Links To Other Web Sites

These are links to web sites that I have tried / used. Some were useful and others were less so. Not all are free sites.

http://www.altavista.com or http://uk.altavista.com

AltaVista is a good search engine. Do read the advanced search help as the use of + and - signs and quotes on queries makes a big difference. It is free to use but all the adverts make the site messier than it used to be. I have found the Jeeves add-on to be comprehensively futile!

http://www.ntworthy.com

The NoteWorthy site has software for writing music. The full software isn't free but it is very good value and the evaluation version is free. You can try it with their sample music or write your own (but not save or print it). Once you have bought and registered a version, you can save things and download later sub-versions free. Mostly these are improvements or bug fixes. You can even ask for new features - a couple of mine made it into later sub-versions. Unfortunately I think their changes to page preview export were a disimprovement from v1.31 as there is more wasted space and the size is even more wrong than it was. However, the NoteWorthy Composer software is still my top recommendation for things to try.

http://www.heffers.co.uk

Heffers is my favourite bookshop and they certainly dominate Cambridge. However, they don't actually have their own site. The link takes you to one run by the company that took over Heffers. There were some problems transferring my account but it works now. The search was limited to books last time I checked. I hope they'll complete the video/audio database soon.

http://www.streetsonline.co.uk

Streets online supply DVDs, CDs and books. They seem to have some genuinely good deals especially on older or hard to find items. However, take care because some things are definitely cheaper on the high street. Worth a look and they do seem to be trustworthy and reliable on delivery of the things I've tried.

http://www.tesco.com

I registered with Tesco when they had an integrated system for all goods. Then they split it up and ruined things. My original registration no longer worked properly and there were loads of bugs in their site. The help-line people were clueless and definitely not net-savvy or security conscious. They repeatedly had the cheek to ask for my password and didn't understand about https. The entry for personal details was in a secure area but the page for entering your credit card details was not!!! I rang my credit card company. They were concerned, but, since Tesco is ostensibly a reputable company, they gave permission to risk it. They couldn't tell Tesco to fix things, but a note was put on my account in case any fraud resulted. When I finally got a registration that worked again I did buy one electrical item. It arrived and so far there has been no sign that my card details have been misused. My brother says the grocery side of things works much better. Of course you do have to be in one of their delivery areas. I think Tesco gets a big Hmmmm.

http://www.lloydstsb.com

Lloyds is a bank that gobbled up TSB a long time ago, but for some reason they've kept both names and types of account number. Their rates are bad but their site is relatively good. It used to be easier to use than it now is, but they ruined some screens with graphics. Although their mice are very cute, it does make it harder and take longer to log on. However, it is still the best I've tried and that includes a lot of banks. Some sites were full of bugs which they refused to fix. Some required you to have a separate account for internet stuff instead of your original one. Halifax were the worst offenders. With Lloyds, you can see your existing account and pay bills online. Unfortunately they have a date limit of a month - which makes council tax annoying as you can't enter all 10 delayed payments in one go. Another annoyance is that they choose your logon id - which is nonsensical letters and numbers. At least it is just about short enough to remember and you do get to choose your password. I recommend Lloyds for a current account but not for savings.

http://www.abbeynational.co.uk

The Abbey National is a bank that has much better rates for savings than Lloyds. However, their site is horrible to use. They use disgusting colours for all backgrounds. They keep popping up extra windows for things such as logging on. You have to have a separate account for internet. They make you enter too many fields to log on. The first, which they choose, is far too long to remember as it is like a credit card. The others (2 passwords) you can change to something more sensible later. It used to be buggy and crash on registration, but unlike the Halifax they did eventually fix things. The links within the site look obvious but in fact don't take you where you expect. You have to press far too many things to get to where your money is. Abbey National is (or was) a great place to put savings as long as you never have to log on to do anything with them.

http://www.bristolandwestonline.co.uk

Bristol & West is another bank with good savings rates. However its site is made slow to use by too many fancy and pointless graphics. At least it isn't as garish as Abbey National.

http://www.imiweb.co.uk

IMIWeb offer a very cheap share dealing service. Their top level menus are a little confusing because they expand sideways underneath rather than being drop-down. Once you've realised where to look for the submenus though the site isn't too bad. It has slightly more graphics than I'd like but they are not too offensive or intrusive.

http://freeparking.co.uk

I used the FreeParking site to purchase the domain name pedag.org and forward stuff onto the actual server where this site resides. It is free to check whether a domain name is already taken. Merely using a web-browser to check for a site won't always work because some people buy domains but don't put anything there. So an error 404 doesn't mean the site is still available. Note that it is not free to purchase a domain. The cost depends on which authority is responsible for licensing that type of name. FreeParking shows you these charges before you are committed to paying anything. Unfotunately, the on-line help of the site is not very good. Definitions are ambiguous and some examples of usage would improve things. The person who responded to an email query did not seem to speak English very well and their reply made no sense. I think the idea of this site is good but don't expect much support if problems arise.

http://www.addpro.com

I used the AddPro site to submit this domain to search engines. I think it mostly worked - some sites required further verification later. I'm reserving judgement for now.

http://www.free-1.com

I also used the Free-1 site to submit this domain to search engines. The results were rather messy and confusing. I'm reserving judgement for now.