Webscape

By Kate Russell Click Webscape-r

Kate Russell gives us her latest selection of the best sites on the World Wide Web.

INTERNETSHOUT (www.internetshout.com)

InternetShout

There are lots of things on the internet to shout about, so if you are the kind of person who likes to make a noise, get yourself along to Internetshout.com. This is a chat site where you make make as much of a hullabaloo as you like.

Users are encouraged to have an open conversation on any subject they care to post about on the site.

The difference is that voice, rather than text, is used as the medium of communication. It can be either recorded through the website or uploaded from your hard drive as an MP3.

So you will need a microphone to record your comments yourself, but this will have to be done in an MP3 format.

But if you do not mind running the site's little application, the in-built record feature is perfectly easy to use.

You can even preview your recording and start over again before you make the post live.

There are categories listed on the left, and you can post your own topic or reply to someone else.

It is great fun listening to the conversations that are building up, but beware that not all the conversations may be to your taste.

TRANSMISSIONS FROM BEYOND (http://transmissionsfrombeyond.com)

Transmissions From Beyond

If you like science fiction and fantasy stories then this particular podcast should be right up your street.

Transmissionsfrombeyond.com is the podcasting home of TTA Press, who publish various magazines and books in this category.

The company offer on this site free downloads of various short stories from their publications, read by the author.

As well as being able to listen to the podcasts, you can download them individually to listen to on the move on your portable media player.

Or subscribe using one of the popular feed methods described in the Receive Our Podcasts section.

GOOGLE CHROME (www.google.com/chrome)

Google Chrome

I have been trying out Google's Chrome web browser, and I am so far really impressed.

The Google design team's influence can be seen in the browser's simple, efficient and super-fast features.

Plus it has some nice little features to save you from clicking your mouse too often.

Downloading and installing is fast, as the software recognises which browser you use and does the importing of bookmarks and settings for you.

The browser window itself is crisp and clear. Check out the getting started page for a full run down of the features.

Searching has been highly streamlined and typing anything in the address bar offers up webpages and search terms to apply to your default browser.

It even highlights pages you have visited previously that contain those words.

Something else I like is the frequently visited pages feature, which appears whenever you open a new tab.

It shows all the pages you visit a lot laid out in thumbnail format so it is super easy to find your way to your favourites.

BLOGTHINGS (http://www.blogthings.com)

Blogthings

In the festive spirit, you can find some fancy baubles to adorn your blog with at blogthings.com.

You can also find on the site a vast collection of quizzes and curiosities to add to your online soapbox.

Have a little fun by doing a quiz to tell you what your nose says about your personality, or perhaps try a seasonal quiz to find out what kind of Halloween or Christmas treat you are.

Just pick the quiz you like, answer a few simple questions and you will be returned an answer which you can post with the MySpace or Facebook links. Or post the results on any website or blog you like.

The post will also invite visitors to your own site to take the test themselves.