Fran Graham of digyorkshire.com provides her pick of the portals.
1. http://www.howstuffworks.com
Do you know what a podcast is, what 3G really means, how potato guns work or what happens to make a self-cleaning oven clean itself? Howstuffworks.com is like the smart kid at school, endlessly overflowing with weird and wonderful bits of information. A formidable online resource and highly entertaining, it should tell you everything you may need to know& and I use it more than I should admit!
2. http://blogs.guardian.co.uk
Editing a Whats on website for Yorkshire, I tend to spend a lot of time online, but I only started blogging this year, to record a month of giving up television and discovered some fascinating blogs at the same time. The beauty of blogs is that they are as subjective as the writer decides, as changeable as the authors mood that day and the best find their way to you on recommendation good old word of mouth. However, a great place to locate new and useful blogs is www.guardianunlimited. They also host a technology blog, http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/technology/, voted the best on the web in the esteemed Webbie awards.
3. http://www.movinghere.org.uk
Researching online for ideas and content to promote Black History Month in Yorkshire this year, I came across this fascinating archive. It contains stories and personal accounts, both written and oral from people who have moved to the UK over the past 200 years. Theres also a photographic gallery. Its absorbing stuff and a great resource.
4. http://www.freecycle.org
I hate throwing things away that might still have a use. This is a really smart way to get the best out of the web: an international website with networks springing up all over UK. The idea is, you exchange your old furniture with other people in your town. No money needs to change hands, you just need to collect or drop off the items. Its a sort of multi-coloured swap shop for the online generation, a smarter, less profit-driven eBay& and yes, still as much fun.
5. http://www.trendwatching.com
Trendwatching is a digest of consumer trends and business ideas from around the world, from personalised sticks of rock to boutique hotels see it here first. A recent article on the rise of minipreneurs, the modern phenomenon that has seen tens of thousands of people make a living, or supplement their income by trading online, is a reminder of how far weve come since the early days of the web.
http://www.digyorkshire.com is the Whats on guide for Yorkshire, promoting arts, culture and entertainment. digyorkshire.com is the first Yorkshire-wide portal to sell tickets online for arts and cultural venues.
e: fran@digyorkshire.com;
t: 0870 160 4400;
w: http://www.digyorkshire.com