This article claims that some chocolate bars have shrunk whilst the prices remain the same. Apparently the size of Mars and Snickers bars have shrunk by more than 7 per cent as the company tries to reduce costs. The chocolate bars which previously weighed 62.5g now weigh just 58g. The change happened in the second half of last year and the smaller version are now on sale in the shops. The price of the smaller bar remains the same at 37p for a Mars bar and 41p for a Snickers, so it appears customers are getting a little less for their money. Mars at first claimed the move was to help tackle the nation’s obesity problem but later admitted that it was as a result of rising costs.

According to this article Sky has struck a deal with Microsoft that will see their content offered through the Xbox. Under the deal live football, TV and films will be available through the Xbox. It is likely to be available in the autumn although no details have been released on how much it will cost. There is likely to be some deals available for people who already subscribe to Sky offering them content at a reduced cost but once again no specifics have yet been released.

It looks as thought it might be all over for Setanta as an emergency meeting has taken place to try and secure a rescue package. The sports broadcaster could face going into administration within days unless backers provide more funds. The company owes the English Premier League a total of £30 million, money that it does not appear to have. It has also failed to pay the Scottish Premier League £3 million which it owes them in television rights money. It is estimated that Sentanta is currently losing up to £100 million a year. 

Personally I’m not quite sure why you would want to visit Starbucks but that’s my opinion. Some people obviously do like the brand but other people like this man might be bordering on the obsessive. He has made it his mission to visit every Starbucks around the world. He has managed an impressive 9,100 and is now in England to visit the 400 outlets over here. After the UK he will move onto a tour of Europe, visiting Spain, Portugal, Germany and Romania. At every outlet he orders a regular cup of coffee and takes a picture and puts it on his website. So far he has spent around $100,000 on his project over a course of 12 years. He estimates that he still has 3,000 outlets worldwide still to visit.

If you are a landlord and are currently struggling to manage your rental properties yourself then you might want to look into using a property management company like Real Property Management. They specialise in the management of single family homes, apartment buildings and homeowners associations. They offer services such as tenant placement, credit and criminal background screening, accounting, project management, collections, evictions and maintenance services so they can basically do all of the hard work for you. In addition all of their property maintenance is done by their own people so you don’t have to pay overinflated charges and they have a 24 hour emergency service which is available seven days a week. If you want to see how they help you, you can contact a representative through the website. 

A TV advert for Tetley tea has been banned after the advertising watchdog decided it could mislead viewers. The advert for green tea shows a woman who decides to drink a cup of green tea rather than go out jogging with the voiceover saying 'For an easy way to help look after yourself, pick up Tetley Green Tea. It's full of antioxidants.' The advertising watchdog has ruled that this claim is misleading as there are no proven health benefits to drinking green tea. Four viewers had complained that the adverts suggested drinking green tea would have the same benefits as exercising. The advert will not be broadcast again in its current form. Tetley have said that the tea was promoted as part of a healthy lifestyle.

According to this article exports of Champagne have dropped by a third. The news comes as people cut back on luxury products during the recession. Some of the biggest Champagne houses such as Laurent-Perrier have seen a drop of 27 per cent in the 2008/2009 financial year with net profits down by 45 per cent. It’s not just Champagne exports that are suffering it appears that people are buying less high end wines and moving towards more lower priced bottles as they try to save money.

Stinking Bishop has been voted Britain’s smelliest cheese. The cheese which is made by Charles Martell and Son in Gloucestershire has been described as smelling like a rugby club changing room. It was voted as the winner at the Britain’s Smelliest Cheese Championships beating Driftwood by Whitelake Cheeses which came second and St Oswald by Gorsehill Abbey which took third place. I haven't tried Stinking Bishop but I might have to get some to see what its like. Watch this space for the review.

I came across this website the other day that offers Online poker. Called Titan Poker it has been developed by one of the leading online gaming software companies Playtech. The Titan Poker website has in depth guides on how to play poker including the rules and strategies of how to play the game, so if you haven’t played before its well worth checking these out.  The website also offers a variety of games aimed at players of all abilities. For new players there are games with a low risk factor where you can stake as little $5 and more experienced players can play for much larger prizes. Once you have downloaded the software you can join a table and try your luck. The software offers a real gaming experience and allows you to play up to 16 tables at a time. The website seems to have quite a number of players online at any one time. I visited quite early in the morning UK time and was surprised to find there were 7146 players online with 1191 active tables. With these sorts of numbers playing it’s no surprise that they have given away over $1,000,000 in jackpot prizes since the launch of the site in 2005.

According to this article the recession has seen the number of millionaires in Britain halve. The decline has been put down to a number of factors but mainly the collapse in the property market, the fall in the value of shares and cuts in city bonuses. The number of millionaires in 2007 was estimated at 489,000 but this has now fallen to around 242,000. The rise in the number of millionaires from 2003 to 2007 was mainly attributed to a rise in house prices during that period. With property prices starting to level out I’m sure there will be people waiting to cash in and make their millions once the market improves.