I read this article the other day about a cat toilet that actually fits onto a toilet. The idea is that you start off with an actual litter tray which fits into the toilet bowl and gradually replace it with a smaller and smaller tray until your cat uses the toilet without needing the tray. The article features a video which explains how to train your cat to use the device. It looks very interesting but personally I don’t think I would use it because of hygiene concerns.

I took this picture of Ollie the other day as he was checking for danger before coming through the cat flap.

A very large truffle has sold for £165,000 at an auction. The truffle weighs 1.5 kg and was discovered last week near Pisa, Italy. The price paid for this truffle makes it not only the biggest truffle of the century but also the most expensive.

My husband came home with a Tom Tom yesterday which he had purchased as an early Christmas present for himself. We tried it out on a short journey from Egham to Maidenhead and found it performed quite well. You can read more about it here on my husband’s blog. Personally I found the best feature of the device was that it warns you where all the speed cameras are before you reach them which is really useful and could stop you getting any fines.

Animal welfare volunteers are trying to trace the owners of a lost cat found in West Yorkshire. The cat has a microchip and was registered in Kent eight years ago. She was found in Baildon near Bradford and it is thought that the owners have moved house and not updated their details. If her owners are not found, a new home will be found for her. The moral of this story, is always make sure you update your details when you move house.

An RSPCA centre in Shropshire has launched an appeal to try and find new homes for some of their cats. They currently have 67 cats and kittens that need homes. Some of the cats that need homes are shown below.

Max


Earl



Muffin

In another chocolate related story I read this article about an artist who has created a Christmas grotto out of chocolate, icing sugar and biscuits. It uses £1,000 worth of chocolate and features a Christmas tree, fireplace, furniture, chandelier and a Christmas dinner. Yum.

I read this interesting article about two British men who are going to drive across West Africa in a lorry powered by chocolate. The fuel is made from cocoa butter which has been extracted from the waste chocolate. The trip should take around 3 weeks and help promote the benefits of bio-diesel.

I am always very careful when shopping online and tend to use Paypal rather than my debit card when visiting any unfamiliar websites. I was quite surprised then to find that my debit card has been compromised. On looking at my statements the other day I noticed a number of Paypal transactions which I had not made. The odd thing was that they didn’t show up in my Paypal account. Naturally the first thing I did was call Paypal who confirmed that I had not made the payments from my Paypal account. On doing a check against my debit card, however, they did find the transactions. It appears that someone has managed to obtain my debit card number and set up a Paypal account with it under a different name. Of course the payments they make come straight out of my bank account. Paypal are unable to give me any details regarding this other Paypal account and their best advice is that I should cancel my debit card. They say that the payments will eventually be refunded back to my account, (watch this space to see how I get on with this).

In the meantime I have called my bank and cancelled my debit card. This leaves me in  a bit of a fix, as it is my only account. To withdraw any money I would have to go into the branch (there isn’t one in my town) and produce a passport or driving licence. I am also unable to carry out any transactions until my new debit card arrives which is most inconvenient, especially in the run up to Christmas. During my phone call to my bank they also had the cheek to try and sell me some sort of fraud protection cover for £6.99 a month. Personally I think it is the banks responsibility to protect your account details, I find it laughable they want to charge people for something that in my opinion they should be doing already. Anyway needless to say I didn’t take out this additional cover. I am still no wiser as to how my account has been compromised, whether it is the fault of Paypal, the bank or the result of me purchasing something from another website that has disclosed my details. One good thing that has come out of the whole mess is it has forced me to save money because I can’t get to it. On a trip to Tesco today I went into the store with £30, added the items up as I went round and spent £28. Usually I would go to the store needing just a few items, end up purchasing a lot more and finding I didn’t have enough cash, put the balance on my debit card.

From Friday bank account holders will earn more interest on cheques paid into their account. UK banks and building society will have to pay interest on money paid in by cheque after two working days. Customers will also be able to withdraw money after four days if they are paying into a current account. The cheque will also be guaranteed even if it bounces after six days. Some banks like Lloyds TSB already pay interest on cheques once they have been deposited but the new rules will make the practice common place.

I read this article that suggests some parents are so desperate to get a Wii console before Christmas that they are paying up to £500 for the console on ebay. The console is priced at £179 but is currently unavailable in most UK stores. When stock does become available it has been selling out as soon as it hits the store. The Wii is a great console but I don’t think I would pay £500 for one.

I was reading this article where Johannes Hjorth decided to try and grow cress in a keyboard. This is the result, how cool is that?

Northern Irelands only salmon has been completely wiped out by an invasion of jellyfish. Around 100,000 fish have been killed after billions of small mauve stingers were washed in the cages where the fish were kept. The company is now likely to face closure.