Beyond Browsing.....
Government figures tell us that 60% of the UK's population now have Internet access.
What do you use your computer for? If it's just for a little e-mail and light browsing, then, perhaps, you'd be advised to stop reading now - and ignore the Internet ISPs, UseNet, P2P (Bit Torrent), and Buying Stuff web pages that I've written for the Rhyl Online website.
Have you ever wondered about the downloading of movies and music from the Internet? Rhyl Online do not condone piracy, but it does make interesting reading on how it's actually done on the UseNet and P2P.
If you do decide to use your computer with it's Internet access for more than just e-mail and casual browsing, the ISP that you choose (or have chosen) is critical. Ask most people if they recommend the ISP that they're signed up with, then you're likely as not to be given a glowing endorsement - when in fact the service that is provided is poor (both in quality and range of services). To be fair, though, if someone requires nothing more than an occasional e-mail and casual browsing, then even the cheapest and most basic Internet account is more than adequate. If, however, you want more than e-mail and casual browsing - you may find yourself locked into the remainder of the 12 month contract that you've signed up to. Consider this: if an ISP provides good services and quality - why should they feel the need to lock you into a 12 month "no escape" contract. The very best ISPs are based on a rolling one-month contract because they KNOW that you will never have any cause to move to another ISP.
On Rhyl Online's Internet ISPs webpage I've provided a means to assess just how good each UK ISP is. This assessment is not based on my opinion nor on what "Joe Bloggs" next door thinks, but is based on the views of hundreds of users of each the ISPs. I know a guy who has signed up for a 12 month contract, and after six months STILL can't use his mail system with his ISP and has to rely on a "throw-away" Google e-mail account.
I know people who do have Internet access, but who regularly pay hundreds of pounds more for stuff than they need to. Yes, I know, usiing Google or one of the other search engines results in hundreds of links that make it difficult (if not impossible) to find the real bargains. My page Buying Stuff will make it easy to find stuff at the lowest possible price. So if you're thinking of buying anything - from a new refrigerator to a new TV or DVD recorder - click on the Buying Stuff page link.
Have you bought (or thinking of buying) a high-definition TV? But do you know that there are various degrees of high definition? A substantial number of people have been persuaded by seemingly knowledgable store staff at the high-street stores to buy something which does not support the FULL High Definition performace. The Hi-Definition TV webpage will blow away the smoke so that you can be assured the the TV you buy supports the FULL High Definition standard.
Closely associated with downloading movies and music is the selection of a suitable DVD player. I'd speculate that in the next two years you'll be able to download officially distrubuted (legal) movies after paying a small fee. Unfortunately, only a relatively small number of DVD players have the capability to replay these downloaded movies because they use DivX, a special highly compressed video standard specifically intended to make downloading movies much faster. The sales-person in the High Street stores will neglect to tell you anything about this - principally because when DivX becomes the normal way of accessing download-to-view movies, they will then be able to profit by selling you a new DVD player (or DVD recorder) that DOES support DivX. Again, to blow the smoke away, I have included the DVD Players web page here on Rhyl Online - which also provides a method of finding just what each DVD player is capable of playing.
On a lighter note, being a dog-lover I haven't been able to resist the temptation of giving my two Bichon Frise dogs their own page on this website as a bit of relief from the rest of the stuff here.We hope to introduce you to Buddy and Oscar as well as their many friends that they regularly meet and play with on their daily run on the east end of Rhyl's fine beach. If you do see us there, dont't hesitate to come over and say "Hello" to Buddy and Oscar