Friday, 7 February 2014

A to Z of my online world

I've seen this somewhere, can't remember where, but an interesting idea - worth trying.

Type into Google just one letter, and your most oft-browsed page comes up first. Here are mine from my desktop computer at home...

A: abebooks.com Best online secondhand bookshop, linking tens of thousands of secondhand bookshops around the world. Ideal for finding that 1967 edition of Observer's Book of Commercial Vehicles.

B.bbc.co.uk/news My number one source of world news, with a UK focus.

C. cnn.com My number two source of world news.

D.dailymail.co.uk Oh dear how embarrassing.

E. en.wikipedia.org Source of all knowledge, one of the wonders of the modern age, a tribute to the generosity of spirit of all those knowledgable people who contribute. The English page.

F. flightradar24.com Find out what that passenger plane is overhead, when my plane's due, what's happening at the airport - in real time. A boon to frequent fliers and plane spotters alike.

G. google.co.uk What else? The world changing search technology that's now become a verb.

H. Nothing immediate - Heathrow Airport comes up first, but it's not a site I visit regularly.

I. ipko.pl My online bank. Excellent interface, much better than UK banks. Thanks to this, I've not had to venture into a physical bank to make transfers for the past eight years.

J. jeziorki.blogspot.com Well someone has to put this page together! Welcome (especially to my regular readers)

K. Nothing regular comes up, a couple of Polish cider sites come up first here

L. lotnictwo.net.pl's Polish language forum about the comings and goings at Warsaw's Okęcie airport. One for the spotters. What was that large, noisy, military plane that took just now? Here you'll find the answer.

M. meteo.pl The most accurate weather forecast you'll get for Poland - good for 60 hours ahead. The 84-hour forecast somewhat less accurate.

N. Nothing regular here - last visited was NoomWalk.com for the mobile app that tells you how far you've walked.

O. ons.gov.uk The source of all UK statistics, which I follow with interest, in particular the macroeconomic and trade indicators.

P. pl.wikipedia.org Wikipedia in Polish. Only six global languages have more pages than the Polish version.

Q quora.com Question-and-answer notice board, which I follow for interesting WWII military hardware posts.

R. rozklad-pkp.pl Polish railway timetables - also available in English. Hugely valuable to regular rail travellers and commuters.

S. stat.gov.pl/gus Website of the Polish statistical office. Again, I'm frequently here looking for macroeconomic and demographic data.

T. telegraph.co.uk Decent, right-thinking British newspaper that's not behind a paywall.

U.ukti.gov.uk British government's trade and investment arm, with whom I closely cooperate

V. Nothing here at all!

W. wizzair.com Low-cost carrier of choice between Warsaw Okęcie and much of Europe. No need to go via Modlin.

X. Another blank. Google helpfully suggests 'xbox'. No thanks.

Y. Youtube.com - Access to film, music, humour... one reason I've stopped watching television. The other being that Polish TV is terrible.

Z. ztm.waw.pl - Warsaw's bus, tram, Metro timetables by route, by stop, minute-by-minute. Essential.

This time two years ago:
Life and Death in the Shadow of the El - A short story, part I

This time four years ago:
Transwersalka in midwinter

This time five years ago:
Work starts on the S79/S2 (completed autumn 2013)

This time six years ago:
Crazy customised Skoda

3 comments:

AndrzejK said...

Daily Mail, really...

Reminds of when Poloczek as a student at the LSE worked on Brent councils dustcarts. One morning he was partaking of a cup of Rosy Lee in the works canteen and reading The Thunderer (Times). One of the bin men came up, put a copy of The Sun on the table and apologised for the local newsagent having run out of proper papers...

Michael Dembinski said...

Reading the Daily Wail makes me glad to have left the UK:)

Alexander said...

There is nothing wrong with checking your points of view with the arguments of the other sites. I do that too.