A-TAC Armoured Golf Cart

For golf buggy users who have been on the wrong end of a wayward drive, they may want to get one of these. This latest golf cart comes courtesy of the Indian design firm Metaltech Motor Bodies.

Called the A-TAC, or Anti-Terrorist Assault Cart the vehicle has been designed following the 2008 Mumbai bombings.

Basically, it appears that the firm has taken a standard golf cart and stuck some armour plating on it to create a vehicle that looks like something from a Batman movie.

The cart has a top speed of 15 miles per hour and is battery-powered with a six-hour charging life. It comes with a price tag of $43,000 and there is room for two adults in the vehicle. Sadly, there is no room for golf clubs or a drinks cooler.

The A-TAC has been designed to operate in confined spaces such as hotel corridors, but perhaps there could be a market for the vehicle on the golf course from which it is apparently derived!?

Although, if it were truly bullet-proof they’d surely do something to protect those exposed front wheels?

Normally, when caught short a mad dash to the nearest bush is called for but the UroClub provides an on-club reservoir capable of holding in excess of a half-litre of liquid.  It can be used and carried in your golf bag thanks to a triple-seal screw cap although it isn’t designed for play so if you do use one, be sure to use the right seven-iron, otherwise you could be in store for a nasty surprise!

And if you still need to spare your blushes while performing your ablutions then there is even a handy ‘privacy towel’ for use to conceal the action.

Still not convinced? See for yourself in the product advertisement the UroClub in action.  And ignore the price in the ad; you can own a UroClub for the low price of $24.95!

New shopping habits – most notably online shopping – may to be blame for a decline on the Great British High Street.

A Local Data Company study of nearly 700 shopping locations across the UK revealed that almost 18000 retailers had shut up shop by the end of 2009.

Margate in Kent showed the highest proportion of vacant retail premises with 1 in 4 shop fronts being boarded up while retail operations in the North East and the Midlands also showed high levels of vacancies.

Whilst changing retail habits of shoppers had a huge impact on the high street, so do did the recession with several well known chains succumbing to the effects of the economic downturn, including First Quench – who owned the Threshers, Victoria Wines and Haddows brands – and book chain Borders..

Every television ad break seems to feature them, and now they have been condemned by leading consumer group Which?

The ads in question are for companies who offer cash in return for gold jewellery, but Which? Claims these companies offer ‘shockingly bad value’.

These firms advertise themselves on TV with their main selling point being that customers can send old and unwanted gold jewellery and have it turned into cash.

Which? tested several gold buyers with three items of gold jewellery bought from the high street: a bracelet valued at £115, a £215 bangle and a £399 necklace. Buying four of each item, Which? sent them off to be valued as well as receiving quotes from three High Street pawnbrokers and jewelers.

One firm offered the lowest prices on each of the three items, with a grand total of £38.57 being offered. Another firm told Which? that the £399 bracelet wasn’t gold at all, and wanted to charge £10.95 just to return it.

On average, the TV gold buyers offered around 6% of the retail price for gold. High Street stores paid around 25%. The figures prompted Which? to condemn the providers and urged customers to avoid them.

On the research, one firm commented that the cost between gold retail prices and the prices obtained for smelted gold couldn’t be compared accurately as retail gold can be subject to markup of up to 300% and that they only advertised for old or broken jewellery.