Usually people have problems trying to get to particular content on the web, but there are plenty of reasons why you might want to block particular websites too - especially if your kids are using your computer. There are plenty of commercial services for this, but if you are willing to put in a bit of effort, you can enjoy the peace of mind of blocking annoying or unwanted content for free.

SafeSquid is a proxy server that processes your browser's request for websites, checks them against its internal rules and forwards the content on if it is safe. You can of course set the rules however you like. Unlike a lot of free software, this is actually easy to use - but if you have any problems, don't worry we will be covering it in a full PC Answers tutorial soon. ... read more »

Microsoft has finally pulled out of the security market by ditching its OneCare product in favour of a slimmed down free version next summer. The first version of OneCare was woeful, but 2.0 was actually well received. Major strides is useability and performance by the big secuirty companies like Symantec though appear to have killed off OneCare's future, as well as a rise in Mac popularity where additional security suites are not needed.

Codenamed Morro, the new anti-virus tool will be tailored for lower end machines and be compatible with XP, Vista and Windows 7 - in fact it may well become the new secuirty tool found within Windows 7 itself. Let us know your experience of OneCare and what you'd like to see in Windows 7's security center instead.

The culmination of 75 years of meticulaous archaelogical research has ended up as a new 'layer' for Google Earth. 3D designers have re-created more than 6700 buildings from various periods of Rome's ancient past to create the first detailed virtual recreation of the world's original megacity.

You can download Google Earth and take a stroll up the Paletine by following this link

This month's “Everyone's Talking About” section in PC Answers is about location aware mobile phone applications, and we'd like to hear your views on the topic so we can include them in the magazine.

The last few months has seen the arrival of numerous so-called “location aware” applications for mobile phones that make use of the phone's capability work out its own physical location. The most obvious application for this technology is navigation, because it enables your location to be plotted on a map and updated as you walk around. That's superb, but there are lots of other imaginative ways to make use of the fact that your phone now knows where it is. ... read more »

Recharge Windows

Is Vista getting a little sluggish? Then it's time for a reinstallation!.We show you how to prepare a slipstreamed install disc, backup your data and troubleshoot any problems you may encounter on the way.

Also we have 10 informative "How To..." tutorials that include:

• Tweaking Firefox
• Setting up a sound system
• Creating digital questionnaires
• and many, many more...

Create professional documents

Fancy yourself a bit of a desktop publisher? With our 16-page pull out guide to Scribus you can create amazingly professional looking pamphlets, newletters and more for absolutely nothing. We guide you from start to finish on several creative projects using the impressive open source application.

Find out more!

Unsolicited emails, usually those selling goods, can account for anything between 50 to 80% of all emails sent, which causes a big headache for the IT industry, ISPs and of course individuals. Even though the percentage of email that is classed as spam may be nearing some sort of saturation point, or even be in decline (according to messagelabs), the volume of spam mail seems to be rising. But it may not be as lucrative as it once was... ... read more »

It might sound like the last place you would expect Google to have a presence, but unused space in the broadcast spectrum could well be used for a Google-backed Wi-Fi project. The prospect of a wireless world reaching even sparsely populated areas was the promise of WiMax, yet it still stumbles as it tries to get off the ground. Google’s answer is to utilise the unused “white space” found between TV channels. In fact, the Federal Communications Commission in the US has voted 5-0 in favour of opening up the white space of unused airwaves between broadcast TV channels to be used for enhanced wireless broadband and communications. ... read more »

We regularly tout the benefits of the run-everything, open source media player  VideoLanClient - and for good reasons - with a full library of file-format support, this player will run pretty much anything.

The recent 0.9.4 release did have some minor security vulnerabilities though, so if you did have that installed, it is worth checking out the website for a timely update. Source for 0.9.5 has already released, and a Windows binary build is expected this weekend. Check for the updates here:

http://www.videolan.org/

Vista was late arriving, very late, and you could say it took until this year’s SP1 update to become what we consider a stable OS. But Vista’s successor, Windows 7, might now make it to the shelves before the 2010 schedule.

In fact, Microsoft is distributing copies of Windows 7 today at the Professional Developers Conference (PDC) in Los Angeles. Details have been leaking out of Microsoft for a little while about what it will include, but amongst the main highlights are: Multitouch features, that will allow developers and users to use trackpads and touchscreens in more inventive ways; Device Stage, which will provide a central location for interacting with pretty much anything you plug into the computer; Action Centre - a self-diagnosis tool for the OS; and StreamOn, a new way to control audio/video content on PCs and devices. It’s presumed that StreamOn will have something to do with Live Mesh and Media Centre. ... read more »