The Silver Hearts Club

is downtownUK's on-line community for the more senior among us who'd like to get to know other similar people possibly with similar interests.

Using a secure database of like-minded people, visitors can search for people with similar interests. They can also send messages to each other within the Silver Hearts web site and even strike up on-line friendships.

Joining Silver Hearts is free.

You can view other people's profiles as well as set up your own and you can reply to any internal messages you receive. If you decide that you'd like to send some messages of your own then you'll need to upgrade your membership. Thousands of people in the UK just like you have already joined.

Join The Silver Hearts Club Here

There's something of a revolution going on in the UK.

At the end of 2002 the percentage of over 50s using the internet had risen to 17%. By 2003 that figure had almost doubled to 30% making the UK one of the worlds hot spots for so-called silver surfers. It's now predicted that by the end of 2005 the over 50s will be the largest group of Internet users in the UK.

The UK has one of the highest percentages of silver surfers in Europe. Only Sweden and Denmark have more - but I think we can put that down to their long dark nights and winter weather.

But it's not only raw figures that matter here. Silver

surfers can show their younger counter parts a thing or two about putting the Internet to good use. While the 20s to 30s group use the Internet mainly for e-mail, downloading music (usually illegally), on-line chat and buying their CDs; their parents and grandparents are buying holidays, using

internet banking and researching family trees. They are also much more likely to use the web to compare prices on goods and services before making a decision. In a lot of cases, Silver Surfers regard e-mail as old-hat and have moved on to using web cams to keep in touch with family members either around the UK or quite often those family members that have emigrated to Canada, Australia and other far away places. They sussed out long ago that you can not only talk to relatives abroad but see them live for a penny a minute or even free using a flat rate connection or broadband.

But enough of how we got here. Let's get down to business!

downtownUK is an inclusive affair and intends to cater for everyone. At the same time, we recognise our visitors use the Internet for different purposes which is why we've launched downtownUK50.

In these pages you'll find ways to increase still further your use of both the Internet and your PC generally.

Don't forget to have a look at the Computing Page where you'll find tips and tutorials on using your PC