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On The Net
'On the Net' is a monthly column in the paper version of The Tablet. The articles are written by Lavinia Byrne.
A feast of a website
Lavinia Byrne SO WHERE to find an Advent Calendar? Christian calendars are available in gratifying profusion online. At catholicculture.org/lit/overviews/seasons/advent/ cut straight to the chase with a section entitled "What is Advent?", a Jesse tree, the text of the O Antiphons, activities and customs, prayers, hymns, recipes, wreaths, the lot. The calendar enables the searcher to click and go. On St Nicholas' day, I found myself swept into a website full of practical information about the saint, about how his feast is celebrated in Europe, a collect, and a delightful collection of Things to Do to celebrate his feast day. This Sunday, the third of Advent, there is a picture, a commentary and recipes for hazelnut macaroons, Jesse tree cookies and springerie. Go there and find out more. There are other calendars everywhere, but few of them bother to cover the saints as well as the dates that lead up to Christmas.
The news story of Mrs Z and her successful bid for assisted suicide in Switzerland will have sent fellow sufferers of her condition - cerebellar ataxia - and their relatives racing to the internet. A search engine such as google.com will provide a list of as many as 140,000 websites that provide information about the condition. After sex sites, medical websites have the second-highest internet presence. Understandably, therefore, organisations such as the British Medical Association take their duties as a guardian of accurate information about public health extremely seriously and have an extensive web presence. Lay users can log on to the site at bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/content/healthinfonet without having to register. Once online, surfers will find reliable directives available on a full range of issues and also a link to nhsdirect.nhs.uk/ where they can check out their symptoms and get quality advice. This site listed a much more manageable 187 hits for cerebellar ataxia and allied conditions. Further medical information is available at an American site, quackwatch.com, where surfers are offered a guide to "Quackery, Health Fraud, and Intelligent Decisions". The webmaster, a psychiatrist in Pennsylvania, operates 15 different websites in an attempt to limit online fraud, particularly related to the sale of prescription drugs.
The approach of the holiday season and more days off than usual - with the dating of Christmas on a Saturday - means that there will be time for trivia quizzes. If you want to entertain the family to a sparkling display of fun, go to the astonishing range of games at bbc.co.uk/games/category.shtml?brain where there are masses of quizzes, some related to the BBC's programme output and others to general knowledge. Or you can try out mathematical quizzes at coolquiz.com. Otherwise, visit the Natural History Museum in London's newly designed site at nhm.ac.uk for educational fun and games in the company of all the animals you can visit online. Last weekend live web cams were focused on live maggots. This weekend, who knows what creepy-crawlies lie in store?
Which brings me to the contested topic of broadband. To enjoy interactive sites such as those at the Natural History Museum, there is no point in surfing in the slow lane, with one eye on the clock and on the telephone bill. If you are living in the UK and are planning to make the great leap forwards into the world of fast and constant internet access, prepare yourself by visiting uswitch.com/broadband where comparison figures are available. Type in your post code for advice about the full range of broadband services that may or may not be available in your area. A broadband connection to the giant diplodocus could be that must-have Christmas present. To find out the best price for other Christmas presents that you may choose to purchase online, try kelkoo.co.uk which is a clever price buster and enables you to check out different prices from the web. Why kelkoo, you might ask? Well, try saying it out loud and you realise that you are on to "quel coup" - "what a bargain" in French. A pleasing example of the international language being developed for service online. A reader opened another little window on to a French online presence for me. He wrote to lavinia@byrne.name and I invite other readers to continue to contribute their thoughts and contributions to this column. He said: "May I recommend the following for readers with a broadband connection who like to have music as they work/surf ? Radio France broadcasts a number of channels which can be reached from radiofrance.fr/ My favourites are Hector for classical music or FIP for lighter music. These are transmitted without advertising or commentary other than to identify the piece of music just played and about to be played. FIP does, however, give a quick news summary now and then. As the French now say, 'Bon surf!' ".
Please send your suggestions to lavinia@byrne.name if you wish to have a site considered for review or have suggestions for other Tablet readers. Read Tablet articles about the internet  |
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