Redbox is a DVD vending machine that rents movies for $1/day plus tax.  It rented it’s 1 billionth movie in September and earnings for the third quarter came in higher than expected.  Owned by Coinstar, Redbox grew 54.2% last year to nearly $306 million.

It’s competitions, Netflix, is up 214% so far in 2010 and has added 1.9 million subscribers during the third quarter.

The convenience of Redbox is great since most locations are at your grocery store.  You can pick up your popcorn, soda or other movie munchies, grab your movie and go.  For those nights you can’t wait for your Netflix to come in mail and streaming isn’t available, there is probably a Redbox near you.

It seems that Montana might be the next state that could be incorporating payday loan interest rate caps. Myloansconsolidated.com is reporting that there is some new news out there regarding Montana, and a potential vote on a payday loan law that could be passed. If the law passes it would put a cap of 36% interest rate on payday loan and cash advances.
States jumping in and trying to regulate these short term loans is something that is not anything new, however what state will be affected next is what we are all watching. We work a lot with the payday loan leads and want to make sure we are knowledgeable of any new payday loan news going on. We will all wait and see if Montana implements this new law. Stay tuned.

To help get you into the spirit this year,  iphones are offering Halloween apps to make the day a little more fun. The apps range from scary to silly and a couple of things in-between. Here are a few of the apps you may want to try out yourself;

Zombie Booth: Take a picture of yourself and see it transformed into a zombie. The app is also 3D, causing your zombie self to look at you as you touch the screen.

True Blood Comics: This app offers 6 different comics based on the HBO series.

Devil Reverse: Lets you take any type of recording from songs to dialogue and plays it in reverse.

SceneIt Horror: Based on the popular SceneIt games, this app is a movie trivia game focused on details of scary/horror movies.

Halloween Postage: This app turns a photo you take into different Halloween-themed post cards.

Enjoy and have a Happy Halloween!

Sony announced they have officially stopped manufacturing the Walkman. In the 30 years Walkman has been around 400 million have been sold, over 200 million being the cassette-based model! The 1st being produced in 1979. Interestingly enough Sony will still market their CD and MD based Walkmans. How many of you still have a Sony Walkman? Preferably the yellow one

The number of underbanked consumers having little to no ability to obtain credit or utilize the services of a conventional bank is currently 60 million and growing. Companies have been emerging to help these consumers, with the newest of which being ZestCash. Douglas Merrill, the former Google CIO and VP of engineering launched the new ZestCash product hoping to serve and attract the underbanked and aim to legitimize the payday loan industry.

The traditional payday loan is between $100 – $1,500 and paid back on the consumers next two pay dates, offering at times an extension for an added fee. ZestCash differs from these loans by allowing the loan amount and length to be chosen by the consumer. The consumer is shown the amount of the loan chosen broken down by weekly payments (which are auto debited from the customers bank account) prior to the loan being given.

Currently, ZestCash has a $500 borrowing limit only operating online without any brick and mortar locations.

The number of underbanked consumers having little to no ability to obtain credit or utilize the services of a conventional bank is currently 60 million and growing. Companies have been emerging to help these consumers, with the newest of which being ZestCash. Douglas Merrill, the former Google CIO and VP of engineering launched the new ZestCash product hoping to serve and attract the underbanked and aim to legitimize the payday loan industry.

The traditional payday loan is between $100 – $1,500 and paid back on the consumers next two pay dates, offering at times an extension for an added fee. ZestCash differs from these loans by allowing the loan amount and length to be chosen by the consumer. The consumer is shown the amount of the loan chosen broken down by weekly payments (which are auto debited from the customers bank account) prior to the loan being given.

Currently, ZestCash has a $500 borrowing limit operating online without any brick and mortar locations.

It seems the creator of the Facebook is not a fan of the recently released movie “The Social Network”. Many were curious to know if the new social network movie was in fact reality, or “Hollywood”? According to the Yahoo movie blog, Mark Zuckerburg, does not agree with a lot of what the movie depicts about his famous social networking site. One major thing that seems to be depicted wrong was the fact that the movie inferred that Facebook was created out of anger for being dumped by a girl, and that was not in fact the case.
Seen the movie??? What do you think? Thumbs up, or thumbs down?

According to new reports done by The International  Telecommunication Union, by the end of this year there will be 2 billion internet users worldwide. Although people all over the world are going online, the gap between countries that are still developing versus those that are more technologically advanced is still considerably large.

Just having access to high-speed internet is giving other countries more of an opportunity to connect. The ITU says that internet usage has actually doubled in the last 5 years. With only about 8% of the population currently using Broadband, it is supposed to help make an impact on the market by connecting more people in the future. Leadpile thrives on the usage of the internet as many from around the world are beginning to do the same.

Do you feel like you’re paying too much each month on your energy bill? Follow these 12 steps in cutting costs.

1. Drafty Windows: Leaky window frames can account for 10-25% of your heating costs. Apply new latex to frame to decrease heat loss.
2. Mystifying Utility Bill: Most homeowners bill s down breakdown cost by category. You can hook up your appliances to smart plugs to monitor usage by type.
3. Damaged Fireplace: Up to 20% of warmed air can escape through your chimney flue. Hire a chimney sweep to clean and check the damper to seal.
4. “Phantom” appliance and electronics: Electronics that are always “on” can be adding up to 10% of your electric bill.
5. Old Water Heater: Old heaters are lined with fiberglass, not the foam used today. Some utility companies offer rebate on heater jackets, check yours today.
6. Under-the-door infiltration: Most homeowners neglect to weather strip under the door, see if you are missing this vital step.
7. Leaky Ductwork: Tape sealing your pipes joints can dry out over time. You can patch small holes or apply HVAC foil to re-seal joints.
8. Overworked Fridge: The door seal can build up dirt and lose its seal over the years. If you feel no resistance when opening the door then it’s time to clean the rubber gaskets.
9. Exterior Wall Openings: Holes for sewer, phone and exhaust vents are typically poorly or uninsulated. Fill gaps with silicone chalk or polyurethane foam.
10. Attic Hatch: A flimsy piece of plywood can suck out as much as an open fireplace chimney. Secure foam to the backside of the hatch to prevent leakage.
11. Uninsulated Switches: A thin metal plate will not prevent air leakage. Install a precut foam gasket to prevent air from escaping.
12. Outmoded furnace: Check the make date of your furnace, those made before 1992 are only up to 55-78% efficient.

Hopefully these tips will help you save money on your next Energy bill!

Stay tuned for Leadpile’s new Home Improvement offer when you can find local contractors to help you with these easy fixes.

Just when things were hopefully starting to try and go in the right direction, it seems that there might be a change in that “positive” direction with our housing market. Reuters is reporting that 49 states in our nation have their attorney generals investigating allegations that there were banks not following the proper foreclosure procedures. Alabama was the only state in our nation to not pursue investigations into the lenders practices. No one is sure why that is at this time.
Some banks are not admitting to doing anything wrong, however Bank of America has currently halted any evictions for the time being. Other banks are not admitting any wrong but they are saying they followed the correct protocol in order to foreclosure on homes. What affect is this sort of controversy having on our economy? Of course when things are going right, or there is an election coming up, there are going to be people pointing fingers at each other. However, the question really is, did our nations mortgage lenders try to cut corners on processing foreclosures? If so, why?

Google has recently created a car that can automatically drive itself. Although some of the speculation from the public has been over concerns with safety, Google claims they could actually be safer than a normal vehicle because it eliminates humor error. In fact, the automatic driving cars have already been tested in California on 140,000 miles of road stretched from Silicon Valley to Santa Monica, with only one accident that was caused and faulted by another driver.

The cars are run by a computer system that takes control but allows the driver to take over when desired or necessary. This gives the driver the opportunity to have time to do other tasks aside from driving while getting to their destination.

To come up with the self-driving car, Google hired professional engineers who had previously worked on automated car races. With safety in mind, they made the vehicle with instant reaction time and even a gas operation system to help reduce gasoline usage.

Although the testing has proved to be positive so far, the car is not expected to be something that would be available to the public for at least another 8 years. In the meantime, Leadpile is still working with the regular auto finance leads!

The sentence “Companies are having a hard time filling positions” may seem odd given the current economic recession, but this sentence is true. The number of open job positions has increased 37% from last year but there are still 15 million unemployed adults, 40%, which have been out of, work for 6 months or longer.

Companies were forced for combine job tasks when doing layoffs last year. Now, someone who hopes to get those jobs must meet the new requirements. For example, accountants must also do financial analysis, factory workers need to program computers to run machinery and information technology workers are being forced to do both the business and technology side of the job.

Unemployed workers are being forced to take courses to learn their new skills and obtain certification. Employers rather wait and hold job vacant then settle for less.

Leadpile works in the education space, check out our EDU offer and help promote degrees to help you get your dream job.