Microsoft has recently launched a new campaign GO ON: Give someone their first time online (www.get-someone-online.com) which is appealing to the public to encourage non-internet users to give the internet a go. The campaign is in support of the Race Online 2012 initiative, led by the UK’s digital champion Martha Lane Fox.

The idea is to give people the gift of the web this Christmas, whether it’s pledging to help a family member set up an email account, registering someone they care about for a free internet training course, donating their old PC or actually gifting someone a low cost web ready PC for Christmas.

Research from Microsoft to support the campaign has found that there are an estimated 30 million PCs and Laptops lying around homes in the UK which could potentially be given a new home. And to make it as easy as possible for internet users to do their bit, Age UK will be making their 475+ charity shops across the UK available as donation centres for old computers for the duration of the campaign. The campaign ends on 31st January 2011.

In the UK there are 9.2 million adults that are currently offline, and who are missing out on the huge range of benefits the internet provides. The research went on to explore how the internet has been changing people’s lives and found: 29 per cent have found a job, a romance searching 13 per cent have found their partner or spouse online and more than one in ten people (12 per cent) have found their dream home. Furthermore, 19 per cent have found their dream holiday and a lucky 5 per cent have won a significant amount of money through an online game or competition.

It also explored how reliant on the internet we have become,, in fact 10 per cent of Brits say they would only be able to go about their normal lives for 12 hours without the internet

To support the campaign there is a Facebook page:

 First Time Online – http://apps.facebook.com/firsttimeonline/ which includes a cool game which people can play.

Wishpot is a fab website to collect and share all your fave things you want to tell your mates (or your lover) about that your lil’ heart desires! Just download the wishpot button and start saving and sharing products in one click. It’s that simple! Wishpot makes it easy and convenient to create your wish lists and registries with products from any website, for your birthday, your wedding, or  even just your funky fashion picks.

For more details checkout www.wishpot.com

OfficeCuppa is the free, easy online way to manage teams and departments’ coffee and tea preferences and allows the creation of a simple list detailing tea, coffee or other hot drinks.  Members can choose the strength of their drink and the quantity of milk and sugar using a horizontal slider, coupled with a handy function allowing the ‘BrewList’ to be printed ready for display in the kitchen area. 

This site could mean the end of ever needing to repeat that question “How to you take yours?”. OfficeCuppa has been brewed up for use by workers united by their hate of graft and love of a nicely made cuppa.

Top Tips

Christmas is getting closer (yay!) and most of us work and most of us like to shop. Check out these 5 top tips for staying safe when shopping on line in the holiday season.

1) Use your desktop PC, not your mobile device, to shop, because your desktop browser is likely to be more secure.
2) Protect sensitive information, like credit card numbers, by password-protecting both your mobile device and its memory card.
3) Make sure you update your anti-virus and anti-malware programs continually.
4) Treat social networking sites with the same caution as other web sites-social sites are a growing target for fraudsters and virus writers.
5) Be cautious of special offers. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. Fake online offers and coupons may lead to harmful sites, so be suspicious.