According to this article credit card rates are the highest they have been for two years despite the fact that interest rates are at a historic low. According to the article a borrower now pays £26.40 more in interest on a £3,000 balance than they would have done two years ago. Although the Government has promised to clamp down on credit card companies which have failed to pass on the interest rate cuts it appears that banks are still able to charge their customers high rates and that charges continue to rise. In some ways you can see why in the current economic situation banks are reluctant to lend and with lending becoming more risky might charge a higher rate. However, that isn’t going to work in the long run if their customers simply can’t afford to pay the charges and the bank does not get their money back.

In a rather bizarre attempt to sell more pollack Sainsbury’s have renamed it Colin. Apparently people do not want to ask for pollack when they are shopping and many find the name rather ugly. Colin is what the French call the fish once it has been cooked. It is hoped that the name change will make British shoppers choose pollack as an alternative to cod or haddock. Personally I love pollack and often find that it is nicer than cod. It also has the advantage of being slightly cheaper.

Until now I thought it was just me that can’t seem to find that jeans that fit properly but if this article is anything to go by it might just be that finding a perfect pair of jeans is hard. The article looks at three different women who are a size 8 a size 12 and a size 16 and shows them trying various different brands of jeans with varying degrees of success. Personally I find the same thing when I am looking for jeans. It seems impossible to simply buy a size 12 knowing it will fit. Some fit at the waist and not at the leg, some are too long, others too short and some fit badly around the bottom or crotch area. Through the process of elimination I have many pairs of jeans but none that I would describe as a perfect fit, all have minor flaws. I was beginning to think that perhaps I am funny shape, but this article has made me realise that this is a common problem.

Discount supermarket Lidl are offering a £5 lobster to attract customers over the Easter period. The lobsters are pre-cooked and frozen and weigh three quarters of a pound. As well as £5 lobsters the supermarket is also offering a whole 5lb duck for £5.99 and a 1.5lb salmon for £4.49. The promotions are part of an Easter offer which starts on the 30th of March. When the supermarket ran a similar promotion last year it attracted a huge amount of attention from middle class customers who flocked to store to take advantage of the limited offer. It certainly looks like a good deal but unfortunately I don’t have a Lidl that’s local.

This is interesting its a TV that turns itself off when no one is watching it. The new Sony Bravia WE5 Eco TV includes something called a smart presence sensor that will turn the TV off if it no longer detects any movement in the room. The TV detects the movement and body heat of anyone sitting within range of the screen. If the viewer falls asleep or leaves the room the sensor can detect this and switched the picture mode off reducing the power consumption. The set then remains idle for 30 minutes before switching itself off completely. It’s an interesting idea, but I wonder how well it copes with people who sit still for long periods of time and also how it deals with pets moving about the house.

According to this article this monstrosity is the world’s biggest burger. The tasty looking snack, if you can call it a snack contains 4,800 calories which is twice the daily recommended limit for a man. It also contains 300 grams of fat, 744 milligrams of cholesterol and 10,000 milligrams of salt. The burger has been created by caterers at an West Michigan Whitecaps’s ball park. It contains five beef patties, five slices of cheese, sour cream, a cup of chilli salsa and corn chips. It costs $20 and if you manage to finish it in one sitting you get a free t-shirt, in an extra large size, I’m guessing.

This is cool its the Terrafugia Transition a car that flies. The car works like a conventional car but has the added bonus of being able to fly with the help of some fold away wings. It runs on unleaded petrol and can fly 400 miles on a single tank of gas. It does look a little odd and at £139,000 its certainly not cheap but I think there are times we have all wished we had a flying car.

This article suggests that low energy light bulbs can cause rashes and swelling in some people with sensitive skin. The warning comes as many large supermarkets have started phasing out traditional light bulbs in favour of the energy saving variety. Currently people do still have the choice of whether to buy traditional or energy saving bulbs, however from September 2012 traditional light bulbs will be banned and only the energy saving bulbs or halogen bulbs will be available. Medical charities say that low energy light bulbs trigger migraines, epilepsy and rashes and in some cases lupus, a disease of the immune system which causes skin to become hypersensitive to sunlight. Based on this some doctors are now calling on the government to give medical exemptions for those affected when the ban comes into place. In my opinion if there is evidence that low energy light bulbs can affect people in this way, then the traditional alternative needs to remain on sale as an alternative although personally I do buy energy saving bulbs and don’t find that they affect me.