Sitting down is nice to do, isn't it? Not as nice as lying down perhaps, but hey, beggars can't be choosers and for some reason there is a social taboo on lying horizontal in many public spaces.

But some sitting down is nicer than others. Often this is to do with cushion quotient, padded seat back and the like; but much of this is out of your control when out and about. But even in the most horrendous trapped spaces - yes, even aeroplanes -  perhaps the internet can help you sit more comfortably.

Check out Seat Guru. Tell it the airline you're flying and the plane type (in the Poorhouse's experience, this is usually stated on a ticket or receipt, but if not, here's their advice on finding plane types out). Up will then pop a seat map of the plane, similar to the one you get when doing online checkin on many airlines. The difference is here that the seats are colour coded as to their special features, good or bad.

For those of us for whom the novelty of flying does not in itself outweigh the evils of being crammed in a seat surrounded by 2 toilets, 5 sick babies and the Slater family from Eastenders, this could be a boom. To be fair, in time, you'll learn what's good and what isn't if you fly on the same plane enough, but for now, amateurs, check it out. Hover over the coloured in seat with your mouse for a description of how they obtained their opinion. There's also a description of the typical on-flight amenities: do you get to watch the telly? Can you plug things in? and the like.

Learn things like on the British Airways A320 100 "Seats 27 E,F do not recline. Also, the proximity of the lavatories can be bothersome". Too right. Although to be fair the Poorhouse's opinion really is on most flights noone should be allowed to recline their seats, but that's a rant for another day. Those who fly fancy class it still might be worth a glance. In recent BA forays the Poorhouse has discovered sitting on the left is often better than the right for personal space.

It's better than trusting the ground staff to advise you. More than once the Poorhouse has been massively lied to at check-in as whether sitting by the emergency exits, back seat on the plane etc. was a good thing or not. Yes, Monarch Airlines (I think), you may not have business class, but that doesn't mean you need to mislead me into the worst seat ever and charge a bonus tenner or so for the privilege. Wrath.

But travel is not the only thing one needs seats for. Consider entertainment. Again a lovely sitting related activity in many cases, but slightly more pleasurable than the average flight to be sure. However, all seats are not equal. Even all cheap seats, or all expensive seats, are not equal. So how do those of us who revel in comfort, resent paying money for poor views but yet don't go to the theatre enough to have a mental map of good and bad cope? Simple, well, if you're going to a London venue anyway - check out Theatre Monkey's seats to buy or avoid guide.

Similar to Seatguru, we have overhead seating plans, but this time of the many many venues in the UK's capital city. Green seats are particularly good value for money (obviously, generally, the more you pay the better the seat if you are after seating perfection), white are kind of neutral, and red have some sort of problems with them. Not only do you get the maps, but in true UGC-style you get reviews from us, the patrons. For instance, Paul, obviously, like the Poorhouse a fan of the horizontal, tells us that within the Noel Coward Theatre seats are E11 and E12 a "shade too close to the stage for my liking but, wow, I've never had so much leg room. You could almost lie down!" And who wouldn't want to doze through any given world-class performance that probably cost you at least £50 per person? (No example picture shown here due to a particularly threatening legal note superimposed on every one of their seat diagrams)

Any more sitting-down positional advice sites out there?