Byte-size chunks

I thought I would start with a few jokes – you know… computers are like women, can’t live with them, can’t live without them… that sort of thing. No? OK, on with the show.

Amateurs welcome

PC Pro is a magazine for people with more than a casual interest in computers - pros in fact! And the PC Pro website seems to have been set up to cater for similar folk. But nowadays you don’t have to be a computer geek to spend a lot of time with a mouse in your hand and a stress-induced headache because your system is not doing what you want/need it to do.

There is much here to help and (possibly) interest the frequent user of a computer at home or at work. As well as the latest news and product reviews there are features on topics such as broadband and digital cameras. If you want to get technical, they can do technical in spades: lab reports, techie forums, in-depth analysis and so on. But if all you want is a flavour of what’s new and what’s best, you can avoid being sucked in too deeply – if you’re very careful.

Beyond a certain level, you have to register. This is free and, although you have to agree to receive emails from the publishers, you can immediately edit your profile and opt out from the emails. The advertising is obvious and not intrusive, and the comparison between broadband packages is probably alone worth a visit.

(From the Gateway to websites, select "Computers and the Internet". PC Pro is under "Computer systems".)

But what does it all mean?

Web 2.0 - What’s that about? What’s HTML, and how is it different from PDF? What’s the average density of a left-handed spranglejocket? All right, I made the last one up, but the others are terms you can trip over all the time if you’re not careful. What you need is TechEncyclopedia. This website has been going for years, and it’s still as useful. They claim to have definitions for over 20,000 IT terms. Given that the nerdy-ones are making them up all the time, it’s impressive that TechEncyclopedia has kept up.

They don’t just cover the deep end of the techie pool. One of their Top 10 Terms is "computer", defined as a "general-purpose machine that processes data according to a set of instructions that are stored internally either temporarily or permanently." There’s a lot more detail, with examples and links to further definitions – you can take it as far as you like and pull back when it starts to do your head in.

You might get pop-up adverts when you use this site, but as with PC Pro, they are very obvious. One word of warning: if you just want a definition, use the dedicated "Define this IT term" search box. If you use the general search you get into a world of beardy-blogs and tech-news for the seriously insomniac. Take care!

(From the Gateway to websites, select "Computers and the Internet". TechEncyclopedia is a Key Link.)

Picture Credit: mrmac04/morguefile.com

Don't do as we do...

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has two major tasks: to protect us against bad things like the collapse of Northern Rock, and to give us all personal financial advice. The FSA’s own report tells us that they failed miserably to do the first bit – their grip on the Northern Rock situation was like a small child with a blindfold on, trying to catch a wet balloon. So are they any good at job number two?

…do as we say

Luckily for all of us, the FSA seem to have some quite good people assigned to consumer advice. They have just re-launched this bit of the FSA website under the name Moneymadeclear (motto: "No selling. No jargon. Just the facts."). I’ve had a few dips into the new site, and I like what I’ve seen.

You can go down the paperless route, clicking from page to page getting advice on things like savings, scams and taking stock of your finances. Or you can print off leaflets on all aspects of personal finance. There is a very useful "Life events" section. OK, so you’ve got a new job, but how do you survive financially until your first pay day? Or you are about to start a family. Just how will you cope with buying all the stuff a baby needs while saving for the fees at Eton?

There’s lots of really good stuff here, not too preachy but good on things you can do to help yourself. Amusingly, there’s also a news section, featuring the wonderful things the FSA has been doing to protect our interests. But no mention of Northern Rock…

(From the Gateway to websites, select "Family & personal". Moneymadeclear is under "Personal finance".)

Stay awake

On the same subject, Moneyfacts is a really dull but really useful magazine. Its website has more colour on the front page than in a year’s worth of the print version. But how interesting can borrowing and saving and getting a mortgage actually be? Better to settle for the facts well presented, and here they are very well presented. Sometimes you see a table with the rates and other information, and sometimes you fill in an online form to tailor the presentation to your individual circumstances. There’s a huge amount of material here.

The free stuff is surrounded by adverts. But they are either obvious or, if not obvious, labelled "advert", which is important, since the advertising is fitted to the subject. I was not confused about which was factual and which was would-be persuasive.

The more I explored Moneyfacts, the more enthusiastic I got. Don’t get me wrong – the subject is never exciting, and there aren’t many jokes. But they’ve done the trawling through interest rates and repayment options and all that stuff so that you don’t have to. Be grateful.

(From the Gateway to websites, select "Family & personal". Moneyfacts is under "Personal finance".)

Welcome to the nightmare

It’s a minefield. The ins and outs of immigration, citizenship and asylum boggle the mind. Searching for websites to help people in this area can leave you drained. As usual, the Gateway to websites can help.

Jumping through the hoop

Exams are the new religion, so it was no surprise when an exam for Britishness was introduced. Luckily for those of us who are already UK citizens, we don’t (yet) have the embarrassment of having to answer questions about the things we think we know about our country and its institutions. But if you are hoping to become a UK citizen, or obtain "indefinite leave to remain", you have to take the exam called, like the relevant website, the Life in the UK Test.

The website (and the test) come from the Border & Immigration Agency (you know – quango… called something else last week). The "About the test" section describes who has to take the test and how to apply. Another section helps you to prepare for the test, and another helps you find your nearest centre (usual drill – pop in your postcode to get a list).

What many people want as they face up to the prospect of taking any test is encouragement as much as information. There is a lot more of both on the website (and in the accompanying book) than there used to be. Sensibly they have decided that the best way they can encourage people is to explain the facts in as friendly way as possible.

What the website and the book cannot do very well is interact with candidates who need more explanation, reassurance or help with English. For that, they will need to find a local course or support group. But for the more confident citizen-to-be, visiting the website with the handbook by your side is probably enough.

(From the Gateway to websites, select "Advice & help". Life in the UK Test is under "Immigration & nationality".)

Pressure and support

The Refugee Council is a pressure group and a support group. The Council aims to influence the Government and other (mostly public) bodies on questions of legislation and policy. But the Council and its employees also provide practical assistance to refugees and asylum seekers, and the website has become a useful tool.

They don’t pretend that they can make it easy: applying for asylum is "long and complex". But they do, with a combination of web pages and downloadable leaflets, offer clear advice and encouragement. And here’s an unusual thing: if you click on "contact us", you are offered a whole raft of telephone numbers, including the main switchboard number for general enquiries. Others could surely learn from this!

(From the Gateway to websites, select "Advice & help". Refugee Council is under "Immigration & nationality".)

In praise of a good figure

Statistics are boring. Our eyes glaze over when some expert comes on the telly droning on about the trade figures and economic trends and blah blah blah… We’re just not interested. Unless.

Unless the stats are about an area we live in or work in or visit, and relate to our own lives. For instance, trainee nurses and social workers are sent out to construct a social and health-related profile of the area in which they are going to be working. This used to be really difficult, and now it’s a lot easier.

ONS gets it right (shock!)

Neighbourhood Statistics comes from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). After they went electronic, the ONS went round whining to anyone who’d listen that nobody was using their services. Then the penny dropped – the statistics were so difficult to find that almost nobody had the stamina for the journey. Neighbourhood Statistics is one – very good – answer to the problem.

I decided to be parochial (that’s what it’s for) and find stuff on my local borough, Westminster. I had to select what sort of area I was looking for, in this case "local authority". In a new window, up popped a list of topics, including census figures, crime and safety, education, health and housing. Choose housing, and 34 different sets of figures are on offer, from total numbers of dwellings to persons per room.

As long as your computer will open a PDF, you should have no problem looking at the statistics on this site. If, however, you want to see some rather clever maps, you will need software which isn’t always installed. Free versions of this necessary software can be downloaded as long as you have the authority to do that (might be a problem at work).

The ONS are embroiled in a row about easy access to their family records (there isn’t any), but for Neighbourhood Statistics they’ve got it sussed.

(From the Gateway to websites, select "Statistics & figures". Neighbourhood Statistics (a sub-link of Office for National Statistics) is under "Official statistics".)

NHS success (double shock!)

Community Health Profiles sounds rather narrow in scope. It is provided by the NHS, and with a name like that you probably wouldn’t expect them to include income inequalities and ethnicity. But presumably they have figured out that these factors affect people’s health, so here they are.

For Westminster, there is a four page "snapshot" of health (and other) information for the borough, with a sketch map.

Students and trainees exploring their adopted area can probably find most of what they need from these two resources.

(From the Gateway to websites, select "Statistics & figures". Community Health Profiles is under "Official statistics".)

Picture credit: matthew_hull/morguefile.com