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The site saynoto0870.com is a genius little website which saves you money!

It offers alternative phone numbers to numbers starting in 0500, 0800, 0808, 0844, 0845, 0870 and 0871…all of which charge you!  These numbers also generally charge you even if you have an all inclusive landline or mobile phone deal, whereas the 01 or 02 is more likely to be included in your pre-paid minutes!

All you need to do is click ‘Search to find an alternative number’ and then search the company or type the number in and wait for an alternative!

What a great site!

Everyone goes on how you can do pretty much anything with a computer now days….but is that true?  Things to do is a small site from Google which aims to help you to do something new and different with your searches in Google.  For example, fancy a good read but can’t get to a book shop or library?  You can now browse through books on the Internet and read reviews etc.  You can also check the weather, learn a new skill, find cinema times, learn a new language and much more!

Google’s Things to do has some great ideas for you use up any free time you may have and make your life that little bit easier.  Have a look if you have some time to spare!

This tutorial will show you how to run a ScanDisk on your Vista PC.

What is a ScanDisk?

ScanDisk, also known as ‘Error Checking’ simply scans the file system and repairs any errors or bad clusters.  This just helps keep your computer running smoothly and hopefully quickly, so its worth doing.  How often depends on how much you use your machine, every three months for the home user should be fine.  Busy home machines or business machines I would say monthly ideally.

How to run a ScanDisk

1. Firstly, close all programs.
2. Click on the Start Orb.
   
3. Select ‘Computer’
   
4. Right-Click on the drive which has the Label ‘(C:)’ and then select ‘Properties’.
   
5. Select the ‘Tools’ tab and then ‘Check Now’ (Click to Enlarge Image)
   
6. Ensure that both boxes are ticked, then click ‘Start’.
   
7. Click ‘Schedule Disk Scan’ and then restart your machine.
   

Any questions?

Searchme is a Search Engine like no other.  The physical search is the same but the style in which the results are presented is completely different.  The results are shown in what I can only describe as like a cover flow view similar to iTunes.  You can search the web, videos, images and music.  To make your web searches more specific you can type in what you wish to search and a genre for that search.

The Music Search is something we really like, you can listen to full length  songs for free, and if you really like the tune there is a link to the song on iTunes and Amazon.  The Video Search searches the web (in particular YouTube) for videos specific to your search.  You can then either watch the video direct from the original website or through Searchme.  With having the flow for pictures it is much easier to view images and choose one right for you.

Another cool site which is similar to this is Viewzi.  However, we have found Viewzi slow and to not have delivered as good results as Searchme.  The reason Viewzi is slower is because it searches through other websites search engines.

What do you think of Searchme?  Know any other cool ways to search the web?

This tutorial will show you how run/schedule a Defragmentation on your Vista machine.

What is a Defrag?

If you use this analogy, your computer is like a filing cabinet, it starts all neat and tidy but over time it becomes messy and disorganised.  Defrag simply tidies things up which makes it easier for the computer to locate the information it requires therefore improving the performance of the machine.

Tip:

We suggest that you don’t have any programs running whilst running a Defrag.

How to run a Defrag

1. First of all click on the Start orb
   
2. Then select ‘Computer’
   
3. Right-Click on the drive which has the Label (C:) and select ‘Properties’.
   
4. Select the ‘Tools’ tab and then Defragment Now (Click to Enlarge Image)
   
5. Select Defragment Now (Click to Enlarge Image)
   
6. Select which disks you wish to be defragmented (we recommend that you Defragment all Disks).  Once you’ve selected click OK.
   
7. Your computer will now be running a Defragmentation.  This may take up to a few hours.  (Click to Enlarge Image)
   
8. You will be informed when the Defrag is complete.  At that point you can close the Defrag Window and continue using your computer as you normally would.

How to Schedule a Defrag:

On Vista, Defragmentation is set on a default schedule.  However, that schedule may not fit to your work style.  So here is how to change the Scheduled date and time.

1. Follow steps 1-4 from ‘How to run a Defrag’
2. Select ‘Modify Schedule’  (Click to enlarge Image)
   
3. Decide when you would like the Defrag to be Scheduled for by using the drop down menus (Click to Enlarge Image)
   
4. Click OK

Have you found this helpful?  What would you like pctoolbox to do next?!

SU2C (Stand Up To Cancer) is a new project which has really begun to take effect in America.  SU2C’s belief is that scientist’s knowledge of the science of Cancer is now good enough for them to fully focus on practical research.  Which will rapidly lead to more new and more effective treatments.

SU2C’s main fund raiser was a TV show earlier this month.  It was a star studded show and televised on 3 leading US TV Channels in unison.  You can still view the show online and with a line-up like they had I cannot see why you wouldn’t want to.

Do you know of any other exciting projects similar to SU2C?