Littleborough Silver Surfers

Created and maintained by Jocelyn Lavin

Last updated: 7th April 2008 (Last session for this group: we talked about blogs and had a test!) (Andrew and Johanna, your certificates await you at the library.)

Websites we've used:

  • Google
  • Wikipedia
  • BBC
  • BBC News
  • IMDB (Internet Movie Database)
  • Amazon (buy books, CDs, DVDs etc.)
  • Snopes (urban legends)
  • eBay (online marketplace)
  • YouTube (video clips)

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  • Train timetable enquiries (National Rail)
  • Bus timetable enquiries (Greater Manchester Journey Planner)
  • Train tickets (The Trainline)
  • Live train departure info for Littleborough

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  • UK street maps
  • Google Maps
  • AA (e.g. to get driving directions or find hotels)

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  • Royal Mail (e.g. to find postcodes)
  • Yellow Pages
  • BT (online phone book)

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  • NHS Direct
  • Tesco (grocery shopping online)
  • Rochdale Council

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  • Guardian crosswords
  • Rochdale Observer
  • Manchester Evening News
  • The Guardian
  • Manchester United
  • CNN (American TV news station)
  • Online card games (patience)
  • Manchester Online
  • Rochdale Online
  • World Wide Panorama
  • The Daily Sudoku
  • Argos
  • Ticketmaster (concert & theatre tickets)
  • Thompson & Morgan (gardening stuff e.g. seeds)
  • Radio Times (TV listings)
  • 10 Downing Street
  • The Queen's website
  • The Pope's website
  • White House (Washington)
  • CIA World Factbook
  • Googlefight

    • Christmas websites

  • Is it Christmas?
  • NORAD Santa tracking (make sure you keep checking this one on Christmas Eve!)
  • North Pole
  • The North Pole
  • All Things Christmas
  • Amazing Christmas Ideas
  • Holidays: Christmas
  • Activity Village: Christmas
  • Carols
  • Christmas carols
  • Elf Yourself

    • Mouse practice games (note: make sure you wait for the game to load):

  • Palm Beach page
  • Maze games
  • Concentration
  • Play With Your Mind
  • Stupid Mouse Click Game
  • CBeebies Mouse Games

    • INTERNET BASICS

  • Remember: you can't break the internet! If a website doesn't work, it's probably not your fault.
  • Remember: When using the mouse, it makes a difference which button you click. Usually it's the left one. Don't hold it down - just click and let go.
  • Remember: To go onto the internet, you start by opening a browser (e.g. Internet Explorer or Firefox or Safari)
  • Remember: If you already know the website address, you don't need Google. Just type it directly into the address bar (the box at the top of the page). Be careful not to insert any spaces or capital letters!
  • Remember: If a box pops up that you don't understand, you can usually make it go away by clicking "cancel".
  • Remember: Usually capital letters aren't used when you type website addresses or Google search words.
  • Remember: If a website is taking a long time to load, click "stop" (if you like, you can try "refresh").

    • Some frequently-used terms

    icons, window, cursor, menu, toolbar, desktop, link, URL (website address), browser, address bar, forward slash

    mouse: single click, left click, right click, double click, scroll, drag, highlight

    Guessing websites

    Website addresses usually (but not always) start with www and end with .com or .co.uk (often either will work) e.g. www.tesco.com or www.tesco.co.uk

    (Note that the full website address actually starts with http:// but you can ignore this... http://www.tesco.com/ and www.tesco.com work exactly the same.)

    You can often guess website addresses: for example....

  • www.rochdaleobserver.co.uk
  • www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk
  • www.guardian.co.uk
  • www.manutd.com
  • www.cnn.com

    • There are different categories of website - it's not always "co" before "uk"....

  • Commercial (.co) e.g. www.bbc.co.uk, www.tesco.co.uk
  • Non-commercial organisations (usually charities) (.org) e.g. www.rspca.org.uk, www.rnid.org.uk
  • Academic organisations (universities and colleges) (.ac) e.g. www.manchester.ac.uk, www.cam.ac.uk, www.open.ac.uk, www.hopwood.ac.uk
  • Government organisations (.gov) e.g. www.rochdale.gov.uk, www.number10.gov.uk
  • General use (.com and .net) e.g. www.tesco.com, www.manutd.com
  • Note that these are not hard and fast rules - not all websites follow them, and there are several other lesser-used options too!

    • Worksheets (opens Word documents)

  • Guessing URLs
  • Google Maps
  • Wikipedia
  • Snopes
  • IMDB
  • Amazon shopping
  • Public transport

    • Cribsheets (opens Word documents)

  • Word processing
  • Keyboard shortcuts
  • Email inbox
  • Email reply
  • Email reply with attachment

    • Beckham Google exercise

  • beckham
  • david beckham
  • "david beckham"
  • "david beckham" england
  • "david beckham" england old trafford
  • "david beckham" england old trafford greece

    • Internet safety

  • Common sense is your most important weapon - don't trust websites that look unprofessional, unless you know them to be safe.
  • You should be safe buying from websites of well-known companies; for companies you haven't heard of before, I suggest you use your common sense - if it looks professional and has a secure buying option (i.e. https - see below), you will probably be OK. Check that they say how to contact them - if they only list an email address and/or a mobile phone number, be suspicious. Similarly, they should say what your options are if you are dissatisfied with your purchase; if they don't mention how you can return goods, be suspicious.
  • Before typing in credit card/bank details, check that the URL starts with https rather than just http (usually the padlock icon will be visible too). Make sure no-one can see what you're typing.
  • If it's not your own computer, make sure you log out after you've finished, and don't tick any boxes saying "remember me" etc.
  • If you follow a link from an email which then asks you to type in personal details, DON'T DO IT. Real emails from banks etc. never ask you to do this, but there are many scam emails that do. The safest thing to do is to go to the website of the company concerned, but don't do it by clicking the link in the email, do it by your normal method of typing in the URL etc. If you can't immediately see a message similar to the one in your email, it was probably a scam.
  • Don't open email attachments unless: 1. you know the person who sent them; AND 2. you were expecting the attachment; AND 3. you have an up-to-date virus checker running. Most computer viruses are passed on in email attachments, and many of them can do so by appearing to be from someone you know.
  • Be wary of giving personal information (e.g. surname, address, phone number) to people you meet online, at least until you've chatted to them for long enough to feel that you know them well. If you decide to meet them in real life, make sure your first meeting is in a public place; tell people where you are going, and don't go alone.

    • Download a free anti-virus application

    Getting an email address

    Even if you don't have your own computer, you can have your own email address. There are many companies that allow you to have a "webmail" account that you can check from any computer. The two most common are:

  • Google Mail: go to Google, click "more", click "Google Mail", click "sign up for Google Mail"
  • Hotmail: got to www.hotmail.co.uk and follow the links to "set up a free email account"

    • Blogs

    A few to try for starters....

  • 2nd Altos Like the Bottom Parts (Jocelyn's choir blog)
  • James Henry - Blue Cat
  • Neil Gaiman
  • The Leaky Cauldron
  • Random Acts of Reality
  • Nee Naw
  • Baghdad Burning
  • Richard Herring
  • Republik of Mancunia

    • To find blogs on subjects of interest to you, go to Google, click "more", click "blog search"

    To start your own blog, go to Blogger and follow the instructions. It's free!

    Email Jocelyn