Percy Pig is now online too!

More website wonders - think 100!

In anticipation of this being our celebratory 100th edition, I’ve been looking at sites involving 100 or celebration. I could have spent lots of money on shopping sites if I were that way inclined, but instead, here are some more interesting sites.

Over 100 things to do in a lift - some not suitable for children, but so silly

101 Middle Eastern recipes - prepare to feel hungry and to search for some challenging ingredients

Work out your predicted lifespan - if you dare. I will live to around 80 years old, but Iíve plenty of opportunities to increase that following their considered advice

A top 100 toys and nostalgia on a number of pages - how many of these did you own, or covet?

Want to see a 5,000 egg omelette being cooked? - you’ll have to make your way to Abbeville in Louisiana, USA, but with this ingredient list, it might just be worth it

RECIPE FOR ABBEVILLE'S GIANT CAJUN OMELETTE

• 5000 small Eggs
• 50 pounds medium Onion, chopped
• 75 Green Bell Peppers, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 gallons pure Vegetable Oil
• 52 pounds Butter
• 6 1/4 gallons Milk
• 4 gallons chopped Green Onion Tops
• 2 gallons finely chopped fresh Parsley
• Tabasco Pepper Sauce (season to taste)
• Crawfish Tails

The Green Gift Shop

Val Gillings checks out 'Complete Wasters' and finds the bargain of the year

'Complete Wasters'' in Sileby have an eco shop and their aim is to recycle and re-use anything and everything.

They sell lamps made from a variety of materials: tin ones formed into owls, frogs and many other animals, lamps from tree bark with calico shades inset with real leaves.The calico ones are made in Indonesia and are fair traded.There are also some impressive lamps made from recycled glass. Several books are on sale, and for the more energetic of us there is a muscle rub made from organic herbs and precious oils.This could come in useful if you have been shifting some of the organic compost they stock.

As they have only recently moved to Sileby, they are still settling in but have plenty of ideas for the future, such as a wildlife area in the grounds, demonstrations on organic growing, solar energy, herbs for health and composting for beginners.A wholefood café is also on the agenda, where fair traded tea and coffee will be served.

If you are not already a computer owner and are put off by the cost, then a visit to Complete Wasters' is a must.Their computers start at £50 and for this you get a 15 inch monitor with Windows 98 and Office.Their 'top of the range' are £175 and for this you get a 17 inch monitor with CD rewriter, soundcard, Windows 2000 and Office.Theses really must be the bargain of the year.

If you would like to visit and see for yourself, they are at 6,Cossington Road, Sileby and are open Tues/Weds/Thurs.9am-5pm and Sat.10am-4pm.or visit www.completewasters.co.uk

Progress towards a “disability friendly” village

In part 1 of this two part feature, Olwen Spiers explains measures in place now and in the future in Barrow and looks further afield at events over the summer for people with a disability.

The census of 2001 indicated that 14.8 % of the population of Barrow were coping with long-term illness/disability.There were 35 holders of a "Blue Badge" registered at County Hall.The Disability Discrimination Act came into force in October 2004 and encouraging measures have been taken to respond to its requirements.

Humphrey Perkins Community Centre

Access to the school foyer and hall has been made possible for people in wheel chairs by a permanent ramp to access the hall from the outside and a newly installed lift in the foyer to allow access between the hall and the rest of the building.

Barrow Churches

The churches have been working hard to provide, by fund raising and other means, all the facilities to be user friendly to everyone in the village, no matter what the disability may be. Disabled access toilets Designated parking for Blue Badge holders Hearing loops for those with a hearing problem.

Library

Access for wheelchair users is available. There is a very extensive selection of audio tapes and large print books. Future plans include improvements to the general facilities and the car park with designated Blue Badge parking.

Bishop Beveridge Club

A toilet for disabled persons has been installed.Tina Long and the committee members, in conjunction with the trustees, are working towards further facilities for the hearing impaired and sight impaired.

Vista

This is an organisation catering for the visually impaired.Volunteers in Barrow organise a social gathering once a month, on the third Thursday from 2-4 pm at the Methodist Church Hall. Contact Barbara Mitchell on 01509 412534.

There is also a Vista Gardening Group which meets at Bishop Beveridge on the third Wednesday of each month for a morning session. Phone Vista on 0116 2490909.

Chemist

For Barrow residents who are unable to collect their medicines from the Chemist, arrangements may be made with the staff at the Medical Centre and the Chemist for a home delivery. Arrangements need to be made a few days in advance since the delivery is only available on certain days of the week.

Shops

Some of the High Street shops are faced with a problem because of the steps at the entrance and the highway restrictions inhibiting, indeed preventing, permanent ramp access.

Help by the provision of a handrail is of assistance to many.Wheelchair users are, in many instances, offered the services of the shop from outside.There are, as yet, no means of requesting such help by the provision an external bell/sound system accessible from a wheelchair.

Parking & Toilets

The public car parks at the Three Crowns and the approach to the old railway station each now have one parking space reserved for Blue Badge holders. The public toilets, including the "Disabled" toilet in the public car park adjoining the Three Crowns car park, are open until approximately 3.30 pm.

Sports events this summer

Loughborough University
25th - 28th August.
Age range 2-80 years.
Transplant Games - for anyone who has had one of the six major transplant operations : heart, lung, liver, kidney, pancreas, bone marrow. Contact the Sports Development
Centre tel : 01509 226171, or e-mail transplantgames2005@lboro.ac.uk

Leicestershire & Rutland Youth Games
Sunday 26th June.
An event, including swimming, for anyone under 16 from primary schools, senior schools and special schools, mainly involving school team nominations and/or club nominations, to be held at Burleigh College swimming pool.

There are other activities worth mentioning such as the new research and training centre to promote disability sport which is to be centred in Loughborough. Further information is available from the Sports Dept. for Disabled People, Community Services Dept - details as above

Mobility Roadshow
This is to be held at Donnington Park on 7th 8th & 9th July and is strongly recommended for anyone wishing to find out more about equipment and facilities available. It has both an extensive exhibition under cover and an active outdoor section, staffed by the experts, well organised with free entry.The huge car parks are adjacent and there is a well organised service of wheelchair accessible buses that transport visitors to the exhibition hall.

Thursday 7th July is National Young Persons Day when special events are being organised for young people with a mobility problem, with many fun events being listed for them. Details on website: www.justmobilitv.co.uk or tel: 0870 7703222.

Apologies are offered to organisations which have been omitted. It is hoped that they will make contact so they can be included in the next issue.Also, whether you have a disability or not, please make suggestions in your Parish Plan questionnaire, or contact: Olwen Spiers, e-mail olwn.spiers@virgin.net tel: 01509 414273. In part 2 - information on shopmobility, transport, the National Trust.

PC Health and Well-being

In the second of this regular advice column, Ian Knowles looks at how to safeguard precious & irreplaceable data

There can be more value to data than just financial; what about those precious digital photos of the wedding, first-born grandchild or baby's first steps, the once in a lifetime holiday in paradise? If your computer hard drive fails, they could be lost forever.Then there are your emails and address book, possibly these days you might have your entire music collection stored on computer.

Backing up computer data is usually associated with businesses backing up the accounts and payroll etc., but what about the home user? How many people keep track of their finances, schoolwork, letters, invoices and receipts on a home computer, especially if self-employed?

To start, organise your data files, into a logical series of folders with names that make them easy to find, especially if the family share a computer.

Once you have organised your files how do you go about backing them up? In the past, tapes drives were the only devices available and still are today but they are expensive and relatively impractical for the home user.

Today's most common and cost effective solution is the writable CD. Up to 700Mb of data can be stored on a single compact disc (the equivalent of more than 485 floppy disks). If you use re-writable CD's (CDRW), you can format the discs using a packet writing program such as InCD, which allows you to drag and drop files onto a CD as if it was a big floppy disk using Microsoft® Windows Explorer and Backup. Standard writable CD's (CDR) need a separate program such as Ahead Nero® or Roxio® Easy CD Creator®.You can use Windows XP's built in CD writing facility if you prefer. If you have files larger than 700Mb, you might want to consider backing up to DVD, as with CD's, writable and re-writable forms are available, with capacity from 4.7Gb single layer discs, up to 8.5Gb double layer discs. Recording speeds and capacities are increasing all the time as the technology improves.

For very large backups, e.g. complete hard drives, the Universal Serial Bus standard provides a convenient method to connect external storage for data transfer and backup. External USB hard disk drives are available in capacities from 40Gb up to 1.6 Terabytes. Another medium is the USB flash drive, available in capacities from 64Mb up to 2GB, all you need do is plug it into a USB socket on your PC and you have an extra removable drive.These are available in capacity from 64Mb up to 2Gb, not so cost effective as CDs but ideal for short-term backup or transferring files between computers or to compatible devices such as MP3 players.

Whatever backup method you choose, remember to do it regularly.

Next Issue: Home Networking