Andy chats about the latest technology and interesting websites each week with Nerissa Pace on the "Talking back the night" radio show, heard across Australia.

 
Top 3 websites
http://www.rosesonly.com.au
This is one of the top online florists in Australia…and despite their name they actually sell more than just roses.

http://www.idonowidont.com
Sometimes the marriage proposal goes well, but the wedding day never happens…that’s where the “I do, now I don’t” website comes in.

http://www.rsvp.com.au
This Australian dating website rsvp has more then 950 thousand singles on their books.
It’s free to join the website and search, but you need to pay to start contacting other members.
One new feature on the website from tomorrow is something called “send a song” where you can serenade a potential date with the gift of a free music download from the Sony BMG music catalogue.


Feature Chat – Keeping in touch on valentines day
Webcams
Microsoft has just launched the “LifeCam” range offering very high resolution video. The cameras start at just under 60 dollars up to 180 dollars for the high definition Lifecam for notebook computers.

e-Card
Another thing you can do is send someone a card…but if you’ve left it too late…an e-card is perfect…and Yahoo has a good selection of Valentines e-cards that you can send quickly and for free!Cute cards for all ages – you’ll find them at http://greetings.yahoo.com.au

Phone a friend...via the Internet
Finally a phone call is always a great way to catch up, but if you want to talk for a long time, then you might want to look at one of the many internet phone services around.
Popular servies in Australia include engin, skype and mynetphone…some require special hardware, and with others you can just use a microphone and speakers plugged into your computer.
With many providers, calling someone else using the same service is usually free, otherwise calls costs are very competative.
If you make a lot of phone calls, a broadband phone service is definitely worth looking into! You can compare plans at www.phonechoice.com.au

 
Nelly at Night for Feb 07, 2007

Top 3 websites
http://www.drivingethanol.org/
With petrol prices being an ongoing discussion point in all states, the topic of mixing ethenol in fuels has also come up. A good site for info.

http://www.thepetcemetary.com/
This website has nothing to do with the very spooky Steven King movie of the same name.
Basically the pet cemetary website is a place online where you can celebrate and remember the life of your much loved animals.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/junku/sets/303691/
Still on animals…more specifically cats, I found a great photo gallery online that features almost 250 photos of Cats in mid air.

Back to School – Keeping your Kids safe

I think we all realise that a computer and the internet can be a great tool for homework research when used in the correct manner, however curious minds can easily be distracted on the world wide web.
Sitting down with your children and talking…no matter wheather they are 7 or 14…is probably the best way to set down guidelines for how the family computer is used, especially if you have many users for the same computer.

From the start you should be discussing what sort of content isn’t appropriate for them and that they should feel comfortable telling you if they come across something of this nature. (like spam email or explicit websites or messages).

Personal security is a big issue for all computer users, so talking about the sort of information that should never be give out to strangers online is essential…names, phone numbers, addresses, which school they go to…all information that can cause problems in the hands of the wrong person.

Especially with younger kids I recommend having the computer set up in an open area where you can supervise without standing over their shoulder.

On top of this, some good parental filtering software can be a big help and there’s plenty to choose from.

Perhaps go to the Internet Industry Association website at www.iia.net and see their list of recommended programs.A good filtering program will automatically block inapropriate websites and also keep private information from being sent out…even by accident.