News & Events

PC Pro is offering parents and teachers a free download of the magazine's 'Give Your Kids The IT Edge' lessons for 5-15 year olds. It features step-by-step tutorials for each of the school key stages, introducing schoolchildren of all ages to "fun" computing challenges, including how to create a blog using the free Edublogs software, which is used by schools across the country. The guide is a PDF that parents and teachers are free to print out and distribute at home or in schools.
http://short.zen.co.uk/?id=d80

This excellent and easy to use tool gives you the ability to create bar graphs, excel graphs, line graphs, area graphs and pie charts online. You can either create a custom graph, or choose one of the sample graphs and edit it according to your needs. To save for use in a document, or to include on a Web page, simply right click on the final image to save and store it on your PC. There are plenty of competing online tools online, such as ChartPart.com, charts.hohli.com and onlinecharttool.com, but Chartgo produces some of the most attractive results and is so simple to use that it's hard to beat.
http://www.chartgo.com

OnlineLogoMaker does what it says on the tin and comes in handy for anyone who needs a new logo but is reluctant to pay professional fees. A Web-based tool that allows you to create a logo without registration, OnlineLogoMaker is completely free, regardless of the logo type: it can be a business logo, or just a simple logo for your personal Web site or blog. The online tool is very easy to use. You can include and adapt your own images, add text and symbols, and then customise position, size, colours, fonts and shadows until you're happy with the result. When the logo is ready, you simply download and save.
http://www.onlinelogomaker.com/design

Cycling to work instead of driving is greener, cheaper and will help to keep you fit. You knew that already, but did you know that you can save money by hiring or buying a brand new bike through the Government's Cycle to Work initiative? You might even find a free second-hand bicycle available locally on Freecycle or SnaffleUp, which are recycling (not bicycling) sites.
http://www.cyclescheme.co.uk
http://www.freecycle.org
http://www.snaffleup.co.uk

Graffiti on public buildings and historic monuments in Britain costs millions to remove and often can't be cleaned away using basic caustic solutions without damaging surfaces. Local authorities will welcome news of a coating that could help preserve some of our most valued buildings, recently announced by a research group at the Fraunhofer Institute in Potsdam. "Our innovative polymer film seals the pores in the substrate, so that graffiti paint doesn't penetrate. But its micro-porous structure also creates a hydrophobic barrier that allows water vapour to escape from the building while at the same time preventing the infiltration of rainwater", says Prof André Laschewsky, who heads the team. In trials, coated samples of ancient stone and brick were repeatedly covered with graffiti that was removed completely each time.
http://short.zen.co.uk/?id=d82

Sucuri is a free Web site security monitoring service that will scan your site at regular intervals and notify you via e-mail, SMS or Twitter about any unauthorised changes. It checks for things like DNS and Whois hijacking, malware injection and site defacement. You can also choose to be notified if your domain is added to a blacklist database (SpamHaus, Safe Browsing, etc) or try Sucuri's instant WIGS (Web Information Gathering System) tool to see what else it can find out about your Web site before you sign up for anything.
http://sucuri.net