Monday 17 December 2012

Wonga - Or Wighter?


Online loans company Wonga has begun offering "buy now, pay later" services directly on retailers' websites.

Until now, loans from Wonga, which have been highly criticised due to an annual interest rate of 4,214%, have been available only through its own site.


The company has partnered with furniture firm Cotswold Company to launch its Paylater service.
A spokesman for Wonga said it intended to roll out the service to other retailers soon.
"Essentially, Paylater is providing an alternative to credit cards," he said.

"It takes the cost of your purchase, you pay an upfront fee of 7%, then there are three payments over subsequent months that cover the outstanding costs."

It means for an item that costs £100, a buyer will pay an initial fee of £7, followed by three monthly payments of £33.33.

Silverstone Classic and Race Car Storage

Circuit2Circuit provide a comprehensive range of covered car transport delivered with exceptional service. Transporting any vehicle, anywhere, Circuit2Circuit work with a number of Blue Chip companies and prominent individuals, delivering vehicles all over the globe. With a proven background in motorsport within F1, BTCC, etc they can provide you with the best cost effective solution and the highest calibre drivers in the industry.

The resources on offer by Circuit2Circuit is pretty comprehensive; from individual Race and Motor Shuttles to Race Trailers moving multiple vehicles at once - perfect for your whole team! The latest addition to the fleet is a 5 car transporter, offering the ultimate service in multicar logistics. Each and every method of transport is completely covered, ensuring your car is delivered discreetly, securely and is not at risk by any elements such as the weather or stone chips during the journey.

To compliment the transportation service offered by Circuit2Circuit, and to respond to many customer requests; 2013 sees the opening of a bespoke storage facility for classic, prestige and race vehicles, under the umbrella of Circuit2Circuit, called Silverstone Classic and Race Car Storage.

Silverstone Classic and Race Car Storage is based in rural Northamptonshire in a secure and discreet location close to Silverstone circuit and junction 15a of the M1. The storage facility has been specially tailored to suit customer’s individual requirements and as such, Silverstone Classic and Race Car Storage can offer a number of different storage options.

Your car will be kept in a dry, clean and fully alarmed secure environment. Whilst your car is being stored in this purpose built facility you can choose from a number of maintenance programs. Vehicles, of course, can be collected and delivered back to your premises via the expertise of Circuit2Circuit if desired.

Motorcycles are also welcomed and a couple of notable bikes currently in storage include a 1983 Yamaha RD125LC with only 1,057 miles on the clock and a 1984 Honda CBX 750FE with a mere 19,000 miles covered. Both bikes are in excellent condition having being stored in a de-humidified environment, ensuring they are kept moisture free. Both bikes still have their original fittings including exhausts due to being kept in this environment.
 We asked owner, Leigh Pettifer how Silverstone Classic and Race Car Storage started.
“With the car transportation service we have been offering for the past 12 years we are often asked to store vehicles in a secure facility. We ensure every car is treated with the same professionalism at all times by all our experienced staff and it is this ethos that has given us such an enviable reputation.”

It is this reputation that has race teams, sponsors and marketing companies etc ensuring that Circuit2Circuit Ltd remains at the forefront of the industry. Sir Jackie Stewart OBE, recently commented how they “carry out their business in a very professional fashion”. High praise indeed!

Transportation enquiries telephone: 01604 859012
Storage enquiries telephone: 01604 879851

Thursday 13 December 2012

Internet Shopping

Internet shopping is more popular in the UK than in any other major country, a survey from regulator Ofcom suggests.

 Consumers in the UK spend an average of £1,083 a year on internet shopping, compared with Australia which spends the second highest at £842, it said. The UK's fondness for net shopping is, in part, driven by mobile devices.

UK consumers are also downloading more data from their mobiles than any other nation, according to the survey.


The study also indicated that:
  • In December 2011 the average UK mobile connection used 424MB (megabytes) of data, higher than Japanese users who averaged 392MBs.
  • 16% of all web traffic in the UK was from mobiles, tablets or other connected devices - more than any other European country.
  • Four in ten UK adults now access Facebook, Twitter and others social networks via their mobiles.
  • For 18 to 24-year-olds the figures is even higher, at 62%.
The findings form part of Ofcom's seventh International Communications Market Report, which looks at the take-up, availability, price and use of broadband, landlines, mobiles, TV and radio across 17 major countries.
Brits are also the most likely to watch TV-on-demand and use digital video recorders, the report suggests.


UK consumers are embracing the new generation of internet-enabled TVs with 15% owning such a set, compared to 10% in the US.
Our TVs are also getting bigger - more than a third of TVs sold in the first quarter of 2012 were between 33in (84cm) and 44in (112cm).
The UK remains the cheapest place to buy communication services, although the gap is narrowing.
Ofcom said a basket of communication services - including fixed-line telephone, mobile calls and texts and fixed and mobile broadband and TV - costs on average £146 in the UK.
That was £32 cheaper than in France, £101 cheaper than Italy and £168 cheaper than the US.

Barcode Co-inventor Dies

Norman Joseph Woodland, who co-created the barcode, has died at his New Jersey home at the age of 91. 

Woodland worked with university classmate Bernard Silver to create the now ubiquitous thick-and-thin-line system in the 1940s.

The system was patented in the US in 1952, a patent that was later sold for just $15,000 (£9,300).

The modern-day barcode is estimated to be scanned more than five billion times every day.


Woodland's efforts were years ahead of their time. It took 22 years for the invention to make its first appearance in a US shop - due to the fact the laser technology required to read the lines did not exist.
The first item scanned was a packet of chewing gum in an Ohio supermarket in 1974.

Woodland is said to have conceived the barcode while sitting on a chair surrounded by sand.
With Morse code in mind, Woodland began to draw with his fingers.
Speaking of that moment, he told Smithsonian magazine in 1999: "I poked my four fingers into the sand and for whatever reason — I didn't know — I pulled my hand toward me and drew four lines.
"I said: 'Golly! Now I have four lines, and they could be wide lines and narrow lines instead of dots and dashes.'"

The patent was sold to battery storage company Philco - but expired in the 1960s, allowing IBM - where Woodland was working - to finalise and tweak the design into something we recognise today.

In 2011 both Woodland and Silver were inducted into the US's National Inventors Hall of Fame.

Wednesday 12 December 2012

12/12/12

Register offices across the country have reported an increase in wedding bookings as couples choose to get married on the last day of the century when the date, month and year match.

Fifty-one ceremonies will take place in the district of Gretna in southern Scotland, which is well known for Gretna Green - a 25-fold increase on the same day last year.
It will be 89 years before 01/01/2101 comes around.

In Gloucestershire, west England, there will be 12 ceremonies. The number of weddings on an average Wednesday is one.

Gretna Wedding Rushes
09/09/09 47 ceremonies`
10/10/10 46
11/11/11 53
12/12/12 51

Tuesday 11 December 2012

Top searches in Google for 2012 (UK)


  1.  Euro 2012
  2. Olympic tickets
  3. Whitney Houston
  4. Kate Middleton
  5. April Jones
  6. Netflix
  7. NatWest Online
  8. iPad 3
  9. Gary Barlow
  10. Gangnam style

Monday 10 December 2012

X Factor UK - Stats

The final results for this years X Factor saw James Arthur win with percentage vote of 53.7%. Jahmene 38.9% and Christopher Maloney 7.4%.

Seems Christopher Maloney was the biggest looser on the show with a dramatic turnaround in fortune. Originally, Christopher was not chosen by mentor Gary Barlow to go through to the live show and was only added a last place 'wildcard' securing 63.5% of the vote.


Week 1
Christopher Maloney 28.8%
Jahmene Douglas 13.2%
Ella Henderson 13.1%
Union J 7.3%
Lucy Spraggan 7.3%
James Arthur 5.6%
Kye Sones 4.1%
District3 4.0%
Jade Ellis 4.0%
MK1 3.4%
Melanie Masson 3.2%
Rylan Clark 3.1%
Carolynne Poole 2.9%

Week 2
Christopher Maloney 21.9%
Jahmene Douglas 11.4%
Rylan Clark 10.2%
Ella Henderson 9.5%
Lucy Spraggan 7.6%
James Arthur 7.4%
Union J 7.1%
Kye Sones 5.3%
Jade Ellis 5.2%
MK1 5.1%
District3 4.7%
Melanie Masson 4.6%

Week 3
Christopher Maloney 22.6%
Jahmene Douglas 15.6%
Ella Henderson 10.2%
Rylan Clark 8.8%
District3 8.4%
James Arthur 7.4%
Lucy Spraggan 6.5%
Union J 5.9%
Jade Ellis 5.1%
Kye Sones 4.9%
MK1 4.6%

Week 4
Christopher Maloney 24.7%
Jahmene Douglas 15.4%
James Arthur 12.0%
District3 10.0%
Kye Sones 10.0%
Ella Henderson 8.2%
Rylan Clark 7.2%
Union J 6.3%
Jade Ellis 6.2%

Week 5
Christopher Maloney 27.6%
Jahmene Douglas 16.9%
District3 14.7%
Union J 10.4%
Ella Henderson 8.8%
James Arthur 7.7%
Rylan Clark 7.2%
Kye Sones 6.7%

Week 6
Christopher Maloney 23.6%
Jahmene Douglas 14.9%
James Arthur 14.0%
Ella Henderson 13.0%
Rylan Clark 12.4%
Union J 11.7%
District3 10.4%

Week 7
Christopher Maloney 26.4%
Jahmene Douglas 17.4%
Rylan Clark 15.7%
Union J 14.7%
James Arthur 13.7%
Ella Henderson 12.1%

Week 8
James Arthur 40.7%
Christopher Maloney 21.0%
Jahmene Douglas 18.1%
Union J 11.8%
Rylan Clark 8.4%

Week 9
James Arthur 41.2%
Jahmene Douglas 22.0%
Christopher Maloney 18.7%
Union J 18.1%

Friday 7 December 2012

Blitz Interactive Map Online

An interactive map showing the location of bombs dropped on London during World War II has been created.

http://www.bombsight.org/#15/51.5050/-0.0900

 It reveals the devastation caused by the Blitz over eight months. The year-long project, called Bomb Sight, was devised by a team from the University of Portsmouth using data from the National Archives.

Dr Kate Jones, the University of Portsmouth geographer who devised the project, said: "When you look at these maps and see the proliferation of bombs dropped on the capital, it does illustrate the meaning of the word Blitz, which comes from the German meaning lightning.
"It seems astonishing that London survived the onslaught."

Users can zoom in to specific streets on the map, which uses red symbols to illustrate where each bomb landed.

The project was funded by education and research charity Jisc which offers resources and expertise to educational organisations.

More than 20,000 people were killed and 1.4m people made homeless during the Blitz, which took place between 7 September 1940 and 11 May 1941.

"The original Blitz maps have been scanned and geo-referenced thanks to the National Archive and testimonials from the BBC have been incorporated together with historical images from the Imperial War Museum to create an interactive teaching and learning resource."


Thursday 6 December 2012

Possible Scam? What Do You think

Dear friend in Christ,

Greetings in Jesus lovely name. I read about you online in your web and thank God for meeting you and knowing about you. I pray my message finds you doing well in Christ. I also want you to note that all I’m asking for from you is neither silver nor gold but God’s holy book. Meeting one through the internet especially now that all evil abounds in it can be very distrusting but mine is all about God and outside of it nothing. By His grace I’m a pastor in God’s vineyard. I was born-again in July of 1985 at the age of twenty-three and married the same year and have been blessed to see God work in many different ways for the last 27 years by the grace of God. My wife Helen and I are blessed with six children. I have a certificate in College of Education and I teach as an occupation in a primary school. My wife works at home for the children. We are not rich in the things of this world but blessed in Christ. I was called into the ministry in 2007 while still in another State. We moved into Benin Community December 2010. When we came in here there was no single church in my quarters. My family and I would move 20 kilometers to fellowship in another church. Because it was raining season most times we would be unable to go to fellowship then we resulted to having a fellowship in my sitting room. After three weeks of fellowship three neighbours joined and then more and more people came in. We had about 12 persons in six weeks, it was then I had the calling to start a church and we moved into a rented car park. In another three months the fellowship grew to 20 and above. Today there are between 45 and fifty members in the church.

The name of the church is Believers Bible Church. I have dedicated this ministry to reach unbelievers with the gospel of Jesus Christ, teach people to become fully committed followers of Jesus Christ through discipleship, and to help people build healthy and healed families based on biblical values and principles. Most people here are from disjointed polygamous family background and hence the need to teach and focus on Christ based families. Matthew 6:33 is a powerful scripture in my life. When I trust God enough to pursue His will for my life first, everything else follows! My major purpose of writing is to seek your help in the area of God’s word the bible. We have many in our church mostly the elderly ones who do not have bibles and cannot afford them. I am seeking your help a personal use a good Study Bible preferably Dake Annotated Bible or Thompson Chain Reference Bible or any other study Bible you know can be of blessing to me. For my wife she needs a giant print bible super giant print preferable due to her sight problem in reading small letter words. This is our need and nothing else and we would be greatly blessed to have these as Christmas gift. You can send this to us through the post office. Express Mail International or Insured mail would be better and safer as we have muslims here who could destroy bibles if they are sent ordinary mail.

My address is 78 Izebuwakor-Gplo 3266, Benin, 300001, Edo State, Nigeria. Flooding has affected many parts of Nigeria and many lives have been lost and we feel sad and sorry for those and their families. A pastor friend in Delta State had their church washed off. On top of that many Christians are killed for their faith by Muslims here. We as Christian who suffers such will perhaps never know why our Lord allows us to go over high mountains and through deep waters of life but one thing we do know God will never leave us nor forsake us even when we cannot clearly see Him. Please pray for those hurting ones. We would be delighted to have you come to visit us, as much would be accomplished for the Lord in our working together.
Write soon and God bless you.
Yours in Christ,
Gabi Izekoyu 78 Izebuwakor-Gplo 3266, Benin, 300001, Edo State, Nigeria

Wednesday 5 December 2012

Autumn Statement



Chancellor George Osborne has scrapped a planned 3p rise in fuel duty, but benefits face a further squeeze as he admitted the UK economy was struggling. There will be more money for roads, London's Underground and schools, but councils were warned of cuts to come.
Austerity measures will be extended to 2018, as debt-cutting targets are missed, his Autumn Statement revealed.
"Turning back now would be a disaster" for the UK, he said. But Labour said his credibility was "in tatters".
Mr Osborne had said debt would start falling as a proportion of GDP by 2015/16 - the year of the next general election.


But he has been forced to delay that target by a year because of the worse than expected state of the economy, which is now expected to shrink this year by 0.1%.
The Office for Budgetary Responsibility says the UK has a "better than 50% chance of eliminating the structural current deficit in five years time", said the chancellor - meaning his other key objective has been pushed back by a year to 2017/18.


This move heralds a fresh benefits squeeze and a raid on the pensions of the wealthy.
Most working age benefits, such as Jobseekers Allowance and Child Benefit, will go up by 1%, less than the rate of inflation, for the next three years.

But Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls, for Labour, accused Mr Osborne of breaking his own rules, on which his credibility depended. "Today after two and a half years we can see, and people can feel in the country, the true scale of this government's economic failure," Mr Balls told MPs

He said the average family with children on £20,000 a year would be "worse off" - even with the personal allowance changes.

Tuesday 4 December 2012

Icann reveals new internet top-level domain name claims

The full list of submissions for new internet address endings has been published by the global organisation co-ordinating the expansion. Requests to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) include .porn, .ninja, and .ferrari. The BBC was among those who applied requesting .bbc as an alternative to .co.uk and .com. Several top-level domains have been applied for by more than one party, including .sex, .home and .diy.

Both the US drugmaker Merck & Co and its German rival Merck KGaA appear to have applied for the .merck ending, which may trigger an auction process. However the .uk manager, Nominet, looks likely to secure .wales and .cymru after no-one filed identical claims. Likewise the Dot Scot Registry was the only organisation to apply for .scot and the League of Arab States the only body to claim .arab. Objections Samsung - which had objected to the process - has taken part, applying for both .samsung and its equivalent in the Korean alphabet. However, Coca-Cola and the cereal manufacturer Kellogg's, have abstained. By contrast Google has applied for dozens of the generic top-level domain (gTLD) name strings. Obvious choices included .google and .youtube, but there were also unexpected inclusions such as .and, .boo, .dad and .new. The search giant has also requested .music, which has been claimed by seven other organisations including the online retailer Amazon. Other gTLDs attracting multiple requests include .art, .book, .news, .play, .shop and .vip. The most contested name is .app which received 13 applications.

Icann said that it had received a total of 1,930 requests for its first round of new net names - 166 of them were in alternatives to the Latin alphabet. It has now invited anyone with an objection to any of the claims to lodge their complaint within the next seven months. Icann then aims to make the new domains live in batches of about 500, with the first set going live some time after March 2013. "The plan we have delivered is solid and fair," said Icann's chief executive, Rod Beckstrom. "It is our fundamental obligation to increase innovation and consumer choice." However, critics have attacked the plan, noting the costs involved and the fact that bodies in the first batch to be processed may gain an unfair advantage. Nations including Brazil, China and Russia have also suggested Icann's functions be passed to the UN or another body more under governments' control.

Applicants had to pay a $185,000 (£118,800) fee to take part in the application process. They also face a minimum $25,000 annual renewal charge to keep their suffix once it has been granted. One of 40 applications for a new top-level domain name from the UK That may have discouraged some public bodies from participating, but the BBC's controller of research and development, Matthew Postgate, defended the broadcaster's involvement. "This is an important extension of the BBC's brand-protection policies," he said. "In the future the use of .bbc domains might ensure content is even easier to access and navigate for our audiences, clearly identified as coming from the BBC, or more secure and scalable."

The BBC's domestic rivals Sky and ITV have also applied for a suffix, as have the American broadcasters ABC and CBS. However, CNN and PBS abstained. One internet brand consultant noted that the business world appeared to be split over the perceived benefits of having one of the names. "While Next and Boots are investing in a .brand for their online retail future, all the other big British retailers missed the boat," said Stuart Durham from Melbourne ITDBS. "The big names of the internet have either invested massively or not at all. Amazon for example has applied for 76 names, Google for 101 and Microsoft 11. But there's no applications from Facebook or Twitter. "There are different strategies in play here and some big gambles."

Dandy - the last issue

The last-ever printed edition of one of the world's longest-running comics has gone on sale.

The Dandy, which features characters such as Desperate Dan and Korky the Kat, was first published 75 years ago. But its circulation has plummeted to about 8,000 copies a week in recent years, from a peak of two million in the 1950s.

Publisher DC Thomson has now launched the comic online, and as a smartphone and tablet app. The final print edition coincides with the title's 75th anniversary, and will include a pullout reprint of the very first edition of the comic from 4 December 1937. 'Stocking filler' DC Thomson confirmed at the weekend that Sir Paul McCartney would appear alongside Desperate Dan - fulfilling a lifetime ambition of the former Beatle, who said in 1963 it was his dream to appear in the comic.

The edition is expected to become a collector's item, with several newsagents saying they have been inundated with pre-orders from nostalgic fans. Des Barr, who runs Sinclair Barr Newsagents in Paisley, believes the final Dandy will be the biggest single sale of any publication since he opened his shop more than 20 years ago. He said: "I have never known a demand for a comic like it ever before and by the time Tuesday comes around I reckon I will have about 1,000 orders. "People are buying the comic to send to relatives and friends all over the world and many people are saying they will use the historic last issue as a stocking filler at Christmas. "I think there is a huge nostalgia thing going on here. Since it was first published in 1937, millions of people will have grown up reading The Dandy.

It will have been part of their childhood." Dundee-based DC Thomson announced in August that the weekly children's comic would make the transition into cyberspace following dwindling sales in recent years. The website will feature old favourites Desperate Dan, Bananaman and Korky the Cat in new animated strips, with voice overs and sound effects. Users will also be able to play interactive games, watch videos and create and care for their very own virtual pet, the Dandy Dollop.


Dan caused more controversy when he gave up eating cow pies during the BSE outbreak, and a revamp two years ago saw some traditional characters replaced by celebrities including Simon Cowell and Cheryl Cole.

A bronze statue of long-standing cover star Desperate Dan stands in Dundee city centre alongside Minnie the Minx, from The Dandy's sister title The Beano.

A book celebrating 75 years of The Dandy was launched at the Edinburgh International Book Festival in August and the comic will also feature in exhibitions at the National Library of Scotland and the Cartoon Museum.