What happens to Harry Potter?

Contains spoilers! This post is for those who aren't going to read the final installment of the Harry Potter series, Deathly Hallows, but nevertheless want to know what happens. At this point in time I don't know much about what happens either but I'm sure kind folk who are in the know will contribute in the comments section below.

Facts so far:

Hardcover - 608 pages
The last word in the book will not be "scar."
Two main characters die

Tags: Harry Potter, book

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Google PageRank update for July 2007 has started!

If you own a website and have lately been trying to improve your Google PageRank, you might be interested to know that the website rankings are now just starting to change. Keep watching that PageRank button on your Google Toolbar for, hopefully, a higher number!

Related: seo, webmaster, Google

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How many people share your name?

Apparently there are 1209 David Butlers in UK. How do I know this? YourNotMe.com says so. How unique are you?

China was built by people like Mr Wu

Here's a clip from the recent series "Paul Merton in China", where Paul meets the ingenious Mr Wu. (More clips from this series can be found on YouTube.)

Tags: China, robot, Paul Merton

Buying contact lenses online

Not so long ago, a month's supply of contact lenses would cost you an arm and a leg. Nowadays, however, visually disadvantaged folk like myself can save a bit of money by getting our contact lenses online for a reasonable price. I've noticed that laser eye surgery is also becoming ever more affordable... may have to check that out!

Related: vision, contact lenses, laser, eye

Teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL)

There's quite a bit in the news at the moment about dodgy TEFL courses. Indeed I know that in Taiwan and China (probably like many other countries) some westerners don't bother with any accreditation at all and assume that they can teach English just because they can speak it. Of course, this is not recommended!

So I've had a quick look into this and found out that an accredited course is not that expensive, even for a gap year student. Course organisers like www.onlinetefl.com can provide an online course and also set you up with a job abroad. You can even get them to call you first (whichever country you're in) to discuss what qualification you're interested in attaining.

Quit smoking now!

The UK-wide smoking ban in public places will be in effect in a few hours. About time too. Hopefully this, probably one of the most important health measures in UK for decades, will save a few non-smokers' lives. Maybe a few smokers will give up too. With new drugs like Champix now on the market, now seems like as good a time as any!

Tags: smoking, Champix

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Maths lessons to improve maths skills

ConquerMaths is a virtual tutor that helps you get better at maths. Covering subjects ranging from algebra to trigonometry, the lessons are mainly geared towards pupils aged 11-16 (i.e. up to GCSE exams) though really they're open to anyone who wants to become more numerate.

BBC online did a feature on Conquer Maths saying that a Teeside school doubled its GCSE pass rate because of it and pupils even logged in on Christmas Day! Sounds like a solution for parents who think their child needs to be getting better grades in maths.

Related: maths, education, GCSE

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