Useful Information Sources

Business Tools and Information

World Time Server - find out what time it is now, just about anywhere
www.worldtimeserver.com

Exchange Rates - New York-based site that can converts between any of over two dozen currencies, with historic data and graphs.
http://www.x-rates.com

Adobe Acrobat Online Document Tool
Convert documents to Acrobat format using free Adobe's online tool.

Translation - rough automated translations between major languages. It actually sort of works!
http://babelfish.altavista.com
www.google.com/language_tools

Australian English glossary, from a to zed.
A guide to speaking Strine (Australian). If you're "straight off the bloody boat" (freshly arrived in Australia) this site may help you understand the locals.
http://www.travel-library.com/pacific/australia/stybr-language.html

Wikipedia - Online Encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

Ask Oxford
Free online dictionary resource from Oxford University Press. Covers both UK and USA spelling.
www.askoxford.com

Oxford English Dictionary Online
"The ultimate authority on the English language" according to The Times (of London). Subscription necessary, but trial use available.
www.oed.com

Oxford University Press
Online (and print) publishing arm of the University of Oxford.
www.oup.com/online

US Library of Congress
Information, exhibitions, and collections concerning the US and the world.
www.loc.gov

Libraries Australia
http://librariesaustralia.nla.gov.au

Wordnet
Dictionary of synonyms produced by Princeton University
http://wordnet.princeton.edu

Back to top

Telephone Directory Enquiries

Australian Whitepages www.whitepages.com.au

Australian Yellowpages www.yellowpages.com.au

UK Directory Enquiries www.bt.co.uk/directoryenquiries

UK phone, people and property searches www.192.com

Global listing of online Directory Enquiry services for most major countries
www.numberway.com

International Dialling Codes
What IDD prefix to put before country codes when you are in a foreign country and need to make an international phone call (also gives the country code for most countries, and the time difference)
http://multilingualbooks.com/countrycodes.html

Back to top

Australia Market Data Resources, Profiles and Facts & Figures

Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)
Broadband website (video and radio) featuring Business Bulletin (video) updated twice daily, radio streaming, ABC news (video & radio) updated throughout the day, and entertainment programs.
http://abc.net.au/broadband/default.htm

Australian Bureau of Statistics is a fantastic free or cheap source of data on all markets and industries.
www.abs.gov.au

Australia - essential facts and figures - guides in several languages from the Australian Federal Government's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
http://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/australia/

Australian Interactive Social Atlas - from Australian Government Bureau of Regional Services (www.brs.gov.au). An interactive online access providing detailed statistics on non-metropolitan areas of Australia.
http://data.brs.gov.au/mapserv/pdfatlas/index.html

Australian Electoral Commission
Official government site on political elections in Australia.
www.aec.gov.au

Australian Bureau of Metrology
Forcasts, satellite images, and lots more relating to the Australian climate.
http://www.bom.gov.au

Australia Post website with info on using physical Direct Mail in Australia. Has lots of practical advice on Direct Marketing in general, and some useful free campaign tools and templates.
www.auspost.com.au/mailmarketing

Mosaic
Geodemographic database which classifies Australia's neighbourhoods into 41 Types within 11 broad Groups, at a level of just 22 households. It is built using Australian demographic data from the 2001 Census and other best available data sources. Can be combined with other data sources. Widely used for direct marketing campaigns. Some free information (eg segment profiles), but primarily commercial.
www.mosaicaustralia.com.au

Roy Morgan Research
Australia's best known and longest established market research and public opinion polling company. In addition to commercial market research, Roy Morgan is Australia's best known public opinion and political polling organization. The Morgan Poll is Australia's only independent poll; i.e. not owned by a media. Site has much general-access information on the Australian market.
www.roymorgan.com

NewsPoll
Australian market research, public opinion, and political issue and voting intentions polling company. Has quite a lot of information available on its website.
www.newspoll.com.au

Credit Reference information.
You can (for a small fee) check the information "in the system" about you or your business which is available to credit providers, or request credit checks on potential customers where you are providing extended payment terms. Veda Advantage is the largest source of credit history in Australasia and holds records on over 16.5 million credit-active individuals and 4.4 million companies and businesses throughout Australia & New Zealand (was previously known as Baycorp Advantage, and before that was called the Australia Credit Reference Association).
www.vedaadvantage.com

Database on Australian Individuals
Since 1999, the world's largest provider of marketing information on individuals and households - Acxiom - has been collecting data on Australians. Initially a joint venture with Kerry Packer's PBL, Acxiom Australia has been a wholly owned entity of the US-based Acxiom Corporation since 2002. As at September 2004, the Chairman of Acxiom Australia was Andrew Robb, who was also Chairman of the Australian Direct Marketing Association (ADMA). Robb was elected as Liberal MP for Goldstein (VIC) in the October 2004 general election and again in the November 2007 election. Acxiom offers Australians access to their personal information held in Acxiom's databases, and the ability to have their names supressed from Acxiom's customers marketing efforts. Information on how to do this is at: http://www.acxiom.com/default.aspx?ID=2235&Country_Code=AUS

Internet Archive
www.waybackmachine.org/

Who Is
Directory giving ownership details of websites.
www.allwhois.com

Also see Australia / Sydney in City Guide section

Back to top

World, Exporting & Travel Information

World Trade Organisation - The WTO's global economy website:
www.wto.org

Population Reference Bureau
Information on global population, health, and the environment for over 200 countries.
www.prb.org

Austrade - The Australian federal government's main organisation for providing advice and assistance to Australian companies wishing to export. Has local offices in most major economic centres around the world.
www.austrade.gov.au

Export Advice and Assistance for Australian businesses
http://www.dfat.gov.au/trade/exporting.html

Global Economic Research
The J.P.Morgan Global Economic Research service is free to use and contains detailed economic profiles of the world's major economies. This site by J.P.Morgan, a leading investment bank, has economic news feeds and publishes J.P.Morgan's full economic research reports on major countries here.
www.jpmorgan.com/pages/jpmorgan/investbk/research/global_economic_research

Travel Advisory information from the Australian Government
http://www.smartraveller.gov.au

Seat Guru
Find out which seats are the best ones to try and reserve (and which are the worst ones - to avoid!). Different carriers configure their planes differently, so it is worth checking. Covers most of the world's major airlines. Valuable information, especially for long haul flights.
http://www.seatguru.com

Back to top

Japan

Japan - National Statistics Centre
Official Japanese Government website (English version).
www.nstac.go.jp/en

Japan - Statistics Bureau
This website contains the actual government statistics data tables (in English).
www.stat.go.jp/english

Nikkei Net
Leading news portal from Nikkei Corporation, Japan's leading news and information organisation. Most of content is subscriber-only access.
www.nni.nikkei.co.jp

Mainichi Daily News
Japanese news portal - general, local, and business news about Japan. English language.
http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp

Back to top

China

China Market Profile
Lots of useful data profiling the business environment in mainland China. Website is by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.
www.tdctrade.com/main/china.htm

China Statistical Data
Monthly digest of statistics about China from the Chinese Government's National Bureau of Statistics
www.china.org.cn/e-company/index.htm

China's National Bureau of Statistics
Official Chinese Government website (English version)
www.stats.gov.cn/english/

Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK)
Inward investment agency for the Hong Kong government. Has much useful information on doing business in Hong Kong and in mainland China. Give guidance on ways of entry into the Chinese market, particularly leveraging Hong Kong's business community and links with mainland China.
www.investhk.gov.hk

China Daily
The official and largest English language Web destination in the People's Republic of China
www.chinadaily.com.cn

Shanghai Daily
English language newspaper published in Shanghai.
www.shanghaidaily.com

South China Morning Post
Leading English-language newspaper, published out of Hong Kong. Established for over 100 years with a reputation for impartiality and objectivity in reporting news about China and Hong Kong.
www.scmp.com

China Business Feature
English-language website associated with IDG, mainly focused on technology-related business news and IT vendors in China.
www.cbfeature.com

China Search Engine
Baidu is the leading Chinese-language search engine, primarily serving the People's Republic of China.
www.baidu.com

China Internet Network Information Centre
Chinese government agency website with much useful data and information about internet adoption in China.
http://www.cnnic.net.cn/en/index/0O/

Pacific Epoch
JLM Pacific Epoch is a boutique media and business intelligence firm focusing on technology, media, and telecommunications investment opportunities in China.
www.pacificepoch.com

Back to top

City Guides and Local Information

ViaMichelin
Western Europe - all countries. Street maps and detailed directions on how to drive from one place to another in the online version of the famous Michelin guides. Most features are free, some areas (eg Hotel and Restaurant guides require you to register online, but are free).
www.viamichelin.com

www.economist.com/cities

www.cnn.com/TRAVEL

Local Information for Australia and Sydney

CitySearch
Popular lifestyle and entertainment guide, giving you lots of information about what's on, where to go, and how to find it in the major cities in Australia.
www.citysearch.com.au

Walkabout- Australia Travel Guide
Details on hundreds of Australian towns and tourist destinations. Also has regional guides, accomodation details, some (rather basic) travellers tips and other "tourist information" things.
www.walkabout.com.au

Things to do in Sydney
www.thingstodo-sydney.com

Sydney Airport
Up to the minute flight details, terminal maps and guides, how to get to and from the airport, etc.
http://www.sydneyairport.com.au

State Library of New South Wales
http://sl.nsw.gov.au

Land and Property Title searches in NSW
www.lpi.nsw.gov/lpsearch

Baulkham Hills Shire Council
One of the largest and fastest growing regions of Sydney.
www.bhsc.nsw.gov.au

UK

UK phone directory
www.bt.com/phonenetuk

UK Housing Market
http://news.ft.com/yourmoney/yourhome

UK Government "DirectGov" Portal
Details, contacts, and services deilvered by public services from all levels of government in the UK: including central government departments, executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies, local councils, and the devolved administrations of Norther Ireland, Wales, and Scotland.
www.direct.gov.uk

Parking Tickets in the UK

From April 2008 you can be issued a parking ticket by post - the traffic warden no longer has to put a parking ticket on your car. They can even give you a ticket if one of the UK's innumerable surveillance cameras has caught your car where it should not be parked - or if you were driving in a bus lane.

You can appeal to the UK Traffic Penalty Tribunial if you receive a ticket you think is wrong (areas outside London). In London, it's "PATAS" the Parking and Traffic Appeals Service. If you don't challenge the fine and pay quickly you may only have to pay half the full penalty.S
www.trafficpenaltytribunal.gov.uk
www.parkingandtrafficappeals.gov.uk

London

www.londontown.com - good guide site with maps, hotels, restaurants, business info, entertainment guides, sightseeing advice, etc

http://tube.tfl.gov.uk - London Underground / Metro (The Tube) official site

Manchester

Manchester Online
Leading news and information site focused on Manchester and North West England.
www.manchesteronline.co.uk

Ringway Airport
www.manchesterairport.co.uk

France

Paris

www.parisinfo.com - The Official Paris Convention & Visitors Bureau

City of Paris (Mairie de Paris) government website (english version)
http://www.v1.paris.fr/en/

www.parisnet.net/parismap.html - good map of Paris

www.franceguide.com

www.paris-ile-de-france.com

Eurostar
London-Paris passenger rail service
http://www.eurostar.com

India

The Times of India
India's leading quality newspaper.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Reuters News India
Mainly international news, but some good local Indian stories.
http://in.today.reuters.com

Singapore

Online maps + directory listings. Can search by post code, building name, street or company name.
www.address.com.sg

USA

USINFO
Site run by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Information Programs. Part of the US Bureau of International Information Programs' "strategic communications service for the foreign affairs community". Information about the USA, its history and traditions. Includes comprehensive information on the US Government's official position on such things as U.S. economic policies and foreign trade issues.
http://usinfo.state.gov

US Census Statistical Abstract
Main facts and figures on the USA population from the US Census Bureau
http://www.census.gov/prod/www/statistical-abstract.html

Public Holidays in the USA
Dates of public holidays, and explanations of their significance in the USA.
http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/symbols/celebrat.pdf

Los Angeles

www.thingstodo-losangeles.com
Good basic guide, from the Things to Do series

New York

New York City's official website, run by the city's local government and the Mayor of New York. Lots of information about doing business in New York, as well as information for visitors and tourists.
www.nyc.gov

Back to top

Medical Information

The UK National Health Service's online health advice service, www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk

The USA's premier health institution - the Mayo Clinic
www.mayoclinic.com

Register Now

Minds Eye (newsletter)

Marketing Cheat Sheet

Disclaimers / Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy About UsContact Us