~ ~ The one thing I could really do with at present is a new desk- top computer.
We first got a computer about six years ago, an old IBM 486 that somebody or other was putting out in the rubbish, and it is the same system that we have today. (with a few changes, mind you!)
We now have now added an AMD 350Mhz chip, and a new motherboard, Cd Rom, and modem, plus 128mb of Ram and a 4Gb hard drive, so while it’s hardly “state of the art” technology by today’s standards, it works well most of the time, and is good enough for our needs.

~ ~ More than anything else, it is the small capacity of the hard drive which we find the biggest inconvenience, as it is amazing all the different uses you find for your computer once you have it around the house for a while.
I use it for my journalism work (plus Ciao, off course) and my wife uses it as an extension of her work computer.
Add to this the huge number of computer games that my wee nine-year-old daughter has loaded, and you have a hard drive that is really finding the going tough.

~ ~ Driveway advertise themselves as the world’s largest free online storage site.
The basic idea is very simple. Once you register, you are given 25Mb of free storage space, into which you can upload whatever files take your fancy, thus freeing up space on your own hard drive.

~ ~ My wife uses it a little differently. If she is developing something important at work, then she “uploads” the files she wants onto Driveway, and these can then be easily accessed if she wants to work on them them at home.
There was also an occasion recently when she was off ill for about three weeks, and one of her work colleagues was able to keep her up to speed on a project they were developing, by uploading all the files onto our Driveway account.
This allowed her to work nearly as effectively as if she were actually in the office in person, and by using this facility, they were able to “pass” work simply and effectively to each other over the Web, without having to go to all the bother of emails and attachments.

~ ~ Once you have uploaded a file from your own system, Driveway even gives you the facility to create separate files for storage purposes. You can have one file for games, another for accounts, or indeed for any purpose you can think off.
Files are designated as personal, business, and important.

~ ~ Another purpose for which we use Driveway is to “share” family photographs with my own family in Scotland. (I live now in Dublin, Ireland)
I have a good scanner (HP 5300C), and scan in family photos, which I then upload and store at Driveway.
I have a couple of cousins (no brothers or sisters, I was an “only” child) I still keep in touch with, and by giving them my user-name and password, they can look at our family “photo album” online, and then return the compliment the other way round.

~ ~ It could also be helpful to students, if they do a lot of research work in the College library.
They could easily upload whatever research material they needed into their Driveway account, for use later at home.

~ ~ If you do find that you really do need additional space, then you can always purchase this from Driveway themselves. They will sell you up to an additional 500Mb, at 100Mb a time.
The prices are in US Dollars, and are currently $29.95 for 100Mb for a three-month period, or alternatively you can pay a yearly figure up-front of $107.95.