technology used to program applications that can be accessed through a browser continued to be blocked for Firefox users Monday.

Mozilla had been blocking two Microsoft plug-ins after the discovery that Microsoft’s .Net 3.5 SP1 install silently adds a plug-in to Firefox allowing the surreptitious launch of a malicious XAML browser application that could take over infected machines.

One add-on, the Windows Presentation Foundation, aids programmers in developing applications using Microsoft technologies, including Silverlight, that can be accessed via a browser. It remains blocked, but Mozilla Vice President of Engineering Mike Shaver wrote in a blog posting on Sunday that the Firefox team is working to find an alternative.

Restoration Timing Uncertain

Mozilla initially blocked Microsoft’s .Net Framework Assistant as well, but reversed that policy after speaking with Microsoft engineers over the weekend and learning that it does not provide access to the same vulnerability.

The current blockade is redundant for users who have already applied Microsoft’s patch for the vulnerability, which rolled out Oct. 12 as part of what Microsoft described as its largest vulnerability patch of 2009.

Although Microsoft has patched against the vulnerability, it’s unclear when the Windows Presentation Foundation access will be restored.

Mozilla’s press office did not return an email message seeking comment by deadline for this article.

Microsoft’s Misbehavior

Most home users likely didn’t notice anything more than an odd security warning when they fired up their browsers, but some may have encountered malfunctioning Web apps. Also, some enterprise users and designers may have faced trouble accessing custom applications and design capabilities through Firefox with the technologies blocked, said Wolfgang Kandek, CTO of Qualys, a vulnerability management company.

This is the second time this year Microsoft has been called out for silently installing plug-ins into Firefox. The first time was when the company included the Framework Assistant add-on in a service pack for the .Net application framework without alerting users.

“That normally is not considered to be good behavior,” Kandek told TechNewsWorld.

Microsoft didn’t respond to requests for comment by deadline.

Cooperation Between Competitors

While it appears that Mozilla initially overreacted in blocking the .Net Framework assistant, which is necessary for many third-party applications to run, it restored access to the plug-in quickly.

Mozilla and Microsoft appear to be working well together to address the issue for the benefit of users, Kandek said.

“I thought it was a great example of cooperation between two companies that are competing a lot,” he said.

To use PhotoSketch, a user simply sketches a scene, using blobs to represent different components, with descriptive tags added to each blob. The software uses the tags to search for potentially suitable images on the Internet. It then tries to match the components within those images with those in the sketch and with a background before presenting the user with a selection of snaps that go together nicely. The video also includes a nice explanation of the technology. The resulting images are often very realistically Photoshopped.

Federal prosecutors have charged a prominent hedge-fund manager and five others with securities fraud resulting from insider trading involving some of the tech industry’s best-known companies, including Intel, Google, and IBM.

Raj Rajaratnam of Galleon Group was arrested Friday in New York according to various reports and charged with 13 counts of securities fraud and conspiracy following a FBI investigation into Galleon Group’s trading patterns. Also charged in the complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, were co-conspirators Rajiv Goel of Intel and Anil Kumar of McKinsey, which provided consulting services to AMD.

A separate complaint charges two employees of New Castle Partners, another hedge fund, with insider trading along with IBM executive Robert Moffat, senior vice president and group executive for IBM’s Systems and Technology Group. Danielle Chiesi and Mark Kurland of New Castle Partners allegedly exchanged information with Rajaratnam regarding the negotiation process surrounding AMD’s decision to spin off its chip-making arm and receive outside investment, and obtained other insider information for the purpose of trading in Akamai and Sun Microsystems.

Galleon Group told CNBC that it was unaware of the investigation but planned to cooperate with authorities.

An Intel representative confirmed that Goel works in the treasury department of Intel’s finance organization, and has been “placed on administrative leave as we look into this matter.” Intel said it was never contacted by authorities regarding the investigation.

McKinsey said in a statement that it was “distressed” about Kumar’s involvement in the case and was “looking into the matter urgently. AMD said it was looking at the complaints and had no further comment. IBM declined to comment.

A representative for Akamai did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

According to the complaint, Rajaratnam obtained information about strategic investments that Intel and others were about to make in Clearwire from Goel, and details about AMD’s proposed fab spinoff from Kumar and Chiesi. Galleon Group and New Castle Partners then allegedly used that information to trade in shares of Clearwire and AMD, resulting in millions of dollars in profits.

Moffat is also said to have provided details about AMD’s GlobalFoundries spinoff, which required IBM’s approval due to an extensive technology-sharing partnership between the two companies. In addition, Moffat allegedly gave the traders information related to upcoming earnings announcements from IBM and Sun, which IBM was considering acquiring in early 2009.

Rajaratnam also had hired an individual identified in the complaint only as a “confidential witness” who has been cooperating with the FBI since November 2007 after agreeing to plead guilty to securities fraud and conspiracy. The witness had insider contacts at Polycom and a company called Market Street, which helps publicly traded companies–such as Google–prepare earnings reports.

The FBI said Galleon Group was able to learn through its Market Street contacts that Google’s second-quarter 2007 earnings results were going to miss analyst expectations, which would usually send the stock down the following day. Before Google’s earnings were released, Galleon Group purchased put options and sold Google’s stock short in hopes of turning a profit, which, of course, they did, to the tune of $8 million.

Shares of Polycom and Hilton Hotels were also involved in the insider trading, according to the complaint. The FBI said it obtained its information by placing a wiretap on several phones–including Rajaratnam’s mobile phone–as well as the participation of confidential witnesses.

Rajaratnam was named to Forbes’ 2009 list of the world’s billionaires, with an estimated net worth of $1.3 billion. He is a former employee of Needham & Co., an investment bank.

Understandably a certain amount of delay can occur in such return journey, also due to the fact that the signal has to go through several routers on its way there and the way back. Those routers belongs to different providers and their response time can vary a lot. Also the signal will not take the same route all the time, some system will take care of routing your request to the first available route or better to the fastest available route after a real-time evaluation.

There is a simple way in Windows XP to check the path that your request, it is the tracert which can be called from the command prompt. You can open the command prompt from Start>>Run and type cmd and press Enter.

The following command

will give the following output (the request was sent from a computer in Hong Kong in this case)

The program tries to access the same router three times (that is why you see 3 columns of ms values) and reports the milliseconds elapsed at each attempt. If the connection times out you will see a * instead of a number.

This simple command could be useful to troubleshoot connection problems. You can immediately spot whether the problem is within your local network, your local internet service provider or on the overseas side.

As a comparison a ping command

will give the following output

We see the traveling time is 180ms which corresponds to any of the values returned by the tracert command. This makes me think that the those returned by the tracert command are actually parallel routes which the data will alternatively take to get to our desired destination.

Malware is the generic category of any program that causes damage to your computer. Notorious types of Malware include:

• Viruses
• Worms
• Trojans
• Key loggers

Adware are programs that have advertisements built into the software. Whenever you run the software it will open advertisements from the Internet and display them on your screen.

Spyware are pieces of software that are installed on your computer without your knowledge. Spyware operates in the background collecting information about your browsing habits and then sends this information back to the creator’s servers. Notorious types of Spyware include:

• Browser Hijackers
• Dialers

Virus

A virus is a piece of software that piggybacks on real programs. A computer virus is passed from one computer to another typically via email attachments or downloads from web sites.

Viruses can:

• Delete or alter files
• Reformat your disk drive
• Installing software programs that allow hackers to remotely access your computer

Worms

A worm is a piece of software that uses computer networks and weaknesses to replicate itself. A copy of the worm scans the network for another machine that has the same security hole. It then copies itself to the new machine and then starts replicating from there.

Worms can:

• Delete or rename files
• Install Trojans to collect sensitive information

Trojan

A Trojan is a malicious program that is disguised as legitimate software. Trojans often come in the form of a cute animation or sexy picture sent as an email attachment. Once the program is opened the malicious software is installed on the computer, causing a multitude of problems. Trojans can also be installed by visiting web sites.

Trojans can:

• Erase or overwrite data on your computer
• Corrupt files
• Create a backdoor to your computer allowing people remote access
• Spread malware
• Spy on the user to report data like your browsing habits

Key Loggers

A key logger is a piece of software that keeps track of all key strokes entered on a computer and then transmits this information to a third party. The danger in having a key logger installed on your computer is this information can then be used to identify your credit card or banking details.

Key loggers are installed using typical malware techniques such as downloading email attachments and exploiting weaknesses in Microsoft programs such as Word, Outlook or Explorer.

Browser Hijackers

Browser Hijackers is software that tends to hijack your browsers web connections for the hackers own purposes. Typically hijackers change your homepage or your search engine results.

Dialers

Dialers is software installed on your computer and has the ability to make phone calls using your computers modem. These programs will connect to other computers, typically pay by the minute numbers. Often you will not realise your computer has a dialer until you receive a large telephone bill.

Although most malware is typically transmitted through email attachements hijackers and dialers are almost always installed by clicking on popup displays advertising new software. The most common types of these scams are:

• When the pop up says your computer has a security hole and it can be fixed by clicking on the pop up.
• Software that allows you to connect to browse the Internet faster.
• You have open ports on your computer and to click on the ad to download a utility to fix it.
• Ads that say they can make your computer run faster.

To avoid having hijackers and dialers being installed on your computer do not click on pop up ads.

Protecting your computer from Malware and Spyware

• Make sure you have installed antivirus software that is up dated regularly.
• Avoid downloading unknown attachments from emails and Internet web sites.
• Always scan the email or Internet attachment with antivirus software before downloading the attachment.
• Keep your computer up to date by downloading security patches when they become available.
• Remove trial software because it can create a back door to your computer allowing hackers to remotely access your computer.

Google is the internet surfer’s best friend and worst enemy. If you know what you’re after, just type it into the search engine’s famous little box and – hey presto – you’ll be given a list of related sites in order of relevance.

Such is Google’s dominance that its name has become a synonym for search. And rightly so. When was the last time you Yahooed something? And good though Bing is, it’s not ringing our bell just yet. There’s a problem, though.

Searching for something implies you know what you’re looking for. Gold prospectors search for gold; they don’t scour the earth on the off-chance there’s something which may or may not be of any value knocking around. So what happens if you don’t know what you’re looking for; if you just want to be amazed?

How do you ask Google for some brilliant sites, sites which will feed your mind, soul or just let you waste time in style? If you’re in that kind of mood, you’re in the right place. Welcome to PC Plus’s directory of the best websites on the internet.

Martin Cooper uncovers the best sites for discovering amazing facts and figures

When you’re after something to feed your mind, body or soul, you’ll be sure to find something on the internet that will make you think. From recipes to help us geeky types boil an egg to sites that help you track down the origins of slang, amazing discoveries are always only a few clicks away.

eHow

If you’re ever in doubt about how to do something, visit eHow. As well as helping with everyday tasks such as how to polish your car or change ISP, the site isn’t shy of difficult topics. You can learn how to politely turn down an amorous suitor, for example. The breadth of topics is staggering and the content sensible. Just be aware that it’s an American publication, so don’t follow its legal advice too closely.

www.ehow.com

Cooking for engineers

If you’re scientifically minded, endless drivel about organic chickens, rustic honesty and sun-dried tomatoes can leave you nonplussed. This site is a great antidote to foppish gastronomic pomposity. Its instructions for soft boiled eggs are a triumph of analysis, and the end result looks tasty too.

www.cookingforengineers.com

The CIA World Factbook

If you’re looking for a glossy travel guide with indulgent photographs, flowery descriptions of views and lists of chic little boutiques, look elsewhere. This site is all about hard facts. All nation states are profiled, and data about everything from infant mortality to population size is quoted.

www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html

Wikia

Even though printing out the whole of Wikipedia would result in a stack of paper about a kilometre high, it is somewhat exclusive in what it contains. If you’re after outrageously detailed guides to popular culture, Wikia’s various sub-sites will suck you in and never spit you back out. Take a look at Wookieepedia, the Star Wars wiki, for a perfect example: it features a whopping 70,000 articles, and all of them are obsessively maintained.

www.wikia.com

Dictionary.com

No prizes for guessing what Dictionary.com is. As the old cliché goes, it does exactly what it says on the tin. If you’re looking for a dictionary definition of a word, it certainly returns a more detailed definition than Google’s ‘define’ function. Dictionary.com does more just define things for you, though – it also has a Word of the Day feature. Sign up, and you’ll receive a new word, gift-wrapped and delivered by email, every day.

www.dictionary.com

Newsmap

You can’t beat Google’s news homepage when it comes to getting a snapshot of the most important stories in the world. Or can you? It turns out you can. Newsmap presents Google’s news feed pictorially, giving the most important stories proportionally more prominence on the screen.

www.newsmap.jp

Genuki

Genealogy has become something of a national obsession in recent years. If you fancy tracking down your antecedents and finding out whether your heritage is tied up with agriculture or aristocracy, Genuki is the place to start.

www.genuki.org.uk

Brainy Quote

Only read a few Dan Browns but want people to think you’ve had your nose deep in tomes by Proust and Tolstoy? Just drop the Quote of the Day from this site into conversation to give yourself some instant intellectualism.

www.brainyquote.com

What Should I Read Next

Enjoyed a particular book or writer and want to find something similar? This site will recommend a good follow-up read for you to get your teeth into. Its suggestions rely on the magic of user-generated content, and the site isn’t in the pocket of any publishing houses, so you should get a fairly unbiased recommendation.

www.whatshouldireadnext.com

Nation Master

This site is a statistician’s dream. It’s bursting with all sorts of numeric data about hundreds of nation states, from Burundi to Belgium. Did you know that 1.1 out of every million people in Turkmenistan is a chess grandmaster, for example? Didn’t think so. Dive on in and see what else you can find out.

www.nationmaster.com

FFFBI

Cute and clever, The Fin, Fur and Feather Bureau of Investigation aims to teach kids about problem solving and critical thinking. Both are essential for life in this computer rich age, and what better way is there to learn such skills than by becoming a spy for a detective agency run by a plethora of friendly animals?

www.fffbi.com

NASA TV

If you’ve got a curious mind, a look at NASA TV is a must. You can watch space walks and all the rest live, giving us on Earth an insight into the life of an astronaut.

www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

Acronym Finder

There’s nothing any industry likes more than an impenetrable acronym. If you’re presented with a particularly cryptic one, Acronym Finder will decrypt it for you instantly.

www.acronymfinder.com

Flash Earth

This fantastic site lets you explore Earth using multiple sources of mapping data, all controlled through a single interface. A must for all geographers and high-altitude voyeurs.

www.flashearth.com

PopURLs

PopURLs gives you a snapshot of what’s being said on the biggest social news websites, neatly displaying a grid of headlines in (almost) real-time. If you have to be cutting edge, this is for you.

www.popurls.com

All play and no work: Richard Cobbett lists his favourite media sites

Hulu

It’s not yet in the UK, but it’s definitely one to watch. The only shame is that once it does arrive in Blighty, we won’t get the same shows as our cousins across the pond.

www.hulu.com

Magnatune

Almost endless music to listen to. Whether you want to buy it for your iPod or recreate the soundtrack of a motion picture, you’re only one click away from the perfect licence.

www.magnatune.com

Riff trax

This site makes movies even funnier with downloadable commentaries to play alongside your favourite movies. Make sure you download the PAL versions, though.

www.rifftrax.com

That Guy With The Glasses

The hub for almost every YouTube reviewer and comedian you’ve ever heard of, plus plenty of top-quality comedy you haven’t. Specialises in gaming, movies and sketches.

www.thatguywiththeglasses.com

Revision3

Hours of geek-friendly programming, from meeting the weirdos behind the strangest websites around to full Photoshop tutorials and advice on defeating padlocks.

www.revision3.com

4oD

It’s not as hyped as the BBC iPlayer, but now that Channel 4 has released huge chunks of its back catalogue for free, it’s the perfect place to waste some time.

www.channel4.com/4od

The Agony Booth

One of the best places to see bad movies and TV shows get what’s coming to them. Full of snarky, detailed recaps of everything the original creators got wrong.

www.agonybooth.com

Last.fm

The best way to track your listening habits and find out which artists you should be checking out next. The site’s huge archive of free tracks and music videos on tap doesn’t hurt either, and with one of the biggest music communities around, even the most obscure tastes should be well covered.

www.last.fm

Demoscene.tv

See the best demos – programs written to show off what top-grade programmers can do – without having to download them. It’s not quite the same as seeing them for real, but it’s good for browsing and finding those worth downloading at a later date.

www.demoscene.tv

12Seconds

Proof that online video doesn’t always have to be polished to be engaging, the idea behind 12Seconds is in the name – short, bite-sized comments about anything and everything. It’s mostly intended for friends and family rather than mass audiences, but you never know how things might take off in the future – just look at Twitter.

www.12seconds.tv

WeGame

There’s plenty of places online to upload videos, but not many provide a downloadable client to help you record your finest gaming moments and share them. WeGame is also useful for seeing how the experts play, enabling you to learn some great new moves in your favourite games by their example.

www.wegame.com

Justin.tv

From one man lifestreaming his day-to-day happenings to a full video portal where anyone can set up a channel, Justin is well worth exploring. If you decide to try it for yourself, though, a word of advice: turn the camera off in the loo.

www.justin.tv

Podcast Alley

One of the best sites for finding podcasts you might be interested in before downloading them, Podcast Alley covers a vast range of subjects.

www.podcastalley.com

Netlabels

What do you do if you want to make your own podcast, but don’t have any musical flair? That’s where ‘podsafe’ music comes in – tunes that you can use for the cost of a shout-out to the artist. Netlabels is a great place to start hunting for the right theme.

www.netlabels.org

SecurityTube

If general video content doesn’t appeal to you, don’t forget that the internet always has something for every niche. SecurityTube is a YouTube-style site that’s specifically for computer security videos, with uploads offering a level of depth you simply won’t find elsewhere.

www.securitytube.net

Apple Trailers

If you’re looking for trailers for the latest movie releases, you rarely need to look further than this site. Apple Trailers is especially good if your bandwidth can handle the highest resolutions.

www.apple.com/trailers

PC misbehaving? Mike Williams delivers a collection of the best online tech resources

You’ve mastered the Windows basics, and that’s great. To really optimise your PC, keep it secure and quickly troubleshoot problems, you need to go further: learn how Windows works, discover the best free software and fully understand the threat from hackers. Here are 16 essential sites to help you along the way.

MakeUseOf

Tired of tech sites that just aren’t updated frequently enough? MakeUseOf has around 20 experienced contributors, so every day sees several new posts recommending essential new software and websites, along with interesting articles on ways to improve your PC and internet life. The best are compiled into free guides on topics like networking, iTunes, Linux and Photoshop.

www.makeuseof.com

Black Hat

Black Hat Briefings are the most substantial security conferences in the computer world, where top researchers deliver fascinating demonstrations on the very latest vulnerabilities. Can’t get to one? Don’t worry – the site includes an archive where you can download each speaker’s presentations and materials, usually within a couple of weeks of each event.

www.blackhat.com

Freewaregenius

Freewaregenius trawls the freeware world, and regularly comes up with extremely useful programs that similar sites miss. The selections cover a very wide range: Windows extensions, full apps, games, specialist tools for small businesses, web developers and more. There are also regular articles on interesting topics, such as the best free antivirus software.

www.freewaregenius.com

Bruce Schneier

Security expert Bruce Schneier’s site, blog, books and newsletter provide important and highly readable insights on everything from basic techniques you can use to protect your network, to high level discussions on political power and national security. Don’t miss the Essays and Op-Eds section of his site, where you’ll find articles of his that have appeared in major publications around the world.

www.schneier.com

VistaX64

The hundreds of straightforward tutorials at VistaX64 will help all Vista and Windows 7 users speed up, customise, troubleshoot and generally get more from their PCs. Each guide is easy to follow, thanks to a step-by-step approach and frequent use of screen grabs. And despite the site name, most of the advice works just as well on 32-bit Windows as its 64-bit big brother.

www.vistax64.com/tutorials

Sysinternals forums

Even Windows experts get lost occasionally, but the Sysinternals forums will quickly point you back in the right direction. They’re packed with helpful people who are happy to cover technical topics beyond Sysinternal’s own utilities. They’re knowledgeable, too: ask about processor affinity masks, DPCs or paged pool memory and they’ll know what you mean and exactly how to help.

http://forum.sysinternals.com

Ask the Performance Team

This Microsoft blog regularly posts detailed advice on how to tune your PC, manage memory properly and troubleshoot crashes. And unlike similar sites, the authors don’t assume you’re a software developer – most of their articles are easily accessible to knowledgeable home users.

http://blogs.technet.com/askperf

4sysops

Don’t be put off by the banner saying this site is for Windows administrators. Its mix of reviews, recommendations on useful free Windows tools and news on the latest security issues will appeal to any knowledgeable PC owner.

http://4sysops.com

OSNews

There’s more to the computing world than Microsoft. This busy news site will keep you up to date with the latest on Mac OS X, Linux, Palm, AmigaOS, the iPhone and more, as well as all of the big Windows, PC and hardware developments.

www.osnews.com

CyberTerrorists

Learn about the latest bots, keyloggers, trojans and other nasties by paying regular visits to this site. Be careful, though: don’t download any malware samples to try out unless you know exactly how to protect yourself.

www.cyberterrorists.net

Engineering Windows 7

A must-read for anyone interested in Windows 7, this Microsoft blog provides regular, detailed and exclusive looks at Vista’s successor.

http://blogs.msdn.com/e7/

Mark Russinovich

He’s an expert programmer and true Windows guru, yet Mark Russinovich’s blog on Windows troubleshooting is still accessible to experienced home users. It’s an essential read if you want to know more about how Windows works.

http://blogs.technet.com/markrussinovich

Istartedsomething

Long Zheng’s influential tech blog delivers interesting analyses of the latest happenings in the PC world. And these aren’t just reprints of other people’s work: Zheng’s posts often include original research, interviews and other information that isn’t available elsewhere.

www.istartedsomething.com

Nirsoft

Have you ever wanted to find your Windows or Office product key? Recover email passwords? List all the Windows shell extensions on your PC, and disable the ones you don’t need? The Nirsoft website is packed with compact, useful free tools for carrying out a wide range of PC maintenance functions just like this.

www.nirsoft.net

Dancho Danchev

Security consultant Dancho Danchev regularly produces fascinating reports exposing the mechanics of malware and internet scams: what hackers are doing, how they’re doing it and who’s making money from their efforts. A must-read for anyone interested in security issues beyond their own PC.

http://ddanchev.blogspot.com

NTdebugging

Microsoft’s Global Escalation Services Support Team blog has invaluable advice on crash analysis and low-level troubleshooting that will soon have your PC running smoothly. Be careful, though: you’ll need some expertise to keep up.

http://blogs.msdn.com/ntdebugging

Gary Marshall expands on how to find friends and advertise yourself

Vimeo

Upload video and share it or embed it in your blog. Free accounts give you 500MB of storage and one HD video per week, while paid accounts offer unlimited HD.

www.vimeo.com

SmugMug

Best described as Flickr for professional photographers, SmugMug’s service isn’t free – it starts at £20 per year – but it’s a superb way to showcase photography.

www.smugmug.com

Scribd

Microsoft Office, OpenOffice.org and PostScript files are reproduced online with formatting intact. You can then embed the results in your own site or blog.

www.scribd.com

Ning

Can’t find a social network dedicated to your specific interests? Ning enables you to create and customise one in a matter of minutes without costing a penny.

www.ning.com

FriendFeed

FriendFeed brings all your social networks together into a single feed. The service supports Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr, del.icio.us, YouTube and various blogs.

www.friendfeed.com

Funny Or Die

Will Ferrell’s site is YouTube for comedy: users upload whatever they think is funny, with everyone voting for the best comic clips. If it isn’t funny, it dies.

www.funnyordie.com

SnagFilms

Designed for documentary makers and viewers, SnagFilms provides a portal for over 700 movies and the ability to create custom movie theatres for any website. Filmmakers who contribute get an equal share of the advertising revenue.

www.snagfilms.com

Issuu

If you’ve seen the embedded articles on our website, you’ll know that Issuu does an excellent job of displaying print documents in a web browser. Basic accounts are free, and you can share your documents on the usual social networks or embed them in your own site.

www.issuu.com

Bit.ly

Long URLs can be a real pain when you’re trying to share a link both online and via SMS. Bit.ly is a brilliant way of shortening internet addresses to manageable links. The site also features advanced options that allow you to do things like track how many people have accessed your bit.ly link.

www.bit.ly

Pipebytes

Pipebytes gives you the ability to send files of any size through your web browser. The real beauty of the service is that the recipient can begin downloading the file while you’re still uploading. Speeds aren’t guaranteed, but the service is free and delivers secure and private sharing.

www.pipebytes.net

Slideshare

If you’re still handing out printed notes after presentations, it’s time you checked out Slideshare. This presentation sharing website enables you to publish Powerpoint and Word documents and add audio to your files. You can also use privacy settings to make the presentation either public or contacts-only.

www.slideshare.net

JayCut

JayCut enables you to edit and mix audio and video clips. You can then either download the results to your PC or share the footage on YouTube, Facebook or MySpace.

www.jaycut.com

Digg

So popular it can bring down entire web servers when its users visit en masse, the social news site enables you to share interesting links and see what everybody else is reading. A great way to find interesting stories.

www.digg.com

Google Docs

Google Docs isn’t really a Microsoft Office rival: it’s designed for quick and simple document collaboration rather than attempting to be all things to all men. It’s a particularly good method of working on projects where inputs from many different people are needed.

http://docs.google.com

Windows Live SkyDrive

The storage bit of Microsoft’s revamped online offering is pretty decent, delivering 25GB of online storage for free. You simply drag and drop each file across, and each folder gets a unique URL so you can send the link for others to access.

http://skydrive.live.com

DropSend

We’re big fans of DropSend, a service that enables you to share files of up to 2GB via its browser interface or desktop icon. Free accounts also come with 250MB of online storage.

www.dropsend.com

It takes a lot to get Alex Cox’s attention. Here are a few sites that managed it

Uncyclopedia

Wikipedia’s oft-questionable content has inspired a site that does away with the factual element entirely and instead goes directly for the fictional jugular.

http://uncyclopedia.org

Project Gutenberg

Set up in 1971, Project Gutenberg now encompasses over 100,000 public-domain titles. If you’re hunting down the classics, this is the only place you need to look.

www.gutenberg.org

Cockeyed

Cockeyed is full of facts gleaned from creator Rob Cockerham’s rudimentary science experiments. Just how much gold is inside the liqueur Goldschlager? Find out here.

www.cockeyed.com

The Easter Egg Archive

There are hidden extras nestling in a huge number of entertainment products. Named ‘easter eggs’, the directions to these secret nuggets of goodness can be found here.

www.eeggs.com

Atlas Obscura

The Atlas Obscura, ‘a compendium of the world’s wonders, curiosities and esoterica’ can take you from Lenin’s Mausoleum to the Hanging Temple of Hengshan.

www.atlasobscura.com

Text Files

Jason Scott has collected a ludicrous amount of old data, from an exhaustive collection of bulletin-board text files to whole CDs full of archaic shareware.

www.textfiles.com

Kongregate

Playing Flash games online doesn’t get much classier than this; Kongregate has a massive selection of great online games, and an Xbox-esque achievement system that will track your progress over multiple titles.

www.kongregate.com

Kingdom of Loathing

This stick-figure-illustrated MMO-lite may be ugly, but it is a witty and altogether nutty take on the genre that gracefully expels keyboard mashers with a clever exam – you must complete the tasks set at the Altar of Literacy to communicate with others.

www.kingdomofloathing.com

Quake Live

The seminal shooter goes browser based – sort of. There’s still a hefty download involved, and it’s only really playable full screen, so you may as well be playing a standalone app. But as the latest incarnation of what is still one of the best arena FPS around, Quake Live is not to be missed.

www.quakelive.com

Off world

This recent spin off of venerable blog Boing Boing is already one of the cleverest and most respected gaming portals out there. If it’s beautiful or clever, you’ll find it posted here.

www.offworld.com

Rock, Paper, Shotgun

No-one is closer to the cutting edge than the RPS boys; Rock, Paper, Shotgun sees four respected writers collaborating on a site dedicated to the best and quirkiest in PC gaming.

www.rockpapershotgun.com

Virtual NES

Treat yourself to a little old-school gaming action with Virtual NES. The official homepage of the Nintendo Entertainment System emulator vNES has a selection of games available to play right in your browser, including the original Mario Brothers trilogy.

www.virtualnes.com

World of Spectrum

The mere mention of the ZX Spectrum sends us into nostalgic fits of glee – thank goodness the community has banded together and backed up what appears to be every single thing ever released for the venerable home computer, along with a bunch of magazines.

www.worldofspectrum.org

Let’s Play!

Can’t be bothered to play games through yourself? Need to virtually try before you buy? The community behind Let’s Play often records full playthroughs of the most classic (and the most frustrating) games of all time with an amusing (and sometimes extremely coarse) commentary. It’s just like being part of the action yourself.

www.letsplayarchive.com

Independent Games Source

This site does just what its title suggests – it’s a blog covering the best games churned out by the best independent authors. If you’re looking to keep abreast of the latest wacky Gamemaker masterpieces, this is the place that you need to be.

www.tigsource.com

The Interactive Fiction Archive

You are visiting a website. The design is clean and functional, and all of the words around you appear to be delicately strung together with the finest thread. You can see here: thousands of text adventures. Thorin sits down and starts singing about gold.

www.ifarchive.org

Gary Marshall lines up his favourite sites for artists, snappers, designers and dabblers

The web is a blessing for creative types: instead of starving in a garret, you can discuss your work with like-minded people, discover new techniques and learn the secrets of getting your novel, art or movie out there for others to see.

Manga University

The distinctive visual style of Manga is everywhere, from comic books to adverts and videogames. If you fancy creating your own manga-style creations then Manga University is the place to start. You’ll find tutorials on drawing hands, bodies and clothes, as well as a dedicated section showing you how to draw manga eyes.

www.howtodrawmanga.com/howtodraw/tutorials.html

Shooting People

Morgan Spurlock of Supersize Me fame describes Shooting People as “a necessity for anyone who works, loves and breathes independent film”. More than 37,000 members share advice and information, recruit cast and show off their films on this enormous movie-making website.

www.shootingpeople.org

Digital Webbing

Digital Webbing isn’t just a great site for comic book fans: its talent search section is where writers, artists and publishers look for work, while its forums are an excellent resource for anybody who’s interested in creating comic content. Whether you’re trying to break into the industry, recruit collaborators or just discover what inspires your favourite writers and artists, you’ll be able to satisfy yourself here.

www.digitalwebbing.com

I Love Typography

As the name suggests, I Love Typography is a website for people who really care about type – both in print and on-screen. Here you’ll find free fonts, interviews with designers, advice on type design and articles covering subjects such as whether Arial is something more than just a Helvetica clone. The site has spawned www.welovetypography.com, a spin-off which is a kind of Delicious for type-related content.

www.ilovetypography.com

Arts & Letters Daily

Literary criticism, sociology, philosophy, essays, opinions, blogs and columns: if it’s interesting and it’s been written down, posted or published, you’ll probably find it somewhere in this regularly updated collection of the world’s best brain food. Arts & Letters Daily comes from the Chronicle of Higher Education, and its mission is to find and link to anything interesting. Just bookmarking the site increases your IQ by 50 points – or so we’ve heard. On Arts & Letters Daily, funnily enough…

www.aldaily.com

Anne Mini

She goes on a bit – deliberately – and repeats herself a lot – again, deliberately – but if you’re an aspiring novelist, Anne Mini’s blog is one of the best resources that you’ll find online. It’s particularly good when it comes to the business side of writing, covering everything from finding a publisher to avoiding the clichés that guarantee nobody will ever buy your book. Take a look to get your novel rolling.

www.annemini.com

National Novel Writing Month

They say everyone has a book in them, and every November the National Novel Writing Month encourages people to get it on paper in just one month. The site’s a great resource for would-be writers, with interviews, Q&As and advice.

www.nanowrimo.org

Screenwriting.info

All kinds of websites offer screenwriting advice, but few of them are as straightforward as this one. Here you’ll find step-by-step advice on creating and formatting a film script, including the rules you must follow if you want to be taken seriously.

www.screenwriting.info

Art Crimes

There’s more to graffiti than teenagers tagging trains, as fans of Banksy will tell you. Art Crimes is an online gallery of graffiti art from around the world that also links to upcoming events and interviews with top graffiti artists.

www.graffiti.org

Authonomy

The selling point here is that the most popular writers will get their books read by HarperCollins publishers instead of languishing in the slush pile. Even if you don’t catch the editors’ attention, Authonomy is a kind of MySpace for novelists, with writers submitting their work, critiquing each other and offering advice on all aspects of fiction writing.

www.authonomy.com

MusicRadar

If you’re performing or recording music, MusicRadar is a must: it’s a huge resource site featuring technique tips, gear reviews, interviews with musicians and extremely busy discussion forums. It’s not a luddite site either: electronic music making gets as much attention as guitar, bass and drums.

www.musicradar.com

DeviantArt

DeviantArt aims to provide a place for any artist to display and discuss their work. You could spend weeks browsing it: the site has more than 10 million members, many of whom are incredibly talented.

www.deviantart.com

ArtGraphica.net

From pen and ink to acrylics and charcoal, ArtGraphica’s free online tutorials take you step-by-step through the processes of sketching, drawing and painting.

www.artgraphica.net

RolandLee.com

Acclaimed landscape artist Roland Lee is a generous man: on his site he provides lengthy tutorials showing exactly how he takes a blank page and turns it into something superb.

www.rolandlee.com

Watercolor Painting and Projects

It looks like it was designed in 1991 and the navigation is appalling, but the tutorials provided on the Watercolor Painting and Projects site are excellent. If you’re new to using watercolours, this is a good place to learn the essentials.

www.watercolorpaintingandprojects.com

Photo.net

Part social network and part how-to guide, Photo.net is an enormous collection of articles, galleries and forums where amateur and professional photographers share advice and critique each other’s work.

www.photo.net