The Boy David Has a Lot to Answer For (Internet Surfing)

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Product:	Internet Surfing
Date:	19/08/01 (5 review reads)
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Advantages: Information and research, free stuff, loads of competitions, buy and sell stuff that wouldn't be available anywhere else.

Disadvantages: Not always reliable info, addictive

It was October of 1996, and I'd just started college to learn how to be a teacher. Taking it upon myself to learn the art of empathy, I decided I'd try and step into the shoes of a school truant, to, um, try and understand what makes them tick, and stuff. Anyway, I skipped the scheduled day of "IT" training, and headed down town for some shopping with my new found freedom (and overdraft).

A week later, I found I was due to hand in an assignment, showing research done on the internet, on an <italics> appropriate </italics> subject of my choice.

Having never used a computer for anything but Chuckie Egg, way back when I was ten, on my trusted pal, Commodore 64, I realised I couldn't even switch these monsters on, let alone work out how to surf the internet. I panicked, and fluttered around the library with knitted eyebrows, trying to look appealing, pathetic, and mysteriously attractive, all at the same time (you have to keep some things up at all times, don't you?)

Then my I spotted my saviour, studiously tying away in the corner. He'd already earned the affectionate nickname Grandpa David, for asking one of the Student Union Diva's in a most concerned tone if she had a vest on "under that blouse"? Needless to say, said blouse was nothing more than a few strategically placed pieces of purple lycra string, and Union Diva was most decidedly NOT wearing any sort of vest underneath.

I sidled my way up to Grandpa Dave, who was at least 17 going on fifty-two, and asked him in my most pathetic and (I hoped)enticing voice, if he would show me how to use the internet.

To this day, The Boy David has a LOT to answer for. Instead of saying righteously "Certainly not! If you had been to the class, you would need NO help" and sat back down to return to his volunteered essay on the effect of Greek toiletary habits on our current education system, everything might have been OK. r>
But no. Sweet, kind, grandfatherly Dave sat patiently with me, until I had learned how to connect and get to the Yahoo homepage, and typed in my first request.

Three hours later, I looked at my watch, thinking it might be time to grab some tea, only to discover that it was almost time for the library to close, and everyone had left. Except for me, the newly converted internet geek, and my studious motivator, Grandpa Dave. The obsession had begun.

At the next session, a broad, white haired lecturer, with a face like a bull on heat, told us to send an email to "Elaine Jones". I wondered aloud who Elaine Jones was, and was pounced upon by the woman. "It's ME" she shouted, so fiercely, that I very nearly wet my pants. Lucky then, that my first internet research project earned me an A grade, and slightly pacified the snorting, heaving woman, who couldn't understand how anyone could have any sort of knowledge of IT without knowing who she was.

After that, I used the internet every day. I loved to surf. I soon discovered http://www.altavista.com was a more throrough search engine than Yahoo. I joined an email list for fans of The Beautiful South, which I am still a member of. You can find out more at http://home.bluemarble.net/~bsouth/

I used the net to research essays, always careful to double check any stats and information with a second source. The web is great for study, but there's an awful lot of rubbish out there.

I also discovered free stuff on the web ay http://www.freeukstuff.co.uk and that was my addiction for a while. This site is still worth a look, just to prove that you can get something for nothing these days!

When I discovered Angelfire, I began to build my own homepage "Aviland". I became a bit obsessed with Aviland, and began building a huge online city. I spent two years on the site, which grew and grew, and became more and more intricate. I stopped
using wizards and began to learn HTML for myself.

Then, one terrible day, I learnt a good, hard lesson. The angelfire site crashed, and all the discs were wiped. Aviland was gone. To this day, I keep a copy of everything important on my hard drive. If it is extra important, I put it onto a floppy, or CD too.

I did begin to rebuild Aviland, but lost interest - I'd put so much work into it, that it seemed it would never be the same again. The site still exists, and still gets visitors, but it is a sad replica of the giant virtual land it once was. You can take a look at http://www.geocities.com/avitallly

At the end of my final year, another hobby was becoming more and more prominent in my life - vintage children's books. Especially Enid Blytons. I love the smell, the sight and the history of them. But the collection was becoming unmanageable. To cut a long story short, my bofriend and I decided to set up "Kidz Books". And online bookshop where I could find other collectors with more cupboard space to buy my books.

Kidz Books has been going for a year now, and is becoming quite successful. There are some books I would never part with, but others I read, or keep for a bit, then list them on the website, and others who are looking for them can buy them. It is also fun to get in touch with other collectors from all over the world. Often, they help me find books that I am looking for, which would never otherwise be available to me.

Nowadays, the random surfing is less of a hobby. There are a few websites which I visit nearly every day. Occasionally I will just click and see where it takes me, but my favourites take so long to surf through, that I have little time to do any random surfing. We have an ISDN line with BT which makes surfing "free" 24 hours. By free, I mean, not free at all, but for a fixed monthly fee. This is definitely worth doing if you plan to take up surfing as a hobby.

If y
ou're in need of some suggestions, here's my top five from my list of bookmarks and favourites. I will miss out Dooyoo, which is a great site. If you want to know more about it, just ask.

1. Opcom - a busy forum for Dooyooers. If you haven't popped in - please do! The Opinionted Community can be found at: http://dooyoo.community.everyone.net

2. Kidz Books - My book site. Come past, search for your old favourites, sign the guestbook, review it on Dooyoo, tell me what you think! Kidz Books can be found at: http://www.kidz-books.org.uk

3. Friends Reunited - find old friends and enemies from school and uni! There is also a name search. New people sign up every day. Find old friends at http://www.friendsreunited.com

4.Ebay! Sell your junk to crazy Americans who would rather outbid someone else and pay three hundred dollars for a piece of junk, than go round to their local corner shop and buy it for 99 cents. I love em! At the same time, many people sell things you desperately want for peanuts. Grab a bargain at http://www.ebay.co.uk

5. NSPCC - Donate money with one click - and it doesn't cost you a penny. This site's sponsors give the NSPCC 8p per click, once per person per day. Click and give at http://www.nspcc.org.uk/donate-4-free/donate-mainh ome.asp

I'll finish with one more, which is always a goodie to fall back on if you've got time on your hands. I've never won anything major from this site, but I can live in hope! Dream of what life could be like, and win a few videos and books on the way at http://www.prizes.co.uk

You just never know!