Q. Any advice on last minute Christmas presents?
A. So much information is free on the internet that we don't value high quality content that is expensive to create.
Because of this, internet sites are more and more intrusive with their advertisements. I just hate it when I am reading something and a video with sound starts playing and I have no idea how to shut it off or I click somewhere by mistake and am taken to a page offering me things I don't need. Consider subscriptions or new software as gifts:
- Newspapers are to the fore. How about a year's subscription to the Irish Times? This allows you to download the daily paper and gives you unlimited access to the website? Or if you want to go further afield, a subscription to the New York Times. Perhaps a two or three-month subscription for the winter period only? There are multiple types of NYT subscriptions for phones and tablets and website, so be sure you are getting the right one.
- We can't forget magazines. Almost all paper magazines have digital subscriptions, including the Economist, the New Yorker and Wired. There are digital magazines for every genre, including computers, cars, fashion, film, photography, travel, crafts and games.
- Are you due an update to some of the basic software you use day to day? For example, how old is your version of Microsoft Office?
- Is it time to start writing the memoir or the novel or the screenplay? Then have a look at Scrivener for Mac or WriteItNow for Windows.
- Are you keen to start playing around with voice recognition software? Dragon Dictate or Dragon Premium is the one to go for.
- Remember apps for games, puzzles, hobbies, maps, weather and stargazing. Whatever your interest, there is an app for it.