 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
|
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
 |
|
 |
|
Would you credit it? Of all the Olympic events, as a Brit, the ones that hold the least expectation for success are those belonging to that chilling category, the Winter Olympics. And yet, today, I discovered that we invented the Bobsleigh. Not 30 years ago, not 70 years ago but over 100 years ago. Surely we should be good at it by now! This isn't the only somewhat surprising British invention, there are so many more... Updated 13/05/2008 |
|
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
Go on, admit it, you want to know if you will ever reach the dizzy heights of the the Times Rich List. Well, stop spending your pennies on the psychics and soothsayers and visit this site. Just fifteen questions and not only will you know if you will be rich, you will be told exactly how much money you are going to have and when you're going to get it! It's in dollars so take a currency calculator with you! Updated 6/05/2008 |
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
That apple didn't fall far from the tree! I have heard this saying many times but I didn't realise there may be more to it than meets the eye. This week's Web Watch trail has discovered a site that tells you which tree represents your birthday. But it doesn't stop there, this site tells us that the tree governs our character so you no longer have to rely on astrology, numerology or any other ology... you can check out treeology! Have fun! Updated 29/04/2008 |
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
Looking for what I wrote or the time to write it again! Ooops... Updated 22/04/2008 |
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
I have been writing Web Watch for two years and, in that time, I have covered a huge range of sites; some funny, some interesting, some entertaining, educational or useful. On a really good day, they may be all of these things but this weeks site is nothing less that brilliant. If you are remotely interestedin music, you will love this site... Updated 15/04/2008 |
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
If you are under 5 years old, there is a real possibility that you will never receive a personal, handwritten letter. In the last fifty years, the telephone, the mobile phone, texts and the internet have all conspired and declared that letter writing is a lost, or at least dying, art... so can email give you the same buzz as a traditional letter? There's at least one web site giving it a go... Updated 08/04/2008 |
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
All the newspapers have been competing with each other to put together the best April Fool hoax. The flying penguins and the Darling lottery are two of the strongest contenders but these are both up against strong competition when we look into history's rich archive. This week, the Museum of Hoaxes offers us the 100 top April Fool hoaxes of all time... and some of them are simply inspired... Updated 01/04/2008 |
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
Have you heard enough doom and gloom in the news to last you a lifetime? I know I have. Just looking at the main headlines today we have heavy fighting erupting (again) in Basra, a 60 car pile up in Austria killing at least one person, a teenage murderer who posed for a photograph with the body of his victim, fighting in the Indian Ocean and the heart-wrenching murder of Lindsay Hawker in Japan. Her killer remains at large a year after her death. Having had my fill of sad and bad news, I was so happy to find a haven dedicated to all that is good about the world. Bring it on... Updated 25/03/2008 |
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
Have you ever dreamed of having all your favourite sites, search engines, blogs, radio stations, address books, videos and photographs in one place. Imagine opening your browser and being presented with all this and more; weather, news, blogs and social networking updates. Now you can... Updated 18/03/2008 |
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
Have you ever read the Bible? I am not talking about flicking through a few pages to find out what John 3:16 or Psalm 23 are all about; I am asking if you have read it from cover to cover... Updated 04/03/2008 |
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
A weird and wonderful world... Despite being fully aware that knowledge is no substitute for wisdom, I have to confess to an overwhelming desire to accumulate obscure facts. My father used to claim to have 'a headful of useless information' and I, as a mini human vacuum, hoovered up many of his more unusual facts and figures. These trivial gems probably take up that vital space in my head that should be reserved for... Updated 26/02/2008 |
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
Delia Smith's latest book, How to Cheat at Cooking, has received a huge amount of press coverage. No surprise there, then. More surprising has been the amount of negative reviews highlighting the promotion of branded products such as frozen mash, tinned mince and grated cheese to name but a few. Delia is apparently totally out of step with the current penchant of other top chefs who continue to bang the drum on behalf of organic, local and fresh produce... Updated 19/02/2008 |
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
There are some ideas that should never see the light of day. Take the pogo-copter, an ill-advised merger between the pogo stick and the helicopter. The word 'crash' should have been uppermost in the minds of the creators of this one and, somewhat predictably, was heavily involved in the results. Luckily, the invention died a death before anyone else did... Updated 12/02/2008 |
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
There is an acronym which, when expanded, creates a wise maxim for anyone thinking about doing, well, anything at all. It's a saying that benefits all who adhere to it and if you don't know it already, then let me be the first to introduce you to this once heard, never forgotten, phrase. Updated 05/02/2008 |
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
In recent years, the 'gap year' has become firmly established as a rite of passage for many teenagers. Nestled neatly between hours of cramming for A level exams and hours of watching daytime television at university is the opportunity to take time out to experience a different culture, to raise money for charity, to take on a new sporting challenge or to navigate a path from Paris to New Delhi with only a compass and a box of matches for company... Updated 29/01/2008 |
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
Can you really train your brain to improve its functionality? Since the arrival of several products all designed to motivate us to give our brain a regular work-out, there have been detractors either telling us that they don't work or complaining that we are being encouraged into yet another sedentary activity in a time when... Updated 22/01/2008 |
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
Culturally diverse, visually stunning In this era of so-called globalisation, we seem fated to experience another year of political bulletins emerging from all quarters. Not only have we got the seemingly endless run-up to the US presidential elections to contend with, we have micro-politics causing havoc across the world and, closer to home, although we do not have an officially elongated prime ministerial campaign, we all know that Mr Brown, Mr Cameron and whoever the liberal leader is this week, are... Updated 15/01/2008 |
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
Congratulations to all of you who, in this second week of January, are still displaying determination, commitment and resolve during the season of new beginnings. Whilst there are a few who will be sticking to their guns, the reality is that most of you will have already broken your New Year resolutions. I haven't, but before you think I am being smug and self-congratulatory, I am not. Nor am I sporting a natty little halo... Updated 08/01/2008 |
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
Amongst all the gadgets, gizmos, toys and trinkets that will be unwrapped in a few days time, it is soothing to know that one enduring favourite will be delivered without the need for reams of instructions, numerous battery requirements or a supposedly user-friendly 'getting started' booklet. Updated 18/12/2007 |
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
I give up. I have trawled through the web looking for something that would serve as a valid excuse for not serving up a host of Santa silliness but it's impossible to avoid. Updated 11/12/2007 |
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
Even if you have finished your Christmas shopping, please tell me that there will be at least one person you have forgotten. Perhaps a great uncle who has moved to foreign shores or an old friend who has somehow managed to miss being on your Christmas list this year; whoever it is, that person will help those of us yet to get started feel a whole lot better... Updated 4/12/2007 |
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
I have just been told that I am in the prime of my life. Is that a compliment? What exactly is the prime of one's life? Is it an expression that relates to age, experience or achievement? Will I only realise I am in it after I have passed it? Updated 27/11/2007 |
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
Call me Ishmael... or John.. or Luke... or... It's difficult to now when to write this article. Too early and I will be accused of joining in with the commercialisation of Christ's birth. Too late and I will be accused of not giving everyone enough time to take advantage of this idea. Updated 20/11/2007 |
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
I was lucky. During my weeks after my son's birth, he didn't cry. He made noises and whinged but never howled. Unfortunately, this meant that I was lured into a false sense of security so when he first exercised his lungs to deafening effect... Updated 13/11/2007 |
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
Bleary eyed and suffering the after effects of a busy weekend, I awoke on Monday to find a distinct lack of food in my kitchen. Determined not to go hungry but acutely aware that I looked remarkably like a cross between Nebuchadnezzar and Catweazle... Updated 6/11/2007 |
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
I let a guy think that I love him. He pays for everything including my rent, cell phones and a laptop and I save the money I earn... Updated 30/10/2007 |
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
Occasionally, we are shocked to our core when an unexpected, perhaps unthinkable, event occurs... Updated 23/10/2007 |
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
More and more companies are using handwriting analysis as part of their filtering process when recruiting a new member of their personnel. When you next apply for your dream job, you may well be asked to write a page of text in freehand Updated 16/10/2007 |
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
..switch off your television and do something less boring? If you are a child of the seventies, you may have a vague memory of this oxymoronic title and the... Updated 02/10/2007 |
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
I am not sure if it started with Schindler's, Lloyd's or Craig's but the western world seems to have become obsessed with lists. Whether it is the a-list, z-list, the rich list... Updated 25/09/2007 |
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
Did you know that one of the most commonly misspelled words is, somewhat ironically, 'misspelled'? Updated 18/09/2007 |
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
Last week, if you had asked me what the word pertinacious meant, I would have hazarded a guess and then grabbed my handy thesaurus to confirm a few approximate equivalents Updated 11/09/2007 |
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
Did you know that a certain Major Peter Labelliere, having accurately prophesied the date of his own death in the year 1800, expressed two rather eccentric wishes in his will? Updated 04/09/2007 |
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
There are certain people we love having in our world. For some, it will be their family. For others, it will be their friends. Maybe even a pet. But, for me, it's Patrick Moore. Updated 28/07/2007 |
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
A Picture Paints a Thousand Words I remember, on one of those rare occasions when a college lecture captured my imagination, discussing the moral dilemma presented by a Pulitzer Prize winning photograph... Updated 26/11/2006 |
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
Are you an armchair critic? Have you seen the movie Blood Diamond? Or The Last King of Scotland? I have and I can thoroughly recommend both. Leonardo DiCaprio is superb in the former whilst Forest Whitaker is sublime in the latter. Updated 24/06/2007 |
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
Laughter and Lies You are cordially invited to join me in a world where David Beckham is the president of the Steve McClaren fan club and Victoria, having embarked on a new weight-loss programme, is reported to have disappeared completely. Updated 18/5/2007 |
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
Designed and developed by Jacqueline Alexander
©
|
||||||||||||||||
Listen to the podcast
