Ram's Best on the Web
ART
York based company who generally deal with blue chip artists. Blue chip artists are those artists who it is felt are likely to go up and up in value as time goes on and are therefore considered good investments. So, now you can have a piece of art, love it, and know that when it comes to selling it, you'll probably make on it too.
Miller's Antiques Guide (the famous annually produced reference book used by dealers and buyers) recommends investment in blue chip artists. You've heard about buying into property etc, but the future is art.
This is what British Art Masters say on their website which I think sums it up well:
"By exploring our site you will discover some information about each artist as well as a selection of high quality Modern British and Contemporary pieces. We believe image is everything and only deal with works which we believe show the artist at his/her best."
BOOKS
LOGANBERRY BOOKS
http://loganberrybooks.com/stump.html
Trying to remember the details of a book but can't quite remember the author or title? Send in what you can and Stump the Bookseller will attempt to figure it out all for £1.
ETHICAL CONSUMER
FREECYCLE
www.freecycle.org
freecycle is a network of millions of people around the world who want to swap their unwanted gifts and goods for free. Sign up to the UK bit and recieve notifications of goods up for grabs or list your own. The rules are: a)there's no cost and b) items are legal and c) items are appropriate for all ages travel websites that give excellent offers
MISSIONFISH
www.missionfish.org.uk
Missionfish will help you get rid of some stuff on Ebay and then help you donate some or all of the profits to charity. They mark your items with a charity ribbon to show others you're an ethically minded seller. You can choose from their list of charitable organisations or suggest one that isn't listed.
COMPUTER-AID
www.computer-aid.org
a super website that helps you donate your old PC or IT equipment to a school in Africa. Drop the old stuff off to their shop in London or (if you don't live locally) get it picked up all for a measely £9.50. Alternative website: www.itforcharities.co.uk/pcs.htm
CHAT
FRING
www.fring.com
Fringe brings your Skype, MSN messenger, Google talk and SIP accounts into a single application. Now expanded to support Windows Mobile, it is absolutely free (network charges notwithstanding) and dead easy to use. Essential for all VoIP and IM addicts.
WORKING SMARTER
REMEMBER THE MILK
If you have lots of tasks to do and have many fingers in different pots and struggle to keep on top of them, then this website is for you. It's certainly made my life tonnes easier. It's a bit like the "tasks" section of Microsoft Outlook or your own personal "to-do" list but you can do lots more. Here are some of the things you can do.
Organize the way you want to - Are you a list lover? Create as many lists as you need. Into tagging? Want to store notes along with your tasks? You can do that too.
Manage tasks quickly and easily - Set due dates easily with next Friday or in 2 weeks.
Get reminded, anywhere - Receive reminders via email, SMS, and instant messenger (AIM, Gadu-Gadu, Google Talk, ICQ, Jabber, MSN, Skype and Yahoo! are all supported).
Add tasks wherever you are.
Adding tasks is as simple as firing off an email (even from your phone). See an important date on the web? Add it to your list with Quick Add.
Take your tasks with you - Access your tasks on your web-enabled mobile device. Print your entire list or a handy weekly planner which shows upcoming tasks. View your tasks on your calendar with Apple iCal or Google Calendar. Subscribe to feeds with Atom/RSS.
Plan your time - See what's due today and tomorrow, and the things you've missed.
Search your tasks the smart way - Find the tasks you want with advanced searching.
MISTER POLL
You can create your own online polls on any subject with an unlimited number of questions. Email them to friends, plug them into your web site, submit them to our public directory, and more. Plus, every poll gets its own message forum! Really useful site when you want to do a "quick and dirty" survey of what people are doing. You do have to register, but a) it is FREE and b) it is a one off process.
HOTELS
LATEROOMS
mobile.laterooms.com
general website: www.laterooms.com
laterooms mobile look for when you find yourself to you don't know and need to find somewhere to stay at the last minute. With the ability to book a flight your handheld, it takes the pain out of finding a decent room.
NEAREST HOTELS
www.nearesthotels.co.uk
Nearest hotels is a superb utility if you are looking for a hotel close to a particular place (only for the UK). All you need is the postcode or address of where you want your hotel to be close to. It not only displays a list, but also a map of where various hotels are in relation to your destination point. I often try this website to find a hotel I want, and then use laterooms or expedia to find the same hotel but at a cheaper price. (By the way, expedia is getting more and more expensive these days; laterooms is loads better)
HOTELS USING GOOGLE MAPS
www.googlemaps.co.uk
Google maps is also a great utility for find a hotel close to a particular place, but unlike nearest hotels, it covers the world! Just type "hotels in LS2 9JT" and it will do the rest for you and give you a list of hotels and their direct websites. Remember, you might find a cheaper quote on a website like laterooms though.
TRIPADVISOR
www.tripadvisor.com
I love this website. Found a hotel you want to stay at but not sure how good it really is despite what they say on their own home pages? Read what recent people who have stayed there have had to say - more closer to the truth (often with photos they've taken too). I always check out this website when I've found a hotel, just to make double sure if anything else. The site also offers free travel guides too.
INTERNET/TELEPHONE
ONSPEED
www.onspeed.com
Speed up your internet connection upto five times, even if you've got broadband. This is a clever piece of software that shrinks data packages as they travel to and from the net making things go a lot faster. And it wont break the bank either (once a year charge of around £25). You can even download it to your mobile.
SAYNOTO0870.COM
www.saynoto0870.com
The SAYNOTO0870.COM web site has been featured on BBC's Working Lunch TV programme, BBC Radio 2 (Jeremy Vine Show), BBC Radio Norfolk, and also appeared in many newspapers & publications, including The Guardian, Which Magazine, Readers Digest, and many more. Stop big companies ripping you off by getting you to call them on 0870 numbers (expensive rates) when you want to talk to them. Use cheaper or freefone numbers listed on this site.
COMPUTERS
CARBONITE
This is fab and an absolute must for most of you. Are you worried about losing all that data on your PC or lappy as a result of theft or computer failure? Why not back it all up online. Simply store all your files or folders under one big folder on your hard drive and then set that to backup to an ONLINE hard disk drive (=a webserver). You can back up as much as you want. I've got 14Gb worth of stuff backed up. It will back up new files automatically as they are put on your hard drive. It costs around £25 a year - a bargain for the peace of mind it ensures.
WINDOWS HOME SERVER - TRANQUIL PC
Windows home server automatically backs up new files, and will repair files, or restored your entire hard drive in a worse case scenario. You can also network it to multiple PCs, so that they can all get the back up benefits. But the main benefit of Windows Home Server is that you can access it wherever you are, provided you have an internet connection. So, if you leave home without an important document, you can easily access it later.
NORTON 360
One of the biggest names in security, Norton 360 is a masterpiece of powerful and streamlined software. It's packed with features, from system performance tools to fraud detection, all in just 50 MB. The interface is clear and concise, and offers all types of advance controls, which are easy to manage, and still remain unobtrusive despite maintaining top security. (Alternatively, checkout Windows Live OneCare 2.0 - slots into Windows Vista like a dream, sorting out all your Windows Firewall and Windows Defender settings)
SHOPPING
E-bay
GOOGLE PRODUCTS
www.google.co.uk/products
CAR
ROAD TAX
http://www.vehiclelicence.gov.uk
Make your life easier; forget all this paperwork and the post office. The DVLA can check that you have a valid MOT and insurance certificate online now. All you need is a number on your registration document or last MOT certificate and that's it. There's very little to fill in. You get your tax disc in around 5 days time.
MONEY
Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis is an award-winning TV & radio presenter, national newspaper columnist and bestselling author. He's an ultra-specialised journalist, who spends his life focusing on how to cut bills without cutting back.
I don't know where to start with this website other than it's absolutely fab. It covers nearly everything and anything to do with money from how to find the cheapeast gas supplier, best credit card deal to finding a cheap holiday. It even covers things like buying books or CDs online - in fact nearly everything!
Although the home page looks busy, the bit I use is the search box - just type in whatever you are looking for and Robert's your uncle!
motleyfool.co.uk
SOFTWARE (freeware/shareware)
www.downloads.com
www.tucows.com
Ant Renamer (free) Rename a large number of files all in one go.
Autostitch (free) Excellent utility to help you join several pictures to make a single panorama.
Stickies (free) a program that creates electronic notes that can be stuck to the Windows Desktop just like post-it-notes.
ThinkFree Office (free) Don't have Word, Excel or PowerPoint? Create and edit documents from any PC with an internet connection. Store your documents on ThinkFree's computers so you can edit them wherever you are. But you must have an online connection!
Mozilla Firefox www.mozilla.org/ This is a free internet browser. It's very similar to internet explorer but tonnes more stable and less likely to cause problems especially when frustratingly trying to hook up with a wireless network like in a hotel or somewhere. It's strongly recommended to have this as well as internet explorer (for those times when explorer just messes you about)
Mozilla Firefox add ons
https://addons.mozilla.org
Cooliris Previews Cooliris Previews gives you the power to browse and share Web links and rich media faster. Just mouse over any link, and the Cooliris preview window immediately appears to show you the content.
1-ClickWeather 1.1.4 Because weather is important to you everyday... weather.com offers you instant local weather conditions, alerts, radar in motion, satellite maps, and forecasts all within your Firefox.
TRAVELLING
www.visitengland.co.uk
www.travelsupermarket.com
www.expedia.co.uk
http://www.flightmapping.com/
this is a great site for finding out in which cities there are scheduled flights to specific destinations. For instance, you could be wasting your time and money trying to search all the other travel sites for a flight from say Manchester to Seville. But if you use flightmapper, you will see that scheduled flights to Seville only occur in Liverpool and London. Liverpool is only across the road from Manchester.
www.skyscanner.net
is another great site for figuring out which days scheduled flights leave and therefore helps you to book the right dates off work rather than sticking to the usual Sat-Sat rule which makes things difficult if the flight is scheduled for mid week!
FUNKY STUFF
http://www.lapjacks.com
http://www.backslaps.co.uk
Is your laptop a tad boring? Want to add funk to it? Give your laptop a new look in seconds! Check out these ready-to-apply laptop full-color skins with ultra-high resolution full-colour cool designs printed on premium grade adhesive-backed vinyl. Every skin is covered with a clear protectant layer for the ultimate in durability. Remember - all skins use a patented repositionable & removable adhesive backing for fast, easy and accurate installation and goo-free removal. Personalise your laptop now - I've done mine!
WINDOWS AND OFFICE TIPS
I have a large document that's written entirely in capital letters. Is it possible to change it so that it's shown using lowercase letters an uppercase at the beginning of sentences?
It's easy to do this in Microsoft word - simply highlight the passage you want to change, or to select the whole document, hold down the Ctrl key and press A. Then hold down Shift and press F3. This will cycle through the various case options. The first convert all the text uppercase, so you may not see any difference. Still holding down the Shift, press F3 again, which will change everything to lowercase. Press F3 a third time (still holding down Shift) and this will convert the passage to what word calls sentence case, which is how we normally write sentences, with capitalised first letters.