The Joy of Basel

Advantages: Great for travelling, friendly, easy to get around, clean
Disadvantages: Swiss German is impossible to understand unless you grew up with it!

..., and with a decent bargain on a hotel this is the best way to do your Christmas shopping. I'm eternally grateful that I had the chance to live in Basel for the year that I did, and I have never felt as proud to call somewhere my home as I did then. For an annual holiday other more famous cities may capture your attention, but I genuinely believe that as a relaxing city break over a weekend, Basel is unparalleled. References: - Basel Tourismus provides full listings of local events and is a priceless resource for locals and visitor alike - http://www.basel-tourismus.com/ - Fasnacht is on different dates each year, with details at http://www.fasnacht.ch/ - http://www.bpg.ch/ has details of the boat cruises and meals on the Rhine. - More photos of Vögel Gryff with a bit of history can be seen at http://sonofsanta.net/VogelGryff...

sonofsanta 09.11.2006 (10.11.2006) · Read review
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Review of Basel (Switzerland)

Unsettling

Advantages: Cathedral, old town, plenty to keep you occupied
Disadvantages: I just didn't feel at home

...Basel is a curious city – despite visiting several times over the past year, I still haven’t been won over by its charms, and I don’t really know why! Maybe it’s the strange mix of cultures that exist in this city that sits a little uncomfortably on the Rhine, within a stone’s throw of both Germany and France: Everything is in German, the locals speak their own local dialect of Swiss German, while you are just a short bus ride from the French border, and it feels as if Basel cannot make up its mind just where it belongs. It’s not as if there isn’t much to do here, either – there is a lovely old town to be explored on the hillside, where you can quite happily while away an afternoon wandering round, and the shopping centre has plenty to offer - and there is a decent selection of British...

JVL 07.06.2001 (09.09.2001) · Read review
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mediauk.com

Advantages: A decent media website...
Disadvantages: ...but no better than that

...Anyone looking for a job in the media, or even an insight into the big wide world of it, could do much worse than look here to begin with - mediauk.com. Operating since 1994, it lists current available jobs in radio, tv and print media, recent news articles on all these forms of media and a discussion board. Now being a graduate in a degree of this field of work, the jobs board has been an interest to me for quite a while...but don't expect to find work instantly. Anything but. Copious numbers of people view these adverts (you can see how many exactly in the job listings), but don't let that deter you of course - if you're good and experienced enough then you'll come across the job for you eventually. The jobs listed usually just contain a small job description and contact details for where to send your cover letter and CV, but...

carl.mcqueen 14.10.2009 · Read review
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dictionary.com

Advantages: Good free service
Disadvantages: Too many adverts & pop-ups

...Dictionary.com?! Dictionary.com?! Seriously?! Why, yes, something that seems so simply and basic has it's place on the World Wide Web (yes, I'm aware of the irony!), but fear not...it's not as basic as it seems! Rather than just typing in a word to discover its definition, dictionary.com does provide a far greater service. Since it's launch way back in 1995 (were websites even around then?!), it's one of the world's most popular services, as naturally many people will just type in 'dictionary.com' into their browser if they need to find the definition of a word...even if they don't know the website exists, it makes sense to have a crack at it! The website does provide a thesaurus option, translator and encyclopaedia...for anyone even contemplating steering away from Wikipedia, God forbid! But there are other quirks to the website...

carl.mcqueen 15.10.2009 · Read review
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gumtree.com

Advantages: Very detailed
Disadvantages: Open to fraud

...Many will remember a time when the classified section of a local newspaper was all there was if you wanted to look for second-hand goods, or look for a place to live without going to an estate agent?but not anymore. Goodbye the classified section; hello Gumtree.com To quote the frontpage of the website, Gumtree advertises ?Homes, jobs, cars, sofas, vintage records? anything, really??and they?re not wrong! It lists it?s good in cities across the country. And not just the capital cities of the UK, but anywhere from Brighton to Nottingham, from Oxford to Aberdeen. This handy tool can help you look for exactly what you?re after without having to sift through adverts from cities hundreds of miles from you. Now, to indicate the scale of the website, in the London section, the ?Flats and Houses? adverts totals 124,174!! That seems a bit...

carl.mcqueen 21.10.2009 · Read review
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TVCatchup.com

Advantages: Great website to watch TV on, for free
Disadvantages: None

...The television - the bane of most people's lives, spent whiling away the hours whilst sat in front of it when you could be doing things more productive. Then the Internet came along as a pretender to the thrown...but never would the picture box be knocked off it's perch, so the internet did the next best thing - broadcast the television on the internet. This is where TVCatchup comes in. Now, first off it's important to note that this website differs from, say, the BBC iPlayer because it is not a 'catch-up' service, or is it similar to YouTube by having readily available any old rubbish. No, this is quite literally television on the computer. The web address is simple - www.tvcatchup.com - and the idea is just as so. It streams the channels you can enjoy on a standard Freeview box via your computer screen, completely free...

carl.mcqueen 21.12.2009 · Read review
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cricinfo.com

Advantages: The home of cricket info...
Disadvantages: ...which many people won't like!

...Cricket lovers, come and join the fun...this is cricinfo.com Owned by ESPN, cricinfo.com is seen by many as the most insightful, informative and up-to-date cricketing website out there in the vast world wide web. Of course, those of you which can't stand the sport in any way, shape or form then this certainly won't be for you. Those who do like it and are aware of cricketing websites, then you will probably already know this one... Now, on arrival to the website things may look confusing - there's an awful lot going on and plenty of places to click...so lets take things as logically as possible; At the top of the page is an index listing - countries, live scores, fixtures, results, news, features and photos are all there, which kind of speak for themselves! The Features section for example includes regular articles such as the Ask...

carl.mcqueen 18.09.2009 · Read review
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Helium.com

Advantages: Good review website.
Disadvantages: Little or none if you are careful.

...Helium.com This is one of the better websites that I have seen on the world wide web. It is effectively a review site where people can share their opinions and details of different topics upon different channels. The channels themselves are not like ciao so much where people write reviews about certain specific products or services, though Helium have more general topics to talk about. Having written a total of 333 reviews on Helium I have been paid around the same amount through paypal in american dollars. This may seem a little reward though as long as I keep rating and writing the occasional review, I find that I am likely to receive around 25 amerian dollars every month or two. I am not a fan of rating reviews so much and there is only a requirement to maintain at least one rating star on Helium.com. I find...

costas1234 15.12.2009 · Read review
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mousebreaker.com

Advantages: Addictive gaming!
Disadvantages: Addictive gaming!

...For all of you looking for time to waste in the office this afternoon, then you may have stumbled across the crown jewel in time-wasting... mousebreaker.com In essence, mousebreaker.com is simply a plethora of basic computer games that help you while away the day. From sporting games to shoot 'em ups, from trivia to old school arcade games, every type of game is here - think of it as an online compendium of fun. First of all, make sure the latest version of Flash player is installed on your computer so you can get the full benefit and latest versions of the games available. The website has changed a little bit over the years - it's most recent revamp gives it a dark grey motif, with a large yellow stripe running across the top of the page. Now, going through every single game would leave me still writing this review the other...

carl.mcqueen 23.11.2009 · Read review
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Hotmail.com

Advantages: Great reliable service which is free and available to all!
Disadvantages: Junk mail!!!!!!!!!

...Hotmail.com About: Hotmail.com is a free email server website, which really is free to use, no spam, no pop-ups and no spyware is added to your computer when you sign up, as the server (now) runs from Windows Live and Windows Live Messenger, making it safe to use on all computers, and compatible with all other email servers. Hotmail is the most popular free email server in the UK (and as far as I am aware in America too), and along with the BTinternet, NTL?s and Yahoo?s email addresses hotmail tends to be the one you see the most. The email server can be as anonymous or as open as you like (though anybody thinking of using it for scamming or bullying or anything stupid like that, be warned, your I.P. address is stored at all times, so you are never 100% anonymous, and all reports to police or hotmail itself will be...

stephbond89 15.10.2009 · Read review
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