So the internet is basically like one huge reference book. OK some of the information may not be as reliable as others. But if you work on the same principle as the old adage 'if it sounds to good to be true it probably is' you won't go too far wrong.

Here I'm looking at reference information, free & open source software and the things that just make you go Wow!. The sort of stuff that still makes me think 'isn't the internet wonderful!'.

This is a category that could be almost endless but please send me your suggestions, I have a lot of server-space to fill!

Current sections are news, reference, open source & free software & wow!
 

The website is produced in UK and International versions, via a little button in the top left-hand corner of the home page. The international news is available in 33 languages, too many to list, see here.

 

Now when I say CIA, what's the first that comes into your head? Is it blokes in dark glasses bundling people into the back of big cars? Yes, me too, funny that isn't it! Well something I discovered sometime ago is the CIA World Factbook, it's true, the men in black not only research all this stuff for George Jnr. but they also publish it for you and me, and once you start looking you really can't stop. It's like when your parents buy you the Guinness Book of Records for your eighth birthday, you just can't stop looking at it. So that's just me is it?

For example, did you know the population of North Korea is 22,697,553, now how the hell do they know that! Mmm better not ask! or that as of July 2004 the population of the USA was 293,027,571 and the average age of the men was 34.7 years and the women was 37.4 years, good for the women I suppose.

I was going to stick the CIA logo with this entry but thought better of it!
 

Blog article 4 June 2007: Every so often you come across something on the web that you can't believe you didn't know about. Considering today Google are linking to a mere 8.6 billion sites I guess that's not a surprise, but that's why you need sites like the Green Providers Directory.

They have a fantastic range of information on everything from books to wine. They say "The Green Providers Directory is the leading resource for finding green, organic and fair trade goods and services. We are a not-for-profit, green directory founded on ethical principles. All the companies listed have been individually vetted so you can be sure of their eco-friendly credentials."

Are you thinking "but these people are rather treading on your toes dear Wildberry", the reality is that I'm probably treading on their toes and that's the great thing about not doing this as a business, we're all pulling in the same direction. Why not head over there and check it out.
 

Yes possibly a bit dry, but some very interesting information in their Programme on Environment and Energy Statistics.
 

"Wikipedia is a Web-based, multi-language, free-content encyclopedia written collaboratively by volunteers and sponsored by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. It has editions in about 200 different languages (about 100 of which are active) and contains entries both on traditional encyclopedic topics and on almanac, gazetteer, and current events topics. Its purpose is to create and distribute a free international encyclopedia in as many languages as possible. Wikipedia is one of the most popular reference sites on the web,[1] receiving around 60 million hits per day."

That really is it, if you go on to Wikipedia and disagree with one of the definitions you can change it! You would think this must lead to chaos and I'm sure there are some situations where articles get changed back and forth. But I understand they have ways to deal with such issues and generally it works. Just try it. The really good thing is that it covers subjects too minor to credit place in an encyclopaedia that has to pay its compilers.

In addition to running the web's biggest encyclopaedia in over 200 languages, the folks at Wiki decided they had a bit of spare time on their hands and so have branched out. They have set-up the following Wiki-sister sites.

Wiktionary - Dictionary and thesaurus
Wikibooks - Free textbooks and manuals
Wikiquote - Collection of quotations
Wikisource - Free source documents
Wikispecies - Directory of species
Wikinews - Free content news source
Commons - Free image, music, sound and video repository (I'm slightly disappointed this isn't called Wiki-commons!)

It's true to say some of these are more developed than others and none is as established as Wikipedia, but it's not bad going.
 

Update January 2007
I'm afraid I've had to admit defeat with Clamwin and uninstall it. I've had no problems with virus's that I can tell. The problem has been that Clamwin has an add-in for Microsoft Outlook, which I use for my email, contacts etc. Clamwin doesn't only scan an email when you send or receive, it scans it every time you click on it in your inbox or sent items. Some of my emails can be 3-4MB or even larger, Clamwin could take 2-3 minutes to scan on of these emails. If you then realise you've clicked on the wrong email or it's only being highlighted because you've deleted the one above it can be very infuriating! So to cut a long story short it had to go.

 

NeoOffice is the Mac friendly version of Open Office below. OpenOffice is promised in a Mac version but there is no firm date at time of writing.

NeoOffice has been converted for use on the Mac by a third-party, but I've been using it for a while and it seems to be very stable. They have confirmed it is now suitable for use with OS-X Leopard.
 

Where to start - well Open Office is basically everything you might get from Microsoft Office but for free! Not the 'I know someone who has a copy of you can borrow' free or 'I have a copy I bought while backpacking around India' free. But genuinely 100% here it is take it away, register if you want no charge, at all, free!

I can imagine your sitting there somewhat sceptical by now. So where does it come from? Well it's a long story but basically the whole project is backed-up by Sun Microsystems, I'm guessing to poke one-in-the-eye to Microsoft. There are pages of history on the website, if you're interested look here.

Their Mission Statement is 'To create, as a community, the leading international office suite that will run on all major platforms and provide access to all functionality and data through open-component based APIs and an XML-based file format.'

So what's it like? - Well to be honest it's excellent. I can't say I've used every feature of every programme, but I've had a good fiddle, and I haven't found any problems so far. I'm a big fan of Excel and OpenOffice Calc is very similar, it seems to have all the functions you could ever hope for and doesn't disappoint.

Included in the package are Calc the spreadsheet, Writer (word processor), Impress (like PowerPoint), Draw far better than Paint or Photo Editor, Base (data base). There is also Math which I haven't got my head around but it seems to help you work your way through complicated mathematical problems.

The whole system is definitely a work in progress. They give you the option to download the fully tested 1.1.5 (stable) version or the 2.0 (still under test) version. I've downloaded the 2.0 version and I've not come across any bugs at all.

If you're a Mac user see NeoOffice above.
 

This is what I wrote on the 1 September 2005.

This the second in what is becoming an erratic series of Great Websites you may never of heard of! This series comprises ... Mmm ... two so far, but give it time (see the 10th August for no.1). Anyway back to Google Earth. I'm always a little suspicious of websites that require you to download software from the get go. But I'd heard such good things about Google Earth I gave it a go and boy am I pleased I did! I have described Google Earth as the best website in-the-world-ever! and yes maybe that was exaggerating a little, but it is good.

So how to describe it - well basically you start off with a view of the earth from the moon. You can then tap into the search engine your town or place of interest and the imagine zooms-in in what can be a slightly nausea inducing way until you're looking at a satellite photo of that town. Now as I describe it it doesn't sound that great but I assure you it is. The resolution of the images varies; big cities in the USA, predictably, are the best giving you resolutions sufficient pick out individual vehicles on the roads.

Interestingly Baghdad also has some of the best images! The programme also gives you the option of highlighting roads, coffee shops, gas stations, whatever you want.

There is also what is rather grandly called the Google Earth Community, which is basically a message board discussing updates, focusing on current events etc. But it is interesting to see what others all over the world are focusing on.

The whole thing is excellent - certainly worth trying.