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

or email: info@silverstoneclassicandracecarstorage.co.uk

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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.

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

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

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%