But as I write, it’s now 2009. Time for Change, a fresh start in many ways. I hope to be back in the swing of things very soon with new websites to give my feedback on. 

Until then though I’d just like to thank everyone who has taken the time to visit my site and those who will do so in the future. Take care and have a great year!

—

As it’s been a while, I thought I’d write an in-depth site review today! Enjoy!

Anyone that uses a computer needs to know how to type. Some people are comfortable with a key at a time, slowly typing what they need to, while others want to be able to type quickly so they can get more done in a short amount of time. Today’s website will help if that’s your goal, it’ll even try and make the process fun!

The site’s main goal is to get you to purchase one of their pieces of software or their online course. TypingMaster Pro works as a touch typing tutor which will aid you to press the keys on your keyboard while looking at your monitor. The next program is called QuickPhrase and allows you to store commonly used text to paste into other applications. Finally, there is also TypingMaster Online which is a subscription-based online only course to teach you how to type faster. These can all be bought separately or as specific discounted bundles.

That isn’t all that they have though. If you know how to type but wish to test your speed, TypingMaster will let you do that through its dedicated website, TypingTest. If you’re not up to that level of typing yet, TypingTest also have a bubble game which allows you to just type one letter at a time but will get you used to where all the keys are after a while playing. Thirdly, TypingTest has a certificate you can buy to prove the speed in which you type – it’s simply a case of spending 30 minutes typing to find your best results and then your certificate with your name and details will be shipped to you.

Lastly, I want to point out TypingMaster Typing Test which is a fleshed out free download of the online typing and game. The typing tests work the same allowing you to pick a time limit, piece of text and speed unit (either characters or words per minute). In the software version, however, you now have access to four games including the one mentioned earlier. These games are great fun in my opinion no matter if you’re a pro at typing or if you still need to gain some confidence, one word at a time.

I would highly recommend TypingMaster’s websites for anyone who wants to be able to learn how to type quicker, more accurately or just wants to feel more confident about their typing abilities.

Instead of just focusing on one website as my updates usually do, I decided to make a new page which turns out has lots of links on it! The page is called Acknowledgements and it’s all about my appreciation for the hard work or encouragement from others.

Presently I’ve added a list of sites regarding Hosting & Design – the sites that make it possible for me to have a blog like this at all. I also have a section for Blog Plugins that add much desired functionality. Following this is a small Personal Thanks blurb, where I give my Kudos to those who have helped me specifically.

I intend to also include a list for Blog Widgets & Hacks as I’ve found some to be very useful, and it’s the perfect page to discuss them. Until I get around to that though, enjoy what’s there for now. And once more… thanks everyone.

—

In just a few keywords I can explain what Jango is about: free, customized, social networking, internet, radio. Sound good? Read on and find out why I’m raving about Jango!

A few days ago a friend mentioned a song that I liked so I was in the mood to listen to it again. It was by chance that on my search I found Jango. I was somewhat taken aback when the song I was looking for started playing! Curious about the site I found myself on, I looked into it further.

Jango is first and foremost an internet radio station that you customize yourself based on artists and songs you enjoy listening to. There are a few ways to go about doing this, but personally I prefer to directly edit my station and add artists to my favourite list manually – this allows me to go straight into rating the songs. Speaking of which the rating is extremely simple with the option of banning a song so it never plays, liking it so it plays sometimes and loving it so it plays often.

It really gives you quite a lot of control over what ends up playing too. My setting is to play mostly artists and songs that I have chosen, however it has other options (found on the “my home” page) should you want more variety. The majority of songs played for me, for example, are ones I have stated an interest in – any others are from similar artists, chosen because other Jango users like that artist as well as some of the other artists from my station.

This is where the social networking comes in. I quickly found out that clicking on an individual song of an artist will start up a users station because they’re listening to it too. On Jango you can send auto thank you for the station, add the user as a friend, send a personal message, bookmark them (you can also bookmark artists and songs, all of which are available on your Jango home page), or send a quick shout that will show up in your player if sent from a Jango friend. You can also comment on a users profile or on an artist page. When you start up a station it also shows what songs people that share the same tastes as you are listening to should you want to tune in to theirs instead.

Other features include a Lyrics button (it opens a new page on metrolyrics.com), a Share option to email a link or paste in directly in an IM client to a friend, and a Buy button in case you like the song enough to get it from iTunes or Amazon.com. Perhaps the best feature of all is that the website states it is legal and pays royalties to the artists or labels that own the songs played.

A few things I don’t want to neglect to mention… You get the best experience if you register which requires an email address and a password, however, you can still listen to music as a visitor – if you’re willing to put up with the nag screen of course! I also want to point out that Jango is in beta so there are missing artists and songs, but they’re constantly adding more. They’ve made a great start so far though and have not just a growing music catalogue but also plenty of users too.

I haven’t been as excited about any “new” website in a while so I am pleased to tell others about Jango. If you like listening to music and social network sites then you can’t go wrong in my opinion.

Please note: I haven’t been posting regularly so I decided todays entry would make up for some of the lost time!

—

Before I started paying for my webspace I tried numerous free web hosts. Some were good and some were a waste of time, but it makes me sympathise with anyone who wants to create a website for free but doesn’t know where it should be hosted. My life was made a lot easier when I discovered today’s site.

Free-WebHosts.com is a directory made up of many free site hosts out there, all of which are given a score based on certain criteria and can be reviewed and rated by users. On their homepage you are greeted with a little information about what their site is about followed by featured free hosts, new features their site offers and the most recently available hosts that they list.

A few sections are worth highlighting. For anyone dipping their toes into getting their site online, I’d recommend reading through the help pages on the right hand side of the page. If you have an idea of what you want from your host you could go straight to their Power Search which allows you to search for hosts that fit your specifications. If you would prefer to see hosts that are scored highly then head on to their Best Free Web Hosting page instead.

There are a lot of great features available that make it a lot easier to find the perfect website provider for you, many of which you will easily discover while surfing the site. I do however feel it’s important to point out that, although the focus is on webspace, the directory does also have comparisons for Free File Hosting and Free Image Hosting too.

Mostly this directory is an excellent resource for anyone that wants a site but doesn’t want to part with any money. Saying that, you should take some of the user ratings with a pinch of salt – I have seen some excellent hosts get low scores because a few people have had bad experiences and the people with good ones rarely feel the need to go on a free web host directory to talk about it.

—

There are plenty of genealogy themed websites out there but I want to focus on one of my favourites for those of us based or with relatives from the UK. FreeBMD is called that because it freely supplies visitors with information of their ancestors birth, marriages and death data. It has a few points that makes the site unique compared to others out there like it.

The majority of websites only have a selection of information they will allow to be seen before you’re asked to pay. To see the original scans usually has a fee and some years are off limits to guests. Not so with FreeBMD. All the records are available for free and date back to 1837 and up to 1983. The original scans can be downloaded and it’s easy to do a search for the family member you’re looking for.

You may wonder how this can be offered for free when others cannot do the same, but there’s a simple explanation for this which has a good and bad side. Each record is manually entered by volunteers from across the world using the scans of the pages the data was originally recorded on. The good thing about this is that no one is paid so it keeps costs low enough to not charge a fee like other places would. The downside is that it’s a slow process and there are still many entries waiting to be uploaded and, of course, human error can sometimes alter records that what they were intended to be.

Overall though it’s a wonderfully ambitious project that has helped me gather more information about some of my ancestors and encouraged me to volunteer my own time to help out. I highly recommend anyone researching their family tree take a look and anyone interested in helping contribute can look on the website for more details.

—

I love to listen to music and I feel that there is no better way to relax than to tune into my favourite radio station but that can be easier said than done sometimes. The biggest obstacle is getting a signal and even if you can get one occasionally the quality is poor or tends to cut out. Another problem is that local stations are only for those in the area which stands to reason but can be frustrating if for example you’re visiting another part of the country and miss what you’d usually listen to. Thankfully, whatson.com solves a few of these issues.

Whatson.com is a website with several local and regional stations that you can listen to online. The benefit to this is the superb quality, no need to live in the stations region to listen in and no tuning or aerial moving required! There are a few downsides, of course, such as; the bandwidth used, needing to use a computer and downloading plugins to listen if you don’t already have them… however, I really think these are small issues easily overcome.

The stations are easily arranged into three sections selected by a drop down menu. The first is popular stations such as Kiss, Heat and Magic. The second has the stations arranged by genre to easily find the type of song you want to listen to. The third divides by local stations categorized by their city. Alternatively, there is also the Zoo Radio Guide which lists all stations, highlights, top shows and what’s playing live. Each station page usually lists links to their official website, a competition they’re running or has archives of interviews / clips you can listen to at your leisure.

Whatson.com does have a few flaws I feel worth mentioning. Occasionally the radio will need buffering or will stop playing. Usually you can just refresh the page to get it back, but rarely non of the radios appear to start streaming. Over the many months I’ve used the site though, this is a rare occurrence. The majority of the time whatson.com works perfectly and I highly recommend it to those who love their radio but also want to keep up with the ever-changing technology.

Best case scenario, I’ll be back before you know it with a fantastic rig in tow. Neutral case, the upgrade will fail and I’ll go back to what I’m using right now. Worse case… I’ll be gone a little longer than I’d hope to be due to complications (hence my update here so it’s clear why updates may be sparse).

Wish me luck that all goes well!

—

As someone that runs a few websites it’s important to me that my sites are accessible for people no matter how their computer is set up. It can be awkward testing how a website will display due to different browsers and their versions, operating systems and resolutions and catering for each option can be difficult to juggle as it takes away from the content.

Today I happened to find an excellent open-source website that will go a long way in helping me figure out what appears as it should for everyone, or falls short of my expectations. The website is called Browsershots and it lets you configure a list of displays (including those factors I’ve already mentioned) and processes them using computers run by volunteers. Several snapshots are taken of the required site with the specifications you gave and then uploaded to Browsershots so you can view them, and even download them to do further comparisons.

My testing on the site is fairly preliminary however it does look like a worthwhile tool, especially if you’re like me and don’t have access to a Mac or perhaps only have one version of a browser installed. I should warn that it does take quite a while for the entire process to complete, and some show that the browser never made it to the website (presumably the site it was loading took too long so it sends you a blank screen) but I feel these are minor inconveniences.

In closing I think it’s a great site for webmasters but don’t expect instant results. I’d also recommend checking one component at a time as, in my experience, the more I compared the longer I was waiting in the queue. I definitely think it’s one to watch for the future though!

[Edit - 6:31pm, 16th May 2008]
I should add that I don’t know either way whether adding more or less comparisons will change the length of time you’re in a queue. It might just depend on what else is on the queue, it could have been my web host’s server or any number of factors.

—

Not to be confused with www.tvgenius.net, the company that the develop the technology so it can be used on their client’s websites.

Sorry for all the international visitors, but this is another UK friendly site that wouldn’t be as useful to those living abroad.

TV Genius is a fantastic site that does what it promises, and does it well. It’s a free online TV guide, but it’s better than any other I’ve tried for a few reasons. The guide lets you select your channels based on your criteria of your region and TV package and then, any that fit, can be manually added or removed. The site lets you look at your full list of stations or by a category such as films or sport.

Automatically your page will show today’s schedule within a few hours of what time it is when viewing the site. Thankfully there is a drop down list for the following ten days, and arrows opposite that to select previous and following hours so you can easily plan ahead. If that wasn’t enough there is also a search so you can find out when your favourite programme is on.

All programmes can be hovered over with your mouse for a brief description, and clickable for more in-depth information including how many shows will be on if it’s part of a series and how many times it will be repeated. Plenty of shows result in clips you can watch too.

Finally, a feature from TV Genius I highly recommend is their reminder service. There is a text option but it does cost money (although half hour before a show starts is a very handy reminder to have) and I haven’t used it. I have, however, used their free email reminders. Each morning I get an email listing all the programmes, films, actors, or keywords I wished to be reminded about that will be on that day. You can click on what you’re interested in and sign up for reminders individually through there or sign up for a free account so you can easily keep track on the website itself.

Since using TV Genius I actually remember when my favourite tv shows are on and rarely miss something new that has an actor or band I like in it. The searches and reminder services do sometimes give you more results than what you want, but the majority of the time it’s very accurate.

Who needs magazine tv guides when you can go online?

—

For many years my dream job was to be a librarian and I’ve had several work placements in different types of libraries. I suppose it’s being around people, helping others, and of course, working with various media, most commonly, books. That leads me on to the website of the day called Librarian Chick, an ambitious wiki with a growing collecting of links leading to free online resource websites for educational purposes.

The bulk of the site is the aforementioned links but there are draws that make this resource hub stand out. Firstly, the links are listed in categories that are easy to distinguish – most of us know if we’re interested in learning more about technology or poetry, for example. Secondly, the information is short and to the point and all links are regularly checked to make sure they’re still up and running. The biggest draw though, at least for me, is that all the resources are hand picked so you can be sure each has been looked at and is worth visiting. As gotothatsite.co.uk is based along the same principle it’s no wonder the personal touch appeals to me.

Another feature that is worth mentioning is the Free search for audio, physical and electronic books across the internet. It’s a case of typing in a title, subject, theme or phrase and the search will do the rest. It does throw out some ambiguous results, but overall I’ve found it to be quite useful – especially when finding classic literature and, of course, study-based texts.

If you like reading recreationally or need help with your studies then Librarian Chick is a good place to start as a central location to get where you want to be on the net.

There are some sites that offer too much to go through or explain about in one post. In my opinion, Internet Archive is a classic example of that. Instead of trying to explain everything on offer I’m going to focus on just one sub-section and that is the Internet Archive: Wayback Machine.

In 1996 the creators of Internet Archive began archiving content on the web, site by site, page by page so many sites would be preserved forever, even if they had long since gone or altered beyond recognition. Up to now it has amassed a staggering 85 billion pages and that number just continues to rise.

To see a website in its former glory couldn’t be easier. Simply type in a URL in the box provided, and click “Take Me Back”. If the website of your choice was one of the billions that was indexed it will show up in a list of dates that you can click to see the site as it was then. There is no better example of this than using Internet Archive’s site itself, if you’d like to take a glimpse at history in the making.

Further down the page there is also a list of growing Web Collections that contain websites based on an important topic of a specific time up to this point today. This is useful in and of itself if you are interested in a particular subject as all the information is kept together for your reading pleasure.

The positives far outweigh the negatives, although there are a few things I think I should mention. It obviously takes a long time to index all the information so there is a delay of around 6 months after the data has been collected. Another thing is sometimes formatting or pictures do not display on older site updates, however I feel this is relatively minor considering the sheer magnitude that is there. Lastly, it’s worth noting that not all websites are available through the Wayback Machine but the reasons are explained on their FAQ.

In conclusion, it’s good to reminisce and see how times and styles have changed over the years. You’ll find no better way to do it than with Internet Archive: Wayback Machine as far as I’m concerned.

—

After an extended break I’m back and the first website I want to highlight is FutureMe.org. The concept of the site is absolutely brilliant and I’m not sure I can explain why anyone would want to use it, but I’m going to give it a go…

Imagine this if you will – you’ve thought of something you want to tell your future self perhaps days, weeks, months or even years down the line. You could write it down on a piece of paper, but chances are you’d lose it or forget to look on the intended date. You could try and just remember it but random thoughts are easily misplaced. So why not use a site that will email you on the date of your choice with the message your past self has written! There are many reasons why such a website is incredibly useful but I’ll name a few examples to give you an idea of how much potential there is.

Perhaps you want to remember a specific date without the hassle of signing up for a reminder service. You might want to see if you actually managed to stick to your to-do list or New Years resolutions. It could be that you have advice that you wish to pass on to yourself later on in your life, with the clarity of someone living in the here and now. Maybe you wish to know how much you or the world around you has changed. Or perhaps you just want to “surprise” yourself if you know that by the time you get your email you’ll have forgotten all about sending it.

Whatever the reason, I think most of us wish we could speak to ourselves from another time or place and FutureMe.org makes it very easy to do just there. Simply go to the site, type in the email address it’s going to, the subject, your message to yourself, decide whether others can read it or not, pick a date, type in the code and send away! You will immediately be sent a link to the email address you gave that you will need to click to activate your future email. You will also be given the chance to sign up (for free) for added benefits, including not having to repeat the verification process again.

There are however a few downsides to using the site… Firstly, is there any guarantee that the service will even be running on the date of your choice? Websites do come and go but it would be quite unfortunate if this one did. Another problem is that emails get changed all the time. If you’re going to send yourself an email that you’ll receive in the future, make sure you still have that email address! Of course, this is a moot point if you signed up for a free account as you are able to change the destination email address before it is sent.

The third point isn’t really a downside so much as something to think about. There is an option to choose whether you wish your message to be private or public (yet anonymous). The latter of the two will not give out any identifying information but it might be featured on the site or elsewhere. To read what types of public entries others are sending in you can navigate them on the website – I like using the “random” link for that – or even buy a book that features some of the best sent in.

I really like the simple yet effective idea of site and the design really matches that in my opinion. I have sent an email to myself in the future which I’ll be reading again in a few months time and hopefully, I might end up doing a follow up post about FutureMe.org around that date too.

—

The fantastic draw of SU is that, once you’ve signed up as a free member, you can click a button on their toolbar (for Internet Explorer or Firefox) to find you random websites, blogs, pictures or videos across the web based on categories you’re interested in. Once you’re on a site you can use the toolbar once more to decide whether you like or dislike it, pass it on to someone else that uses SU and review it to give other members an idea why they’d want to go there too.

Alternatively you can add a website to SU on your own by manually navigating to the site you like and clicking the “Like this page!”. You can also use handy links and icons on many websites that will do the adding for you (in case you’re not using the toolbar) – for an example of this take a look at the icons below the “Share and Enjoy:” found below each post and page on this blog.

All websites, friends, types of sites you’re interested in and reviews you’ve added to your StumbleUpon are on a simple page that you can customize with a few details about yourself, avatar and a choice of colours so you can feel a bit more individual. In the spirit of SU, you can also go to random users’ pages from a link on yours or anyone else’s. You can also join groups based on popular themes where members can discuss websites in personal group-forums.

Overall, I’m a huge fan of StumbleUpon and I have found many fantastic websites through it (as well as adding quite a few I like so hopefully others will become aware of them if they weren’t already). In the future I hope to highlight some the sites found through there on this blog but until then go forth and Stumble!

[Edit - 10:57pm, 7th May 2008]
I just wanted to update to say that, although signing up gives you additional benefits, StumbleUpon has a demo so you can look through the huge list of sites on their website and access certain features without having an account. To try out the demo go to: http://www.stumbleupon.com/demo/

Before I begin I would just like to state that the following websites are no substitute for visiting your doctor and should be used as a guide or supplement instead of as a replacement for a professional evaluation.

—

Quick Picks #1: W W W . H E A L T H L I N E . C O M
Healthline is a very clean and clear medical website which is arranged in an easy to navigate way. It has the latest medical news right there on the front page, as well as pages you can visit to see health related articles, videos, reference books and its own “Community” so you can get what is relevant to you straight to your email. Of more interest to me though is the simple health topics and symptom search that are accessible by a scrolling video and drop down menu.

Quick Picks #2: W W W . W R O N G D I A G N O S I S . C O M
It’s easy to jump to the wrong conclusion about your health when you’re not feeling at your best, but Wrong Diagnosis helps get through that. Not only does it have top lists of common symptoms, common diseases and common misdiagnoses but it also has a huge array of forums for multitudes of subjects so you can ask your own question should you not find what you’re looking for on the site itself. In my opinion the best thing about this site is the tools it gives to its visitors, such as a multiple symptoms checker that lets you find several symptoms that you have and gives you answers based on these (as opposed to searching for individual symptoms separately).

Quick Picks #3: W W W . W E B M D . C O M
The main draw of WebMD to me is that on choosing on of the various “health center” sections available from the front page, you are greeted with a portal of information all about that one subject. Contained in each portal are articles, treatments, guides, introductory video, articles, a glossary and more besides. The main site also offers searches for medical professionals (if you live in North America), quiz assessments, news and top 12 lists.

Quick Picks #4: W W W . N L M . N I H . G O V / M E D L I N E P L U S /
As it states on the site; “A service of the U.S NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE and the NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HEALTH”. Of course, this means its main audience are those living in the US (it offers a directory to find hospitals, doctors and other healthcare specialists) however, it has plenty to offer anyone that isn’t too. What I like the most about MedlinePlus is the Medical Encyclopedia that lets you search for “diseases, tests, symptoms, injuries, and surgeries” and then gives you the information you’d expect (such as causes and treatment) as well as illustrations that help to visualize the problem.

Quick Picks #5: W W W . N E T D O C T O R . C O . U K
The final quick pick for this post is for a UK-based website called NetDoctor.co.uk. It has a lot of features that the others do such as news, articles, health assessments, health centres and forums for members to talk about their medical issues but it also has some nice benefits for those living in the UK too. Firstly, there’s the ability to search for hospitals, doctors and even support groups as well as an online pharmacy. My favourite feature that I think anyone can appreciate is their Ask The Doctor section which has an archive full of questions based on various common issues that a professional has taken the time to answer.

—

Of course, I couldn’t possibly mention all the great things about each website but I hope to have at least helped highlight some of the things that stand out and are worth visiting for. Stay tuned for more Quick Picks in the future!

—

It’s midweek and it feels like the right time to highlight one of my favourite websites that I tend to visit every other day or so.

Digital Spy is a British entertainment website that has up to date information on anything from soaps to showbiz, cult shows to gaming, movies to music and everything inbetween. It covers such a wide spectrum that I find I don’t really need to search around for the latest media news because DS will have it covered – and usually they do.

It’s not all articles though; there are also plenty of pictures, features, interviews, videos, a tv guide and forums to browse as well as RSS feeds for each section should you like your news to come to you.

It does cover many US shows, celebrities and network news, however, to get the most out of the website it’s best to be from, or have an interest in, the UK. Overall it’s a wonderfully entertaining and informative website that I can’t help but recommend.

—

For a long time Internet Explorer has been the browser of choice for many Windows users because it comes pre-installed and supported. That doesn’t mean that it’s the best or that you don’t have any other options, but what you need to know is why you should change at all.

Many years ago IE was considered unsafe to use and didn’t offer the features that its lesser known competitors did. However, times have changed and the gaps aren’t as wide as they once where… but there are still plenty of reasons to switch browsers, some of which are mentioned on Browse Happy.

The website focuses on a few different browsers and explains what features they have over IE such as security, speed and tabbed browsing (the latter available with IE 7) – mainly I think it’s worth visiting just to read the different user experiences as their opinions tend to be less biased than the site is overall.

To finish, it’s a nice website with useful links that’s set out in a clean and simple manner. For those of you with IE and have never experienced anything else, I recommend having a look at Browse Happy to see if there’s anything you’re missing out on.

On a personal note I believe everyone should use whatever they feel the most comfortable with, whether that be Firefox, Opera, or even Internet Explorer. I used to use IE myself but now use a FF based browser that is customized to my needs.

I feel I was perhaps a little too confident that everything would be ready for when I wanted it to be. Despite the hours I’ve put into it things still aren’t exactly as I’d like, but I have made some progress. The biggest issue I feel right now is that this blog doesn’t look right when viewed with Internet Explorer 6. Internet Explorer 7, Firefox and Opera appear to display as it should but the older browser renders pages incorrectly.

I could insist to visitors that they use a particular browser. I could change to a different template. What I could and will do are two different beasts as I feel like no one should need to compromise just to view a website, therefore, I will do what I can to fix the issue so all browsers will display the blog as I intend them to.

The next issue I have seems universal regardless of browser. When viewing separate blog posts that have no comments or trackbacks, the headings down the right hand side are bigger than they should be. This doesn’t effect usage in the slightest, but it’s not an intended feature so I hope to sort this out as soon as I find out what the cause is.

Thirdly, although I’ve tidied up some of the code that had errors in it, there is still a way to go yet. It shouldn’t display strangely (other than what’s been mentioned before) because of it though.

So if I haven’t fixed those issues and I’ve yet to add any new posts or pages, what exactly have I done up to now? There are a few less validation errors now, behind-the-scenes pages have been updated, and now comments and trackbacks are listed separately underneath posts (the default setting is that they’re mixed together).

I still have a lot of things I want to do so it’s unfortunate that personal events have stopped me from fully concentrating on them, but these things happen. Soon I hope it will all be sorted out and I’ll comment on this post when issues I’ve written about are fixed.

Thanks for your patience!

• Make sure blog posts and pages are as XHTML compliant as possible
• Update blog so all pages have valid CSS
• Have the site appear as it should when using Internet Explorer 6
• Change any headings that don’t show as they should when viewing posts
• Create an acknowledgments page to highlight what makes this site what it is
• Start adding Technorati tags to posts and pages
• Get back to adding websites!

We’ll see how many of these actually get done!

I’m really happy about this and very soon I’ll be getting back to posting websites, but my work is not yet done yet so it will have to wait just a little longer.

The blog transferred over without fault, however there are a few hiccups. I have a few validation issues to sort out so it looks good whatever browser is used (right now it looks better in Firefox than it does in Internet Explorer). I’m also checking links to make sure they don’t still go to the old website, as well as updating the name for continuity’s sake.

Hopefully by the weekend everything will have pretty much settled down. Thanks for your patience!

P.S – Don’t forget to update your bookmarks if you need to!

Do you know what this means? Not only will it be easier to remember but I’ll also start circulating in the blogging world (I didn’t want to spread the word about this domain while I’ve been leeching from my personal domain). This is great of course, but quite scary as I’m not used to writing and hoping anyone reads what I have to say!

Saying all that though, it can take up to 24 hours before I can start using the new domain, but as soon as I can I’ll be redirecting from the old site to it and making a post to reflect that the changes are in place.

Exciting stuff!

—

Although this is the first wiki to get attention on this blog, it probably won’t be the last. For anyone that doesn’t know what one is, it is usually a large collection of pages that visitors help update with new information. wikiHow’s purpose is to be an extensive how-to manual.

Today is 22nd April Earth Day so I thought it quite fitting that I found a page on wikiHow that gives some great advice on how we all can celebrate Earth Day. It includes a snippet about the history regarding Earth Day and some useful general suggestions of how we can do our part.

The page linked to, as well as many others, also contain links to other pages about similar content – this page in particular links to pages with more details on recycling and buying a carbon offset, for example). At the bottom of each page you will also find links that go to external websites such as official, or useful, sites for further reading.

All in all wikiHow is one of my favourite of all the wiki family. There is something that everyone can relate to because of the variety of topics that everyone has contributed to. You can find a how-to on anything from moving to New York to using a stethoscope… and everything else in-between! If you’ve thought of a topic that hasn’t had the how-to treatment yet, or simply want to expand on a page already written, the internet is waiting for you.

I should note that, as with all wiki websites out there, as anyone can update pages it does mean that anyone can accidentally or purposely misinform others. This is unfortunate as it tends to spoil it for the rest, however, normally it doesn’t take long before errors are recognised and rectified.

• Write an individual post about each site, even if they’re only slightly different
• Create a post which includes all the sites, but has less details than a regular post
• Pick one good site and ignore the rest
• Pick one good site and link to any similar
• Don’t blog about websites like that

I’ve decided that my best course of action is the 2nd so they all get a fair mention, but the post is less indepth about any in particular.

This new feature won’t happen every day, but I expect to post it every so often. Quick Picks sounds like a catchy title to go with for the series, and the first one should be later on in the week. I hope you all enjoy it!

On a side note: even if a website is included in quick picks it doesn’t mean it won’t ever be mentioned separately.

The internet is great for many things, especially alleviating boredom. We’ve all felt the need to be entertained while we’re procrastinating or waiting for another website to load and that is where today’s entry makes its appearance!

As it’s a Friday I wanted to go for something a little lighter to get through the rest of the working day or the weekend with and Bored.com ticks all the right boxes. It has a huge selection of pages to browse through which makes it a difficult site to review – where exactly do I start? One thing is for sure - there is enough content on bored.com to take anyones boredom away!

The website has all different kinds of areas that mostly contain quick to view pages for short bursts of fun. It’s very easy to navigate in that there are several sections (games, music, quizzes & trivia, etc.) and once you’ve picked one to look at you’re greeted with a page full of links with a sentence describing what you’re about to see.

Want to read about internet hoaxes? How about have access to thousands of free ebooks? What about a list that tells you specifically what to do when you’re bored? Maybe you’d like to find out how to win small cash prizes? All the things I’ve mentioned and far much more are available on the site. Some pages are linked to a bored.com page or partner site, while others are just links to other websites that have something entertaining to offer its visitors.

Unfortunately the website does have a downside that I feel I must mention. Banner ads are one thing, but this site also has plenty of pop-ups too. If you have a good pop-up blocker or won’t be too annoyed by them, I’d definitely say you should spend a while on the site and have a look around.

—

Click to visit: W W W . N A T I O N A L H I G H F I V E D A Y . C O M

As the website starts off by saying, National High Five Day (NH5D) occurs the third Thursday of April every year which, this year at least, lands on the 17th. The continues by explaining how the high five came to exist, when NH5D started, what you can do to take part, and the people behind this spirited celebration.

The highlight of this site are the links to various multimedia including;

• NH5D documentary
• Videos showing “intense” high fives
• A comic promoting NH5D
• A list of songs that make up the soundtrack for each year’s NH5D

—

Click to visit: W W W . H I G H F I V E . M E . U K

This website is what first showed me the wonders of National High Five Day. It pains me to admit that I didn’t even know that such a thing existed!

highfive.me.uk is a wonderful high five resource website. There’s a blog with the latest news, links to the creators’ social networking pages, a database of high fives in the media, miscellaneous information about our favourite hand to hand gesture (such as the history, culture and science), an extensive collection of pictures, and the types of high fives available… and that’s just for starters!

As if all that wasn’t enough the website also have lots of fun activities for all the family to use such as computer wallpapers, a jigsaw puzzle, a widget that counts down to NH5D and a browser toolbar for all your searching requirements.

—

I hope you enjoyed today’s websites and they made you want to high five someone you care about. However, if you’re reading this post a little on the late side, then there’s no need to feel left out… Consider this virtual high five from me!

Special thanks to highfive.me.uk that supplied that image (which, incidentally, was what I was looking for online when I found the website!).

—

Click to visit: W W W . E M A I L A D D R E S S E S . C O M

Whether you’re new to the internet or feel like the email provider you use doesn’t give you quite what you want, eventually you may need to look elsewhere. But where to begin… My personal recommendation is Email Addresses!

It’s very easy to find what kind of email service you’re looking for as each are separated into type such as free, paid, POP, IMAP or web based with a handy guide as to what all those terms mean. When you’ve decided on what kind of email address you’d like then you will be greeted with a list in alphabetical order making it a cinch to remember what you were last looking at.

All email addresses on the website have a short summary with a list of some of the best features they have to offer so it’s great for at-a-glance comparisons. The site also lists some handy email or web hosting services (such as reminder alerts and file storage) as well as informative articles and the latest updates regarding various hosts.

—

Click to visit: W W W . E M A I L D I S C U S S I O N S . C O M

Email Discussions is the sister site to Email Addresses. It is a place to join with others to write and ask questions about various email providers. The users are very knowledgeable about the subjects at hand and I’ve found there is always someone that can answer an email query in a timely and friendly manner.

Those that have Fastmail, Runbox or Gmail as a provider may find their specific forums of interest but for anyone who doesn’t there are still other sections for questions, advice and email-related updates (such as if a service is shutting down or if they’ll be expanding features).

All in all I’ve been a member of the forums for many years and both websites together helped me to decide what email provider to go with when the one I was with wasn’t giving me what I needed. If you’re new to the internet I’d say its a must have, but there are also plenty of reasons why an online veteran would want to check out the sites too.

FreeRice is a simple browser game that involves matching a word with another one of the same meaning – the lower the level the easier the question is. Every three consecutive correct answers you give you go up a level, but for every one question you get wrong you’ll drop a level. It’s surprisingly addictive because, if you’re anything like me, you’ll want to get just one more right… and another, and another…

The benefit is that it only takes a few days of playing to extend your vocabulary so it’s a perfect game for children and adults alike. It soon learns what vocabulary level you should be at by how you answer the first few questions and defines the level based around that. For the less or more adventurous the options available allow you to start at a much lower or higher level should that be preferred.

However, there is another benefit to this game that I’ve yet to mention. Every question you get right not only boosts your self-esteem and level, but (thanks to the UN World Food Program) it also donates 20 grains of rice to the people that need it the most due to the banner ads that are displayed every time the screen refreshes for the next question. From the WFP website:

Clicks on the FreeRice vocabulary game have already translated into WFP food rations for over 20,000 refugees from Myanmar who are sheltering in Bangladesh. Pregnant women in Cambodia, schoolchildren in Uganda and Bhutanese refugees in Nepal are also receiving rice thanks to the award-winning site.

Perhaps that is the addictive appeal of such a game. You slowly watch the grains of rice you’ve donated add up little by little until your total is 100, then 1,000, and then, my personal best in one day, 10,000. However satisfied you feel for doing so well academically, it is nothing compared to the joy of knowing that you helped by giving a little of your time.

If you like word games, want to better your English, or simply want to help someone in need, this website is for you.

—

Categories

Suzi’s Seal of Approval
This is the main category that will be used on this site. All the websites that I personally enjoy using will be reviewed here (and trust me, that’s a lot!).

We Have Websites
Here is a selection of websites that either I, friends of mine, or visitors of the blog personally own. It’s a bit of free advertising and traffic for all involved! Who doesn’t love a shameless plug?

Friends’ Finds
Occasionally my friends will pass on a website that they love and want to share with me. With their permission I check them out myself and review them so I can post about them on Go To That Site. The great thing is my friends have completely different tastes so it’s a bit of a mixed bag.

Vouched-For by Visitors
Visitors of my blog are more than welcome to share websites that they like going to. Mainstream or obscure, gotothatsite.co.uk wants to hear about it! Contact me if you want the world to know about a website not yet mentioned here. Please note that this is a website meant for people of all ages so “x-rated” submissions will be disregarded.

—

Pages

About
I don’t intend to write much about myself so I decided to make one page dedicated to me. Eventually I might add a little more but I think it’s substantial enough for the moment.

Frequently Asked Questions
For a person that just happens upon a website it can be a little confusing to figure out what it’s about, especially if there’s a lot of writing. I hope my FAQ is clear enough to answer any questions a visitor here may have.

Referrals
All websites posted on this blog I recommend others go to, but some benefit me at the same time. I would never add a referral if I hadn’t used the site myself and I also include links with no referral code for those that prefer not to use them, however, the option is available anyway.

Acknowledgements
There are many sites, services and people that make this blog what it is. My acknowledgements page is all about giving back thanks to those who have helped me along the way, even if they don’t realise it.

Contact
As this is a blog it’s easy for anyone to send me a comment but, for the sake of privacy, there is a form anyone can use to email me with. I also recommend visitors use the form when they want to send me a link to a website so blog posts aren’t cluttered with suggestions.

—

That’s all the categories and page available for now. Thanks for reading!