Richard Swainson, Front of House Manager at Nottingham Playhouse, tells us his favourite surfing sites.
YouTube is one of those websites thats changed the way we use the Net. Its part of the whole Web 2.0, second generation of websites, which includes social networking sites. The homemade videos it has on its site are viewed around 100 million times a day and anyone can put videos on the site. You just need a camcorder, webcam or mobile phone to record your video. Post it on the site and its there for the world to see. Its a tremendously empowering experience and you can find footage of just about anything on the site. Irresistible.
2. http://stuff.tv/default.aspx
I am a real gadget freak. Im one of these people who always want the latest technological wonder or must-have boy toy. Sadly, these items rarely reach my sweaty little hands as its an expensive hobby and I am not blessed with a bottomless wallet. So, I spend much of my time browsing the sort of websites that feed my techno-quest. As technology forms such a major part of our lives, its good to be able keep on top of it all and this site does just that. Alongside its glossy magazine, the website provides a broad insight into, well, stuff. Although it features computers, sat-nav, mobile phones and MP3 players, it also has information on sports equipment, clothing and even robots. There are reviews, product news and features as well as the obligatory (very good) audio and video podcasts. The whole site is very accessible, user-friendly and UK-centric, which is a bonus if you live here in Blighty.
3. http://www.fuelofbritain.co.uk
I only found this quirky website recently but I find Im getting addicted to it. If you merged the 1980s game Super Mario with Pot Noodle, the result would be Fuel of Britain. Yes really. The makers of Pot Noodle have created an online game featuring a Super Mario style character (an overweight Welsh miner) digging for Pot Noodles whilst avoiding sheep. The Internet is a weird place indeed. Its a clever marketing ploy by the Pot Noodle folks, but its both well presented, amusing and fun to play. Pop the kettle on&.
4 http://www.google.co.uk/ig?hl=en
Google has changed. Its no longer just a search engine. If you set up a Google account youll find you can access a plethora of services, applications and features from anywhere in the world. A couple of my favourites are Google Mail, which has fantastic spam filtering, coupled with an immense amount (2.5 gb) of free space. Google Reader is a really nice RSS reader. This means you can view dozens of new stories and headlines from a stack of your favourite websites, all in one place. There are loads more features to explore and I wouldnt be without them.
I own an Apple iMac so this site is one of my most visited. Obviously theres the online store here but also plenty of other really useful stuff including a vast array of help, training and user-generated discussions. However, you dont have to own a Mac to use the site. If you follow the links to the QuickTime Movie Trailer site you can download DVD-quality movie trailers that are truly stunning to watch. You can also visit and download iTunes, which is the most popular legal music download service in the world.
If youre like me though, youll just enjoy perusing all the shiny computers you cant afford yet!
In the print version of this article, we wrongly noted that Richard Swainson works at Nottingham Theatre Royal - he does in fact work at Nottingham Playhouse.