The Filter

Beware of people who say they're from the Lottery and promiise you that you've won 1.5million dollars and all you have to do to get the money is wire 500dollars to them through Western Union. We've had a particularly persistent one trying his damndest to defraud us this week. This is his photo proof that the money is in his possession but I'm not sure how many Lottery managing directors walk around with walkie talkies and store the money in an old floral suitcase....

Very good article here by Conor Pope in the Irish Times on comparision websites. Have a read of it to save some money on your shopping bills.

The Indo has an article today warning drivers over energy drinks. The Times has a piece about a cut in the alcohol limit coming next year. Worth a read.

RTE Radio One Drivetime had a good interview with Paddy Comyn, motoring correspondent with the Irish Times, where he discussed the car parts sector, motorists and the recent Frankfurt Motor Show. MicksGarage got a nice mention also. Click here to hear some of the segment: RTE Radio One - Paddy Comyn interview on car parts.ivr (1.01 mb)

We've just expanded our car phone accessories range with a new sun visor bluetooth device, a new ladies bluetooth headset, a standard bluetooth headset, and a mobile phone holder. We've now got some great bluetooth car products on the website and we'll be expanding on these in the coming months. We now have one of the cheapest bluetooth headsets on the market, along with a top quality multi-point in-car device and our quality Seecode products.

The Seecode Vossor featured in the Irish Times Motoring section today. This item has been flying out the door since we started selling it. It's a great product, easy to use, no installation required and top quality audio reception.

Dublin City Council has launched its Dublin Bikes initiative, where the public can pick up bikes and use them in the city. It's a self-service bike rental system open to everyone from 14 years of age. With 40 stations and 450 dbs (bikes), it enables you to travel through the city centre, commute between home and work and get out and about to enjoy Dublin city at your leisure. You must be registered to use the service and after the first half hour there is a charge.

All stations are equipped for Long Term Hire Card and 3 Day Ticket users and 14 of the 40 terminals allow you to purchase a 3 Day Ticket. Once purchased, you can use the 3 Day Ticket similar to the Long Term Hire Card to rent or return a db from any station in the network.

No doubt this scheme will have it's detractors, but then again so did the Luas when it launched and it is a resounding success now. Anything that improves the traffic congestion in Dublin city can only be a good thing. There's a full list of stations here. There's also a handy Twitter application here to tell you how many bikes are at the nearest location to you. The power of modern technology!

Here's an interesting concept that a colleague alerted me to. It's a speed bump that stays flat if the motorist hits it at speeds of under 30km/hr.

Designers Jae-yun Kim & Jong-Su Lee have designed a speed bump that’s based on retractors that open if the impact with them is small enough. These speed bumps can be configured so that if a car is going below 30km/h, the speed bump flattens; over 30km/h, the force causes the retractor to stay closed, keeping the speed bump active. Great idea I reckon! Why punish people when driving at about 15km/h.