questions, share information and give advice and support to others. You can also browse similar queries by clicking on a particular community, such as Allergies or Eye Problems. Check it Out at www.taumed.com

The topics are pretty comprehensive and are helpfully divided into simple and easily definable sections. It also includes a helpful pregnancy area, where you can sign up to a weekly newsletter charting your baby's growth.

TauMed is not just a user-driven site. Each answer is screened by medical professionals, which makes it much safer than many of the alternatives.

To ask a question you have to register, which also gives you the option of setting up a profile in the My Health Space section, where you can socialise with other members.

At the moment, most questions only get one or two responses, but that could change. TauMed is still in beta but says it is the fastest growing health community on the web.

Scratch

The website review for today .

If you would like to animate your own cartoons, write your own video games or even create interactive artworks, but cannot be bothered with all of that complicated coding business this next site could be for you. Check out www.scratch.mit.edu

Scratch is the brainchild of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) media lab. It is a set of tools designed to be used by people without computer programming skills - that is most of us then.

It makes use of a graphical interface which allows the user to build a sequence with building blocks. These are dragged, dropped then linked together, a little bit like multimedia Lego. Images can be selected from an existing library or imported from your hard drive.

Once imported, a number of action blocks can be assigned to the image. These blocks are assigned commands like "move" or "play drum", and the blocks can then simply be stacked together to create an animation.

Once your masterpiece is complete it can be uploaded to the Scratch site for other users to check out. Scratch's inspiration comes from Hip-Hop DJs, who take a bit of this and a bit of that to create something new.

While the site is primarily aimed at younger users, it is still a lot of fun for grown-ups with a creative streak.

Great Garden

Now that summer is here, you’re probably spending more time in the garden enjoying barbecues and a spot of al fresco dining. Problem is, you may also have noticed how untidy the garden has become.

Fear not though as www.gardenadvice.co.uk has plenty of expert advice to help you achieve a green space to be proud of.

Thank Goodness For That

You can’t help but mock some of the ridiculous safety signs put up in offices and out on the streets. But when it comes to terrorism, safety warnings become even more laughable so at www.safenow.org you can have a good laugh at the witty captions accompanying genuine safety images used by the US government

Football Blogging

It’s easy enough to get into your favorite football team online these days but what about a good old sporting blog? www.caughtoffside.com recently won a newspapers award for the best blog in the sport category, so go online and see for yourself if you think it deserves the honor.

Top Up Your Glass

One of the most important elements of a good meal is having the right wine to go with it and at www.wineanorak.com even complete novices can pick up lots of expert advice on pairing wines with food and what to look for in a good tipple.

Silver Screen

Cinema buffs will love www.myfilms.co.uk – a simple to use search engine that allows you to access the film trailers and reviews you’re after. There are links to interviews with the stars about their movies, and there are sections dedicated to upcoming releases, film festivals and the latest movie news.

Fingers On The Buzzer

Monday nights website review of the day is all about TV Game shows.

If you love TV Game shows then you might want to save this site til you get home. Because www.wedigtv.com is ! Whether you want to beat bully in Bullseye, have a ‘p’ please Bob in Blockbusters or another consonant from Carol, these online game shows will keep you occupied – or unpopular with your boss – for hours

Good Game

If you spend ages glued to a screen of some sort playing games then you’ll love www.pogo.co.uk . Based on an American website, you’ll find all you need here to satisfy your gaming desires. From puzzle and word games to board and arcade games, you’ll find just about any type of game you can think of.

Close To Nature

Wondering how to keep the kids entertained then check out www.naturedetectives.org.uk where the kids can explore their local habitat through lots of fun, games and activities. There are various downloads to help you create nature diaries and logs and guides for identifying wildlife in your back garden. Once they’ve had their fill of detective work they can play on line nature games or download activity sheets,

Know Your Body

June is Male Cancer awareness Month and its not just women who should be paying attention to any changes in their bodies. With almost 32,000 men being diagnosed with prostate cancer every year its now overtaken lung cancer to become the most common cancer in men.

And don’t forget about testicular cancer which is the most common form of cancer in men aged between 15 and 45

Log onto www.everyman-campaign.org to make sure you know what to look out for.

Web Finder

Ever wanted to find someone on the web? Maybe someone you know or maybe someone who shares your interests? Wink is one of the most straightforward ways to search for others on the 'net then try www.wink.com

There are just three boxes to refine a basic search, using a name, interest or hobby, and location. The site searches all of the profiles on several of the most popular social networking sites like Bebo and MySpace as well as general pages from the web, which is a lot of people.

If your initial search needs refining the "more search options" link allows you to specify a gender, whether the person is single or not, and widen or tighten the geographical net around the location.

Girly Gadgets

Everybody loves a shiny new gadget. And the fellas may be surprised to hear that ‘everybody’ includes girls. The trouble is, a lot of technology review sites are tailored to blokes, leaving the ladies feeling a bit lost.

Fortunately www.shinyshiny.tv has set out to rectify the imbalance, providing a gadget guide just for girls. But don’t be put off by the pretty pink pages, because the site has a comprehensive range of advice on all kinds of gadgets including reviews sent in by other women.

Protect Your Passwords

Getting your browser to remember login details for you means that if someone was to steal your computer, they would have immediate access to your passwords. ROBOFORM provides a secure way of storing all your login details. It will log you into your favorite websites automatically, but anyone who uses it without knowing your master password will get nowhere. Check it out at www.roboform.com

Weebly

Creating a website from scratch has never been easier. www.weebly.com presents you with a choice of templates and a collection of elements you can drag and drop to the page and arrange how you like. These include text columns, pictures, Google maps and You tube video clips. You can customize anything just by double clicking on it. Your finished site can be hosted free by Weebly or on a domain you’ve registered yourself

Net Doctor

This site breaks down the "medical language barrier" between the doctor and the patient. Critical medical information must be presented in a clear and understandable language so that the patient fully understands his or her choices and decisions. Ultimately, it is the patient who must make the critical health choices.

www.NetDoctor.co.uk is a collaboration between committed doctors, health care professionals, information specialists and patients who believe that medical practice should be based on quality-assessed information and, wherever possible, on the basis of the principles of evidence-based medicine.

Over 250 of the UK's and Europe's leading doctors and health professionals write, edit and update the contents of NetDoctor.co.uk. In addition to creating written content for the patient these same health professionals respond to users questions and concerns regarding general health concerns.

Well worth a visit and its absolutely free.

The DISCLAIMER: This website is in no way a substitute for you talking to your own Doctor as each patient may have different symptoms and it is in no way a substitute for the 999 emergency service.

Fine for wine

If you are a bit of a wine buff in search of a more comprehensive site to develop your taste buds with then www.thewinedoctor.com could be just the place for you.

Here you will find extensive wine notes, producer profiles and lots of guides and advice. And if you have a burning question about wine, then the wine doctor is on hand to help you resolve your issues.

Diabetes Awareness

Did you know that there are up to 750,000 people in the UK living with Diabetes but don’t know it? That number adds up to around two million people who have been diagnosed with the condition in the UK. www.diabetesawareness.org.uk has info on symptoms and managing the condition. So if in doubt, check it out.

Eye Eye

June 11^th is when National Glaucoma action week gets underway but if you thought this condition only affected people with existing eye conditions then you’d be wrong.

Glaucoma is the name given to a group of eye conditions in which the optic nerve is damaged where it leaves the eye. This means that the condition can lead to blindness, so its vital to take care of your eyes.

Regular eye tests are the best way of monitoring your eye health but to find out more about glaucoma then visit www.glaucoma-association.com

Barrow Transport Group

This Website has been designed to inform young and old of past public transport in Barrow-in-Furness. This site will constantly improve and anyone wishing to contribute pictures, information, stories and news reports are welcome to do so.

Hopefully it will jog a few memories of the buses that were in Barrow with the drivers sat at the front smoke drifting from the cab meeting with the smoke drifting from the back of the bus into the "no smoking section".

How things have changed the old blue and cream Corporation Vehicles, the great battle of Barrow Buses, Ribble Mini Link everywhere, free buses, blocking in of buses at stops then The Transport Giant Stagecoach taking over and peace reigned whether it be for better or worse you all have your views.

Hopefully people will be able to come forward with the history of the Trams and buses in Barrow, routes, fleet lists etc so please take a look at http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/barrowtg

Nostalgic Television Shows

Everyone feels some nostalgia for the TV programmes that they watched when they were young so at this site they bring back to you what TV was like in the 1950s. Check it out at www.whirligig-tv.co.uk

Its an introduction to British TV in the 1950s featuring not only early balack and white programmes but text cards, the BBC clock and major milestones in the ay TV has affected our lives. You can read about and even view snippets of old nostalgic TV. I checked the site out and within 5 minutes I was addicted to it.

Russell - Barrows Dog Walking Legend

Russell Thomson is one of Barrows Characters and is known by most of the locals as a legend in the town as he is seem all over the place at various times of day and night and is always walking someones dog. He now has a website up at www.myspace.com/russ_dog_walker which was put together by someone for him.

The website mentions the dogs that he walks and mentions the recent photo shoot that he did for charity as well as a whole host of things to do with dogs.

Guitar Lessons

www.guitarshredshow.com is the home of Mr Fastfinger, a mystical master axeman and magic carpet owner who likes to share his guitar techniques with anyone who visits the site.

On the home page, clicking the plectrum by "Exploding Guitar" will launch an introduction and a blinding solo, but the real fun is to be had behind the Mountain of Tapping Dwarf.

Each letter of the keyboard is mapped to a guitar riff and you can string them together by pressing one key after another. The result can be really rather fun.

And if you want to play the riffs yourself you can print out the tablature and have a go at learning them yourself.

Cumbria Coastal Way

www.cumbriacoastalway.co.uk Was created to give walkers and visitors alike a pictorial description of the Cumbria Coastal Way including many other walks, especially in the English Lake District.

The Cumbria Coastal Way, is a long distance "Right of Way" from Arnside in the South of the County to Gretna just over the Scottish Border. The distance of this walk is roughly 150 miles or 241 km and follows some of the most beautiful coastline in England.

You can also find some other miscellaneous local walks on this website as well as the Barrow Ramblers Walks. ThE website is constantly being updated with new walks. You can send your comments or suggestions to the Webmaster

Launchy

I stumbled across a program called LAUNCHY which may mean you never have to touch your start menu again. Check it out at www.launchy.net, In a nutshell, you just assign words or keystrokes to programes instead – Type these in and your applications launch and its much quicker than scrolling through menus

Website of the Day

I am on the lokout for some really good websites to review. What you need to do is send me the website address and a bit of info about the site and I will look at it and may use it on the radio show. If your site is reviewed on "Bills website of the day" then you will have it mentioned on the radio and a bit of free publicity for you.

Email me your website to bill @ abbeyfm.co.uk

Monitor your Wireless Network

If you want to keep a close eye on who is and isn’t allowed to use your network then try www.mywifizone.com. It warns you every time a computer tries to gain access to your network and lets you permanently ban or allow their IP and or MAC address. The software at this site can also be used to turn your wireless network into a hotspot that people can pay to use

Time and Date

Ever wondered what time it is in another part of the world or needed to know in case you need to contact someone then try www.timeanddate.com It not only tells the time but can do a host of other things connected with dates, calendars and time. Go check it out and see what I mean

ALL IN ONE SEARCH.

You can now search for online content using Google, Yahoo, MSN live search and Ask.com all at the same time.

A new search engine called Webfetch works by combining the results from several popular search engines as well as more specialist ones such as Kelkoo. Check it out at www.webfetch.co.uk

You can also personalize the Webfetch interface and search through video, audio, images and news.

On the subject of search engines you may want to search yahoo and google at the same time. Check out www.gahooyoogle.com . It’s a great idea and seems to work well.

There are also other search engines that search other engines if you get what I mean. One I`ve been using for years is www.dogpile.com

Food and Wine

Which drink would you have with which food? Easy…. Check out www.matchingfoodandwine.com as it helps you pair meals with wine, beer, cocktails and soft drinks.

Do It Yourself - [D.I.Y]

www.doityourself.com examines every aspect of DIY and is a “must-visit” for everyone who struggles to tell a hammer from a screwdriver. No job is too big, too small or too tedious for this site and all of them are illustrated with photos, diagrams, animation and videos. If you still can’t find an answer to your problem, there’s a busy message board to help you out

Thunderbird

Its not that I don’t like outlook express or other email applications but I am always on the lookout for more secure email readers that have built in spam and phishing filters. I`ve found this in “Thunderbird” and it’s a free download at www.getthunderbird.com it’s a great alternative to Outlook Express as it has anti spam and phishing filters as well as improved security. You need to teach the spam filter to recognize which messages are junk and which aren’t, but this is easy to do and the software improves with the more spam you feed it.

Household Hints

Keeping your home clean and tidy can be a full time job, but www.hintsandthings.co.uk could help reduce your workload.

Head straight for the utility room, where you can read tips like , How to keep your shower cubicle sparkling by using car wax. The site offers the kind of advice you might have got from your grandma. There are lists of practical tips from visitors to the site plus an A-Z of quick, simple solutions

Beat The Computer

Pit your brains against www.20q.net, the artificial intelligence 20 questions game, for a little light relief. Everything the computer programme knows was entered by other people who have played the game – and the more it is played, the smarter it gets. So go on, give the computer a run for its money.

VIRTUAL SAFARI

Fancy going on Safari but can’t be bothered to go all the way to Africa? Well, you’re in look, log onto www.africam.com

The National Parks in Africa has set up numerous live webcams around the parks and you can often see animals like Zebras and Lions to name but a few. There are also webcams attached to trucks that drive round the parks capturing amazing pictures.

OLD SUPERSTITIONS

Do you avoid stepping on cracks in the pavement or never walk under ladders? Well don’t worry, you’re not that strange! If you want to check out some really ridiculous superstitions that have been passed down through the generations then pay a visit to www.oldsuperstitions.com

WACKY WORLD

If you fancy seeing wacky gadgets that even wackier people have invented then take a look at www.tinyurl.com/yt5vu8

From loo roll dispensers with built in iPods to the USB bottom cooler, it’s all on here. The site lists the top 10 funniest gadgets with some very surprising entries

Voice by email

Send voice messages in outlook or outlook express. This is a free plugin available at www.waxmail.biz that lets you attach voice recordings to your emails. Install the software, then click on NEW to begin a new email. Record what you want to say then send the message as normal. The attached audio can be played using any media player.

FREE Directory Enquires

Why pay extortionate rates to call Directory Inquires when you can get the number you want for free. Just visit www.192.com and enter some details and you can get the number you require for free.

Enviropedia

Enviropedia is a good place for those of you that are interested in climate change but are a bit weak on the science. Take a look at www.enviropedia.org.uk

The site itself looks a bit worthy, which I suppose it is, but this is important stuff we are talking about, so it is allowed to look worthy.

Clicking on Contents does exactly what you would expect and introduces you to a world of well written essays on subjects from acid rain to Ozone depletion. As you would expect each essay has links within it explaining words and concepts.

Each subject has a page explaining its subject and is refreshingly clear of the hectoring tone that so many of these kinds of sites have.

Across the top of the page are more headings giving further information on related subjects, including the ubiquitous kids section. Aimed at four to 11-year-olds it has downloadable information sheets for teachers or anyone interested.

While making this kind of information available is only good, I really wonder whether today's kids are going to be wooed by cheap and cheerful Word clip art. All the same this resource is a must for environmental demystification.

Gardening

Shoot is a good looking site that aims to help people who are reasonably new to gardening. It is UK-based but has tons of information on improving your gardening skills.

Check out www.shootgardening.co.uk
It has all the basic stuff but also shows some interesting lateral thinking in that it also has a piece on how to keep fit when you are gardening.

The inspirational gardens section makes a fascinating read even if you are not a gardener, with pictures and ideas on how to make your green space even greener.

There are regularly updated hints and tips on the site and if you register they will email you specific information on how to look after your garden.

All of this is free but if you are a UK gardener and want to pay money you can and they will send you even more information. This is a great place to go if you are interested in plants but I suggest you stay away if you only have a window box

DELETE THAT FILE

Sometimes when you try to delete a file, windows will refuse to delete it, saying it can`t because some other program is using it or because the file is locked, or some other excuse. I found a good freeware utility on the web that can delete these awkward files. Its called FILE ASSASSIN and it can be downloaded from www.malwarebytes.org I use the portable version and carry t around on a USB drive.

The Weather Pixie

www.weatherpixie.com is the best named site I have seen in ages It grabs weather data from around the world and feeds it into a little cartoon character.

You point to the part of the world where you want to see the weather from, pick a character and then the character automatically dresses according to the temperature of the place you are looking at.

A feature I love is the world weather selector. You click on a map of the world and it tells you to what the weather and time is there - perfect for just browsing the world on a rainy day.

There is code you can use to embed your weather pixie on your site if you wish and if you feel so inclined you can even have the character sitting on your desktop - you have to switch active desktop on and the instructions on how to do that are on the site. It may not be too ground breaking but it is fun!

Name That Tune

Theres nothing more frustrating than having a tune in your head and not knowing who sang it then check out www.midomi.com , you can plug a microphone into your computer and hum the tune and the site will search its database to find your elusive track.

Overheard in the UK

People say some stupid things, and none more so than the great british public. Chek out some of the bizarre or plain silly things people have said at www.overheardintheuk.com Whether its someone overhearing a daft comment or something someone else has said.

What Are You Worth

Its not unusual to feel a little undervalued from time to time, whether its because your friends didn’t bother to invite you along on a night out or you didn’t get a response you expected from a great piece of work you have created. So to potentially cheer yourself up, find out exactly how much you’re really worth at www.humanforsale.com Answer the questions honestly and hopefully you’ll get the value you were hoping for

Unable to open file!!!!

www.fileinfo.net is a site that is a little more technical but very helpful for those of you stuck with files on your computer that you cannot identify.

It is a resource that lists the last three letters of a file - known as a file extension - and explains what they are, or do.

So if someone sends you a file with an extension you do not recognise you type it into this site and it will give you a chance to find out what software you need to use or play it.

There is a very useful page explaining the different formats used by MP3 players and what software will play them.

Getting Crafty

If DIY and craft projects are your thing then www.instructables.com is the site for you. It is full of instructions on how to make and do things, from crafting a case to carry your MP3 players in to making toffee sauce. And best of all there’s a “how-to” section that you can turn into every eventuality.

LAND OF QUOTES

If you’re curious about reincarnation and wonder if you’ve been suppressing memories of previous libes, then look at www.thebigview.com/pastlife . Simply enter your date of birth and the site offers an insight to who you were before your current incarnation. You’ll get a rough date and area of birth, details of your aims in life and the kind of work you did and why you were brought back to this mortal coil.

The Movie

Now, if you are the kind of person who cannot resist shouting out "the butler did it!" at moviegoers outside a theatre, then this site will be right up your street.

www.themoviespoiler.com gives you a brief synopses for a fair few major Hollywood releases. The home page has the most recent additions, and there are dozens more to explore in the archive, which, in addition to proving useful for those with a mean streak, could be genuinely handy if you have come out of a film thinking "Eh? Didn't quite follow that!"

Top 20

Starting on 16th April at 11pm we will count down a retro top 20 and ask you to identify the year and the month and if you are very clever then maybe you know what the number one song was.

Heres where you get your chance to re-live those great years of musical memories and you are invited to email me your favorite memorable month and year and listen out at 11pm Monday-Thursdays as we count down the top 20 singles from the year you chose.

Email your chosen date together with your name and any other comments to bill@abbeyfm.co.uk
or call 01229 808 222 and leave your details on my voicebank

Webcams

If the internet is a gateway to the world, then webcams are the windows of the world - allowing you to glimpse the everyday happenings in the most remote locations, all from the comfort of your computer.

www.earthcam.com is a site that celebrates the webcam craze, gathering together links to some of the best and most interesting feeds the world over - all just a click or two away.

The site itself is relatively basic in design, laid out magazine style with various lists and sections clickable from the opening page.

But as most webcam feeds are found buried away in obscure sections of their host website, EarthCam does a great job of just placing them all within reach after just a click or two of your mouse.

Check out the Top 10 section, which apparently changes quite often. You will find street scenes and beach scenes, and even some small furry animals.