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