I came across this website called Spokeo. It’s basically a new social networking site that allows its users to keep up to date with their friend's blogs, photos, videos and music. The website checks up on your friends so you can see which of your friends have added new videos to their favourites on Youtube, posted new blog entries or uploaded new photos to MySpace all in one place. You can also use Spokeo as an RSS feeder by importing all your friends and feeds into one place so you can stay right up to date on all the latest news.

If you are a vegetarian you might want to get your life insurance from Animals Friends Insurance. They are offering a 6% discount on their life cover for vegetarians. This is because medical evidence suggests that vegetarians are less likely to suffer from major illnesses, than people who eat meat. Meat eaters can also take out the policy, just at a higher price.

If you have been looking to build an investment portfolio but it all seems a bit confusing you might want to give giant5.com a try. Their investment portfolio invests in what they call the Giant 5 Funds. The themes are real estate, raw materials, energy, capital markets and bonds. Basically you can own 25 portfolios invested in these five essential themes all in one no-load mutual fund. You can sign up online or if you need some more assistance or have any questions, you can give one of their advisors a call.

New research has indicated that a daily pint of beer or a large glass of wine could raise your risk of developing bowel cancer by 10%. The study was based on data collected from 480,000 people. The risk is further increased for those who both smoke and drink.

Terrys Fabrics are a fabric wholesaler based in the UK. They have an extensive range of curtains and curtain poles. Their range of curtain fabrics includes chenille and woven, children’s fabrics, jacquards, silk and natural fabrics as well as curtain linings. One of the useful things I found about this website is that you can search by colour by clicking on the colour of your choice. You can view all the fabrics that are available in the colour you are looking for. This is certainly much easier than having to look through the whole range to see if they have the colour you are looking for. Orders are usually shipped within 48 hours and if you spend over £100 shipping is free.

You might think that you are picking the healthy alternative when choosing a salad for lunch but this article suggests otherwise. Some salads and pre-packed pasta meals could actually contain as much salt as a hamburger and chips. A noodle salad was found to have a shocking 4.4g of salt, that’s 73% of the recommended daily intake for an adult. The problem is that a lot of salads contain salty ingredients such as bacon, ham and cheese. In addition to this salt is often added to products when it is not really needed. If you were to buy a chicken Caesar salad in McDonalds, you would actually be consuming more salt than if you went for a Big Mac and fries. The ten worst salty salads are shown below. The information was taken from the Times Online website.

Ten worst offenders
4.4g 73%
EAT Thai noodle
3.7g 62%
Tesco tuna and sweetcorn pasta snack
3.5g 58%
EAT smoked mackerel superfood
McDonald’s crispy chicken Caesar salad with low-fat Caesar dressing
3.3g 55%
McDonald’s grilled chicken Caesar salad with low-fat Caesar dressing
3g 50%
EAT spicy chicken noodles
Morrisons chicken and bacon pasta Morrisons tuna pasta
Somerfield cheese and tomato pasta snack
Somerfield chicken and bacon pasta snack

HotelReservations.com has been in the business for over six years. They are dedicated to providing travellers with great prices on both business and leisure travel. They currently offer more than 70,000 properties worldwide and cover several different types of accommodation including Hotel Reservations, bed and breakfast, condos and all inclusive holidays. They cover most destinations including Australia, Italy, Germany, Greece, Belgium, France and the UK, just to name a few.

You can search for your holiday by selecting whether you want a hotel, flight, car rental, vacation rental or a vacation package. You can then narrow your search to where you are leaving from, where you want to go and what your departure dates are. The website will then find the best holiday to suit your requirements. If you are not sure where you want you go, but do know the type of holiday you want, then you can click on their destination guide. It highlights some of the best holidays, whether you are interested in a spa holiday, a beach holiday or a gambling holiday. One good feature of this site, it that you can view it in you’re your own language and currency, meaning you don’t have to work out the prices using a separate currency converter, which saves time.

They also have a price match guarantee on their internet prices. If you find a lower rate available for the same dates and the same hotel, you can contact then within 24 hours of booking, and they will either match the rate, or if you prefer cancel the reservation. They also have a cash rebate system, so if you print out the coupon on the website and send it back after your stay, you could claim up to $100 of your money back, based on a twelve night stay. This offer is valid until November 2007.
 

Customers using an ATM in Louisiana found the machine was giving out $20 bills instead of $5’s. They could be forgiven for thinking no one would notice. Unfortunately for them the cash machine holds the records of everyone who used it and the authorities plan to track them down and reclaim the money.

If you are looking to buy North Cyprus Property, you might want to try Wellington Estate Ltd. They only build on land that they own outright meaning you can buy with complete confidence. You can also meet with them in the UK so you can examine all the paperwork at home. If you want to move quickly they have properties that are already completed, so you can move in straight away. They also offer a white goods package where they will furnish your home for you.

The Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Base has come up with a new way to dispose of panda poo. The waste will now be turned into souvenirs. The pandas currently produce around a ton of poo every day which costs around $770 a month to dispose of. It will now be sent to a local handicraft company that will process it and turn it into products such as photo frames and notepads. There are already companies that make products from animal waste. PC2Paper has a range of African cards that contain paper made from elephant, zebra or rhino dung.

You can find a wealth of information in old cookbooks. If nothing else they are really interesting to see how trends have changed between what used to popular and what we eat now. The OldCookbooks.com Blog talks about old cookbooks they have come across and what is unique about each one. One that I actually have at home, although I can’t recall where I got it from is the Country Fair Cookbook which was published in 1975 and contains interesting information on cooking to win a country fair ribbon. I also have another interesting book with old English recipes such as pig trotters, I'm not sure how popular that would be today.

The recent floods here in the UK are likely to push up the cost of insuring your home. Insurance companies are currently facing a bill of around £2.5 billion. This means that they will need to offset the cost of the flood claims against a general rise in household insurance. The average premium is £200 for buildings and £150 for contents. This has remained unchanged for the last ten years but it now likely to go up considerably.

Backgammon masters is a provider on online gaming software. They have an online with lots of different games including backgammon and have recently just added poker. You can play for real money and for a limited time they are offering games with no rake, that’s no house commission. The website has steadily become more popular within the online backgammon community, I think this is probably due to the fact that is has a realistic playing environment. They have now added the option to play at three different gaming tables at a time, so you can increase your experience and your chances of winning.

If you do need to get some practice in first you can also have a go at their practice games, which you can play for free. BackgammonMasters is now one of the largest online communities of gamers and hopes to follow the success of their backgammon and poker games with more online games in the future, so watch this space. They also have a useful online resource for backgammon players of all abilities with tips on learning to play and tournament rules so if you new to the game you might want to check it out before you have a go.

Now this is an interesting idea, a sock vending machine. I’m not quite sure why you would use it; personally I have never forgotten to leave the house without first putting on a pair of socks. Still, it quite cool and stripy too.

There is a growing trend towards western men looking to meet women from abroad. Chance for Love is a website devoted to Russian brides. They offer a professional service with a dedicated customer service team to assist you. Their service was recently featured in a BBC documentary about Russian dating. Their service allows you to browse the ladies on the website once you have signed up. You then pay a fee depending on how many address packs you wish to receive. Prices start at 15 Euros for one address up to 125 Euros for 15 addresses. You can then send letters through the website forwarding service or if you prefer you can send an SMS or arrange a phone conference with an interpreter.

One thing that is useful about this website is that they also have a service that allows you to find Russian dating scammers. This part of the site shows details about Russian dating scammers and lists many agencies that have been blacklisted. It also gives you tips on how to make sure you are not the victim of a dating scam. Things to watch out for include if you asked to send money or if the picture looks too good to be true.

Retailers in Manchester are to be trained how to deal with terrorist attacks. The training will involve simulations carried out by the fire service so that should the worst happen shop staff can be prepared.

If you are interested in making new friends online you might want to chat at WireClub.com. They offer a free online chat room, so you can chat with existing friends or meet new people online. You can join an existing chat room or if you prefer you can create your own. You can message other people directly and chat with instant messages. WireClub has users from all over the world including the US, UK, Australia, Egypt and South Africa, just to name a few.

The website does a bit more than most other chat rooms in that it also allows you to create a free blog that you can share with your friends. If you are looking for friends in a particular country you can narrow the search options or alternatively if you like to chat to people on the other side of the world, you can do that too. You can also search for users who have similar interests. Some of the most popular interests listed are currently football, basketball, music and reading. You can join a club based on what interests you and upload pictures and post news and events. The site is free to join, so to get started all you need to do is create an account and then you can start chatting.

I just opened a rather nice bottle of Circular Quay Shiraz 2006 Bin 30. From South Eastern Australia it is a rather smooth wine with a slight blackcurrant taste and a hint of cedar wood. For around £6.00 a bottle, I think its quite a good buy.

Starting a business can be stressful and confusing, that’s why it’s often best to get some advice from an expert. IncParadise.com is a Texas business that specialises in doing just that. Their website is a useful source of information for anyone who is thinking of setting up a business in the US. It has a useful article explaining the difference between a Corporation (INC) and a Limited Liability Company (LLC). The information is designed to help you to figure out which is the best solution for your business. Their small business blog also contains a wealth of information related to setting up your small business. If you can’t find the answer to your question, you can always just drop them an email.

Once you have decided what sort of business you want to set up, IncParadise can help you by checking the name availability, preparing the state approved Articles of incorporation, filing Articles with state and pretty much everything else you need to get your business up and running. They offer incorporation in over 50 states including Tennessee Incorporation. They can also provide you with corporate kits to help get you organised. Once you have set your business up they can also help guide you through the taxation process, helping you with your annual tax returns.

The recent floods here in the UK are likely to have an effect on food prices. The prices of milk, vegetables and other food stuffs are set to soar as farmers struggle to cope with the floods which have ruined many crops. The pea harvest this year has been hit badly with more than two fifths of the crop being completely wiped out, that’s about 61 million bags of peas. Among other crops that are badly affected are potatoes which have seen the worst cases of potato blight for around 40 years.

If your child is struggling with their reading, you might want to give Score Educational Centers a try. They have 15 years experience in providing children with a fun way of keeping up with their studies. They have various programs including a customized curriculum that adapts to your child’s specific needs. You can also take advantage of one of their reading tutors to help your child realise their full potential.

Sainsbury’s will sell wine in recyclable plastic bottles as part of a trial to try and cut carbon emissions. The trial will include two of its label wines which will be bottled in the UK. I wonder where you recycle the plastic bottles. At the moment we have no plastic recycling facilities at all in our area and this makes up the bulk of our rubbish.

The boyfriend pillow has gone on sale in Japan. The pillow is shaped like a man’s arm and is designed to keep the body balanced. It also has the advantage that it doesn’t snore.

Plymouth and South West Co-op have been running a trial ban on carrier bags in some of its stores in Devon and Cornwall. The initiative is proving to be successful with plastic bag use being cut by 90%. Shoppers can reuse bags or purchase a corn starch bag for 5p. The scheme will now be extended to more shops.