Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

First up this week getting a credit card in the US has become a wee bit tougher lately. That's because credit card companies have to write off 395 billion US dollars in bad debts over the next five years! Now credit card companies are using data about their customers in ever more sophisticated ways to work out who will make them the most money. So the type of motor oil they buy or where and when someone buys a drink tells the credit card company whether they're worth pursuing!

Then at half 12 we visit a Meccano collector who measures his collection in tons. He's a member of the world's oldest continuously running Meccano club in Christchurch. The latest kits with electronic bits and bells and whistles are still compatible with the original stuff made over a century ago because Meccano's never changed its standard sizing.

Left: A 1949 meccano manual. Right: Outfit No 10. The largest kit ever available.

Left: Meccano precurser from 1901. Right: "Pinyon" blocksetting crane, modelled from the 1949 manual (above left).

And before the news at one we'll head to Italy where residents of Venice are being urged to drink tap water. On average Italians drink about 200 litres of bottled water each a year but all those empties aren't great news for the environment. So the city authorities in Venice are adding some fizz to their tap-water to encourage people to drink it...they're calling it the Mayor's Water!

After the news at 1:15pm most of us have got a few old medicines, pills or potions lurking around in a cupboard somewhere. All the medicines, pills and ointments sold in New Zealand have to have expiry dates on them and once this has passed you're meant to get rid of them. So can we still use it once it's expired and how should you get rid of them safely?

And finally at about 1:45pm Bill Thompson beams in with technology news and this week the Swedish Pirate Party's just won two seats in the European Parliament and is pushing to make all web content free. And Microsoft wants us all to stop googling and start binging instead. Bing's the latest search engine to hit the web and Bill's had a play.

TRACKS PLAYED

Track: Yama Yama
Artist: Yamasuki
Album: Late Night Tales: Matt Helders from The Arctic Monkeys
Label: Coolpool/Azuli
Catalogue #: ALNCD21
Broadcast at: 12:35

Track: True No. 9 Blues (True Romance)
Artist: The Golden Silvers
Album: True Romance
Label: XL
Catalogue #: XLCD419
Broadcast at: 13:10

Track: Lovely
Artist: The Mighty Ryeders
Album: Help us spread the Message
Label: SUN-GLO
Catalogue #: SG 456
Broadcast at: 13:45