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Friday Nov 23, 2007

Tickets to ride, videos to watch and fears of the unknown...

** Feedback **

The information I received from TheSite was fantastic, it's made me realise I have a problem but more importantly that I have a problem that can be fixed.

basically responses from the site put things in perspective. something the individual cant do ..and thats why we come to you for help.

I just like to say thank you to all those who put together my answer it is truly appreciated, so Thank you.

** New Audio & Video Section on TheSite.org **

New home-grown videos include:

GUM clinic virtual tour
What will you miss about uni? 
Does uni prepare you for working life? 
Young entrepreneur

** New Christmas e-cards **

Get sending!

http://www.thesite.org.uk/Ecard/ChooseCard.jsp?type=1122

** New content on TheSite.org **

Does uni prepare you for working life? 
What will you miss about uni? 
Time to quit? 
Fear of the unknown 
Bad reference or bad luck 
Ticket to ride

Posted by Jim ( 5:02 PM ) Link to this post  |  Comments[0]

Thursday Nov 22, 2007

Video killed the radio star

Or so they were singing back in the Eighties. It’s taken us a while to catch up since then, but the good news is we now have a dedicated Audio & Video section on TheSite.org.

Some of you may have already listened to our audio content, but as well as the audio guides, interviews and vox pops we were producing we’re now also making videos – yay!

You’ll also notice that some of the videos have a ‘Videojug’ logo underneath them. That’s because we’ve been given some videos to host by the lovely people over at the Videojug website.

We’ve made a handful of our own videos so far – these are:

A virtual tour of a GUM clinic

An interview with a young entrepreneur

And two lots of vox pops – What will you miss about uni? and Has uni prepared you for working life?

It’s all early days at the moment, but expect to see lots more videos that we’ve made coming soon. We’d love to know what kind of video content you’d like to see, so please post here or contact us with any ideas. As we’re so lovely we’ll do our best to oblige. Within reason.

Happy viewing!

Posted by Hannah ( 10:54 AM ) Link to this post  |  Comments[0]

Tuesday Nov 20, 2007

Merry Christmas...

May be a little early, but these are just too good to waste.

We've just got a couple of new e-cards up and now you can all say Happy Christmas through TheSite.org.

Check them out here -

http://www.thesite.org/Ecard/ChooseCard.jsp?type=1122

And those who might want something slightly less cute should note that our 'shit faced' card makes a happy return in the same section

Posted by Jim ( 4:27 PM ) Link to this post  |  Comments[0]

Monday Nov 19, 2007

The same but different...

Here's our weekly update again, bringing you what's new in the world of TheSite towers, enjoy

**Feedback**  

"The person who replied was extremely understanding and offered re-assurance, was like receiving advice from a long-time friend."  

"I found this site easy to read and find my way round well done keep up the good work and I will pass this site onto my friends."  

"Very thorough and the person obviously took much time and thought in their reply. This is a fab site, will def be coming back!!"  

**New askTheSite archived Q&As**  

Working out is a pain

Ex stress

Harassed over debt

**New content on TheSite.org**

Diary - From cycling to clutches

True story - My drugs rollercoaster

Rant - The same but different

**In Community**

We've just put together a new thread to help people get involved with some of the debates on our boards. If you've ever wanted to start a new topic in our debate forum but were a little unsure about the best way to do it then check out our advice on starting new threads.

Posted by Jim ( 1:30 PM ) Link to this post  |  Comments[0]

Wednesday Nov 14, 2007

Your online identity

Facebook, MySpace, Bebo - you name a social network, there's bound to be someone on TheSite.org using it. As well as being really good fun, these websites can bring up all kinds of problems. Here are my five hot tips for making the most of them .

1. Use profile restrictions
Whether it be to protect yourself from identity fraud or to stop nosey work mates looking at photos of your weekend antics, there are ways to keep certain information private. On a basic level, it's probably best to keep your profile accessible to friends and contacts only - you really never know who might be searching for you. Beyond that, you can usually restrict settings so that even people who you add as a 'friend' can only see specific areas. Most importantly, avoid having all your basic information available (especially if you add people you don't know very well) which includes your date of birth, email address and home address. Oh and don't feel obliged to add people you don't actually like .

2.  Lose the email notifications
The novelty of receving emails everytime anyone leaves you a message, sends you a virtual gift or 'pokes' you soon wears thin. Remeber that you can cancel email notifications on social networking sites which is bound to help prevent distraction from other (possibly more important) things.

3. Be aware of your status 
Facebook, MySpace and Twitter offer you the opportunity to update your friends, family aquaintances, the girl/guy you met once and want to impress (you know it's true) with your daily activity. So my tip to you is where possible, make it specific. Avoid the generic options like Joe is at work, Joe is at home, Joe is on the bus, Joe is at college, Joe is OK. Unless it's relevant and you want people to know they can reach you at home, then who cares? On the other hand, if you say Joe is in London for the evening, then who knows who might get in touch and say "Hey, you're in London? Come and meet me, I've got a spare ticket for a great gig tonight." Trust me, it does happen.

P.S Don't use status updates to insult people by name, or air dirty laundry - it's not pretty.

4. Be mindful of the comments or wall posts you leave for people
Friends of mine have disabled their walls to prevent people making comments about areas of their life they don't want made public. I have to say, this isn't such a bad idea. However, the main thing to remember is that it's best to use private messaging for anything serious or important and save the wall or comments section for fun stuff like  'Happy Birthday' greetings or "what are you up to these days?" You know the score.

5. Remember real contact
It's easy to let social networking become the main way for getting in contact with friends instead of an enhancement to your relationships. It's good to try and be aware of which friends of yours would much prefer a text or call from you than a message online. You might even be that person. It's common for people to  misunderstand things they read on people's profiles, or only have half the story and imagine the rest, so if you don't have contact with them in real life, or if you've no intention of giving them a call or meeting up with them to get clarification, then remember to take things with a pinch of salt.

So that's the end of my top five, I hope you find them useful. What are your top tips?

 

Posted by Helen ( 12:48 PM ) Link to this post  |  Comments[0]

Tuesday Nov 13, 2007

Learning to drive

This week we introduce a new diarist to TheSite.org. Joe is 20 years-old and is learning to drive, ah the memories. We'll be following his progress on the road until the day he takes his test - of course here at TheSite.org we're hoping he passes first time, even if it will make interesting reading if he fails, tee hee.

I think that learning to drive with your parents helping you is the greatest test of all. In my case there were plenty of tears, tantrums and car door slamming, as I was forced to pull over and hand back the reigns after each close shave. My first few driving experiences with my Dad involved him almost sitting on the handbrake in case I forgot where the brakes were. I was forced to brake for imaginary pedestrians and to turn my head fully into each mirror so he could make sure I was looking properly - never mind that I was a 17 year-old with an image to protect who didn't want to look like I had a serious head twitch. Little did I know that apparently I looked like a prat anyway because I used to sit so far forward with my face just inches away from the windscreen... until I mastered the art of looking slightly more relaxed.

With each week passing, as I took lesson after lesson, I would wash my Fiat Panda with great pride using a leather chemise to buff up the remaining paint and fill in the rust-coloured sections with Tipex. Tempting fate, I would also spend hours creating my driving tapes in preparation for the day I could legally drive on my own, sunroof down, bombing along in the sports cars of all Pandas, the Panda 1000 Super. I think I must have been the only person to have ever posed in a Panda.

My car was called Skippy for two reasons; firstly because for the first six months I was putting in leaded petrol instead of unleaded, resulting in a kind of kangaroo jump as I drove and frequent stalling; and secondly because if it was actually yellow instead of white it could have easily passed for a Skip with its boxy shape and harsh contours. It took me three attempts to finally pass my test once I had mastered my confusion with roundabouts. Skippy was my faithful companion for three years until the day I eventually had to hand her over to its new owner, the car pound, after paying them £20 to take her away. Oh the shame.

Posted by Julia ( 3:45 PM ) Link to this post  |  Comments[0]

Friday Nov 09, 2007

Angry adverts, Olympic opinion and discharge distress...

Hi there everyone,

We've decided to start publishing weekly updates again, just to keep you up to date with all of our new content. You'll still see content highlighted and special news and information here - but know you can also check back each week to see an overview of everything...

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Feedback from askTheSite
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"I'm really glad I found this service your answer has made me look at the situation in a different and better way i feel calmer now. Thanks a lot"

"The answer I received from your relationship councillor was so helpful. I appreciate it very much."

"Thank you for helping me out. You people should be proud of the efforts you put in."

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New Content
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Vox pop: London hopes

Rant: Random stoppers

Rant: Advertising angst

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askTheSite - New Q&As
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Give me a break

Out and troubled

Age for the aisle

Discharge distress

Curing cannabis

Too young to move

Posted by Jim ( 3:13 PM ) Link to this post  |  Comments[0]