Instead of a scare

"A good scare is worth more than good advice": so goes the proverb. Well, if you need or want a good scare, Halloween is just around the corner, but if you seek advice, read on…

No appointment necessary

Getting face-to-face help from Citizens Advice Bureaux can be an uphill task these days, There aren’t so many of them around, and the ones which are left struggle to cope with the demand. Online assistance is not always an adequate substitute, but it can help if it’s good. Luckily, CAB Adviceguide is good.

The approach is practical and as straightforward as it can be, given the complexity of some of the problems people face. On debt, for instance, the Adviceguide helps you to examine your current position and then move towards possible solutions. Helpfully, the Frequently Asked Questions really are the ones which must often be asked by people with debt-related problems.

This website is not all about miserable things. The section about travel could, if you approach it negatively, simply put you off going anywhere. But just follow a few helpful tips and you will probably have a much nicer time when you eventually dip your toes in the Med. No advice, though, on what to wear – some things you have to do yourself.

The site is packed with good stuff, and is frequently updated. Well worth a look.

(From the Gateway to websites, select "Advice & help". CAB Adviceguide is a Key Link.)

This is your life

Talking of advice, there is a great source of it which doesn’t necessarily spring to mind – this is KnowUK, one of the Westminster Subscription websites. It has lots of directories, but it also has things like Which? Guides and other information on all aspects of life (and death).

The easiest way in to this is to select an option called "Life Events" from the KnowUK home page. From before birth to after death, our lives are covered in extraordinary detail. About the only advice I couldn’t find for those about to be married is Punch’s: "Don’t"!

Many of the links are to other KnowUK pages, but there are outside links too – I spotted one to the BBC, one to the Citizens Advice Bureau (see above) and one to the Government, which is always ready with advice. KnowUK is a hidden gem which deserves to be widely admired (he opines, rather pompously).

(From the Gateway to websites, select "Advice & help". KnowUK is a Key Link.)

Picture credit: Darnok/morguefile.com

Anything but Jeffrey Archer!

You know how it is: you’ve enjoyed a book, you didn’t really want it to end, and you’d like to read another one just like it. Or… you struggled through that brick-sized saga with a gruelling plot and not many jokes, and all you want now is a bit of light relief. Help is at hand

Larger than life ... or down to earth?

Whichbook is a bit of fun, really infuriating, jolly useful or a waste of bandwidth, depending on how you approach it. The "about" says that "Whichbook gives readers an enjoyable and intuitive way to find books to match their mood."

I think its real task is to provoke you into thinking about what you actually want to read, whether or not it’s on their suggestions list.

The way it works is that you select any four of twelve bars which have opposing attributes on them. So you can use the "happy-sad" bar by clicking "happy" or "sad", and so on. It isn’t made very clear, but after four it stops accepting your clicks – you have to start the search at this point.

I asked it to find me a happy, unpredictable, short book with a bit of sex in it. The eight suggestions included novels, poetry and a book of short stories. Along with reader reviews, there was a feature which should have been really clever, but wasn’t quite.

By hitting a button marked "Borrow", you should be taken to the catalogue of the library service of your choice, to check whether they’ve got the book. Somewhere along the line, I got a "page cannot be displayed" message rather than the Westminster catalogue. I’m sure it’s just a temporary blip.

(From the Gateway to websites, select "Books". Whichbook is under "Choosing books".)

Testing trivia

As you will know by now, we at Treasure Hunt Towers tend to be intensely serious about more or less everything, including books and literature. But we recognise that not everyone can reach our high standards of seriousness, so here’s something completely trivial.

FunTrivia Literature has quizzes on every aspect of the written word. Novels, poetry, plays, sci fi and manga – all these and lots more are given the pop quiz treatment. Some of them are ridiculously easy and some are really quite hard.

They warn you about the level of difficulty, and the joy of this site is that you can always pick the book you read last or have engraved on your brain from A-levels, to make sure you get a good score.

Modesty forbids me from revealing the rather good score I achieved on The Importance of Being Earnest, and shame prevents me telling you just how much I’ve forgotten about The Tempest.

Good fun, though.

(From the Gateway to websites, select "Books". FunTrivia Literature is under "Fun stuff".)

Take your partner... and relax

Steps in the right direction

It’s a funny profession, dance. You train for years, continue to work out every day, and then deliberately pursue an activity with a high probability of causing you physical discomfort or injury, often getting paid about the same as an unskilled fruit-picker.

Of course it’s voluntary, so we shouldn’t shed too many tears. But it’s good to see that there is now a website, Dance UK, which aims to help dancers with information and support.

The promoter of the site is also called Dance UK – this is a membership organisation which lobbies for better conditions and funding for dancers. But you don’t get on to the Gateway just by sticking up for a good cause; you have to offer information on the website itself and, preferably, link to other information sources.

Dance UK has information on how dancers can stay healthy, with lists of speakers on the subject, advanced details of conferences and other events, and even an ultra-healthy recipe of the month. This is just one example; there is news and information on other subjects of interest to dancers.

For some things you have to register, but this is free and appears to be uncomplicated. Now I must make a start at knocking up my wholemeal couscous salad…

(From the Gateway to websites, select "Stage & screen". Dance UK is, not very surprisingly, under "Dance".)

There’s nothing on… is there?

If all that talk of dancing has made you all weak at the knees, perhaps you should curl up on the sofa with the Radio Times. Of course you can still go down to the newsagent and buy the print version, but I find that the website gives me all I need. And recent improvements have smoothed out the process of finding something to watch.

This is another website which works better for you if you register, and again it’s free to do so. You can build a list of your favourite channels and then, whenever you log in, the list is displayed with a choice of what’s on now, later in the day, or for up to two weeks in advance. Click on a listing for further details and viewer ratings.

But there’s much more to Radio Times than just telly. Apart from radio, they also have oodles of stuff on films, whether on TV or in the cinemas, competitions, news and gossip. The only thing they don’t seem to have is those wonderful black-and-white line drawings of your favourite characters. What? – the print version is also now in colour! Is nothing sacred?

(From the Gateway to websites, select "Stage & screen". Radio Times is under "TV & radio".)

Picture credit: Babzy/morguefile.com