Just a quick heads-up for those looking to make their summer holidays a little cheaper (aren’t we all?) Here are some summer car hire discount codes for easyCar. Enter these codes at www.easycar.com for up to 15% discount on summer car hire. I think this covers all areas but I have only checked car hire from Aberdeen airport and car hire at Heathrow airport so far. This discount depends on the month – the earlier you book the cheaper it is. Codes are entered in the ‘get a quote’ section of the site. These end at midnight tomorrow (22/06) so you will have to be quick!

5% off all cars in July – promo code HOT

up to 10% off in August – promo code HOTTER

up to 15% off in September – promo code SCORCHIO

easyCar Car Hire

I’ve just read that young people in the UK spend 34 hours online each week. This seems like a lot especially when you consider that their parents spent 0 hours a week online. I can remember back as far as dial up (back in the bad old days) when it would take you 34 hours to load a basic website. We are the first generation to grow up online and I wonder what effect this will have. Other than the inability to communicate or function in the real world probably not much. Actually we must benefit greatly from being connected. We can communicate with people from all over the world and we have a platform to make our voices heard. We can also share photos of kittens!

In the future the Internet we probably wont think about logging on as we will be permanently connected via a multitude of devices. In fact that is possible now. For instance with Three you can have a pay as you go mobile broadband connection without a phone line. 3g mobile phones already mean that we can connect when we are on the move meaning we don’t need to ever be offline.

I have a 3g enabled mobile phone and I love having Google at my fingertips. Being able to use Google Maps with gps positioning is very handy. As well as this you can look up prices of things online whilst in shops to see if it is any cheaper online!

Peter Eastgate is a 22 year old from Denmark how dropped out of college because he preferred playing online poker. This story has a happy ending however as Peter as just become the youngest ever WSOP champion.

Eastgate taught himself to play Texas Hold ‘em at high school and has never looked back since. His win against Ivan Demidov won him $9.45 million. The final poker game took place last Tuesday in Las Vegas.

Eastgate called Demidov’s bluff with a diamond flush. He said that he would have been happy with a top 5 position but was pleased to have won.

Friday links: Sea kittens, Mitch Hedberg and other odds and ends.

Strictly Come Dancing Odds. Because a celebrity dance competition is worth betting on. My money is on John Sargent and the Marilyn Monroe look-alike.

Apparently fish should be rebranded as ‘Sea Kittens‘. I think that P.E.T.A might have been taken over by the staff of The Onion.

“I put Spot Remover on my dog and now he’s gone.” A whole bunch of Mitch Hedberg live sets and interviews available for your listening pleasure.

a giant Spider eating a bird. Warning: may traumatise sensitive readers (everytime I close my eyes I see giant spiders).

How to confuse an idiot. I was just glad it wasn’t a Rickroll.

Online Betting Network

If like me you enjoy placing the odd bet but know nothing about the finer points of betting I you might be interested in Online Betting Fans. I recently discovered the social network whilst looking for information about Poker (which is far too complex for my tiny brain). I have yet to win an online poker game so I figured a little bit of research might be worth my while.

It is hosted on Ning.com which  Wikiepedia describes as “an online platform for users to create their own social websites and social networks”.  Having had a poke around on Ning it seems perfect for this kind of thing. You can set up a network with blogs and forums and each user that joins can have their own page. The site is supported by adverts on the network pages but you can go pro to remove these.

I might not have learnt to differentiate between a blind stud and a dead man’s hand (tell that to the judge) but I have found some people who might be able to explain it to me. Next time I play online poker I might even be able to bluff my way through without looking like a complete beginner.

As well as Poker and there are also a sections about sport betting and online bingo although I have yet to explore them fully. I never thought I would have need for a betting social network but now I’ve found it I don’t know how I managed without it.

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Mobile Banking

You can probably access your Bank account in several different ways. Online banking has taken off in a big way in recent years and most banks offer this service. You can even use telephone banking if you don’t have regular access to the internet. Now there may be another way to keep your finances in order: via your mobile phone.

Mobile updates on the balance of your account have been available for some time now. This services is sometimes offered in conjunction with Online saving accounts. Soon mobile banking will become more sophisticated allowing you to actually transfer your funds to other accounts.

A study by Lloyds TSB has discovered that 60% of internet banking users would like to be able to monitor their money through their mobile phone. The ability to organize your Current account whilst out and about would certainly be usefull. As mobile phones begin to be able to display traditional webpages (following the IPhone’s lead) the need for banking by SMS message may vanish however.

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Uganda to ban miniskirts?

Uganda’s ethics and integrity minister Nsaba Buturo has said that miniskirts should be banned as they can cause drivers to lose their concentration and crash. Buturo compared wearing a miniskirt to appearing in the street naked saying “These days you hardly know who is a mother from a daughter, they are all naked.”

Also on Mr Buturo’s list of things threatening the fabric of Ugandan society are “Theft and embezzlement of public funds, sub-standard service delivery, greed, infidelity, prostitution, homosexuality [and] sectarianism…”. Proving that if the minister gets his way there will be no fun to be had in Uganda.

Under the proposed new laws anyone caught wearing a miniskirt would be prosecuted for being dressed indecently. The short skirts may be considered lethal weapons leading to a possible amnesty. Fears have been rased that this ban could spread around the world leading to a lack of morale amongst the male population.

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Bingoing mad?

Whilst watching Coronation Street the other day I noticed something peculiar (and I’m not talking about Norris). The ads shown in the breaks were mostly for Bingo sites. I used to think Bingo was something which old ladies played in order to possibly win a small ornament for their mantelpiece. In turns out that Bingo is an emerging market, as one advert put it ‘the nation is bingoing mad’.

I was quite shocked at just how many adverts there were. This might have something to do with the a crossover in the target markets for bingo and Coronation Street. I reckon that Coronation Street is actually one of the funniest programs on television although it is often considered a bit rubbish. This made me wonder if the same was true of bingo?

I can understand the thrill of betting to a certain extent. The possibility of winning large amounts of money is a simple concept to get your head around. I can understand the skill involved in a poker game or the thrill of horse betting or a bit of sport betting on your favourite boxer but online bingo? Isn’t it just like playing the lottery? Surely online roulette is more exciting than “Buckle my Shoe, 32″?

Well I might just play a few rounds and let you know as long as you promise not to tell anyone.

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Glen Lampshade for president

Anyone who listens to Stuart Maconie and Mark Radcliffe’s BBC2 radio show will know the enigma that is Glen Lampshade. For those who are unaware of the man, (the legend) here is a little primer.

On each show Radcliffe and Maconie play three records and discuss the connections that link them, asking members of the public to phone in with suggestions. The name of the item is The Chain. Last week was the turn of Glen Lampshade who now passes into radio folklore.

I attempted to explain the joy of hearing a man talk about his problems with his noisy neighbours in a brummy accent to my girlfriend but she just looked at me slightly puzzled. However The Glen Lampshade Appreciation society on Facebook proves that I’m not the only one who was crying with laughter at the Lampshade.

“Is there a reason you are called Glen Lampshade?” “Well yes and no, but mainly no.”

For the full audio play the video below which someone Beth has kindly uploaded to Youtube.

And now the nation waits with baited breath (or perhaps just haliatosis) for an update on the Lampshade’s employment troubles, over to you Glen…

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Itunes Genius Playlist Generator

Itunes version 8.0 features a new peice of software designed to autonmaticlly create playlist of similar sounding music. The new feature is called (with characteristic modesty) Genius. So far the feedback has mostly suggested that it is incorrectly named.

Those who have already downloaded Itunes 8 can try out the feature for themselves. When a song is playing, click on the Genius icon which looks like this:

Itunes then picks out other supposededly similar songs from your collection which might go together well. Persuamly this is based on the Genre tag and the tempo of the song.

I would be able to tell you how well it copes with Venietian Snares or Naplam Death but I don’t have a Itunes store account. That’s right folks, you need an account in order to use this new feature. I only use Itunes for it’s Podcast handleing skills as I have a brain to think for myself and therefore I have a proper mp3 player not an Ipod. (Oh how I love to insults vast sections of society at once).

So far those who have tried out Genius and then gone on to blog about it (not a very fair test) have found it a bit unreliable: Itunes Genius blog search.

The Genius sidebar also analyses your musical taste and suggests songs you might like. The difference is that the sidebar suggests song you might like to buy rather than songs you already own.

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