Top 3 websites
www.napsounds.com
If you've been working extra hard to take some time off over Christmas...this website might just help you get make it to the holiday period.
I've never really tried 'power naping' but not only does this website promote it...but it has everything you need to get started. Simply load up the website and either turn up your computer speakers or put some headphones on and press play.
www.tankonempty.com
If you're affected by the price of petrol at the moment...if so then you can probably appreciate the amount of people who drive around with the fuel gauge on empty just to see how far they can push a tank of petrol.
That's where this website comes in...people have submitted statistics and stories about how far they have driven their cars while the fuel warning light was on or the needle showed empty...and you can search by make and model.
www.illdoanythingforamillion.com
A 25 year old Chef is the latest person to try and made fast money and gets 15 minutes of fame using the world wide web...earlier this month he started up this website, trying to get someone to simply give him 1 million dollars - which he says he will do anything for!
Feature Chat - Phone Home for Christmas...cheap!
Save on Phone calls by using the internet!
The ability for people to use the Internet to make voice calls has been around for some time, but it's only really been in the past 5 years or so that it's has become simple enough for the average person to use it...plus the wider reach of broadband internet access has also helped in it's success.
Skype is one of the more popular global companies to offer voice and video calls across the web and all you need to get started is to sign up, download the free software from the website, make sure you have a microphone and headphones, or a headset for your computer...and you're away....a webcam is good to have too, but it's not essential.
Skype has found its way into many internet cafe's around the world too, so you can access your skype account from just about anywhere.
The best part about Skype is that it's totally free to set up (apart from the cost of having an internet connection) and calls are free if you're just calling other Skype users. Of course you can also call regular phone numbers all over the world using Skype on your computer with very good call rates, but check the Skype website at www.skype.com.au for more information.
Another alternative that's been available in Australia for the past few years is Engin - They came up with an Internet phone solution that doesn't require your computer to be switched on and can use a regular phone handset.
Engin sell a small box that plugs directly into your internet connection - whether it be cable, ADSL or wireless. You then plug your phone handset into this box and you're away!
Now they have different plans available, but their 14.95 plan gets you free local and national untimed calls and from 3.5cents per minute internationally.
I'm personally a big fan of the engin service as it's just like using a standard phone and you don't even have to turn the computer on to use it!
A couple of things to remember with using internet phone services - Generally if you want a phone number associated with your service then you pay more, also you need to factor in the cost of your internet access, and unless you have cable internet, you still need to keep paying for a landline service which you need for ADSL internet access.
A great website to compare many of the Internet phone or VOIP services available in Australia is the independantly run www.phonechoice.com.au
More technology driven info soon, thanks to AVG Anti-Virus and Internet Security. AVG is tough on threats - easy on you! Buy AVG Internet Security Home edition covering 3 computers for two years for just $123.25 at avg.com.au
Merry Christmas everyone! Andy Wells
Listen to this week's segment HERE right now
Top 3 Websites
http://www.lastminute.com.au/
As the name suggests...If you're stuck for a last minute gift idea, then you'll find it on this website....and i've got to say that the range and depth of gifts is very impressive.
Yes they have hotel and holiday bookings, but then there's things like chocolate tasting kids, boutique beer tasting classes...or naming a star in the sky after someone...you can buy that too!By the way in a recent survey on the site...the top 5 inappropriate christmas gifts to open in front of family and friends was revealed...and those items included Personal Hygene items, Diet Pills, Self-Help books and adult novelty toys and a stripper.
http://www.santasearch.org/
If your kids are too old to sits on Santa's knee at the shopping centre...then perhaps you can help them write a letter to Santa at this website.
Click through to the post office section of the site and follow the basic steps which will involve entering information about some of the childs favourite things...this will all lead to what seems to be a personal reply from Santa that you'll recieve via email.
http://www.elfyourself.com/
Here's a Christmas site which will help you amuse your friends. You Elf yourself by uploading up to 4 photos of yourself and your friends (face shots).
Your head (and others you've uploaded) will then appear on the body of a funny dancing elf who then dances to a christmas song....you can send a link of the whole thing to everyone to laugh at.If you don't look good in tights....try http://www.scroogeyourself.com/
Feature chat - Mobile Web Surfing
Many new mobile phones are also capable of surfing the world wide web and checking email...but if you're not careful this can be expensive...so let's talk about what's involved.
Only really in the past year I've been interested more in keeping in touch with my email while out and about...a good example being if i'm on public transport on the way to work and I have an hour up my sleeve...I could use that time to respond to email instead of doing it when i get into the office.
Mobile phone owner beware though as the average mobile phone plan doesn't include much allowance for internet usage...so this is something that can really build up your phone bill at the end of the month.Here are a few examples...For my mobile I'm currently with Vodafone on a $29 a month plan...my phone is capable of connecting to the web, but as soon as I use any other website besides the Vodafone Live page, the casual user charge is $1 per 5 minutes which I discovered could really add up!
Looking at what Teltra offer on their website when it comes to surfing the web on a mobile phone, it's a similar deal where internet usage is billed seperately from call charges, but they've chosen to bill for data allowance...that's how much information your mobile consumes...over time spent. This too can be expensive though adding from 5 to 29 dollars a month to your bill for up to 80 megabytes of data...which doesn't seem like much given the content of some websites...certainly don't go downloading anything!
The latest mobile internet device worth looking into if you just want to be able to access the internet from just about anywhere, but don't want to get lumped with a monthly bill for it is the Pocket Surfer 2.
This is a handheld flip-top device...around the size of a large mobile phone or PDA...but you don't use it for making calls...it's purely for surfing the web...but it does use the vodafone mobile network to do it!
Now the amazing thing about the pocket surfer is that it uses new technology that will load web pages in just a few seconds...which is pretty amazing over a standard mobile connection....you'll understand what i mean if you've ever tried to load up a web page on a mobile phone...it can take 30 seconds to a few minutes.
In terms of cost the Pocket Surfer 2 will set you back just under 400 dollars, however that includes up to 20 hours a month of web access for the first year...and no more than 50 per year after that for the same amount of time.
I should stress that i've yet to test this device myself, but it looks good from the information i've been given...and I might ask Santa for one...check it out for yoruself though at http://www.pocketsurfer.com.au/
I'll be back next week, thanks to AVG Anti-Virus and Internet Security. AVG is tough on threats - easy on you! Buy AVG Internet Security Home edition covering 3 computers for two years for just $123.25 at avg.com.au
Jamie McDonald is Hosting 'Talking Back the Night' over summer.This is great news as Jamie is an old friend of mine from years ago when we worked at the same Radio station in country Victoria.
Jamie and I caught up for a chat on the show the day after the birth of my new little girl, Sarah.
Listen
HERE.
(Listen to tonight's segment HERE)Top Web Searches of 2007 – What we were looking for online this year.In place of my usual top 3 websites I thought we’d look through some of the latest stats released by Yahoo about what the most popular search topics on the web have been in 2007.
What do you think was the most searched topic on Yahoo this year? Well of all the things you can find online, it seems that Britney Spears with her career, marriage, and legal meltdowns held the number one spot.
Coming in at number 2…something totally different and much more practical…the weather. From checking forecasts to searching for news on events such as storms, The Weather was the 2nd post popular Yahoo search of 2007.
Also of note in the overall search category was the iPod Nano from apple at number 8, The Boune Ultimatum movie at number 9 (gotta see that – highly recommended)….and Real Estate came in as the 5th most popular search topic.
Breaking web searches down into categories…we have Britney spears again at the top of the “top female celebrities” list….our own Jennifer Hawkins came in at number 4…and even Schapelle Corby made the top female celebrities list at number 8.
The most searched for TV shows on Yahoo included…Australian Idol at number 10….Prison Break at number 5 (I stopped watched when they broke out of the first prison) and LOST at number 1.
In movie searches…The Bourne Ultimatum topped the list, with my favourite Transformers at number 4 and Pirates of the Caribbean 3, Shrek 3 and Spiderman 3 all in the top 10 searches.
My favourite search category – tech toys and gadgets, revealed that Australian were very interested in iPods, with the iPod Nano the most searched for piece of electronic gadget….Navman GPS devices came in at number 6 on the list and games consoles…Playstation 3, XBox360 and Nintendo Wii were also in the top 10.
Finally…the top news stories hunted down on Yahoo search this year included Californian wildfires….the Horse Flu….the death of Lucaino Pavarotti and of course the Federal Election was the most popular search for news in 2007.
You can get all this info in a very digestible form, by watching the video at
www.yahoo.com.au/pulse.
Feature chat – Look after your mobile phone!
Do you look after your mobile phone? Have you ever broken your phone and needed repairs…accidents happen, however it seems that Australians are finding new and weird ways to damage their mobile phones.
Telstra has just released a report on the 5 most common ways to damage mobile handsets.
The most popular in 2007 was…would you believe…Driving off with a mobile left on the car roof.The 2nd was water damage…and this includes dropping the phone in the toilet and talking on the phone while standing in the rain.
Another popular way to accidentally damage your phone is to sit on it….probably not great for the phone and certainly uncomfortable for you.
If you’ve got butter fingers then dropping your phone is another popular way to wreck your handset….and then the final of the top 5 ways to damage your mobile…Throwing it…on a desk, in a drawer to a friend…the handset doesn’t always survive the impact.
I think that what Telstra wanted to point out with the release of this ‘top 5’ mobile damage list is that mobile phone warranties only cover phone faults…not accidental damage…so if you drive off with the phone on the roof of your car…don’t blame the phone!
More next week...thanks to AVG Anti-Virus and Internet Security.
AVG is tough on threats - easy on you! Buy AVG Internet Security Home edition covering 3 computers for two years for just $123.25 at
http://www.avg.com.au/
