Nintendo has managed to double its profits in six months due to the success of the Wii. The Wii console is still outselling both the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360. Nintendo are also doing well with sales of the DS console. They are currently expecting to sell around 17.5 million Wii consoles this year.

If you are having trouble being approved for a credit card you might want to check out this website. They have a section that specialises in credit card for people with bad credit who are finding it difficult being approved for a regular card. The website is for US residents and has a credit card application online. The featured cards provide the best chance of being approved if you have a low credit score, limited credit history or even if you are looking to get you credit back on track. Although it takes seven years to remove bad credit marks from your credit history these cards can help you make a start.

Microsoft has recently paid $240m for a 1.6% stake in Facebook. This puts the current value of the website at $15bn. Facebook reportedly turned down an offer from Google before agreeing the Microsoft deal.

This time of year always seems to be really expensive. I find that because I tend to purchase most of my Christmas presents early that it can be a really long month and I just seem to run out of money really fast. That’s where a cash advance or payday loans can help. Basically it is a short term loan that is designed to do what the name suggests and help to get you through to pay day.

This type of cash advance seems to be becoming increasingly popular in the US although I haven’t yet seen it offered in the UK. The loans are aimed at people that are in regular employment are earning at least $1,000 a month and have a valid checking account. Usually you can borrow between $100 and $1500 and the loans are also available for people with poor credit history. At the end of the loan period the lender then withdraws the loan amount and the loan fee. Some lenders also give you the option the roll over the loan until next payday but due to the nature of this type of loan being short term, I am guessing this is where the loan company makes their money in charging extra fees for this service.

The Post Office is due to launch a broadband service. The service is aimed mainly at first time users and will be targeted at home phone customers. The service will be launched with a £10m advertising campaign featuring Westlife. The Post Office currently has around 400,000 home phone customers and makes around 10% of its earnings from this side of the business. It will be interesting to see whether this takes off.

If you need a loan you might want to have a look at Magic Loans. They offer Home Loans, consolidation loans and secured loans. You can use the form on the website to see how much you monthly repayments are likely to be on the loan you need. If you are not sure what sort of loan is best for you they you can request a call back and one of their advisors will help you. They will take into account your personal circumstances to find a loan that suits your requirements. You can also used the loan budget calculator on the website to calculate how much you can afford to pay each month.

Virgin Media are testing a new fast broadband connection that could be twice as fast as BT. Customers in Folkestone, Ashford and Dover are taking part in a pilot scheme that provides a connection at 50 megabits per second. Virgin Media are able to use their cable network to handle more information than traditional phone lines, therefore providing a much faster connection.

I was thinking of redecorating the upstairs bathroom and came across this website that sells a wide range of Bathroom Accessories & Suites. I found a nice whirlpool bath and shower tower that has an eight jet whirlpool system and a bath filling system. They also have a good range of kitchen units and appliances including integrated units for fitted kitchens. They offer same day despatch on most items if you place your order before 2pm and orders of £50 or more qualify for free delivery within the UK. They can also ship some items outside the UK at an additional cost.

If you want some new clothes but don’t want to spend a great deal then you might want to head down to Primark. They are now the most popular value clothing retailer in the UK overtaking Asda. Their success seems to be based on the fact they provide fashionable clothes at a reasonable price.

If you are looking around for van insurance you might want to check out Autonet Insurance Services. They offer van insurance for commercial use meaning you are insured to drive in any EU country up to a 3.5 tonne van. The Autonet Insurance Group has a reputation as a low cost, high quality insurance provider so should be able to give a Cheap Van Insurance quote. The company has formed relationships with many of the UK’s leading insurers so they can offer you the best possible rate. If you do manage to find a cheaper quote elsewhere for the same level of cover they also offer a full money back guarantee.

Dell is to start selling computers at 1,400 Staples stores in the US. Dell seem to be moving away from their policy of selling directly to the customer are making their products more widely available. Dell has also struck deals to sell their products in Wal-Mart and the Carphone Warehouse in the UK.

I was reading this interesting article about UK cosmetic surgery companies and how ethical they are. In the article a slim 27 year woman went to three London based companies for a consultation about Liposuction Surgery. The interesting thing about her case is that she probably didn’t need the surgery at all as at 5ft 9 and only 9 stone 5lb she was around her ideal weight. Two of the companies were prepared to do the surgery with only one recommending exercise rather than surgery. The article certainly makes an interesting read, and if you are considering cosmetic surgery you might want to go with Make Yourself Amazing, the company that advised against the surgery in this case.

Asda and Makro have issued a recall of lamb because of fears it might contain traces of drugs. The affected meat was distributed by Welsh County Foods based in Anglesey. The affected meat could cause sickness if eaten.

If you are looking for a new house you might want to try this website that specialises in North Fork real estate. They can help you, whether you are buying a property or selling your home. If you are buying a property you can fill in the form on the website and an agent will help you find your dream home. If you are selling they can help you find an agent, find an office or even help with looking for land. The website also has some useful information for sellers including the latest mortgage rates and some real estate resources.

I was reading this article that suggests around 40% of supermarket packaging cannot be recycled and ends up in landfill sights. This does not really come as any surprise to me. I recycle all of my bottles, cans, paper, cardboard and any food waste that can be composted. In addition any meat waste gets fed to four grateful cats. These measures have meant that the waste that actually goes in the bin for collection is greatly reduced. The problem is that the remaining waste consists mainly of plastic trays and shrink wrapping for which there are no recycling facilities in our area. This article suggests fining firms that use too much packaging, which seems like a good idea to me. I would be happy to buy the same product in packaging that could either be recycled or composted but it’s up to the supermarkets to address the issue.

If you are one of the increasing numbers of people that is interested in using Russian dating websites to meet a long term partner you might want to have a look at loverplanet.com. They have a useful section of the website that provides information on how to avoid scams as well as detailing many known scams. Some important tips here include never sending money to anyone you have met online and do not purchase travel tickets for them to come and see you as this may be a scam. The website itself does have a screening policy to cut down on the amount of scammers and also has a lot of success stories from people who have made a successful match.

Barclays may have penalised thousands of students with charges this week by accidentally removing their overdraft facilities. Usually at this time of year any graduates would be moved to a standard Barclays account but a processing error meant that around 20,000 people has the facilities removed by mistake. This could lead to costs of around £35 a day or £175 a week. Barclays have said that all the charges will be refunded but I doubt that any consolation for those graduates that have rent to pay.

We live in a university town so there is usually quite a high demand for properties to let. Despite that I have noticed that recently there seems to be a lot of empty properties and that the market seems to be flooded with properties to let in our area. Just around the corner from where we live, for example four larges houses have just been renovated and converted for letting. They have now been empty for quite some time and it seems the landlord can’t find any tenants. I'm assuming the properties were purchased with buy to let mortgages It makes me wonder whether the bottom has dropped out of the buy to let market. Perhaps, I’m wrong but number of the properties to let in the newspaper currently seems to be unusually high.

Tesco is to start transporting some of its goods by canal in order to take some of its lorries off the road and cut carbon emissions. They will use the Manchester Ship Canal to move crates of wine from the Port of Liverpool. The service will include three journeys a week and move an estimated 600,000 litres of wine. Currently the wine arrives in the UK at various ports and is driven to the bottling depot at Manchester. Tesco is now looking at transporting other goods by water.

If your garage is anything like ours, then you could really use some better storage solutions. I came across this website called Car Guy Garage that specialises in just that. They have a good range of garage shelving and also have a lot of different storage cabinets including hanging cabinets and rolling cabinets. They also sell sets that including seven or ten cabinets so whatever you are looking for, they are sure to have just thing for you.

Sainsbury’s are to give away one million energy saving lightbulbs on Saturday. The giveaway is timed to coincide with the clocks going back and so encourage people to save energy this winter. To get a bulb you have to take an energy saving pledge to help save energy by measures such as recycle bags and switching from baths to showers.

If you are looking for a loan but have bad credit you might want to try this US based company that specialise in bad credit loans. The website allows users to compare bad credit offers from a number of different providers so that you can find the one that best suits your needs. The website also includes solutions for people who are trying to repair their credit rating and rebuild their financial future.