Council tax up again above inflation

Got my council tax bill for the year in the post today and surprise, surprise it's gone up by 5%. That's about double the rate of inflation. As if Surbiton residents aren't already paying the most council tax in UK! Knowing Kingston Borough Council they'll probably waste it on pointless things like magazines nobody reads and more iPlus information points. I've never ever seen anyone use one of those...

Tags: council tax, Surbiton

The best James Bond

It's a debate that's had everyday. Well, for me it's Sean Connery (and the worst Roger Moore) but now Daniel Craig has to be factored in having acquitted himself so impressively in Casino Royale. If you haven't see the film, it's now out in the shops.

Related: James Bond, film

Cheap flights search engine

If you travel quite a bit, you might like to try using Travelocity to find your tickets.

"...searches a huge selection of airlines around the world for the best flights and connections. Find the fastest route, check the latest price, find links to airlines and travel agents."

See also: travel, airline, ticket, search engine

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Five octave piano in your pocket

Here's the ultimate portable piano keyboard! 61 soft rubber keys, 16 keys can be used at once and it can be connected to a PC. With a jack for headphones or amp, recording functionality and demo songs, it's a winner!

Tags: piano, gadget

Wittertainment at its most wittertaining

This is a phrase coined by film critic Mark Kermode with reference to the nature of the banter that goes on between him and Simon Mayo every Friday on BBC Five Live. Reviews are often quite witty, they witter and the result is quite entertaining, hence the term. They also have a podcast version in case you miss the radio show or prefer that format.

Existing fans of the show might like to be informed that Pan's Labyrinth, the film Kermode can't stop praising (and to be fair also won an Oscar) is out and available to buy. Apparently it's part of a trilogy by Guillermo Del Toro and you're supposed to see Cronos then Devil's Backbone first to fully appreciate all three.

Related: Wittertainment, film, Mark Kermode

Spore UK release date set

Spore, the game that everybody was talking about at E3 in 2006 is set for UK release on Dec 12, 2007 for the PC. Here's a video to show what all the fuss was about (18 mins)

Six Sixes in an over

Herschell Gibbs hit six sixes in one over off Daan van Bunge on his way to make 72 for South Africa today.

Though Garfield Sobers has achieved it before, Gibbs is the first to ever do it in a world cup, and it qualifies him for the Johnny Walker Six Sixes challenge, which means he gets to donate a million dollars to charity!

Tags: cricket

Effectiveness of weight loss programs

So I was listening to some nutrition lectures from Berkeley that can be downloaded as podcasts and in one of them guest lecturer Dr Kater talks about "Health at Every Size". It was interesting because she highlighted how ineffective weight loss programs tend to be -

50% of people who start a diet drop out, 25% will actually lose weight and only 5% will have maintained the weight loss after 5 years. What is more startling is that the lost weight on average is only 7lb.
[in more detail »]

Related: diet, food

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