Let us start by wishing you a happy new year. This letter, as you'll discover, is rather different from our usual fare - we hope you find it useful.

Please accept our assurance that we have no connection with any commercial organisation mentioned here. These are just a few things we use a lot, and think you might find handy too. You may well know some or even all - please remember that one man's obvious is another's I wish I'd known that, and accept them in the spirit in which they were sent.

1) Do your directory enquiries online. You don't have to pay if you go to BT's online directory enquiries, and you can do up to 10 searches a day. 

2) How much for 143g airmail to Hungary? Go straight to the Royal Mail's postal prices where you can get the answers with a click or three.

3) Get a Google toolbar. Don't waste time going to the Google home page every time you want to use it. Just go and get a Google toolbar. It takes a matter of seconds, and once you've done it, you'll have a 1cm strip below the toolbar at the top of your browser window, for one-click Google searches. 

4) Use Google more. Received an email with an attachment, and suspect a virus? Type the file name into Google, to find out if it's nasty or not. Message from Germany, but you don't speak German? Go to Google and use 'language tools' to get it translated. Half-remember what they said but can't remember who 'they' are? Type in as much as you can and let Google do the rest.

5) Find the perfect quote. Need inspiration? Want a quote on diligence or humility, or by Oscar Wilde or Leonardo da Vinci ('The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding'?) If there's a quote that isn't here, we can't imagine what it could be. 

6) What's that in....? Find the answers, in yen, Euros or China Yuan Renmimbi at ebay's handy currency converter. 

7) Checkout your area. Put in a postcode or a town, and Upmystreet will give you a map and the full monte on the area, including info on schools, public transport, property prices, crime figures and so on. There's even an option called 'conversation', where you can post or read messages for/from people in the area. 'Anyone know a good plumber?' 'Where can I learn Salsa?' 'Line-dancing for kids?' (If you're not sure of the postcode, the similar Streetmap will let you search for a map by street name, telephone code or even longitude/latitude coordinates. Plus it offers the option of an aerial photo, which is fairly groovy.)

8) Check before you book or buy. The aesthetically challenged but astoundingly compendious Holidays Uncovered has literally thousands of reviews of holiday destinations and hotels. Read what previous visitors have said before you decide to take the plunge. The similar, if rather more professionally presented Dooyoo offers similar customer-feedback on everything from cars to computers, from movies to mobiles.

9) Research those wheels. Honest John will give it to you straight before you make a big mistake.

10) Visit the jargon-buster. Not quite sure what a 'consolidated balance sheet' is? 'Halo effect'? 'Pareto principle?' 'EDI'? Visit Kamwords and all will be revealed.

Arbitrary? Incomplete? Sure. But we hope you've found at least some of it useful. Here's wishing you an interesting, prosperous and enjoyable 2003.

Until next month...

Kind regards


Alan Paterson
ampers&
020 7379 5869
www.wherewordswork.com

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