So if you are concerned I have 6 top tips to help you stay safe online;

What is the site Name?
I always check the website spelling and the URL, quite often scam sites will use a URL which is very similar to the actual brand/business you want.

Are there any site reviews?
This is one I love, why not Google the company name and see what comes up, you can guarantee unless it is a new business someone somewhere will have had something to say about the business, good or bad.

What is the contact address?
If a site doesn’t have an actual postal address on it, and I don’t mean a PO Box don’t use them – simple, for me if they want my address but won’t give me theirs I ask myself what are they trying to hide?

Look for the Padlock or secure way of paying
When you come to pay for your items, check that the website has a secure way of paying either on the site or by third party – PayPal, SagePay etc…. When you complete the form with your details the web address should change to be ‘https://’ – the S signifies its secure, and you should have a padlock symbol.

Use your head when paying
If you order is over £100 then pay by Credit Card simply because you are protected by section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act (1974) and this give you as the consumer significant protection if there is a problem. If the order is under £100 then use Visa so again in the unlikely event of a problem you can use the Visa chargeback plan.

Keep the Receipt
When you have paid, keep the proof – setup a separate folder in your email for the confirmation of order emails

Follow these tips and they should help you avoid the scammer and shop happily and safely online.

Now a new Kindle is launched at the end of this month and according to Ammazon the all new Kindle is smaller, lighter, faster and with 50% better contrast than the one it replaces. With a weight less than 250 grams and a battery charge that apparently lasts for a month with wi-fi turned off and a capacity for upto 3,500 books you’re going ot have to be a serious reader to ‘run it out’ for sure.

And now Amazon.co.uk have confirmed that for the first time the NEW Kindle will be available in the UK and will launch on August 27. The new Kindle will be available as 3G or Wi-Fi and start at just £109 for the wi-fi version.

As with all ereaders the importance is what you can read on them, on the Kindle store you have a choice of over 400,000 books with over 1 million free book. As for UK bestsellers well 87 of 100 of the Nielsen bestsellers are available, so you really are spoilt for choice. I understand it will also offer digital versions of leading newspaper and magazines.

The new UK e-book store will run on Amazon.co.uk, and include 400,000 books including titles by a wide range of writers including Stephenie Meyer, John Grisham, Stephen King and Stieg Larsson – author of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo – who yesterday became the first writer to sell 1m ebooks through Amazon. It will also offer digital versions of newspapers and magazines.

The new Kindle is going to be on my Christmas list for sure, will it be on yours?

Darren Rowse is one of the biggest names in the world of blogs primarily about blogging, he is the owner of a number of well respected blogs and a founder of the B5 media blog network. Consequently he is regarded as a bit of an expert in the field and he book goes through the process from start to finish, from creating a professional blog to choosing a topic and promoting, marketing and even selling your blog. A very worthwhile read and one I am sure you won’t be disappointed with.

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Wii Sing comes with 2 Microphones and a USB Hub for them, and the game has 30 top chart tunes for all sorts of musical tastes and promises to be great fun for all.

Wii Sing is available to order now – released on November 13th and promises to be one of the hits of Christmas, and if you order from Amazon you get free super saver delivery.

The IPod is probably the best personal music player around with a capacity for up to 1,750 songs or 10 hours video it give you the flexibility to watch the latest films or TV shows on the large 3.5-inch, multi-touch operated screen. With this you can surf the web, send email, update your social networks and view maps over Wi-Fi. Couple with the ability to browse, buy and play over 75,000 games and original applications from the iTunes store you really cant go wrong with the most complete player around.

So there you go the New Apple iPod touch 8GB (3rd Generation)surely its on your Christmas list?

Why do you ask?

* It is simple to use, pocket-sized camcorder with one-touch recording and digital zoom
* The Flip holds 60 minutes of full VGA-quality video on 2GB of built-in memory; no tapes or additional memory cards required
* There is a convenient USB arm plugs directly into your computer for easy viewing and sharing
* With built-in software lets you easily e-mail videos, upload to YouTube and MySpace, and capture still photos from video
* Finally you can watch videos instantly on TV with included cable

So there you go the Flip Digital Camcordersimple to use, work and record really good videos, just great for YouTube or Vimeo.

First though lets sort out why you need a Nintendo Wii Console (Includes Wii Sports)this Christmas.

The Nintendo Wii launched in December 2006 has been described as most important games console launch ever and the results have been nothing short of spectacular in Amazon.co.uk the sales rank is 24 in the PC & Video Games category.

The Wii comes with

* Includes Wii Sports (bowling, boxing, baseball, tennis and golf)
* Also includes: one wireless Wii Remote and one Nunchuk
* Plays two disc formats in a single, self-loading media bay
* Completely backward compatible, all the way to the NES of the 1980s
* Built-in Wi-Fi access for easy connection to Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection gaming service
* Online Wii Channel for news, weather, photo viewing, message boards and more
* Supports up to 4 GameCube controllers
* SD card slot – great for viewing photos.
* Fully compatible with GameCube games

And yes before you ask, i own one and love it. The appeal of the Nintendo Wii Console (Includes Wii Sports) is across all ages, my parents have played as have my young kids.

So why do you need one now? well i can only think of 2 great reasons;

* the cost can be paid for in Septembers pay cheque

* you wont be able to find one in the last few weeks before Christmas.

So there you you go my top Christmas tip buy a Nintendo Wii Console (Includes Wii Sports)

You need to get a good printer and i recommend the Canon PIXMA iP4600 Printer, the quality of print is just superb.

Three keys elements of the printer are;
# Canon FINE (Full-lithography inkjet Nozzle Engineering) 5-ink technology – minimises ink wastage
# Print speed: up to 26 ppm – mono / up to 21 ppm – colour
# Max resolution ( colour ): 9600 dpi x 2400 dpi

The 5 ink technology is basically five Single Inks. These provide superb colour reproduction and, as only the ink tank that has run out requires replacing, they offer great efficiency.

So there you have it the Canon PIXMA iP4600 Printer is my choice for quality printing and at around £80 it represents extremely good value.

One book that i am reading at the moment is Yes We Did! An Inside Look at How Social Media Built the Obama Brand (Voices That Matter). It is difficult to describe this book so for once i shall take the foreward from Amazon by Don Tapscott, author of Wikinomics and Grown Up Digital, it simply says it all and why you need to read this book.

Yes We Did - How Social Media Built the Obama Brand

In Yes We Did, new media strategist and campaign headquarters volunteer Rahaf Harfoush gives us a behind the-scenes look at the campaign’s use of technology, from its earliest days through election night. She reveals strategic insights organizations can apply to their own brands. Discover how unwavering strategic vision and collaborative technologies–email, blogs, social networks, Twitter, and SMS messaging–empowered a formidable online community to help elect the world’s first “digital” President.

So dont delay, if you are serious about learning how ‘it’ should be done get yourself a copy Yes We Did! An Inside Look at How Social Media Built the Obama Brand (Voices That Matter)you will not be dissapointed.

So picture the scene a trip to london, free wi-fi everywhere so ample use of my mobile connectivity and then, yes you’ve guessed it ‘battery low’. I am sure this is a scene that some of you will be like, just plug in your charger, except this time i forgot my mains charger, i need not have worried for i had the future, yes a solar charger a PowerMonkey Explorer’ Portable Charger – Yellow to be precise.

• Compatible with the majority of standard mobile phones including Nokia & Mini Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, Siemens & Sony Ericcson
• USB Connector powers up iPods and accessories, MP3 players, PDA’s, smart mobile phones, digital cameras, Bluetooth headsets and many more digital devices
• Small, lightweight design that fits in your pocket
• Re-useable reserve power pack – no batteries required
• includes mains travel charger for use in 150 countries 110v to 240v

I really does what it says on the tin, provides power for free from the sun. I spent a morning walking throught he city, the charger affixed to my rucksack and hey presto i was collecting my own electricity and charging my mobile.

When i am in Europe next year this is really going to come into its own i am sure, so go on join the green revolution with a PowerMonkey Explorer’ Portable Charger – Yellow, you won’t be disapointed.