Miles Mendoza's Website of the Day ... and more!

NHS Direct

>> NHS Direct
One of the very first sites I featured on Website of the Day was this companion site to the NHS’ 24-hour telephone helpline.
In recent years NHS Direct has faced competition from some newer health portals, but a recent facelift and redesign have helped cement its position as one of the most comprehensive and easiest-to-use of all health sites.
There’s a searchable directory of local health services (including GPs, dentists and opticians) and a health encyclopaedia which explains even the most complex conditions in plain English.
The cornerstone of the site remains a self-help guide that uses a clickable interactive body map and a serried of flow charts to help you work out whether you should put your feet up, or dial 999.

My Favorite Word

>> My Favorite Word
Today’s site was inspired by this lovely email from my new favourite listener Nicki Beebe:

Miles, I don't know where you were eduacated, but you have the most astonishing vocabulary I've ever heard. I listen to your afternoon slot with eager anticipation, not to hear the Website of the Day, but simply to hear which word I can learn today. True to form, I've learnt something today, and the word is "esoteric", so thank you for spreading a bit of education my way.

The site has a simple but highly appealing premise: You send them your favourite word along with a brief reason why you like it, and they'll share your favourite words with the world. Current favourites in Website of the Day Towers include envigle, finagle, fish-cake, fecund, wibble and of course muppetry.
Hope you enjoy those Nicki!

BBC Cricket: The Ashes

>> BBC Cricket: The Ashes
The depth of coverage here is very impressive. You can sign up to get woken up by an Ashes Alarm text message with the latest scores, or subscribe to the daily Test Match Special Podcast with highlights and analysis from Jon Agnew and Geoff Boycott. The BBC Cricket blog features contributions from all the BBC commentary team, plus guest entries from the likes of Johnny Borrell of Razorlight. You can even download printable facemasks of the England team in order to re-enact the days play whil posing as Flintoff, Hoggard or Warne!

Broadband Genie

>> Broadband Genie
Earlier this week Virgin.net became the latest internet service provider to announce new cheaper broadband packages. With broadband now available to over 90% of UK internet users, the market is both more competitive and more confusing than ever. Some packages include free phone calls, other provide free spam-filtering or security software, but many impose monthly download limits.
Broadband Genie helps you find the package that’s right for you whether you’re a first-time web user, upgrading to broadband for a dial-up connection or looking to change broadband providers.
A simple (but flexible) search wizard lets you compare providers based on factors including price, download speeds, length of minimum contract , and free software supplied.

The Prince of Wales: Official Site

>> The Prince of Wales: Official Site
Clearly somebody at Clarence House is a YouTube fan, as Price Charles’ newly revamped official site features an online ‘Day In the Life of the Prince’ video, and there are plans to add video clips of speeches and interviews.
You can sign up to receive email updates about the Prince of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall and Princes William and Harry.
For the first time, the site also includes a kids section with factoids, artwork sent to the Prince by children and a trio of animated sliding puzzle games.

It's My Post

>> It’s My Post
This is designed to give you much more control over the direct mail you receive:

“itsmypost.com is a new service that has been set up specifically to make sure that you only get the mail that you want. itsmypost.com simply provides an automated email or letter service that sends a request to stop processing your data to your chosen companies - all at the click of your mouse.”

There are three levels of service – It’s free to stop *all* mail from companies you have never dealt with, or to print out letters to send to any of the UK’s top 400 mailers. If you want the site to email top mailers on your behalf, you’ll pay a flat fee of £4.95

Children in Need on Radio 2

>> Children in Need on Radio 2
This morning Terry Wogan's on air auction in aid of the BBC Children in Need appeal got off to a fantastic start, with a Simply Come Dancing package raising £18,00 and a Raymond Blanc cookery course fetching £21,000. Find out what else you can bid on, or make a secure donation online.
You'll also find full details of this Friday's Children in Need Music Marathon, plus Ken Bruce's Celebrity Popmaster. Or you can download a Tiny Terry who'll pop up on your desktop with the latest news about this year's appeal.

Westlife, Popmaster, Andy Murray and Robin Hood

>> MyWestlife
Star in a customized version of the video for Westlife’s current single The Rose: Just type in your name, to see it appear in several scenes of the video (on a wedding invitation and in a text message

>> Popmaster Score Counter
An unofficial site to help you play along with Ken Bruce’s massively popular Popmaster Quiz in real time and keep track of your scores

>> Andy Murray (Official)
The official site for the ‘British Tennis Sensation’ gets a big thumbs up at Website of the Day Towers, for lots of lively interactive features. This week site regulars have been voting on what kind of haircut Andy should have in time for the Aberdeen Cup. ‘Short at the back, messy on top’ was the surprise winner with 43% of the vote, trouncing ‘Grade 4 all over’, ‘Trimmed and thinned but keep it longish’ and ‘Cut it myself (again)’

>> Robin Hood Games
Practice your swordsmanship and retrieve the strong box from Nottingham Castle in the latest game to accompany the BBC 1 series.

AQA (Any questions answered)

>> AQA (Any questions answered)

Q: How many people in the world have a cold today?
A: 86,191,000 people in the world have a cold right now. Adults get 2-4 colds a year, children get 6-8 colds a year, and women get more colds than men.

Q: Why is the brain all wrinkly?
A: Brain wrinkles allow considerably more 'storage place' than would a smooth cortex. Completely stretched out, the cortex spans 2500 squared centimeters.

Q: Should I kiss Angus? He’s really fit.
A: Yes, clearly you should kiss Angus for 1 minute, which will also burn 26 calories. The average person spends 20,160 minutes kissing in their lifetime.

I’ve been aware of this fantastically useful text-message based service for a while now, but frankly I’ve been too tight to shell out a quid each time I’ve wanted to find the answer to a niggly question. So I’m particularly pleased that AQA are now offering to answer one question completely free to anybody who submits questions via their site. The AQA team have already successfully answered over 4 million questions, on a massive range of (serious and daft) subjects. Their expertly-researched answer will be sent to your mobile.
(NB Questions submitted by text message still incur a £1 charge)

Spend A Million

>> Spend A Million
We’ve all wondered how we’d spend our first million if we won the lottery. This site gives you a virtual million and offers suggestions for your millionaire’s shopping list. You might start with clearing the mortgage and the credit card bills, but things get more interesting when you start looking at the site’s portfolio of speedboats, Caribbean Villas, investment opportunities and state-of-the-art gadgetry.
You can choose from 233 high-end purchases in 15 categories, to create an exclusive wish-list, then publish the list on a blog or personal site or just email it to friends. Day-dreaming has never been such fun!