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

www.bonjour.com
I’m heading to Paris next week on a business trip…but my french isn’t great so I’m hoping maybe this website will help.
It’s contains free french language lessons using audio examples and includes greetings and courtesies, the alphabet, numbers, days, months and seasons, question words, quantities, weather and time, asking for help, emergencies, banks, taxis, restaurants, transportation, finding your way, touring, places to see, socializing, some famous French expressions and even some very romantic French expressions.

www.pimpmysearch.com
Head along to the website and you’ll be prompted to enter your name…when you do you’ll be returned to the site which looks very much like Google…but instead of the big Google logo, you’ll see your name. See…very personal!

http://childtrader.com
I'm sure every parent secretly entertains the idea of trading in their kids every now and then....and that’s what this website is all about.

Now on the initial visit, this site looks like a company that facilitates child swapping between families and it even goes into some some depth about the whole process…however it’s a hoax…although I must admit that because it’s a U.S based site it did take me some time to work out that it wasn’t real

Afterall…it wouldn’t surprise me if it was.

Also this week - Telstra's $0 upfront laptop plus the Sony Camera that searches for smiles

For years mobile phone companies have been offering mobile handsets on a zero dollars up front plan…where you basically pay for the hardware as you go…well now Teltra are brining in a similar deal with notebook computers.

Basically the idea is that with more people wanting to take their work with them on the move, mobile broadband cards for notebook computers are in high demand...especially for business users

so Telstra has partnered up with selected dealers for a Telstra Next G laptop promotion which runs until June 30.

For 0$ up front you get a laptop (valued at around 700 dollars) and a mobile broadband device that plugs into the laptop wtih a 1GB per month connection plan...for all this you get billed 99 dollars per month for 36 months....but there's no up front cost.

If you run a small business, are always out and about and don't have the cash flow to get hooked up, this could be worth looking at.

In Digital cameras, here's something you might want to investiage if you have trouble capturing the perfect smile in your photos... how about a camera that automatically detects smiles and takes the photo for you!

In many of the latest Cybershot cameras from Sony, there is what they call "Smile Shutter" technology which will monitor the subject of your picture for the smile you're after...and take the photo!

...and how's this...if you're taking a photo with many faces, you can select on screen which person the camera should monitor for the smile...and it will take the shot based on their facial expression!

I think this is a great feature and anything that can give you better photos has to be worth it! Check out www.sony.com.au for more info on that one.

Back next week thanks to AVG Anti-Virus and Internet Security.

AVG is tough on threats - easy on you! Buy the AVG Internet Security 3 Pack that covers 3 computers for two years for just $123.95 at http://www.avg.com.au/

 

Top 3 websites

http://manbabies.com/

Simply the funniest photo website that i've come across in the last week...the idea is simple...you find a photo with Dad and Kids....then usining photoshop or some other image editing program you swap their heads around..

I remember this is the sort of thing that we used to do with magazines when we were kids, swapping people's heads around...but of course with technology the result is much better..

http://tankonempty.com/

Here's a website that gives some hope to saving a few dollars...it's full of stories and statistics for how far people have been able to drive their car once the petrol gauge hits the empty mark..

Personally I know that on my motorbike I can still travel around 50 kilometers once the fuel warning light comes on...but of course I don't recommend it's something you want to try out in busy traffic or when you're on your way to work.

http://www.howispentmystimulus.com/

With the delivery of the federal budget last night...here's an interesting website on how the Government in the U.S is spending money.
Apparently earlier this year they decided to try and stimulat the econonmy and prevent a recession by sending out 152 billion dollars in one-off payments to average americans.

This website asks people to send in photos of how they spent that money to see if it really was worth it....and i've gotta say that by the number of photos that people have sent in showing reciepts for alcohol and cigarettes...i'm not so sure it was money well spent.

New research on backing up your important files

Not too long ago we were talking about the importance of making backup copies of important files of your computer....and some new research that I was handed today from Galaxy Reseach shows that Australians are still very

bad at looking after their previous files.

The gizmo Household Technology Study has revealed that while we're quite tech savvy and like to buy up the latest gadgets...we don't utilise all the features...like making backups!

Only 15% of the survey respondents said they backed up their files at least weekly and an amazzing 44% admitted to not backing up ether very ofter or at all!!!

The same survey asked people what files were the most important and what they didn't want to lose... and there results were...
– Digital photos (83%);
– Personal files such as a resume (67%);
– Personal information (54%);
– Music (48%);
– Work files (41%);
– Games and entertainment (31%)
– University, training or study files (29%); and
– Movies (25%).

So it seems that people know what files they dont' want to lose...but they are not doing anything about it!

Gizmo who commissioned the servey recommend using an External Hard Disk drive for data backup...which you can get for a couple of hundred dollars...and you'll find that there are some on the market that include software to take care of the backup process....also, I'd recommend an online data backup service like Carbonite.com.au...where they store everything on their secure computers for you for around 5 dollars a month.

Either way the message is pretty clear...make copies of your important files...just in case the worst happens!

Back next week thanks to AVG Anti-Virus and Internet Security.

AVG is tough on threats - easy on you! Buy the AVG Internet Security 3 Pack that covers 3 computers for two years for just $123.95 at http://www.avg.com.au/

 

Top 3 Websites - Webby Award winners

The winners of the 12th annual Webby Awards have just been announced so I thought this week I'd pick a few of the winners worth mentioning.
Now the Webby awards is the largest international event of it's kind, recognising excellence on the world wide web.

www.howstuffworks.com

This website that I briefly mentioned a few weeks ago has taken out the people's choice award for the best writing...and it's well deserved. Using this website you can find out how to do just about anything...for practical or social uses.

www.kidshealth.org

This site gave been given the best Family / parenting website award. One of the great features of the site is that it is split into 3 section...For Parents, Kids and Teens - so it's good for looking up advice for parents...or even just helping kids with homework.

http://icanhascheezburger.com/

Finally the people's choice award for the best humour site goes to one of my favourites because it's all about cats. The phenomenon of putting silly, mis-spelt captions under funny photos of cats is a craze that just keeps going around the web...so much that it really is part of internet culture. I fully recommend this website to bring a happy tear to your eye.

Microsoft to stop selling Windows XP

What operating system do you run on your computer? For PC users, Windows Vista from Microsoft is what ships with new computers these days, however If you've owned the same computer for a few years, chances are that you're still using Windows XP...which, by the way is now 7 years old.

At the end of June this year Microsoft will stop selling windows XP and next year they will start winding down technical support for it - a process that takes a few years.

So now there are a couple of things you can do....of course if you're quite happy with the way your computer runs, there's nothing there to force you into upgrading to windows vista, however once Microsoft stop offering support for windows XP you may have problems...and from July you may find it hard to track down another copy of the software if something happens to your original disk.

Upgrading to the Home Basic edition of Windows Vista from windows XP will set you back between 160 - 180 dollars - but you'll need to make sure that both your comptuer hardware and other programs that are installed are compatible.

The easiest way to do this is to use the upgrade advisor program on the Microsoft website which will scan your computer and let you know if you need to make any changes before you make the move from windows XP to windows Vista.

http://www.microsoft.com/australia/windows/products/windowsvista/buyorupgrade/upgradeadvisor.mspx

I've just run it on one of my home PCs and there are a couple of old programs that I have to remove...a few more that just need to be either updated or removed...but overall nothing serious which is good news.

I've posted some info up on my website that compares windows XP wtih Windows Vista - head to andywells.com and check out the 'teching back the night' section.

More next week thanks to AVG Anti-Virus and Internet Security.

AVG is tough on threats - easy on you! Buy the AVG Internet Security 3 Pack that covers 3 computers for two years for just $123.95 at http://www.avg.com.au/

 

Teching back the night - May 1, 2008

Top 3 websites

http://www.petcasso.com/

How much do you love your Pets...enought to have their portrait painted? Well there must be a market for it because this website features quite a few custom portraits of people's pets...and yes you can have one commissioned by the artist.

it takes this artist from New York up to 6 weeks to finish a painting...so you can bet it's not cheap!

http://www.download.com
I know that this seems like quite an obvious website to mention, but I get plenty of emails from people asking me where they can find software for all sorts of applications from photo editors to internet radio players and even programs to make their own webpages.
Well Download.com is one of the safest places to you can go online to find trial versions of programs...so you can try before you buy...but you can also find free software which may suit your purpose.

http://www.wikihow.com

I'm a big fan of 'how to' websites like 'howstuffworks.com' and 'ehow.com'...but the WikiHow website is great because it's the users of the website that make it so great.
Whether you're looking for advice on how to remove carpet stains or simply want to work out how you can sleep in but still make it to work on time...you'll find it all on this website. Plus you can add your own tips to any catagory, making the website better for everyone.

Also this week - Skype offers new cheap phone call subscriptions

I know it wasn't long ago that we talked about some of the choices available for making phone calls over the internet...however I received some information from Skype this week which looks like a great way to save money on calls to landline phones anywhere in the world.

Now if you haven't heard of Skype, they are a company that offers voice and video calling through your computer and internet connection...and they have over 309 million users around the world...so they must be doing something right!

Their latest offering is this....for a subscription fee of 5.95 a month, you can make unlimited calls to landline phones to any one of 34 countries. Now if you don't really know anyone overseas you can simply choose Australia as your calling country and make all the calls you like each month and not worry about the cost.....and it also works out great if half your family lives overseas.

Now if you do happen to have friends and family all over the world, they've also put on a 14.95 a month plan that lets you call any of the 34 countries listed and make unlimited calls to landline phones each month!

Now there's a few things to know about making calls this way...firstly, the most common way of using Skype involves sitting in front of your computer which needs to be connected to the internet (so a good broadband connection is ideal).

Also, Skype isn't meant to repalce your normal telephone services, especially as you can't call emergency services though Skype...however I think a combination of the right basic package from your telephone service provider coupled with an internet phone service like skype could save you quite a few dollars.

Anyway I think it's just refreshing to see that while petrol prices and interest rates are heading up...you can still save a few dollars elsewhere!

Back with more gadgets and websites next week thanks to AVG Anti-Virus and Internet Security.

AVG is tough on threats - easy on you! Buy the AVG Internet Security 3 Pack that covers 3 computers for two years for just $123.95 at http://www.avg.com.au/