Webscape

Webscape
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ReQall

I do not know about you, but I usually think of important things I need to remember to do when I am out taking a walk, or on the train, or basically anywhere that it is really inconvenient to make a note or leap into action. That is why my first recommendation is a big hit with me.

ReQall is the site that offers to be your constant companion and memory jogger, so you need never forget anything ever again.

Once you have registered, click the link to settings at the top to set up the various sections, including your notification preferences about how and when you want to receive reminders.

The idea is you input anything you want to be reminded about like birthdays, shopping lists, deadlines for work etc. The website's clever software recognises certain keywords, such as "buy" and automatically adds the reminder to the right section, like the shopping list.

You can share your ReQall database with other users, giving you the chance to gently remind your other half to pick up milk on the way home from work without seeming like you are nagging.

But it is for users in the UK, US and Canada that the site really comes into its own. Here you are offered toll free numbers to call so you can add notes while you are out and about, and they are converted to text and stored in your database as well as sent back to you by text.

You can add up to five telephone numbers linked to your account and there is even the option to put in a pin number if you need to use another number like a telephone box.



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MyGame

Games and virals are all the rage and at MyGame you can make your own viral game to send round to your friends.

For starters there is a whole bunch of ready made games here you can enjoy. Just peruse the opening page at your leisure. I really like Qink, a cunning colour puzzle game with a Japanese style.

Or even the game Stunt Pilot which had the guys in the Click office distracted for hours.

But gaming aside, if you click the tab to Create Games at the top, you can start having some very silly fun. Just chose a game from the simple templates. Upload your picture and then masque it and size it to fit the game. Chose a background, give it a name and hey presto. Silly games to amuse all.

One final touch, if you register with the site you can save your game, allowing players to show off their high scores for the world to see.

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Photoshop Disasters

And finally, a very quick look at a fun little blog recommended by Daniel Lawrence, a viewer from Finland.

Pictures in newspapers and magazines can be heavily edited, but sometimes the artist's work is not as good as it could be, and Photoshop Disasters has very helpfully taken note of all these graphical gaffs and pointed them out for us to have a good giggle at.

Just waste a few minute browsing the archives - use the links panel on the left to go back to previous months. You will find everything here from glossy ads to movie posters. Of particular note for me is the cloning used to make the famous 20th Century Fox splash page (Thursday, April 24, 2008 ). It is so obvious once it is pointed out.

Free broadband won't entice all

Some 43% of adults who currently do not have internet access would remain disconnected even if they were given a free PC and broadband connection.

The statistic, part of research conducted by regulator Ofcom will make depressing reading for some.

But it is not all bad news. Ofcom's survey found that one in five adults who don't have the internet plan to go online in the next six months.

17 million Britons - 30% of the population - are currently offline.

The government is keen to get more people online, as it moves more of its services on to the web.

Self-excluded

Next week sees the publication of the Digital Britain report, which will lay out the government's plans for broadband for the next decade or so.

A key part of it will be a commitment to get a minimum of 2Mbps (megabits per second) broadband to every home in the UK by 2012.

The Ofcom research identified two main groups of people without access to the net - the self-excluded and those who are staying offline for financial reasons.

Some 42% of adults said that they had no interest or need for the internet. This so-called self-excluded group tended to be older or retired, with 61% confessing to never having used a computer.

For 30% of those currently offline the main reasons given for that choice was financial or lack of skills.

Half-price computers and discounted monthly tariffs may not be the way forward though.

When asked what would change their minds about going online, only 9% said cheaper deals would be an incentive. Free training was identified by 11% with the majority (58%) choosing "not interested" or "don't know".

One in five adults those said they would sign up for some form of internet service in the next six months.

Essential utility

"Broadband is becoming increasingly important to people's ability to participate in the economy and society," said Ofcom's market development partner Peter Phillips.

"The report shows that some creativity will be required if we wish to capture the imaginations of those who have yet to engage with the benefits the internet may bring," he said.

A report from market research firm SQW Consulting estimated that the average UK household could make savings of up to £70 a month by shopping online.

The Communications Consumer Panel, which advises Ofcom on broadband issues, recently conducted research among 2,000 people, both on and offline.

It found that 73% described broadband as essential a utility as water or electricity.

Ofcom estimates that internet penetration in the UK stands at 70%. Of this, 65% have broadband with 2% still using dial-up and 3% using mobile broadband.