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.

Love of Food

Wet your appetite with this revamped website whos upgraded search engine lets you find recipes, places to eat and Britains best local and regional food shops. Take a look at www.foodloversbritain.com. The recipe search is very clever letting you narrow your hunt for tasty dishes by ingredients. The site also contains a wide range of eateries ranging from greasy spoon cafes to swanky restaurants.

Remember The Milk

Wednesdays website of the day is called "REMEMBER THE MILK" and is a website that remembers things for you. www.rememberthemilk.com is a personal organizer service that will send you reminders via text or instant message

Seeking Picasso

www.seekingpicasso.com "A Pop Idol site for artists now." Seeking Picasso is a place where artists can show off their work to the public, who become the judges, voting who should stay and who should go until an ultimate winner is found.

Each week presents a different theme on which the 12 artists chosen to enter the competition have to deliver an artwork based upon. The works can be viewed using the gallery link from the main page.

The first week's theme was Excess and there were some thought-provoking, colourful and funny takes on the same subject. The artworks are available to buy and it is this money which in part then helps fund the prize for the winner.

It is a lovely idea to get people talking about art and one that could be set up anywhere.

New Music

If you like discovering new music Pitchfork is a real gem.

Check out www.pitchforkmedia.com where you will find brand new videos and downloads abound on this picture-rich Flash-enabled website, so if you do not have Flash running on your computer you need to get it.

The busy homepage is in the style of a magazine, with columns of news, reviews, features and free tracks to stream from the latest releases. The search bar in the top left lets you seek out specific bands, with links beneath it to specific areas of the site. But while it is a virtual site of media content, navigation on this site can be a little annoying. The pages are typically quite long, with each feature or write-up presented in full so there is lots of scrolling down when browsing. However, the reviews are witty and incisive and peppered with MP3 tracks, with the occasional music video thrown in for good measure.

Pet Club

Pet Club is a great website for animal lovers as it provides loads of information on all types of pets from tiny chiwawas to strapping stallions. There are plenty of animal tips and facts and the website can be found at www.petclubuk.com and includes health advice and a news section.

8 - Ball

If you want to check it out then visit www.8baller.co.uk and you’d best have a good excuse for getting no work done as this site is very addictive. It is a Pool simulation in which you can play against the computer or other online participants. Choose from 8 Ball, 9 Ball and straight pool> Once you’ve mastered potting the balls you might get a bit frustrated by the lack of opportunity to work on your game but its still very addictive

Bored

Wednesday nights website review is all about being bored and wanting to pass some time and this website has just about anything to amuse you. Take a look at www.bored.com Theres a variety of ways to keep you occupied including testing your reflexes and loads of other great ideas to relieve the boredom

Vintage Sixties

Tonights website review is available for download at www.billclarkontheradio.co.uk Check it out and see what you think.

Its all about local bands of the 1960s. Where are they now. There are a few websites around dedicated to the old nostalgic days about local bands all over the UK.

The one that impressed me is based in the North East and I found it very informative. I managed to catch up with the Webmaster, Alan Prodhue and requested some information.

You can download the website from http://audio.billclarkontheradio.co.uk and listen to what it has to offer.

The website can be found at www.vintagesixtieslive.co.uk and be warned, its very addictive, you could be there for some time.

Hold the Front Page

Take a look at www.fodey.com and you can create your very own newspaper clipping. Just enter the name of your publication together with your headline and news story and the site will generate a realistic image of a paper that’s available for you to download.

St Patricks Day.

Whether you’re Irish or not, You’re unlikely to need reminding that today is St Patricks Day. The day when everyone sups Guinness and celebrates but who was St. Patrick? Log onto www.st-patricks-day.com where you can find out all about the man himself and there are lots of ideas on how you can celebrate whether you’re in Ireland or not.

Photo the whole of the British Isles

Wednesdays website review is about a website that has set itself the mammoth task of displaying a photograph of every square mile of the British Isles. Check out www.geograph.org.uk . You can browse for images of anywhere in the UK and upload your own images of your local area.

Keeping kids safe on the Internet

There is so much great stuff on the internet that it is understandable your children are going to want to join in the fun. But you also need to know how to stay safe in virtual space, and that is where www.netsmartzkids.org website can help.

NetSmartzKids is the home of Nettie and Webster, two colourful characters who live inside your PC and are on hand with help and advice for the younger generation of surfers. This bright and colourful site is perhaps a little too over the top visually for me, but friends children love it and it talks to them in a style and language they engage with.

With a broad selection of games, activities and movies, all designed to lead children towards safe and sensible surfing, your little ones will find plenty to amuse them here. Use the tabs across the top to jump to the various sections, then just dive straight in and enjoy the action.

Songtapper

On Thursday I was trying to find out what a song was called by humming it to myself and then I discovered www.songtapper.com . Use your computer keyboard to tap the rhythm of the song. SongTapper.com will help you find the name of the song. Its fun, its easy, and thousands of daily visitors find it very helpful.

All you have to do is tap the song rhythm and SongTapper does the rest. After tapping is complete you will see a list of matching songs. If we can't identify your song, you can teach our system by entering the song name.

Mood Swings

Wednesdays web review made me realise that sometimes you know what kind of mood you are in, but you cannot think of any tunes to play. With www.musicovery.com you can use the really simple interface to start a radio broadcast of music that match your mood or the tempo you desire.

The control panel sits on the left of the screen - use the tabs labelled mood and dance to choose how you want to define your music selection.

Mood is the most interesting for me, allowing you to click to place the locator anywhere from calm to energetic and dark to positive. If you like some genres more than others then use the tick select boxes in the list below, and finally hone in on the era the pleases your ears using the date slider above.

The low-fi player is free for unregistered users - the quality is not perfect but is OK, especially if you are looking for inspiration about what artists to buy to expand your collection.

Get Healthy

Get yourself healthy with this website www.bmj.com is easy to use and packed with health information, the British Medical Journal has been relaunched to make all its articles available to read on line. Searching them is incredibly simple because in each section there are tools to help you search by date and article type. That’s impressive enough, but theres also a superb new interactive section which gathers blogs, polls, webchats and audio interviews with British doctors.

Armchair Advice

The website review for Monday 5th March I took a look at www.armchairadvice.co.uk and found it a very useful site if you are going through a rough patch in life. If you have lost your job, have relationship problems or just need some sound advice then you could do worse than look at this website. The site includes search facilities that will let you find services to help you with whatever problem you have and there are forums so you can share your experiences and read the tales posted by other people.

Crazy Girlfriends

If you think youre girlfriend is mad then check out www.crazythingsemmasaysanddoes.co.uk
Dave Williams has created this site to document the many blonde moments experienced by his Fiance Emma. And clearly Emma is a very understanding other half, as she doesn’t seem to have any problem with her mad moments being chronicled for all to read.

Misheard Lyrics

Thursdays website review was all about "misheard lyrics". Check out www.kissthisguy.com . It is nothing to do with smooching and is in fact the site gets its name from the often misheard lyric in Jimi Hendrix hit “Purple Haze” when he sings “Scuse me while I kiss the sky” – which is often misheard as “Scuse me while I kiss this guy”. You can read up on a whole host of other misheard lyrics at this site, some of which are highly amusing.

A Pictoral History

A little history now, but not the classroom type - this is a pictorial history of working life in Britain.

Workinglife.org.uk is a charming site - and although not very sophisticated, it does seem to capture what life was like in 20th Century Britain. The pictures date back to the early 1900s, but many of them are from the 60s and 70s when industrial businesses were booming.

Browsing these pages is a fascinating walk back through time into the lives of the people who built the British economy - rail workers, miners, fishermen and factory girls.

Click a link on the left and then open the thumbnails to full size by clicking them. Each section has a little blurb beside it to add to the atmosphere.

Where are they now?????

Have you ever wondered what happened to certain minor and major celebrities of a few years ago? The ones who seemed to disappear off the face of the planet, like Macauly Culkin from Home Alone, and the men from Miami Vice?

Stop wondering and get yourself along to www.thebubbleburst.co.uk. It is not a particularly sophisticated website, and many of the fallen stars are from the UK, but it is the curiosity factor that caught my interest here, and the overwhelming attraction of a nice bit of gossip.

There are certainly a few international stars that you are bound to have heard of at some point. You can browse the content by category, era, or just take a look at the latest additions and updates. Try taking a look at the cast of The Breakfast Club. A hugely successful movie - even today - but where are these fresh-faced teen stars now? Well some have been doing OK, while others vanished into obscurity, apart from appearing on this website that is.

Dogster

www.dogster.com is where you will find this virtual bone buried, a place where your dog can have its very own website, complete with profile, photos and links to all his pals. There are over 200,000 dogs already registered here so your precious pooch will never be short of friends to browse.

The site itself is incredibly easy to use. Just click the links on the left under "see the dogs" to decide how you want to browse the entries and then scroll through them in the central panel.

Reading the profiles is great fun if you are a dog lover. If you see any you particularly like you can send them a virtual bone using the "leave a bone" link at the top.

Hippy Life

Ever wished you could live the life of a hippy. Check out www.hippy-life.co.uk The site contains information and advice on how to live a natural lifestyle and tells you all about the alternative ways of life out there. There is also information on herbal remedies for everyday use

Darwin Awards

Wednesday 7th Feb 2007 web review is all about the weirdest ways in which people have either accidently or intentionally shuffled off this mortal coil. Theres also a fascinating section of urban myths and tell tales Check out www.darwinawards.com

PERFECT GIFTS

PERFECT GIFTS for Valentines Day or any occasion.

Ladies, are you looking to buy the man in your life something special. Then you need to check out www.touchofginger.com it has nothing to do with red hair and is actually a sophisticated site for finding a present for the man who has everything.

Dumb Criminals

Everyone has heard stories about the stupidity of some criminals and www.dumbcriminals.com features a plethora of prize idiots and their follish attempts at crime. The website shows stories of pathetic and ridiculous crooks and is updated daily such as the burglar who stole a television and returned later to pick up the remote control.