Web Wanders

Check fuel prices in Devon!

Keep an eye on fuel prices in your area with our new special feature.

Visit: http://www.devon24.co.uk/flatfiles/fuel/fuel.aspx

Credit crunch? Money saving tips!

The word on everyone’s lips at the moment is “credit crunch” and every time I watch the news at the moment it all seems doom and gloom for the economy at the moment.

Personally, I have noticed a significant rise in costs, especially for food shopping and petrol and these are both necessities! Its all very well for those in the city to preach the use of public transport or cycling to work, but, for those of us who live in the country, this is impractical as buses and trains often only run a couple of times a day. Public transport can also be a lot more expensive, which puts most people off.

Energy and water prices is another sticking point. The companies are always announcing record profits, yet our bills seem to go up and up! One tip I would give is to check your meter against your bill. We recently had an enormous water bill, which was based on an estimate. After checking the meter we discovered that we had only used half the amount of water estimated by the water company! I wonder how many people pay bills without realising when a mistake has been made with the estimate? If this does happen to you, take a note of the correct meter readings and give the company a ring so that they can adjust your bill.

Another tip I would give is to use a water saving device (eg. Hippo or Save-a-Flush) in your toilet. These are special plastic bags which can be placed in your cistern and prevent the toilet from using so much water with each flush. If you are a South West Water customer you can currently get one of these for free on their website at: http://www.southwestwater.co.uk/index.cfm?articleid=1624

We added a Save a Flush to our toilet and there is a noticeable diference to the amount of water used. To be honest, since adding the device, we haven’t noticed that the flush is less powerful, so toilets must waste a lot of water!

If you are looking to save money on your bills there are lots of money saving websites about at the moment. Some of the best links I have found are:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/

http://www.uswitch.com/

http://www.water-guide.org.uk/

http://www.energysavingadvice.co.uk

http://www.biggreenswitch.co.uk

Just for fun – here is a water saving game from Ariel - http://www.ariel.co.uk/water/game/

Stranger danger – the virtual reality

Watching a Panorama programme last night about child safety and the internet made me realise how the digital revolution has made the world smaller for teenagers in the last decade.

It is now so easy for teens to keep in touch with friends as they can communicate by mobile phone (calls and texting), by email, have virtual chats with Instant Messenging and web cameras (eg. MSN Messenger), meet up in online chat rooms, and exchange personal information on social networking websites (eg. Facebook). In fact, technically they don’t even need to leave their bedrooms to conduct their social lives! Gone are the days of queuing for the phone (aka as the landline) and passing notes in class!

Whilst the digital communication boom is proving a hit with the kids it is starting to become a headache for parents. While the stranger danger message is still loud and clear in the real world, in the virtual world, it can often seem harmless to talk to people you don’t know from the safety of your home. However, unfortunately, it is also easy for children to accidentally provide pedophiles with enough personal information to put themselves in danger.

In one of the cases shown in the programme a young girl discussed details of a forthcoming school trip on a social networking site. Unfortunately, one of the strangers that she had added to her list of accepted friends turned out to be a middle aged man who then turned up on the day of the trip and, recognising her from her photos online tried to talk to her with a group of friends. Realising something wasn’t quite right the teens took a picture of the man on their mobiles and ran away. The picture was then given to the police, who identified him as a known offender and arrested him.

One of the key themes of the Panorama programme was to encourage parents to take control of who their children are communicating with and when and where this happens. One suggestion was that parents talk to their children and reinforce why it is important that they only communicate with their “real” friends and discuss what sort of personal information is dangerous to make publicly available online (eg. mobile number, home address, details of after school clubs).

Another suggestion was to ban computers from the bedroom and to keep them in a busy family room, such as the living room. This not only makes it easier for parents to keep an eye on which websites their children are frequenting and to see who they are talking to, but, with the possibility of parents and other family members walking past in the background, discourages unsavoury characters from misusing web cameras for sexual grooming.

If online chat looks like double Dutch it might also be wise to learn some of the key internet slang epxoressionas and abbreviations. http://www.netlingo.com/ is a great resource for this! One common expression that you might find handy to know is POS, which translates as PARENT OVER SHOULDER!

Useful Links:

Panorama - One Click from Danger

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/7174814.stm

Panorama – Internet Dos and Don’ts – advice for parents:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/7172159.stm

Thinkuknow Website – advice for parents:

http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/

Internet Family Guide - Get IT? Got IT?:

http://www.nch.org.uk/uploads/documents/GetITGotITGoodbooklet.pdf

Internet slang - find out what your children are really saying!

http://www.netlingo.com

Funny five minutes

A friend sent me a link last night to a website called Elfyourself.com, which made me laugh!

www.elfyourself.com

The website allows you to upload a picture of your face and turns you into an all singing and dancing elf!

Once you have finished you can send your dancing elf self to all your friends and family with a Christmas message.

If you fancy a giggle, have a look at my Elf Self: http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1583319700

Happy Christmas to all our readers!

Christmas shopping

Its unavoidable – the Christmas shopping season is finally here! Over the last few weeks a constant stream of emails boasting the best prices for Christmas gifts have been appearing in my inbox, most of which have gone straight to my trashcan.

Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy the run up to Christmas. I love going to see the Christmas lights in town and its difficult to pass the bakery aisle in the supermarket and not feel slightly tempted by the mince pies. However, shopping for gifts is always stressful and these emails are a constant reminder that it needs to be done.

For some reason I always seem to end up putting it off until the last couple of weeks and then end up rushing around the shops at the weekend, along with what seems like 90% of Devon.

Unless you get up at the crack of dawn, you can queue for ages to get a parking space in the city at the weekend and, as my parking skills leave a lot to be desired, by the time I’ve managed to squeeze into the last awkward space next to a pillar in the multi-story car park I’m often so fed up that I feel like going home again!

However, as its December this weekend its about time I started thinking about presents and the internet is actually very useful. Many of the online shops offer prices that can be up to 50% less than the high street stores and they can deliver the presents directly to your door. However, take care to take note of last order dates for delivery before Christmas.

If you prefer to go to the shops to buy presents the web is still a useful tool. If you are stuck for gift ideas for a particular family member most shopping websites include recommendations for different age groups and interests. Some websites can also tell you if a gift is available in your local store and give you an option to reserve it.

I’ll admit it - I have already bought two presents online. However I shouldn’t get too smug, because there are still quite a few to get….

Some of my favourite websites for Christmas shopping:

www.play.com – DVDs, books, CDs, games , electronics, t-shirts

www.amazon.co.uk– books, DVDs, CDs

www.boots.co.uk – fragrances, toiletries

www.iwantoneofthose.com – gadgets and boys toys

www.gadgetshop.com – gadgets and boys toys

Social networking!

Social networking sites are the latest trend on the web and, if you are not a member of one already, you have probably heard of Facebook, MySpace or Bebo.

If, like me, you are very bad at keeping in touch with people, these sites are a lifeline, as you can keep all of your friends and family updated of your news and share picture galleries and videos at the click of a button! Some of the sites even remind you of your friends’ birthdays a week in advance – what more could you want?

Which site you choose to join is really down to personal preference. It also depends on how you want to use it.

MySpace users tend to like customising their pages and there are hundreds of websites available where you can download free skins (ie. colour schemes, backgrounds and layouts) for your MySpace page. Members are also given an individual MySpace web link which means that you can use your account as a mini website.

This is great if you want to promote yourself. For instance, my cousin’s band has recently been signed up with a record label, so they use their MySpace page to keep fans up to date with tour dates and record releases. Fans can also listen to audio clips of their tracks and watch video clips from their latest gigs.

If you type local place names into the search on MySpace you will probably be surprised to see that quite a few pubs and clubs now have their own pages! One example is Honiton Conservative Club at: http://www.myspace.com/honitonconservativeclub

Facebook and Bebo users seem to use the sites more informally – to chat with friends, share personal photos and videos and to find new friends with similar interests. You can also join groups of likeminded members on subjects that you interested in, as well as alumni groups for schools and colleges. Facebook friends can also challenge each other to online quizzes and even send them virtual gifts!

All of the social networking sites give you the opportunity to share information about yourself and this is where you need to be cautious. Any personal information that you choose to be published online could be viewed by the wrong people and there is the potential that this information could be used by fraudsters.

The three main social networking websites all have privacy settings built in to them, so you can choose which information is made available to the general public and which is made available only to close friends and family. When you join a site it is advisable to look at the privacy options and decide how much of your information you want to make public. For instance, it is not advisable to make your birth date, mother’s maiden name and personal contact details (eg. full address, telephone number and main email address) available to the public as it is possible that these details ( along with other publicy available information on the net) could be used by fraudsters to help them apply for bank accounts in your name!

Useful Links:

Popular Social Networking sites:

Facebook – www.facebook.com

MySpace - http://uk.myspace.com

Bebo www.bebo.com

Privacy Advice:

BBC Watchdog - http://www.bbc.co.uk/consumer/tv_and_radio/watchdog/reports/internet/internet_20071024.shtml

Blogs - what are they?

As you may have noticed we now have a blog section on the Devon 24 newspaper sites and you may be wondering: “what is a blog?”

Although sounding suspiciously like an alien toilet, the word blog is actually web speak for an online diary and derives from the term web log. Whatever you want to call them, blogs have taken off in a big way recently and everyone seems to have one!

Lots of celebrities keep blogs and the nosey among us love this rare glimpse into the thoughts and lives of the stars. Blogs can also be a good way for celebrities to promote events, such as performances and book releases.

For us mere mortals, however, blogs provide an opportunity to share our latest news with friends, family and…the rest of the world! Some people like to use their blogs to keep people informed of their progress on big projects or to describe their travels on a gap year abroad. Others prefer to use their online diaries in a more traditional sense: to talk about the trivia of everyday life and to give opinions on issues close to their hearts. Alternatively, if you fancy being a citizen journalist, many of the national newspapers now have shared news blogs which you can update and use to share your views on the top stories. A word of warning though: despite what many people believe the law DOES apply to content published on the web, so be very careful that you don’t post any comments that could be libellous or defamatory.

If you are a bit techno shy don’t be afraid – most personal blog sites are very easy to use, some of the most popular being www.blogger.com and www.myspace.co.uk
The site you choose really depends on which layout you prefer. If you are feeling a bit more adventurous you can also include extra content, such as pictures, video clips (known as vlogs) and audio (aka podcasts). However, you must use your own material, as it is illegal to use copyright pictures, artwork, videos or music tracks without permission.

Over the next few months I will be using my blog to report on the latest news and trends from the World Wide Web. If you have any comments, or suggestions on topics that you would like to see covered, please email: sally.fairbrother@archant.co.uk

USEFUL LINKS:

Create your own blog:

www.blogger.com

www.blogit.com

www.myspace.co.uk

Find blogs:

Google Blog Search - http://blogsearch.google.com/

Technorati Blog Directory - http://technorati.com/blogs/