AMATEUR RADIO & THE NOVICE LICENCE
Amateur Radio tends to come over as something very nerdy, plus given the fact that its easier (almost) - to send an SMS message, or E-Mail to someone on the other side of the country, or the other side of the world - and you don't have to fight against conditions, put up huge aerials, possibly annoy the neighbours, nor do you need thousands of pounds worth of kit.....
Shame really, as its more rewarding (IMO) to fight these conditions, and work the other side of the world on a few Watts, Unfortunately being a Novice - I can only really work any distance on 6 Meters (and thats a temperamental band) suppose i've got to sort out my full licence.....
The Novice Licence has been around for about 10 years or so, and has undergone many changes, up until a few years, Class B (i'll explain later) Novices couldn't use 2 Meters, or use repeaters etc......
The Novice Licence is dead easy - children of 8 have passed it easily.....Its a 12 week course, followed by a 90 minute exam, the Exam is a 45 Question, Multiple-Choice paper.
To do the course, you actually don't need any previous radio experience, just some basic electronics/electrical knowledge, but you will be taught everything you need to know!
CLASSES
As I said before, there are different classes of Licence, I for example am a Class B Novice, I am only allowed to run no more than 10 Watts out, and am only allowed on bands above 30MHz (Except 70MHz [4m]) - This is a little restricting, to some degree, but if you're in the right place at the right time, you can work a few hundred miles if the conditions are right (I once worked Grantham, via a repeater) - but expect generally local contacts.
I have recently worked France, Italy and Switzerland on 6m, off a home-brew dipole, pegged out on a washing line (seriously!) - 8 ft off the ground!
To get a class A - you need to do the full Class B course, and sit a Morse test - you need to get 5 WPM (Words Per Minute) - you are still allowed 10 Watts, but can work certain parts of the HF band as well as 6/2/70 and 23/12cms.
The next step from there, is the full-class licences - and there are 3 of those - all with varying requirements, and in return, you can operate with all sorts of different power levels and on different bands....
Plenty of information is out there on the Internet, but ideally you need to get in touch with your local radio club - go to http://www.rsgb.org - theres a list of clubs in there, or look in mags like Short Wave Magazine, Practical Wireless etc - they list clubs monthly.
Or look on the 'net - most of the clubs have Web Pages - for example - I am a member of the Wrexham Amateur Radio Society - http://www.qsl.net/wars (Look for Patricks Novice Course Link!) - and theres also the Mid Cheshire ARS - http://www.midcars.co.uk - these are the two most local clubs in my area, find out where they are, and go along, most run Novice courses either on site at their club-house, or some are run elsewhere....
Basically.....go along and find out.