Missed me ?

It has been some time since my last post, but now things are back on an even keel, Sharon is back home.

In the last blog, I showed you step by step how to install Windows Live Mail. Now, I realise that some of you might baulk at changing your default mail reader, but I would like to offer you a solution to enable you to read RSS feeds, including this one.

There are various readers out there, so I suggest you mosey on over to www.rssfeeds.com, and pick one. Some alert you and tell you when a feed has been updated. There is a good site if you are looking for specific types of feed, depending on what interests you, it is www.syndic8.com. There is a lot there, go investigate. Also, try www.dailynews.com, it has a wide range of news for any interest. One of our regular readers is interested in photography, there is a dearth of info there for that. Another one in the same vein is www.rss-network.com, and www.search4rss.com.

Enough about feeds, now for something completely different. I mentioned above that one of our regular readers is very interested in photography, and for those of you who would like to do more with your pictures but find the cost prohibitive, Adobe has come up with this new on line site. www.photoshop.com/express, and I believe it is free. You can take a trial test or you can join and become a member and edit your pictures. One note though, it only accepts photos in the jpeg format, because of size. Worth checking out though. It has 17 professional editing tools and 2GB of on line space to upload your pictures for others to see. You can also save to disc any file you edit if you wish. Maybe, publish to Facebook?

Ever wanted to backup your files on line but never knew where to go? There is a site, and it is free www.humyo.com. It allows you to backup up to 30GB, yes you read that correctly 30GB. 

This time, there is a wealth of information for you to digest, or print, whatever is your poison.

There are a few interesting petitions going on at the moment and 2 you might be interested in. They are on the prime ministers web site at http://petitions.pm.gov.uk. Gordon Brown says he is listening to the public, well we shall see. The first petition is "Allow the Red Arrows to fly at 2012 Olympics" and the other one, "Give Ghurkhas and family British Citizenship".

Ever had people call you and hang up when you answer? we all have. This site www.whocallsme.com This is a user supplied database of phone numbers of telemarketers, non-profit organizations, charities, political surveyors, SCAM artists, and other companies that don't leave messages, disconnect once you answer, ignore the Do-Not-Call List regulations, and simply interrupt your day. Give them a call to find out who is bugging you.

Chill out for a moment at this site http://seenthis.webuser.co.uk.

Ever wanted to watch PC TV for free? www.anytvplayer.com is the place to go.

Are you like me and paranoid about malicious software lurking on your pc? You need Hazard Shields - Shields Up. This program scans and removes any malicious software and keeps an eye on future problems. It is free at www.orbitech.org

We all know about ZIP files, compressed data files format, but what if you download a program in a different format, like RAR or ISO? you need a copy of Extract Now at www.extractnow.com.

Wish you had one program that could convert any video file to another? You need Simplified Universal Player Encoder & Renderer  SUPER.  Ever wanted to send mail privately and anonymously, you need SYMPA (Send_Your_Mail_Privately_&_Anonymously). Want to know all about your network connections, you need IsItOn. All these free programs can be got ant www.erightsoft.com under the freeware banner.

Are you into National Geographic? You can listen to their short podcasts at www.nationalgeographic.com/podcasts/shorts.html

From time to time, we like to buy and read Time magazine. There is now a website that you can read their articles as podcasts. www.time.com/time/podcast some very interesting articles there.

Penultimate idea, if you want to get your pc in good shape I suggest you go to www.pcpitstop,com, a wealth of tests and checks for you.

Finally, I shall be building a Home Web Server and will detail it every small step for you to follow. I don't expect you will want to build one, but it will be useful if you decided you wanted to build your own computer. I shall also be detailing what every part does and works.

Till then friends, ROCK ON !!!!!!!!!!