Hi there,
First of all, apologies that you may not have heard from me in a little while. I've been in the throes of moving - house and city - which has kept me busy and been a tad fraught. See the bottom of the Newsletter for new contact details.
In this edition:
- Topical Tap - Selecting all text;
- Topical Tip - aligning text;
- Choosing a Broadband ISP (Internet Service Provider);
- An alternative to Broadband;
- Some broadband ISPs;
- New Contact Details;
Topical Tap - Selecting text
You can press CTRL+A to select all text. This will select all of a word processing document, all of an email, all of an excel spreadsheet, all of an Internet page... Once the text is selected you can cut, or copy it or format it.
Topical Tip - aligning text
Most word processor software, even the most basic like Microsoft's freebie WordPad, allow you to change the alignment of text. Most, by default, will align your text with the left hand margin and will have a facility to align with the right hand margin and also to centre text.
The keystrokes for aligning text are reasonably standard across applications:
- CTRL+L aligns text to the left hand margin;
- CTRL+R aligns text to the right hand margin;
- CTRL+E aligns text to the centre of the line (NB we can't use "c" because this is for "copy").
Some applications will also have a facility to stretch text between the left and the right hand margins - the way text is stretched in newspapers and magazines for example. This is sometimes called "full justification". In some word processing applications the keystrokes for this is CTRL+J. Try this out in your favourite and see if it works.
Choosing a Broadband ISP
(Internet Service Provider)
A number of people have asked me recently about the about the virtues of broadband. Personally, I spend a lot of time online and I don't think I could now cope without broadband. Anyway I thought it might be useful to draw together some of the things to think about as well as some of the possibilities in the UK.
The first thing to think about is why you might want a broadband connection if you don't already have one at home. Apart from "because everyone else has got broadband and I don't want to be left out", there are 2 main reasons: speed and not clogging up your phone line.
Speed
Even the slowest broadband connection (512 mbps) is about 10 times faster than a dial-up connection. So surfing with broadband will save wear and tear on your finger-nails because you won't be drumming your fingers any more!
What you need to compare, as well as the price, is:
- the speed of the connection, expressed in kilobytes per second (kbps) or megabytes (mbps) per second; even gigabytes per second from some providers (gbps);
- any limits to the amount of information you will want to download in any month (email doesn't use much, music will use quite a bit and video will use up a lot);
- cost of installation;
- price of a modem;
- the inclusion of a router if your household has more than one computer or if you want to use the internet connection wirelessly for example with a laptop
- whether you need a particular phone line (e.g. BT in the UK) or a cable connection. If you are going down the phone line route (ADSL) you will need to check whether your exchange has been brought up to the required standard. A preliminary check is done by using your telephone number and/or postcode. If you are going down the cable route (perhaps combining broadband with cable TV) then there is often only one provider in your area. Again you will be able to check availability by typing in your postcode.
Further down this newsletter are details for some of the providers in the UK. Just so that you know, with some of these if you follow these links and eventually sign up via the website that you get to, then I may receive a small referral fee.
An alternative to Broadband
If you're thinking about speeding up your connection but not sure about going the whole way down the broadband route, you might want to think about OnSpeed. It's available all over the world. For the equivalent of £2.08 a month you get up to 5 times faster connection on dial-up. They claim it works with any Internet connection in any country, and on PC, Mac or PocketPC. ONSPEED uses a technology called Content Sensitive Compression ('CSC') to individually compress each element of a web page or email content. More details from the OnSpeed website. They also claim it speeds up broadband too.
Some Broadband ISPs in the UK
I've done a bit of a trawl through Internet to find some of the providers of broadband services in the UK, so that you can compare offers. Please bear in mind that this is quite a competitive market so details can change. I'm going to keep a page on the website with information on broadband services and attempt to keep that up to date. So if you aren't ready to make the move at the moment, you'll be able to make comparisons later at:
www.withoutamouse.com/broadband.
- TalkTalk
- Up to 8 Mbps, 40GB monthly usage allowance, free modem, free with the Talk3 international telephone plan
- UK Online
- 1Mb unlimited Broadband package is available from £9.99 per month and their 2Mb Broadband package is available from £14.99 per month;
- they have an 8Mb unlimited Broadband from £24.99;
- They also have a staggering 22Mb connection in some areas for £29.99;
- UK Online charge a connection fee to all of its broadband services.
- Toucan Unlimited Broadband From £13.99
- 512k, unlimited downloads; £13.99 a month;
- 1 MB, unlimited downloads; £14.99 a month;
- 2 MB, unlimited downloads; £15.99 a month;
- free modem.
- Toucan also have plans with telephone calls.
- Virgin.net - via BT phone line
- no 12 month contract, no activation costs and a free modem is also included. Virgin have 3 packages:
- 512Kps speed for £14.99 a month with 3GB download limit;
- up to 8Mbps speed for £17.99 with 6GB download allowance and
- up to 8Mbps speed for £24.99 a month with 20GB download allowance.
- Tesco Broadband - via BT phone line
- FREE connection; 15 email addresses; Access to newsgroups; FREE broadband modem; 50MB of webspace to build a website;
- 512k connection speed, 1GB download limit, £13.97 ("Tesco Value")
- 512k connection speed, no download limit, £14.97 if you also sign up for Tesco's phone package or &17.97 if you don't;
- 1 MB connection speed, 3Gb download limit, £17.97 per month;
- 1Mb connection, no download limit, £19.97 per month.
- V21.co.uk via BT phone line
- 512k connection speed, no download limit, £14.99 per month;
- 1 MB connection speed, no download limit, £17.99 per month;
- 2MB connection speed, no download limit, £27.99 per month;
- NOW UP TO 8MB connection speed, 2 GB download limit, £9.98 per month;
- extra charge for broadband modem;
- some options for your phone calls too.
- Beaming Broadband - via BT phone line
- 2Mb connection, no download limit, £24.95 per month;
- 2MB connection, 2Gb download limit, £19.95 per month;
- Beaming also have combined packages with phone offers.
- Demon
- Free set up and modem. From £19.99 a month inc VAT, supporting speeds of up to 2Mbps;
- HomeChoice
- 3 high speed internet connections - up to 8Mb;
- with digital TV and Phone packages;
- only available in Stevenage and the South East area of the UK.
- AOL - via phone line and cable
- "Anytime" - unlimited broadband, with no time limits or download limits, one month free then £15.99 a month;
- up to 1Mb, unlimited downloads, £14.99 a month for the first six months and £17.99 thereafter
- (via cable or via a BT phone line) up to 2Mbps, unlimited downloads, £24.99 a month.
- up to 8Mbps depending on where you live, unlimited downloads, free wireless router, first month free then £29.99 a month
- Order AOL Broadband online and get 1 month free.
- BT Broadband - via BT phone line
- Up to 2 Mb speed, 2GB a month, £17.99 a month after special introductory offer;
- Up to 2 Mb speed, 6GB per month download limit, £22.99 a month after special introductory offer;
- Up to 2 Mb speed, 20GB/month, free wireless modem/router, £26.99 a month after special introductory offer;
- Up to 2 Mb speed, 40GB/month, free wireless modem/router, £28.99 a month after special introductory offer;
- Orange Broadband (previously known as Wanadoo and Freeserve) - via BT phone line
- up to 8mbps, free if you are an Orange pay monthly phone account ("saving you £17.99 a month"), although it appears from the Orange website that you cannot sign up for broadband without also signing up for an Orange mobile phone if you do not have one already;
- existing Wanadoo customers can carry on as before or sign up for an Orange mobile phone account and get the broadband free.
- Tiscali - via BT phone line
- free modem and connection
- free anti-spam and anti-virus
- Up to 1Mb Broadband, Unlimited monthly usage for regular users £14.99 a month
- Up to 2Mb Broadband, Unlimited monthly usage £17.99 a month;
- also offers for broadband and telephone calls see
- ntl: - cable
- free modem and set-up
- free anti-spam & anti-virus
- up to 1Mb connection, unlimited download, £17.99;
- up to 4MB connection, unlimited download, £24.99 per month after 3 months at £12.49;
- up to 10 Mb broadband, unlimited download, £34.99 after 3 months at £17.49;
- also lots of offers combined with telephone and cable TV
- TeleWest
- "Broadband": 2Mb speed, no usage limit, £17.99 a month;
- "Broadband Complete": up to 4Mb speed, no usage limit, £25.00 a month;
- "Broadband Elite": 10Mb speed, no usage limit; £35.00 a month.
- PlusNet
- "Pay as You go" - Up to 8Mb speeds, 50MB download limit plus extra data transfer at 0.224p per MB;
- BroadbandPlus - Speeds up to 8Mb, 1GB download limit, £14.99
- Broadband Premier - Up to 8Mb, no download limit, "Suitable for homes with more than one PC";
Signing Off
Rebecca
Rebecca Ballard
Without a Mouse Training
PO Box 5157
Cardiff
CF5 9BB
Mob: 07017 412 662
Email: rebecca@withoutamouse.com
First Steps
Editing & Formatting