Shall we walk or take a ride?

Whether you want to get about London under your own steam, or take a virtual trip on the Tube, we’ve got the gen.

A walk in agreeable company

If you live in or near London and want to know more about the history of the bits you don’t usually visit, or even the bits you do, then we have the answer: go for a walk with a nice chap talking into your ear. If someone asks you about reliable guides who don’t shout and hold umbrellas in the air, let them in on the same secret.

If you download a Free Walks in London podcast to your MP3 player or iPod, it will be like arranging with a knowledgeable but slightly hesitant chum to go for a walk with you. I listened to the first few minutes of a couple of the walks, and I liked what I heard.

The Docklands one starts in Shadwell tube station, where there is some building work going on. Consequently the friendly chap doing the chat has to compete with a lot of crashing and banging. There are some pauses while he checks his notes to tell us exactly how to get to Shadwell. Still, it makes it wonderfully "authentic", and once he gets into his stride, I feel that I am in good hands.

Each walk has a written introduction, which sets the mood for the walk to come. There are walks all over London, from Bayswater to Clerkenwell, from Regents Park to Bergen. Bergen? Surely that’s in Norway? It is, but apparently he just popped it in because "it was too good to miss". Rather endearing, I thought, and a bit daft. But it’s still a great site.

(From the Gateway to websites, select "London". Free Walks in London is under "Tourism, travel and facilities".)


Where does that line really go?

While we’re in London, have a look (just above the Free Walks in London entry on the Gateway) at the Interactive Tube Map. This is not a Transport for London offering. It’s not clear who exactly does promote it, but it uses Google mapping to show the Tube lines in their proper, geographical position. It’s informative and great fun.

You can view the Tube lines superimposed on a street plan of London, or swap that for a satellite view or – a bit confusing, this – a hybrid view with Tube + street plan + satellite. The default pointer is the "grab" hand - just left click and drag the map to see the bit you want.

Marvel at how close the Victoria Line goes to the Emirates Stadium. Make the pointer "hover" over a station symbol to find out its name, which lines it’s on, and which busses pass by. Or just follow a line to see where it really goes (switching between views to get the most out of it). Fascinating and, if you’re that way inclined, possibly addictive.

(From the Gateway to websites, select "London". Interactive Tube Map is under "Tourism, travel and facilities".)


Picture: mantasmagorical/morguefile.com

Uncle Sam gets global

There are lots of good jokes about Americans’ somewhat hazy knowledge of world geography (oh go on, you must have heard them), but this week’s featured websites show a rather firmer grasp on foreign affairs.

The view from Capitol Hill ...

The Library of Congress serves both the American government and its people as a repository for all things American - it claims to be the largest library in the World (no surprise there). But you don’t have to be American to use some of their online resources, and one of the best is Portals to the World.
Pick a country, any country - what do you want to know? I chose France, and I was offered links covering everything from the geography of the country to its language and culture, taking in government, media, libraries and lots more on the way.
They even have links to French search engines - particularly useful, as there is a lot of information in French which is (for reasons I’m too polite to mention) not translated into English.
It doesn’t look exciting - no, let’s be fair, it’s a one-note symphony in tedious blueness. But if you’re going somewhere new for your holidays, or just trying to get some facts on a place you’ve never heard of, Portals to the World does the biz.

(From the Gateway to websites, select "Transport & tourism". Portals to the World is under "Tourism & travel: World".)

... and the view from Spook Central

When you select a country from Portals to the World (described above), one of the links you are offered is to what they coyly refer to as the "World Factbook". Now this is actually an old friend, the splendidly sinister CIA World Factbook. While our own beloved MI5 maintains a website merely as a PR stunt, the American cloak-and-dagger boys (OK, and girls) publish huge quantities of material about the countries they are - presumably - spying on.
The country information is very straightforward, describing the place, its location, its people, its industry and its politics. The historical thumbnail sketches are useful - there isn’t an annoyingly American slant on the information, rather it’s written in the manner of someone taking a polite interest. There is no mention on the France page of cheese eating surrender monkeys!
If it’s all part of a sinister Yankee plot to run the world - and who am I to judge? - all I can say is that glancing through the CIA World Factbook is a jolly good way to pass the time while we wait for the invasion.

(From the Gateway to Websites, select "Government & politics: national and international". CIA World Factbook is under "Worldwide government". Or get in via Portals to the World as above.)

Picture credit: click/morguefile.com

The night of the long titles

We’ve made a few changes to the Gateway to websites. The front page is now (we think) cleaner and crisper, with icons at the bottom linked to related pages. Within several of the category pages there are links to Webtastic, the revised and greatly improved website suggestions for homework.

And when you visit a category page, you will see that all the other categories are listed on the left, so that you can switch between them without going back to the front page every time.
Please let us know if you have any comments or suggestions.

A good look

RNIB Technology Information Sheets doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue as a title, and the page itself doesn’t grip me with its dazzling brilliance. But the actual information is very much to-the-point. For people with sight problems, IT equipment can be daunting. All the online and on-screen stuff that normally-sighted people take for granted these days can be of little or no use unless the equipment can be adapted or demystified.

I looked at "Developing keyboard skills", and it’s good stuff. It starts with a summary of why you would bother - the keyboard is the most reliable and, for some people, the only workable method of inputting information to a computer. Then the available courses are discussed, with price indications and links to suppliers.

All the hardware gubbins you can tack on to a computer to assist you, and all the software you can install to "bend" the machinery to your personal needs, are covered in other information sheets. The emphasis is very much on helping you to help yourself; contact details are included for the RNIB’s Technology Team, so you don’t have to struggle alone.

(From the Gateway to websites, select "Computers and the Internet". RNIB Technology Information Sheets are under "Accessibility".)

All the developments

Another snappy title is A History of Photography from its beginnings till the 1920s, but at least it tells you pretty much all you need to know about this website. You can be fairly sure it’s not about moonwalking or the Dead Sea Scrolls!

Robert Leggatt is the author of this site, and he tells us that it's for dipping into rather than being a course of academic study. In rather small type, he deals with the origins of photography, "significant people" (there are quite a lot of these), and the various photographic processes (almost as many of these).

You might spot that - unless I missed them somewhere - there aren’t any actual photographs on the site, but there is a list of places where you can see them.
Take Robert at his word - don’t try reading the lot, or you might just lose the will to live. The website justifies its place in the Gateway because, if you need a quick(ish) rundown on a photographer or a type of photo, you can probably get it here.

(From the Gateway to websites, select "Art & design".A History of Photography from its beginnings till the 1920s is under "Photography".)





Picture credit: taliesin/morguefile.com

Speak up!

Bienvenue, bébé

Talk To Your Baby "has produced a series of quick tips for parents and practitioners to help children develop good talking and listening skills." I was a bit mystified by the word "practitioners" - what do they practise, and are you allowed to practise on real babies?

However, I understood "parents", and when I am told that "talking to your baby from day one will help the two of you get to know each other, and gives your child a great start in life," I’m willing to accept that getting to know Junior and giving him/her a leg up early in the growing game is a good thing. Talk To Your Baby has all the facts on having a rich conversation with the new arrival.

Starting with saying hello, moving on to playing and sharing books, the website’s advice is contained in PDF factsheets in English and several other languages. If you are a bi-lingual household, there are tips on talking to your baby in your own language.

The factsheet on what to do if you speak one language and baby’s first words are in another language is particularly useful… no, you’re right, I made that bit up. The whole concept of this website, provided by the National Literacy Trust, is ripe for satirical sniggers, but I suspect that raising children is one of those pursuits that seems easy until you’re actually doing it, by which time a few tips are welcome.

(From the Gateway to websites, select "Languages". Talk To Your Baby is under "Language learning and teaching".)

Welcome to English

That’s enough baby stuff for one week. What about someone who made it through babyhood, probably in another country, who comes to this country with little English and less confidence to speak it. Can you help?

You can do such a person a real favour by pointing them towards BBC Learning English. I know I’m always banging on about how good the BBC’s specialist web pages are, but they just are. From family history to flower arranging, they’ve got it taped, and for learning English in an enjoyable way, this is the place to start.
Podcasts, cartoons, quizzes and soap operas: all these and more are used to help you practise your vocabulary, your grammar and - particularly important - how to use what you’ve learned in real situations. "Asking for help in emergencies" is illustrated with a picture from Z Cars, but I think the words are a bit more up-to-date!

BBC Learning English is a treasure trove - pass it on.

(From the Gateway to Websites, select "Languages". BBC Learning English is under "English for speakers of other languages" - probably our longest title.)

Pic: mantasmagorical/morguefile.com