I just had to write a post about this.

For those of you who don’t know, I love dogs. I think they are the just wonderful animals and I would do just about anything for my little JRT, Sam including having a prosthetic paw attached.

A Belgian Shephard, called Storm from Germany has become the world’s first pet to be fitted with a prosthetic paw.

The limb has been designed so that the dog’s skin can grow back. Seriously, how cool is that!

Storm, who lives in Oxshott, Surrey, had a leg removed when it became infected with an aggressive tumour earlier this year.

You can watch a news video clip from BBC by clicking here: Watch video

The best part of this story is that they are now planning on using this same technology for victims returning from Iraq.

Storm has his own website which you can get to by visiting: http://www.stormtaylor.com/

This story hit a few days ago with the AMA considering a move to make excessive gaming a mental disorder.

The American Psychiatric Association, however, called for more balanced and objective academic research focused on computer and video games.

It is expected that the AMA will now recommend that a study be undertaken with input from the American Psychiatric Association.

I’ve heard of people spending countless hours or days in front of their gaming console with some ignoring friends and family, forgetting to eat or shower and generally dropping out of society for lengthy periods of time.

I can relate to this as in the past I have been hooked on certain games. It is hard to break away from the console, especially when you are at critical points or levels in the game. But eventually, hunger and fatigue sets in and you really have no choice but to save the game and go to bed..or eat!

I don’t usually post stories that are based on studies. I am personally very sick of studies. There are too many in my opinion and it only serves to confuse the average person on the street. One study concludes that spuds cause cancer and then another comes out totally dismissing it. I wish they would just silently conduct their studies and only after they have a definitive answer, release it to the public. I’m sure it will stop alot of confusion!

But this one caught my eye because I love gaming and recently posted about wii Sports which can potentially help you to get your heart rate up and drop a few pounds.

So to all your serious gamers out there who forget to shower or sleep, watch out, you could soon be deemed to have a mental disorder.

This gadget has not yet hit the market but I think it’s kinda cool.

Some might question the need to monitor your heart rate while working on your computer but hey, nothing quite like adding a new, glowing, nifty gadget to your desk!

The heartbeat indicator mouse uses sensors inside the mouse so that when your thurm or palm touches it, heart rate information is sent to the little display panel.

This could actually be of benefit to many of you that have stressful jobs or for those who don’t even realise you are getting all wound up over something you are working on. It will let you know that it’s time to get away from your desk and maybe go for a walk or just chill out in the staff room.

The information can even be sent to your hospital or health carer, especially handy if you have a medical condition that requires monitoring.

It would be cool if you could have this information sent to a website so you can get graphs, etc on a long term basis.

Looking forward to seeing this hit the market.

Well, I’m now back from my holiday and ready to get back into it.

I did have a little bit of a shock though when I decided, after a bit of prompting from my partner, to jump on the scales. I have put on 2.5 kilos!! I did go out to eat every day while away and ate at wineries so the food tends to be rich, fattening and beautiful.

So now I need to get back into it which I’m really looking forward to.

I decided this morning to have a look around for wireless monitors for my bike. I came across this video from ZDNet which is quite informative and will be of interest to anyone wishing to get more fitness details from your workout when riding a bike.

The products showcased provide a range of information to the rider which should be very helpful in determining how fit you are. Well, I’m signing off now and getting straight on my bike!

Following on from an earlier post regarding wii Sports, Fisher-Price are now entering the exergaming market.

It’s called the SMART CYCLEâ„¢ Physical Learning Arcade System. It consists of a bike and an arcade game system that connects to your TV. Fisher-Price

As they pedal, characters will guide them through learning discoveries, games, and races.

It’s suggested age range is 3-6 years and will be priced at $US 100.00. Due for release Fall 2007.

I’m guessing the reaction to this will be mixed. Some of you will prefer that your child goes outside and plays while others might argue that this will at least get game addicted kids active.

I’m going to sit on the fence with this product. I can see the benefit of this but also wonder if our kids sometimes spend way too much time in front of the TV.

Just a quick update regarding my post from yesterday on realhealth.TV.

I received word from Yuval Lion, Production Director over at realhealth.TV just to let me know that they do indeed have user generated content. An example given was: http://www.realhealth.tv/site.html?goto=50&vid=37&vo=3

Thanks for the information Yuval!

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